Ultra-Light Bowhunting
By Pat Lefemine

Eight years ago I ventured to Alaska to hunt Moose. We floated the rivers and set up camp on the gravel bars. Every morning, we would rise before the sun, canoe upriver for a mile, hike two miles up into the hills, and then start to look for game. By the time we got there, the sun had already cleared the horizon and the animals were either in their bedding areas, or pretty darn close to them.

A couple years after that, I purchased a 3 lb. Ultralight North Face Tadpole. I experimented with a number of ultralight setups which gave me the freedom of being in animals 24 hours a day. By 1995 I had a system nailed down. I could setup and break down in less than ten minutes, I could move quickly into another drainage, but most of all, I started to see twice the game that I had seen while hunting from a base camp. It was especially useful for elk, but also worked quite well for Mt. Goat and Mule Deer. You are truly hunting like an animal.

By hunting like a predator, you can make decisions on the next days' hunt from the comfort of your sleeping bag. I listened to a herd bull circle around my camp, slip down to the river, and finally into some meadows a quarter mile below me. The next morning I called that bull out of the timber surrounding that meadow and though I never did get a shot, I knew exactly where to go that day and had a great hunt.

Benefits

mobility - you can work a herd around a canyon until dark, then set down your camp. For elk, you may be able to listen to the bugling around you through the night and gauge the direction the herd is moving in - planning your early morning ambush accordingly. If things are looking bleak, you can break camp instantly, and head into another drainage.

More hunting time - instead of having to get up a 4 am to be in peak hunting areas by dawn, you can save the death march in the dark. You can hunt till last light, and get up at dawn - spending all your time hunting, not hiking in and out of your hunt.

Leave the roadies behind - One of the truly consistent things I find is that I rarely run into other hunters after I get a minimum of two miles off the logging roads. I spent three weeks hunting one of Idaho's National Forests' and only saw hunters within a mile from the road. It came as no surprise that I never heard a single bugle down near the road but succesfully called in three P&Y's on my first evening hunting a distant drainage.

Moving during the day - Inevitably, you will get into an area that is short on game. When this happens, you move. This is the essence of ultralight camping. I never move during the mornings or afternoons. I hunt those hours even if the area seems bleak. Wait till mid-day to pack up your stuff and get out of there fast. With an ultralight setup, I typically get packed up by 9:30 am, and be setup in a fresh canyon by 3:30 - ready to hunt the afternoon.

Drawbacks

Packing out game - You have a greater chance of bagging game with this type of hunting. But since you are typically alone, and typically further from your vehicle, you now have a challenge - getting out the animal by yourself before it spoils. With mule deer or similar size game, you could potentially do it in one trip - assuming you packed super light to begin with. But with elk or moose - forget it. I recommend arranging to have a packer called in to help. If this is not feasible, make sure you are in a position to make two grueling trips per day to get the meat out. I can pack out an entire elk in two days by myself. My personal limit is three miles off the road in order to get the elk out before spoilage occurs (during typical mid-Sept. temperatures).

Physical Conditioning - I don't consider this a drawback but some people may. There is simply no way you can do this type of hunting if you are out of shape. By in shape, I do not mean you need to be a triathelete (it wouldn't hurt though) but you do need to be able to recover quickly after physical exertion. You also need to work out any kinks, sprains or muscle problems well in advance of the hunt. I train by running 4x per week at 4 miles a clip, then do 10 mile hikes on the weekends with my backpack and a 50# bag of pulverized limestone. Should you get weak or injured during your hike, simply pour out the limestone and continue.

Domino effect - One of the risks with this type of hunting, is living too close to the animals. I try to work the wind patterns so that my scent is not contaminating the valley. Try to stay level with, or below the animals - but never more than a half mile from them. If you camp above them, evening thermals may sweep your scent down to where they are and blow them out. I have actually had elk come through my camp while I was in my bag. I don't worry about morning warming-thermals since I am up and about by then anyway.

Lack of creature comforts - Since you are hunting like an animal, you need to leave your creature comforts in the dust. Forget your morning coffee, your hot dinner, or your dry skivies. Prepare on eliminating anything but what you need to survive, and hunt game. This is perhaps the biggest problem that people have, it also gets compounded in cold weather. You very well may be miserable at some points during this hunt, but to me, the end result is worth the sacrifice.

 

My personal list (less than 25lbs)

  • Camp Trails Freighter frame backpack
  • Ultralight -10 degree sleeping bag
  • North Face Tadpole 3 lb. tent
  • Enough freeze dried food for five days (5 meals)
  • Snack food for five days
  • One change of lightweight clothes
  • Two changes of Thermax socks
  • One fleece jacket
  • Set of gore-tex ultralight rain gear
  • Bow with five arrows
  • Game saw and knife
  • Game Bags
  • Liquid Game Bag meat protectant
  • small mag-light flashlight
  • small 35 mm camera - two rolls of film
  • 100' parachute cord
  • matches for emergency only
  • Iodine tablets
  • One water bottle
  • compass
  • 2 Small backpack rolls of toilet paper
  • Topo map
  • Game Calls (optional)
  • Small emergency kit (space bag, bandages, etc)

Note: There are some things missing from this list on purpose. Binoculars - I only use a small pair of Ranging Binocs for mule deer, goats, or other open country animals where glassing is necessary. I rarely use my spotting scope. Camp Stove: though most camp stoves are light, you then need to have fuel, a pot to heat the water, a pot holder, etc. I buy Mt. House meals which I can rehydrate in the bag. I also choose meals which can be eaten cold like spaghetti, chili-mac, or lasagna. Don't buy tuna casserole - it's disgusting cold. Water purifier - They are nice, but if you can stand iodine it is safer, lighter, and more convenient. Extra clothes - this is where many people may disagree - but I prefer to use one set of light cotton, or fleece clothes. Early season is warm and sunny and you can typically dry out lightweight cotton clothes during the mid-day. I usually wash them daily and dry in the sun on a makeshift clothesline I make out of parachute cord and split 1/2" diameter green aspen limbs. If it turns cool, I throw on my fleece jacket. If it snows or turns nasty - head back to the truck and regroup.

  This Mountain Goat was taken on a solo ultralight hunt. My tent was set up at 13,500 feet in Colorado's Needle Mts. (500 yards from where this picture was taken) and I shot this goat after a four hour stalk starting at 5:AM (directly out of bed).

Copyright 1997, Pat Lefemine