[mittenm]

in reply to: Please introduce yourselves, I'll start #48371

Hello, I’m Mike Mitten from Illinois. I contribute to TBM from time to time.

[mittenm]

in reply to: Dream Job #48357

Good for you Don. AND you did a great job with your keynote at the PBS banquet in Nashville! I wish we could have talked more, but you were in high demand. Ha! I plan to get your book about our hunting past and futer. Mike

[mittenm]

in reply to: CO elk units #48353

turtle- my wife always let me go, in fact she would ask where are you going this year? etc. You see- to her it was a gift to me and she took great joy in gifting me the time.

CO is a great state for return hunting in an OTC unit while you wait for the draw units. Don’t be surprised as you a learn a spot from year to year, that you have more success there than a low point draw unit. Ha! Whether you run ito other hunters or loose track of the elk, its all better than staying home in my opinion. Go for it. Mike

[mittenm]

in reply to: Backpack Hunting Questions #25889

Thanks Bert
For most animals If you bone them out in the field you will be left with a little less that half of live weight in meat. A 1600# moose should yield about 700# of meat. But if you are claiming the hide/cape and antlers, I would count on 2 extra trips. So when you get your blacktail that weighs about 150 pounds, your meat load should be about 65 to 70 pounds.

In Alaska my meat loads usually run about 100# , but elk hunting in the mountains I don’t pack meat over 80#.

Getting in shape

[mittenm]

in reply to: Backpack Hunting Questions #25822

[mittenm]

in reply to: Backpack Hunting Questions #25693

Seriously Guys- I do a lot of solo hunting even for whitetails. Two-week hunts camped out in a tent in mid-November has been some of my most brutal. I had to deal with wet weather as well as temperatures dropping to single digits. It is very tough to stay dry and warm in your treestand all day on hunts like this. I’ve pack out many deer in the Midwest by simply cutting the big buck’s in half and simply putting on a pack frame and carry out each 100-pound half. The thing about deer for us is we all want to bring them out whole so everyone can see them and pay respects. Ha! If I was way back in there like you guys out west, I wouldn’t hesitate for a minute to bone them out and bring them out that way. I am kind of tall with long legs, so I do not do well bent-over dragging something. I would much prefer to get under the load by putting it on my back and carry it more upright.

The last bear I took in Manitoba I just skinned it and boned it out where it fell. Packing meat is much easier than carrying the carcass back to camp. Yes there were bugs on me while skinning in the bush, but at least they didn’t ALL follow me back to camp. Ha! Mike

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