# How many of you have Fished/Hunted for your food while Bikepacking?



## NEPMTBA (Apr 7, 2007)

I have caught fish and cooked them up before...
...but wondering if anyone else has done similar.


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## SingleTrackLovr (Apr 25, 2007)

I go on bikepacking fishing trips all the time but I also carry food to prepare in case they aren't biting. Is that what you mean?


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## kcaz (Nov 2, 2004)

^^^Outstanding work there STL. Now I'm hungry..


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## icecreamjay (Apr 13, 2004)

SingleTrackLovr said:


> I go on bikepacking fishing trips all the time but I also carry food to prepare in case they aren't biting. Is that what you mean?


I would say this is exactly what he meant. That trout looks delicious btw. Nice job.


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## wahday (Mar 23, 2012)

Holy crap that looks awesome!


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## NEPMTBA (Apr 7, 2007)

SingleTrackLovr said:


> I go on bikepacking fishing trips all the time but I also carry food to prepare in case they aren't biting. Is that what you mean?


Like you read my mind!

Great response, but how did you transport that picnic table out there? :thumbsup:


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## SingleTrackLovr (Apr 25, 2007)

wahday said:


> Holy crap that looks awesome!


Thank you, glad you like them. Fresh caught trout fried in bacon grease is the best. YumYum...



NEPMTBA said:


> Like you read my mind!
> 
> Great response, but how did you transport that picnic table out there? :thumbsup:


Haha.

Well if you like those you might like these. 
Here's a German Brown that was too big for my skillet so I let him go right after the pictures.














































BACK he goes...


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## De La Pena (Oct 7, 2008)

Sweet!! Gonna go ride now.


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## tim208 (Apr 23, 2010)

yes i do some hunting


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## tim208 (Apr 23, 2010)

2011 Great elk season last year.


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## dogus (Dec 25, 2010)

tim208 said:


> yes i do some hunting


what happens to the rest of the kill? do you drag it out too on a bike trailer or leave it?


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## SingleTrackLovr (Apr 25, 2007)

This must be private land you are camping right in the middle of the road.


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## tim208 (Apr 23, 2010)

I pack the animal out in big pieces. big bull 5 trips, spike usaully takes 3 trips. 

nope, national forest. closed skid trail, the trail ends about 100 yards past the camp. 

getting ready for this years hunt.


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## TobyGadd (Sep 9, 2009)

I've eaten some raspberries along the trail!


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## curly1 (Aug 23, 2012)

This turned into a cool thread real fast.


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## EMrider (Sep 9, 2007)

Wow, the rack on that elk is huge. 
Gotta be an extremely full freezer or two from that hunt. 
This gives me some ideas, but for smaller game.
Thanks
R


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## tim208 (Apr 23, 2010)

I should have bought a bigger chest freezer, i will probably get one for my shop.

I started off with small game in alaska in the early 90's and have worked my way up from there. .22 in a backpack can get a lot of grouse. I have gone on alot of bike rides and brought grouse home for dinner.


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## crux (Jan 10, 2004)

Nice thread and very timely. I've carried a fishing rod with me on a few trips, but never caught a single fish. When I leave the rod at home I always seem to find a perfect little fishing spot where the fish are biting. This weekend was no different. Quite a few brook trout in the stream in Northern NM right off the trail. All hungry and me without any fishing gear. Oh well gives me a reason to get back up there. 

BTW anyone else using a Tenkara fishing rod? Found them to be very simple and compact.


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## mtbxplorer (Dec 25, 2009)

I reeled this one in from my campsite...


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## 3pindon (Sep 10, 2012)

tim208
u are the man.
im trying my new fat bike this fall for bird and deer hunting in mn
seems like the thing to do


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## 3pindon (Sep 10, 2012)

the gang


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## jan_nikolajsen (Oct 28, 2011)

Hunter AND gatherer:









Rosehips









Miner's lettuce and stinging nettles.


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## Bluechip (Feb 17, 2006)

Is that something you caught or is that the bait? And just what are you trying to catch with that?



mtbxplorer said:


> I reeled this one in from my campsite...


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## mtbxplorer (Dec 25, 2009)

^^ It was stocked just hours earlier and then caught. Streams make good cooler substitutes.


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## t0pcat (May 7, 2012)

tim208 said:


> 2011 Great elk season last year.


loads like this you're supposed to have a wide load plackard for your trailer! LOL


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## FNFAL (Feb 5, 2009)

NEPMTBA said:


> I have caught fish and cooked them up before...
> ...but wondering if anyone else has done similar.


During my Tour Divide experience, I came across a deer that had been hit by a car.

Here's what happened, and a snip of my Tour Divide retrospective.

Riding out of Salida, I spent a good 15 miles on pavement before I hit a 30 mile stretch of tiny park roads and a nasty long climb to Marshal Pass. But right before my tires touched dirt, I had to kill a deer.

I came across an older couple, probably in their 60's, speaking with another slightly younger (40s?) Hispanic woman. Then I saw, off to the side of the road, an animal laying in the ditch.

It was still moving.

I immediately threw my bike down and ran up to the group and asked "Who hit the deer?"

They looked at me like I was an idiot.

Apparently, the Hispanic lady was somewhat lost, and the elderly couple stopped to help her out. And 10 yards away from them was a female mule deer writhing in agony. The poor thing had been hit by a car probably earlier that morning. It had a broken back, and two compound leg fractures (front and back, right side). It was still very conscious and didn't want me near it. But, it couldn't get up to run away either.

After I pointed this out to the individuals at the road, the Hispanic women exclaimed "Dios Mio!" and I asked if the older gentleman was squeemish at all.

He said "No..." but his face and tone said "Aw crap..." I grabbed my knife from my bike and told him to hold the front legs and keep the doe from moving while I slit its throat.

I made it quick and clean. I held it until it stopped struggling. Afterwards, hands, knife, and jersey bloodied, I put my knife away and thanked the man. 
We didn't shake hands, for obvious reasons.

I saw the Hispanic woman digging around in her car, saying something. She pulls out a small vial of water. Apparently this was "holy water", and she began crossing herself as she splashed it on the dead deer.

I nearly asked if she had anymore to wash my knife with, but thought better of it. I had places to be.

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This is the closest I have come to fishing or hunting while bike-packing. However, I have thought numerous times of hunting for squirrel, rabbit, or fowl with my bike. That seems ideal. Larger animals would need to be field dressed quickly, and even then to harvest the meat would be a chore for anything but a Big Dummy. :thumbsup:


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## JFaur (Sep 21, 2012)

This is awesome. Ive been wanting to do this for a long time. Just waiting on the weather to cool down here in south florida. :-/


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## Mr Cup (May 31, 2011)

Great thread and pictures so far.


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## BeanMan (Jul 6, 2006)

From Colorado's Uncompahgre Plateau a couple weeks ago. Dusky grouse AKA Blue grouse, made great stir fry and strapped on my camelback. P.S. I only carry the .22 pistol during grouse season.


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## t0pcat (May 7, 2012)

BeanMan said:


> From Colorado's Uncompahgre Plateau a couple weeks ago. Dusky grouse AKA Blue grouse, made great stir fry and strapped on my camelback. P.S. I only carry the .22 pistol during grouse season.


pretty good shootin with the pistola :thumbsup:


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## BeanMan (Jul 6, 2006)

They don't call them "fool hen's" for nothing!


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## intheways (Apr 19, 2004)

Cool thread! After my first overnighter last weekend, I think I'm finally going to be able to combine fishing and bike packing (hopefully packrafting).

Any recommendations for fly-fishing rigs that breakdown nice and small?


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## SlowSSer (Dec 19, 2003)

intheways said:


> Cool thread! After my first overnighter last weekend, I think I'm finally going to be able to combine fishing and bike packing (hopefully packrafting).
> 
> Any recommendations for fly-fishing rigs that breakdown nice and small?


orvis has a travel kit that breaks down to about 18".


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## SingleTrackLovr (Apr 25, 2007)

intheways said:


> Cool thread! After my first overnighter last weekend, I think I'm finally going to be able to combine fishing and bike packing (hopefully packrafting).
> 
> Any recommendations for fly-fishing rigs that breakdown nice and small?





SlowSSer said:


> orvis has a travel kit that breaks down to about 18".


Flyfishing and bikepacking go hand in hand and deserve its own thread


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## evdog (Mar 18, 2007)

I haven't had the chance to do any fishing on the bike packs I've done...there isn't much trout fishing in SoCal unfortunately. I've fished plenty on backpacking trips and plenty on day rides. If I can work some bike-packs again in CO next year fishing will definitely be part of the plan, though I won't rely on it. Too hard when you aren't familiar with the waters. Even if you don't keep anything it will still be fun.

From an overnight backpack in the Sierras this summer. Cooked dinner and stashed food 1/4mi downstream of camp due to tons of fresh bear sign.


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## wahday (Mar 23, 2012)

Wow, what a crazy story *FNFAL*!

And great pics in this thread! I wish there was more running water near me, but alas, its the high desert. I have considered eating rabbit as I come across a lot in my explores. I almost ran over one last bikepacking trip. But dressing it seems kind of like a hassle, especially in bear and mountain lion country. Also not something you can for sure count on getting.

But I used to do a lot of canoe tripping up in Ontario and Manitoba. You could always count on a number of fish meals there - large mouth bass, walleye and northern pike mainly.


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