How far do you go in the backcountry?

[JoeSoap]

Looking at the threads on the cost of hunting in North America, I figured going on ones own was the most economical, which got me wondering how far into the back country do people go away from their access point/vehicle. I imaging there is still a fair amount of public lands in the Northwest and Alaska where people could self- guide, but with a rifle/camping gear and the weight of packing the meat back out over rough terrain, would be pretty limiting on how far one could go on foot at least.

I’d be curious how far do folks realistically go from their access point 1) especially on foot 2) horseback 3) small ATV

 

[Tundra Tiger]

I live in rural Alaska. Whatever it takes: Argo, skiff, raft, snowgo, airplane. I have used them all. This caribou was from March, with zero degree temps and a lot of miles from home. I sometimes moose hunt via float plane drop off in some very remote places. That said, I try not to have to pack things very far.

 

[Wyit76]

Depends on how much time you have, the shape you're in, species you hunt, and how much you like to suffer. Rules change from state to state but hunting without a guide is legal in some way in every state I believe. That being said aside from the laws changing state to state the environment and hunts change drastically too. Alaska is different from Idaho and that's different from Montana and that is different from Colorado. Elevation, terrain, access, and environment are all different from state to state.

All this being said to tell you that it can vary wildly. I've gone 15+ miles back in on 50" trails with a fourwheeler, 10+ miles in on horseback and spiked out another 5 from there, I've also day hunted 1-5 miles from the truck a lot, and I've hiked in for multiple days 5-10 miles with camp on my back as well simply because I wanted to. The guys that sheep hunt will go even further than that. There is no one answer in my experience. You just go until you see animals or an area you like. Hell both of my biggest deer to date, one whitetail and one muley, were taken within 300 yards of a road while I was accessing areas I intended to hike into.

 

[Wyit76]

I live in rural Alaska. Whatever it takes: Argo, skiff, raft, snowgo, airplane. I have used them all. This caribou was from March, with zero degree temps and a lot of miles from home. I sometimes moose hunt via float plane drop off in some very remote places. That said, I try not to have to pack things very far.

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I got a kick out of the mentality of some of the guys I met working in the villages. I worked with a guy who flat out wouldn't shoot a moose if he couldn't throw a rope to it from his boat! And several others who only hunted when they could use a snow machine! Didn't understand it until I got off the beaten path and realized how hard walking was! It is a different world for sure.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

I got a kick out of the mentality of some of the guys I met working in the villages. I worked with a guy who flat out wouldn't shoot a moose if he couldn't throw a rope to it from his boat! And several others who only hunted when they could use a snow machine! Didn't understand it until I got off the beaten path and realized how hard walking was! It is a different world for sure.

Not to derail... what villages?

 

[JoeSoap]

I live in rural Alaska. Whatever it takes: Argo, skiff, raft, snowgo, airplane. I have used them all. This caribou was from March, with zero degree temps and a lot of miles from home. I sometimes moose hunt via float plane drop off in some very remote places. That said, I try not to have to pack things very far.

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That looks Awesome!

 

[Flbt]

Back when I could get around.
I did not get very far from the roads.
It’s the way out wma are done here.
There all so used as pine forest.
And have a lot of roads in and through them.
But very few really or at least at that time walked into the area where rds were not. ( dog hunting was popular) and it uses rds.
But I took my dad he walked behind the dogs ( old hounds man stile)
I would walk in to hunt especially hogs.
And some times the walking became swimming to get around.

I drew a line at old tates hell. The titi bush can grow so high and thick you can be walking on it and all of a sudden fall through and drop as much as 30 ft the highest place I saw.
It looks like your walking through bushes can’t see the ground and you are really on the top of a bush ( I say tree it can get over 30 feet tall)

I can deal with the gator and snakes but I don’t want to fall out of a tree I don’t know I am in

 

[Wyit76]

Not to derail... what villages?

Let's see, I've been through every hub except Kodiak and Prudhoe. Nome was probably my favorite hub but that may have just been the time of year. Spent a few weeks in Mekoryuk installing an engine. Bounced between Savoonga and Gambell for a while. Brevig Mission was a fun stop, got to pick salmon berries for the first time there. Ambler was my first top interior. And I spent most of that fall and winter in Huslia. I was working for AVEC at the time, if I was single at the time it would have been the best job I'd ever had but living in MT and flying up 50+ days at a time for a week off made home life rough.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

Let's see, I've been through every hub except Kodiak and Prudhoe. Nome was probably my favorite hub but that may have just been the time of year. Spent a few weeks in Mekoryuk installing an engine. Bounced between Savoonga and Gambell for a while. Brevig Mission was a fun stop, got to pick salmon berries for the first time there. Ambler was my first top interior. And I spent most of that fall and winter in Huslia. I was working for AVEC at the time, if I was single at the time it would have been the best job I'd ever had but living in MT and flying up 50+ days at a time for a week off made home life rough.

Dillingham?

 

[Firebird]

I mostly bowhunt and five miles in warm temps is pushing it. You have to be able to get the meat and your gear back to the truck!
Even later when it gets cooler I don’t get much farther from that unless it’s for a mtn goat or something complicated like that. Sometimes you absolutely have to go where the animals are . . .

 

[CM McKenzie]

I usually hunt horseback into the Teton Wilderness. I go anywhere from 12 to 30 miles in. Last fall I hunted 18 miles in.

 

[AJ Peacock]

Growing up out west (Colorado) and hunting there and Utah every year growing up. First of all, it's tough to get more than a handful of miles from a 'trail/road', since they are in damn near every draw/canyon. However, most of the bottom country is private, so getting to legal ground (forest or BLM) can take a bit of non-direct route planning. Letting a land owner know that you are hunting the Forest or BLM land above their land before hand (and letting them know you are not getting on their land) can be helpful when you have an Elk down near their property and might be able to gain access to retrieve some meat. Some land owners are damn right ornery about keeping others out of public land and that always leaves a sour taste in your mouth when you have to hike over a mountain a couple of times to get your game out, when you can almost spit to a private road without access.

There are wilderness areas that are either backpack or horse only that I hunted when I was younger. Carrying all your gear for a week of elk hunting in rugged terrain is a young mans game though, but it is an adventure.

The fact is that if you look at where hunters push the game, you can get into unhunted land with only a mile or so from your truck. It might be rough as hell. I'm sure you all know that, but hunting smarter and closer to hunting pressure can be very successful. Let all the yahoo's move the deer/elk for you.

AJ

 

[Wyit76]

Dillingham?

I never did get that far south before I left. Wish I would have though, costal Alaska is pretty impressive.

 

[thinchliff]

We used to target large road closures and take mountain bikes with little cargo trailers back in a few miles. E-bikes are not legal, but so many use them anyways, that gig just isn’t what it used to be.

 

[pilar]

I mostly bowhunt and five miles in warm temps is pushing it. You have to be able to get the meat and your gear back to the truck!
Even later when it gets cooler I don’t get much farther from that unless it’s for a mtn goat or something complicated like that. Sometimes you absolutely have to go where the animals are . . .

I have to agree , going moose hunting with my uncle , getting to where the animals where, required, flying In a jet to king salmon Alaska, then a 1 1/2 hour float plane ride , then about 45 minutes in a jet boat ( which was pretty hairy) , even then I felt we didn’t get far enough because it seemed like everyone in Alaska has a plane and is out flying around scouting for game .

 

[3chunter]

I went 4 miles back on public turkey hunting a few weeks ago. lol

 

[ARHinAK]

The last load.
All I can say is don’t go any further in than what your able to carry out.
I was 52 the last time me and a buddy packed a moose off a mountain, 1 mile as a crow flies from a place we could be picked up by a bush plane.
It was 100% miserable. At times if you’d have fallen to the left it would mean a trip to the hospital, if you fell to the right it would be certain death. Go for it but don’t get in over your head.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

I don’t think I I’ve ever been more than a 20 minute walk from a heated building. There’s just not much wild land in Illinois, pretty populated for the deer that we have.

 

[RedTag]

I got a kick out of the mentality of some of the guys I met working in the villages. I worked with a guy who flat out wouldn't shoot a moose if he couldn't throw a rope to it from his boat! And several others who only hunted when they could use a snow machine! Didn't understand it until I got off the beaten path and realized how hard walking was! It is a different world for sure.

Snow machine, this is the way. Just roll the animal in the cargo sled and off you go. No packing on your back, no bugs, no worrying about meat spoiling, no bears, well probably no bears. Only problem is most of those season and areas aren’t readily available to those of us in the cities, it’s more of a village thing for the most part.
I’ve packed moose and caribou on my back and as others said there’s nothing fun about it. Getting hurt is a real possibility, especially when carrying heavy loads in difficult terrain, and it is a real problem when it happens. I broke an ankle packing a moose many years ago. We didn’t have to go far, maybe a quarter of a mile, and eventually some other hunters came along and helped us finish the task. I realized then and there that if such a mishap were to occur several miles in the backcountry it would’ve been a situation in which the meat may not have been recoverable. A friend of mine hiked the five miles from the Dalton highway, shot a caribou, packed the boned-out meat all in one trip, and blew a hernia doing it. Not good.
Every year I hear about some guys coming up for a self guided hunt, shooting a moose miles away from the road/trail/river, and getting hit with steep fines for wanton waste of meat.
My back is not what it once was. I’m not packing anything on my back if I can possibly avoid it. If I have to pack a few hundred yards to the Atv or boat that’s fine but no way I’m doing it mile after mile. Not anymore.

 

[David jr]

1995 Alaska self guided moose hunt 2 1/2 float plain no roads or settlements for over 150 miles in all directions best two weeks I have spent hunting and fishing . The big airliners would fly over so high you could not hear their engines.
The float plain came in and picked up my buddy and his moose too heavy to take me and the camp. Pilot said he would be back in the morning for me , well it took 7 days before he could get back and pick me up what a trip the moose season was over and all the guided hunters for miles around flew out over me so It was just me and a wild for 7 days loved it and would do it today but Alaska is not the same today .
Filling my bucket list now a 21 day safari in 2027 let the adventure continue . I am sure Africa will be a lot more populated than Alaska was in 95 .