Arizona Unit 23 - Bull Elk

[Hucker]

Hey guys,

I am lucky! I drew a bull elk tag in my first draw here in Arizona. It will be my first elk hunt anywhere. I'm getting my camp setup, and am thinking about water. I will be with three other guys. We need some water for drinking/cooking and some for washing dishes.

We have a wall tent to eat/drink/sleep in for base camp. We have a couple of EZ-Up tents for cook shacks and cooler coolers/shade. What do the rest of you do for water out in the desert? Thoughts we've had: gallon jugs of water frozen ahead of time and used to keep coolers cold; bottled water (think 20 oz bottles) frozen in coolers; several 20-30 gallon water storage tanks similar to these jugs (the 20 gal one at the bottom specifically).

What do you guys do? How much per man per day do you guys figure? I know I try to drink 3-6L per day myself, depending on physical exertion that day.

What other considerations/tricks/ideas/etc. do you guys have for me?

I hope to do a write-up with pics when the hunt is over.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Apparition]

Be very very careful with the plastic joints on those EZ up tents, they break in a heart beat and they are back ordered till January, Id look for some kind of pipe 45 joint to take with as a back up if one of them breaks.

As for water, supposedly 1 gallon per day, that's the figure I use.

Good luck, cant wait to see the story and pics!

 

[buckbull]

Dry ice for the coolers and buy a couple of 5 gallon made for water containers from walmart. I don't like messing with coolers and ice and worrying about running into town for more ice, draining water, etc. buy the dry ice and it will last at least an entire week. I'm there to hunt, and the less time I spend maintaining camp the better.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Trail-Desert-Patrol-6-Gal-Water-Jug/16537207

 

[Hucker]

Buckbull, thanks for the great idea. I didn't even consider dry ice. I have one of those 5 gal Walmart jugs. I also have a military grade 5 gal jug. But I'm thinking we need a lot more.

We'll be up there from 11/22 thru 12/6. That's 15 days (+1 to break down camp) to prep for. 2 of us will be there for the full 15 days. The others will only be there for 7 days each. That's 44 man days of water. I'm guessing 2 of the other guys will need more water than me +1 (since they are larger men and will probably sweat more climbing the hills). Since 1 gal = 3.75l, Apparition's estimate of 1 gal per day should be good. Therefore, we'll need a minimum of 45 gal of drinking water.

For dishes, I figure 1 gal wash and 1 gal rinse each night. Therefore, we need 30 gal non-potable water too. We can probably get that each day from a tank. We will have one full-time camp 6itch with us, so that can be one of his daily chores to get him out of camp.

 

[Gr8bawana]

Wow! So much thinking makes my head hurt.

 

[Hucker]

Wow! So much thinking makes my head hurt.

Math nerd...can't help it.

 

[Umpqua Hunter]

We have been really pleased with the "Aqua-Tainer" by Reliance. They are pretty tough and hold 7 gallons of water. We now have about a dozen of them and got most of them from Walmart.

 

[Hucker]

We have been really pleased with the "Aqua-Tainer" by Reliance. They are pretty tough and hold 7 gallons of water. We now have about a dozen of them and got most of them from Walmart.

I googled that, and it made me run out to the garage. That is exactly what I have. It is great for a weekend, but I would need more. Thanks UH. BTW - love your Grand Slam sig!

 

[az.mountain runner]

I always shoot for 5 gallons of water per person per day and I usually wind up with 5 gallons left at the end of the hunt for water to put on fire pit.that covers washing, cooking, dishes, drinking, dry ice is the only way to fly, and I fill two five Gallon jugs with fire and ice water.for just drinking but it it's also part of the 5 formula.

 

[Umpqua Hunter]

I googled that, and it made me run out to the garage. That is exactly what I have. It is great for a weekend, but I would need more. Thanks UH. BTW - love your Grand Slam sig!

Thanks

One thing I like on the Aqua-Tainer is the lid has threads. I have one lid set up with a male hose fitting and cap to fill our camper with a short piece of garden hose. I also have a gravity water filter made by Sawyer and though I haven't used it yet, I have the fittings to hook it to one of these containers and then gravity filter water from one container to another when we are hunting areas with a water source.

 

[Hucker]

I also have a gravity water filter made by Sawyer and though I haven't used it yet, I have the fittings to hook it to one of these containers and then gravity filter water from one container to another when we are hunting areas with a water source.

I would be very interested in hearing how it works for you. I was eyeing one of those systems.

 

[Calbuck]

Second the Aquatainer..decent piece of gear.

 

[Hucker]

A couple of pics (sorry for grainy iPad pics) of a stove I welded up. It was a water heater vessel I converted to a nice little stove.

 

[Gr8bawana]

Nice looking stove. Pack it in with you and cook your elk on the spot!

 

[WillPower]

Very cool looking stove.

 

[Hucker]

Very cool looking stove.

Thanks. Will post pics of it in use after the weekend. Going up to the high country (lol is 6,500 ft high?!?) to scout this weekend.

 

[ArmyArcher]

Hucker, good luck in Nov. I also drew a bull tag in my first AZ draw. I'm heading into GMU 10 this Thurs for 13 of the 14 day 2nd archery season. Figure the least I can do for getting the kitchen pass is be home for Thanksgiving.

Since being out here, this will be my third pack in hunt except the road networks in 10 will allow me to remain more mobile from a vehicle and not have to pack in deep, but I'll be prepared for either.

I've gone back and forth between a 3L and 5L Camel Bak bladder. My water routine normally includes 3-5L on my back and a 20 oz gatorade bottle for water and propel mix for two drinks per day. One of my buddies on one hunt packed in an empty 5G Coleman bladder. We all had Katadyn water filters. This was on our AZ hunt last Dec. In CO this past elk season, we camped near a natural spring with water flowing out of the ground from a pipe.

If you think you may use water in the woods, you can go with a water filter or use the A and B mix drops for filteration. Sportsmans Warehouse carries it.

As you already know, your water consumption will vary based on how well you want to eat, clean, etc... Being that we packed in, we went light to manage load and cooking was limited to Mountain House meals in small, light camping cups and light single burner stoves.

As a result, no fancy breakfasts, lunch was protein bars, trail mix, and some other snack and dinner was a MH meal. Planning factor on this was 100 calories per oz of dry weight for energy and protein. None of us used more than 4-5L a day counting all day drinking, flavor mix during the hunt and at dinner, and small packable cups are easier to clean than stoves and dishes etc.

For shower, we used Dead Down Wind wipes and rinseless soap. No need to use water for this.

Given some of the other feedback, I'd agree on a gallon per person per day.

 

[Hucker]

Well, we had a great scouting trip. We setup our ad hoc camp, and were awaken by 4 bugling bulls at 00:46. They bugled until about 6 am. It was my first time trying to sleep thru something like that.

We never saw any elk, but we had them close to camp each night/morning. This morning I bugled with a bull for almost 2 hours. That was so much fun. At the end, he sounded like he was coming in to kick my butt, but never closed the last 75 yards or so. We really didn't want him to since we are still 2 weeks out from the start of the season.

Sounds like the rut is just wrapping up down here (unusually late, too). The winter migration has not happened yet either. The locals think more bulls will be moving off the Mogollon Rim this week/weekend. My hunting partner is going up to move cattle off the rim with a local ranch, so he'll have a better idea of the day-to-day changes in elk activity. One of the ranch hands told us they have been seeing a 400+ class bull and a 390+ bull in the area we camped. Can't wait.

 

[Gr8bawana]

That's something to look forward to.

 

[ArmyArcher]

Indeed sounds like a great trip about to happen. I depart tomorrow for unit 10 and although I didn't hear any bugling during my two day scouting this past weekend, I did see some bulls still with cows.

Good luck.