Between the last few year’s elk and coyote trips, as well as Harrison and Max hunting in New Zealand, we have dialed in exactly what we like to bring to camp. We don’t worry about eating super healthy because we know the calories will get burned off. Mostly its a mix of high carbs, proteins and fats. Fruits and vegetables get left out for the most part. I first list our food for hunting elk. Then, I list what Max and Andrea take with them in New Zealand. Let us know what you like to take with.
2 Week Rocky Mountain Elk Hunt
- 4 cans of Tuna
- Careful in bear country
- 1 pack of Salami
- We throw this on an egg sandwich in the morning.
- 1 tin of Gatorade
- Water gets really old really fast. I have friends that use mountain ops, but I developed a gatorade addiction in high school sports that I can’t seem to kick.
- 1 box of Cheese its
- Nothing more to say.
- 2 packs of Oreos
- I listened to a podcast one time where a guy that hiked the Appalacian trail said that he just ate an Oreo every 20 or 30 minutes the whole way. They explained that to keep your blood sugar levels up the idea would work and you’d constantly burn off that energy, so now I eat Oreos.
- 20 packs of Oatmeal
- I start off the day with oatmeal because it’s the only thing that keeps me full until 9 am.
- 30 Eggs
- We keep them in a styrofoam cooler with ice that sits inside of my Yeti. That’s how we keep milk cold as well. You won’t be able to get enough protein so load up on eggs every chance you get.
- 7 Bananas
- Potassium is good for recovery and avoiding cramps. Try adding peanut butter as well.
- 10 Apples
- 6 Tomatoes
- I only have tomatoes the first few days, but it’s nice to have a fresh vegetable. Most vegetables taste terrible when warm (carrots, spinach etc). Tomatoes taste better warm and can be added to anything.
- 2 Loaves of Bread-
- I get sick of peanut butter and jelly after a while and will do things like peanut butter and cheese to spice things up :). Also, some bread goes bad faster than others so get the preservative-rich kind.
- 1 jar of Peanut butter
- Just a staple good fat and protein combo.
- 1 jar of Jelly-
- Not necessary, but welcome.
- 1 block of Cheese
- 6 boxes of Pasta
- 6 cans of Pasta sauce
- This stuff rots in a hurry so I like to buy cans that way I can use it all at once.
- 5 Flavored Rice Pouches
- These are about 1.50 at Walmart and are a quick warm meal. Check them out if you haven’t.
- 2 boxes of Raisin Bran
- I mixed this with peanut butter and a banana as a post-hunt recovery snack.
- 1 box of 20 Fruit Snack packages
- Nice to have a variety of snacks and something to snack on as you hike back
- Clif Bars
- Clif Bars come with a 3 to 1 ration of carbs to protein, which is ideal for recovery. Try out the mint chocolate chips ones. They have caffeine in them.
- 1 bag of mini bagels
- 1 bag of Doritos
- 12 pack of Pop Tarts
- Throw a couple in the frying pan with butter in the morning if you’re running late.
Backcountry Hunting in New Zealand
Here is a bit of a food list Andrea and I take, Max
- butter
- potatoes
- cheese
- capsicum red pepper for vitamin c
- oranges for vitamin c
- milk powder
- hot chocolate mix
- tea bags for Andrea
- chocolate bar
- salami
- frozen meat normally hamburger
- sometimes Andrea makes a curry or spaghetti sauce and we freeze it then take it in and reheat it
- carrots
- Doritos
- apples
- rice sometimes
- pasta
- a few bags of candy
- we only take two days of bread because it goes off too quickly
- ramen
- broccoli
- sometimes cauliflour
- sometimes avocado
- eggs they don’t have to be refridgerated over here so they last a long time
- snickers
- Ritz crackers
- fruit juice in a 1 litre bottle
I hope this helps you guys out this season. Good luck to everyone heading out. Aim small; miss small. Stu
