At what point does nutrition help or hurt you on a backcountry hunt? When, and how, can your food choices make a difference in your performance? What are some of the common nutrition-related mistakes that hunters make when packing food for a trip?
We answer these questions (and many more) with Kyle Kamp of Valley-to-Peak Nutrition.
Listen Now — Hit play in the header above, access the podcast on Spotify, or download the episode from SoundCloud.
Topics Discussed
- When does nutrition actually matter for hunters?
- How can nutrition change your performance on a hunt — for good or for bad?
- The most common nutrition mistakes that hunters make.
- Why trying to have “optimal” nutrition can have negative effects.
- The downsides of optimizing for calories-per-ounce and saving weight in your pack.
- The nutrition mistakes that Kyle made on this year’s Death Hike.
- How the digestive system competes for resources with other systems in the body.
- The importance of understanding the role of macronutrients — carbohydrate, protein, and fat.
- The total number of calories a hunter should pack per day for an extended hunt.
- Recommendations for macronutrient composition/percentages for the backcountry hunter.
- Why most hunters don’t pack enough carbs, and pack too much protein and fat.
- How the quantity and type of calories needed can change each day on an extended hunt.
- Why do hunters sometimes struggle to eat the food they packed on their hunt.
- Why your diet on a backpack hunt shouldn’t look like your everyday diet, and vice versa.
- The benefits of frequent smaller snacks vs infrequent larger meals when on a backcountry hunt.
- What Kyle is packing for his 10-day backpack sheep hunt in Alaska
Backcountry Nutrition Calculator (Spreadsheet)
In the podcast, Mark & Kyle discussed a free nutrition planning spreadsheet. You can MAKE A COPY of this spreadsheet and personalize it for your hunts, or you can view the spreadsheet if you just want to see it (not modify it).
Mark’s Bar Recipe
These bars are delicious, packable, and super easy to make. Pull these out of the freezer just before you leave for your hunt and they will keep well over a week+ hunt.
Mark used to bake them in a pan and cut them into bars, but has since started making individual servings by baking them in silicon muffin cups and then freezing the “muffins” in vacuum-sealed packages for hunts, as seen below.
The basic recipe is below. Use this as a template and add your own custom options (chopped nuts, dried fruit, etc)…
Additional Resources
- Valley-to-Peak Nutrition
- Kyle’s “Audrey Bar” Recipe
- A Guide to Dehydrate Your Own Meals
- Mark’s Sheep Hunt Food & Gear List (see 2nd tab on the spreadsheet for the food list)
