Elk hunting is the pinnacle of western hunting. It takes a lot of work and sometimes years to plan. So as you can imagine, you don’t want to waste a hunt because you didn’t carry enough water.
Elk hunting takes a lot of energy, and when you spend a lot of energy, you need water. You don’t want to have an elk bugling just over the mountain and not being able to get him because you didn’t have enough water.
Here is the short answer:
When elk hunting, you want to carry between 3 to 4 liters of water. However, you may need more depending on how far you are hiking, how much weight you will be carrying, and what climate you will be in.
Now that you have the short answer, we can look at when you want more or less water, how to judge how much water you should carry, and how much water you should drink (yes, there is a difference between how much you should carry and how much you should drink).
When you would want more or less water
While it is recommended to drink your weight in ounces of water every day, you should drink more when you are exercising-like elk hunting; However, there are times when you don’t have to drink more than that and vice versa.
Weight. How much weight you are carrying can have a huge impact on how much water you need. While I can’t give you an exact number to how much extra water you need, as how much water you need is dependent on the person, it is safe to say that if you are carrying more weight-like an elk quarter-then you should plan on having to refill your water blatter more.
Hiking. As you can imagine, if you are hiking 10 miles a day, you need more water. If you are planning on hiking a few miles back, setting up a base camp, then hunting from there, you don’t need as much water, aside from the day you hike in. But if you are hunting from a truck, and are hiking a few miles back to a location then hunting in that general area, you will need more water than the alternative. Before hiking into a location, make sure the area has a nearby stream, lake, pond, or river you can get water from.
If you are day hunting, while it is useful to have a water source nearby, you will be able to make it if you carry 3-4 liters of water in your pack, and have plenty of water in your truck. However, you should probably have a water source nearby when truck/day hunting in case things go sideways.
Location. If you are hunting in Arizona, where it’s super dry, you will want more water than hunting in Oregon, where it rains all the time. When you add up walking 8-10 miles a day, super hot climate, and carrying a heavy pack, you may need 5-6 liters rather than 3-4; if you are hunting in a more mild climate, like Colorado, then you will want the 3-4 liters; but if it’s super humid and rains a lot, like Oregon, you may only need 2-3 liters.
How much water you should drink
So you should carry anywhere from 4-6 liters, dependent on the climate, how much weight you are carrying, how far you are hiking, and how you are hunting. But how much weight should you drink?
When hunting, you should drink anywhere from 4-6 liters, But you need more water than that before a hunt. About 3-4 days before a hunt, you should be drinking 1-1.5 gallons of water a day. Doing this will help your body get ready for the hiking you will be doing, also if you are hunting in a location significantly higher than where you live, this will help you acclimate.
Conclusion
As long as you look at what climate you will be in, what water will be nearby, how far you will hike, and how much weight you will be carrying, you will be able to find how much water you need to carry. Once you find out how much water you need to carry, you will be able to hunt harder, longer, and farther.
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