[Guest]

Curious if any of you gents and gals ( have to remember that Bean is a better hunter then most of us ) have ever done trek hunts? Basically parking the car, carrying everything you need for a few days and hoofin' it on foot. It is a big thing for the black powder crowd and is almost a passing rite of sorts.

Wonder if you modern hunters ever venture out and stay...with just the gear your carrying. Given the lightweight and high tech gear of today, should be a cakewalk. But I wonder about the experience....

giz

 

[onenut58]

Who is Bean?I have only hunted a few miles from my front door and never spent but a couple nights in the woods while hunting.But I have back packed into wilderness areas many times as far from a road as possible during the summer and spent up to three weeks. The average time was usuauly five to seven days.
But I always planned my trips to stay next to rivers or into mountain lakes where there was a lot of fish and water.
The forest service will sell you maps of a particular area you want to go into that show every tiny stream ,lake and dirt road so you can plan your trip.They are made with one square mile grids so you can also figure how far your going etc.

 

[Guest]

Bean is a gal here on the forum....
Best advice, don't bet the farm that you'll get a bigger buck, kill more coyote's, etc... Against her. :mrgreen: Never mind the fishing part....

I'm fortunate in that going out the back door and into the woods leads to not much between me and the North Pole....well, cept' that whole Canada thing.

But the point I was driving was that in the older days, you carried everything...including your food, shelter, tools...and it wasn't considered sport. It was meat hunting at best...substinance hunting otherwise. There are some comparisons that I was interested in. I tend to think that the shelter comparison goes to the long hunters, as would the camp cooking. Just less gear...Backpacks vs. Possible bags, hunters bags, belt bags, rucksack...etc.

The guns and gear are certainly more versatile. A fowler can do just about anything on any game...loaded to the task. A modern shotgun is the only thing that comes to mind that is even close...

Just pondering and throwing it out on the table for discussion. Kind of a fun argument about old ways compared to modern days.... :mrgreen:

giz

 

[Geoff40]

Not hunting exactly. But back in my younger days-Jr High and high school years, a few more times in my 20s- it was pretty common for me to take off spring, summer, or fall, for a few days with a select friend or 2, and we'd go until we got back. The most luxurious item packed in was a bedroll. Practiced basic woodcraft, shelter building, gathering some wild edibles when we could find some. We'd bring a few cans of ravioli along so we wouldn't starve in case we couldn't find much. Fished streams with hand lines and fresh grubs, sometimes shot rabbits, or partridge, roasted them on sticks usually. We had canteens for water, purification tablets, mess kits for cooking. Some nights I slept under the stars beside a fire. It was nothing short of heaven, and I'd love to be able to do it again on a regular basis. But, only in my dreams probably. I doubt I'd find the ground anywhere near as soft as it used to be.

 

[Hunter]

I should have done that when I was younger, but now I guess I like the comforts of a warm bed too much. Maybe some day..........

 

[Sebago Son]

Used to do it all the time in the Adirondacks.... the two big bucks on my wall are a result of this sort of trekking in and around my ancestral hunting grounds.... takes alot of preparation.... we would often make two trips all the way back in with gear on the buck carts (it's 6 miles from the nearest trail head) and we'd be in there of a couple of weeks.... hunters would come and go in relays, but usually we would have 6 guys in camp at any given time....

I should scan and put up some of those old snapshots....

It is a very rewarding way to hunt....

Drew

 

[onenut58]

I would think back in the old days there was a lot more game and the places where cities lie now at one time were pristine old growth timber and steams full of fish in unpoluted water.So living off the land would have been easier.There disadvantage I think was heavy stuff. A buffalo hide for a sleeping bag compared to what we can get and there rifles and cook ware every thing was pretty heavy.They had to use horses a lot more to get all there stuff back in and there are many places a horse cannot go.
I imagine not having rubber or nylon or plastic we take for granted would have been a wonder ful thing if they could see it today. A hide rubbed down with grease and oil was what was water proof to them.Shaving and bathing was of little importance to them and I can just imagine what they must have smelled like.
A lot of them carried two or three pistols as well as a rifle and think what you did if you got a toothache.From what I read about them most of them were very strange men who for the most part didnt like any one and a lot of them were criminals.But for the most part they were some tough old characters who lived a tough life.

 

[c pierce]

Giz Ever since I was a young man fresh out of the marine corps I've spent from two to three weeks a year in the wilderness. I go in with 22 pistol and my marlin 45-70, AS you can guess their is no hunting session when your living of the land. All you really need is a cast iron frying pan coffee pot and a pot for boiling . I'm going in to the Oregon coastal range next month, My bones are starting to hurt now that I'm near 70 years old. I fear that this will be my last adventure.

 

[Sebago Son]

".... They had to use horses a lot more to get all there stuff back in and there are many places a horse cannot go...."

I remember a story my Grandfather told me of the first time he 'went back in'.... was about 1915 or so.... they took a wagon and a pair of oxen. They cut a road in the process and when they made camp it was mid-August. They stayed "In" until the snow was too deep for them to cut timber and hunt any longer and they had filled the skinning shed with pelts. The last time the old boys put on a hunt like that was 1940.

We (my Uncle, a few relatives and close friends) restarted the tradition once again in the 1970's but on a smaller scale. But now even these boys are getting long in the tooth and me, I was the 'kid in camp' then and now I'm not sure I could get it done the way we used to.... even these trekks petered out over the past 10 years or so.... I am trying to get my own sons into it again while my Grandfather's son is still alive and he can teach them the Old Ways.... It would be sad to see this tradition die with us.....

 

[onenut58]

Lord C pierce I wouldnt pack a cast iron skillet a mile much less into the woods.I carry one cheap light wieght pot and a old canteen cup.For guns I carry a 357.The old folding wrist rocket takes care of small game.

 

[c pierce]

One nut I tried a wrist rocket once damn near starved to death, I usually go in about 5 to 15 miles and make a base camp. I set up where their is good Salmon and trout fishing. The coastal range is gods Paradise.

 

[longarm]

Pierce,
If you can wait a month or so you'll have more berries to eat.
Where are you headed?
Dan

 

[onenut58]

I love my trusty wrist rocket. Its killed a lot of grouse.I tried packing a old high standard double nine and it was a pain in the rear.
I move around a lot more when I am in the woods very seldom stay two days in one spot Unless I am at a lake and I dont stay that long at them.I would agree oregon is a paridise but I would also have to include Washington, Idaho, Montana and B.C.
I am way way over do for a trip back into the woods and hope to get a chance next summer. I think I am going to be able to hunt again this year if my plans work out.

 

[Forester]

Maybe it's different when you work in the woods. I like camping with my family but actually, I don't spend a lot of my free time in the woods.

 

[Bob K]

I don't know about this "wrist rocket" thing. :roll: It sounds to me......like something you single guys might like! :roll: :lol: Bob

 

[xtimberman]

Giz,

Try to get your hands on a copy of the book, Cache Lake Country by John Rowlands. This describes it better than I can: http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchR ... &x=59&y=12

Someone gave me a copy when I was a little kid and I re-read it every year. It's beautifully illustrated with his drawings and plans for all sorts of useful crafts and projects - and is the best source of north woods lore and woodcraft I've ever run across. I guarantee you'll love it too!

Most older libraries still have lending copies. It's high on my list as a must-have for an outdoors library!

xtm