What do you guys eat while hunting most of my hunting is done by backpack if it carnt go on my back I don't take it. I usually chew on freeze-dry food it's not very appealing but it is light in my pack. So my question is what do you guys eat when out in the bush?
I found drink mixes focused on recovery VERY beneficial. But do not over do them stomach cramps.
I also bring lots of slow burning, high good fat items like raw nuts and spreads.
Third, do not forget fruits if the hardy variety.
I have left out main meal stuff but you get the idea.
My experience has been t hat the more natural less processed the foods you take are the better you will feel and the better your body will recover.
Joshua
mountain house and MREs mostly. I usually carry a few granola or power bars in my pack as well. One sheep hunter I know takes two large jars of peanut butter with him every trip. Lots of calories per pound in peanut butter.
Typically Protein bars and Granola bars
Probably not the best plan, however has sustained me on many all day hunts.
Granola bars and water.
jerky, trail mix, dried fruit, packets instant oatmeal
protein & gran bars + P&J on 12 nut bread. pop-ups & powdered lemonade. Longer hunts mean quickpak dehyd meals.
Protein bars of various makes plus Wilderness athlete products for hydration. When packing my main meals are from Mountain House and Packit gourmet.
In my backpack: water, trail mix and jerky.
cheers guys im a guy that has chocolate in my pack great for when your on your last legs for a boost but i hate when you crash when it wheres off.
dont think i could stomach eating big jars of peanut butter
I know a guy who is a sheep guide and generally looses from 20-30 pounds every sheep season and he isn't heavy to start with. All that climbing and packing burns a ton of calories and its hard to keep up. Peanut butter does't go bad, doesn't need heated and definitely has plenty of calories to go around.
Trail mix, jerkey, peanut butter, dried fruit, cliff bar, and plenty of water.
when I was young and didnt care about my heart, we would survive for days on a big breakfast and bags of bite size snickers bars, now its a low fat sandwich on whole wheat bread. The snickers actually worked well, peanuts, gave you energy for the long hall and the candy for quick bursts
For me, I try to be out all day and not have to come back to the house or camp. I mostly go with my regular work lunch. One meat sandwich, apple, pear,nuts and protein bar. Always a water jug and a bit of "hunt candy"-Wurthers butterscotch to suck on. Like at work, break up the day with two feedings, 1/2 the lunch each time. I try to have a bite of something left for the end of the day on the way out.
I only hunt half days so don't take anything to eat or drink. Try to remember to eat a bowl of oatmeal before I go in the mornings to keep my stomach from growling.
Appetite is driven by lack of nutrients not lack of food. If your nutrient level is high you won't get hungry as much and can satisfy it much easier.
Unfortunately most of the store bought dried foods are made with ingredients that are not healthy and do contribute to heart disease, so be real careful as to how much of it you eat.
The best thing to do is dehydrate your own foods and bring them with you.
I eat alot of the packets of tuna, trail mix, breakfast bars. Then about anything else I can get an arrow in while hunting. I mostly hunt off my back for elk so thats really about it.
ok some wicked advice guys so i have frezze drys for breakfast and tea thats all i eat when im on the hill apart from choclate to rattle my dags up the hill i usually hunt for 4 to 5 days by myself so here a question what do you guys eat for your main meals e.g breakfast or tea.
I don't do many back country hunts so most of mine is just morning and afternoon. I always take a bullet thermous of good coffee with me in the morning. When it gets to be about 10am and I am getting antsi I take out the thermous and sip my coffee. This keeps me in the woods for another hour or so and more often than not I have to put it away because deer are coming. I am quite sure the coffee has nothing to do with it but it happens a lot.
For the afternoon hunt after I have been living on little sleep I find doing a 5 hour energy shot is awesome for keeping me alert throughout the afternoon. Even in the early season when it is warm and the sun is trying to shine me to sleep. I was surprised but the stuff really works and there is no crash like sugar.
Bob Urban
Dried fruits and trail mixes and some juice boxes. I do not have the priviledge of being able to back pack hunt, but when I do all day sits I bring what I mentioned above. Also for an all day sit I will bring peanut butter and jelly and some ritz crackers, nothing taste better sittin on a ritz! :bigsmyl: Shawn
And if I'm stand hunting I always take some apples along. I really like them and then pitch the cores out to make sure the deer don't starve ;)
I carry Snickers with the other stuff.
I got this tip from Backcountry Bowhunting: Peanutbutter and bacon sandwiches. They travel well and keep for 2 to 3 days. They probably have around 900 cals. apiece.
I think I go through about a thousand packs of peanut butter crackers a season.
If I'm doing an 18th century style hunt, I may bring some jerky and hard tack... otherwise, I like to stuff some black licorice in my pocket to bring along... or an apple.
I like granola and powder milk in a zip lock or oatmeal for breakfast, jerky or pb&j on a bagle or summer sausage for lunch. For dinner its foil packets of tuna steaks, chicken, or salmon with a package of just add hot water instant mashed potatoes or ramin noodles (check out freezer bag cooking)or Mountain House freeze dry meals. During the day I snack on Power bars, peanut butter crackers, Sweet & Salty bars, trail mix, etc.
Starbucks Via instant coffee in the morning, water or water with Emergen-c during the day.
Figure on 20-24 oz of food per day.
I just hunt out back or next door so a bottle of water and a snickers bar(or two...) is all I need.
Some cough drops seem to come in handy when it's cold too.
I make my own trail mix. It has kept me going for up to three days with nothing else. It does get boring tho. I have one for all you Brits and ANZAC's out there. At the start of the day I stir 3 packs of instant oatmeal into my tea. Makes for a warm and easy jumpstart for the day.
H2O and if all day, a few pieces of chocolate.
A lot of the hardcore,back country elk hunters swear by bacon,honey,peanut butter sandwiches.Some toast the bread,some use bagels,some use various flat breads or tortillas.They are supposed to have a long "shelf" life.Some say they keep up to a week if kept out of the sun and recently I read of a fellow vacuum sealing his and that kept them a couple days more.They are actually very good and I'm sure would last 4-5 days easily.
Peanut butter and honey on tortillas for all day hunts and along with vitamin drinks. For 1/2 day hunts I usually just take a bottle of water and some candy bars or jerky.
I typically hunt close enough to home, camp or boat that I don't bring anything along in a pack. However, I have on many occasions gone for several days with meager or, just as often, no rations. It is not impossible if you are conditioned to it. You really need hydration more than food and although food is essential for energy, the lack thereof is why we humans store fat. I have plenty of that. It can be uncomfortable but I have hunted pretty hard this way and none the worse for wear and tear. Of course this was in areas where I was well acquainted with the territory and able to call for assistance if neccessary. I would say it's not advisable for anything outside of those circumstances and would not work for those with medical conditions. In fact (before anyone gets cranky) it's probably not a good idea at all, OK! As I've said before, it takes conditioning yourself to it and I make that a practice.
Otherwise, I bring crackers, salmon or tuna, fruit, nuts, jerky and other easily packable foods.
Peanut butter and jelly!
Mixed nuts with raisins.
I usually pack a Peanut butter and jam sandwhich on toasted wheat bread, using jam I made from local peaches, strawberries, blueberries, or blackberries that I picked and canned over the summer.
And granola bars
And apples
or pears
and or bananas
jerky
lots of water
And I usually carry a thermos full of coffee, although it's only 16 oz so I have 2-3 small cups over a day.
I do lots of cardio/triathlon and I sometimes run while I hunt to get from one point to another quickly and cover lots of miles, so I eat constantly all day.
Generally the mosquitos I slap. They are bigger than the deer I shoot anyway.