A question came up in a Utah local bowhunting group “How many miles do you think you hike a year? Include shed stumbling, scouting and hunting..” I made my estimation followed shorty by the disclaimer that I’ve never kept track. The guy that posed the question then told me I should try and keep track this year….
Challenge accepted.
I’ll do my best to post dates, small description and a rounded down mileage. Pursuit or scouting miles only is the plan and I won’t count horse miles in the final count though I may list them just for fun.
1/20-Keeping track based off the phones pedometer is 8.98, assuming a little bit of that is walking around the gas station and driving to our spot let’s call it 8 miles of predator hunting.
1/21- predator hunting again and phone pedometer again also, 5.46 showing when we got home. Let’s call it 4 just so no one can say I cheated my own deal.
3/15- shed stumbling/scouting all the bulls are still packing. 9 miles rounded down from the pedometer on the phone.
3/16 another day like yesterday but in 6″ of snow. 5 miles hiked to glasing points and watching bucks and bulls still packing both sides.
4/2- 4 mile loop I hit each year this time. No sheds, glassed alot of elk and deer that look to be in good health.
4/3- 3.5 miles, tracked by GPS this time for a more exact number. No horns again, elk I saw were still packing.
5/27-28- working 2 jobs lately, working 12 days on 2 days off so not been getting out much. Did a 25 hour trip, inreach tracked it at 16 miles. Pedometer on the phone said over 20. We will stick to 16 though. Full set up pack like I was headed in for a hunt, 30 pounds before food, water and camera gear.
6/24- 11 miles. Did a bonsai trail can drop with a 25 pound bag of attractant in my new bag to test it and the new frame. Went in at 4 am came out at 10 am.
8/18-21- 8 miles that I remembered to keep track of.
8/30-9/4- 19.25 miles tracked, I know I missed a few smaller hikes to glassing points but oh well.
9/13- totally missed this until now (October) but I killed my elk this day, probably 5 miles total hiked. No clue how far I hiked the day before…. oops.
10/11- I believe today was my 13th day hunting since the general archery season opened. Went out looking for a cow elk with my rifle and went and grabbed my last trail cam. 13 miles on my 13th day. Step counter said 18 miles but its gotta be off. (Did like a half mile the next day just to sit and glass.)
10/29-4 miles, wasatch front so mostly vertical climbs up to glassing points looking for mule deer.
10/30- 5 miles, camped up top, got up first thing and covered ridgelines while glassing and then hiked out to drive home.
11/12- 5 miles on the wasatch front.
11/13- 5 miles on the front helping recover a deer that was hit by another hunter.
11/26- 3 miles of easy walking through river bottoms looking for some deer
11/27- 8 miles of the same walking. Found elk but no deer…..
AMPED ARCHER 
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