NUTRITION PROGRAM FOR SHEEP HUNTING
Backcountry Nutrition
The first time I went sheep hunting, I did not have a nutrition program. I was, however, in it to win it. I carried food for over 20 days. My plan was to stay out until the last day of the season if necessary. As you can imagine, the rations were not generous.
My hunting buddy and I would split a candy bar every other day for a treat. I consumed 800-1500 calories a day until, finally, on the eighth day I shot my sheep. With all the hiking and cold nights, this was not enough food.
This year I want a nutrition plan.
Now that my hunting buddy and I have real jobs and responsibilities, we can be gone only a week, so that helps. I also know a considerable more about nutrition, which will hopefully help as well.
UPDATE: (Here is a Round-Up of all the food I brought)
Nutrition Planning
Reading The Keto Reset Diet: Reboot Your Metabolism in 21 Days and Burn Fat Forever by Mark Sisson has inspired me to go KETO for my sheep hunt.
For every gram of fat, you get nine calories. For every gram of carbohydrate, you get only four calories. This seems like a great place to cut weight – a lot of weight – out of my pack.
After listening to The Open Sky Fitness Podcast episode 186, about nutritional periodization, I decided to write it into my diet and exercise plan. How great is Excel?
I already eat relatively low-carb, Paleo-inspired, so going low-carb isn’t a huge deal for me. However, I have become a little stricter the last week. Starting March 12, I plan on doing six weeks of full-on Keto for the first time, to really acclimate my body to burning fat for its primary fuel.
Then I will return to low-carb until late June, when I plan to go back to Keto until my hunt.
I anticipate that during the hunt, I will need more carbs because of the insane physical demands of sheep hunting. However, hopefully, most of my calories will be from magically light fat.
If you have been low-carb or Keto for a sheep hunt, I would love to hear from you.
Stay tuned for more details about my nutrition program and preparation for my sheep hunt.
UPDATE!!
The Delta Sheep Hunt was a dream come true and my food worked amazingly! The Keto Lunches and DIY Dehydrated Dinners were game changers!
(Here is a Round-Up of all the food I brought)
*Wild and Well Fed is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. While this does not add any cost to the consumer it helps Gina continue to work on this blog. She will only provide links to things she thinks will help you or you might really like.
Hunting Tags Are Out!
Last Friday, hunting tags came out. I’d been excited, but I haven’t really draw anything in a while, so I was just cooking breakfast. My husband was sitting at our kitchen island on my computer, he gets every other Friday off, looking up tag results. When he pulled up mine, a disappointed look came on his face, so I knew I had drawn something good. Delta Walk In!
For those of you that don’t sheep hunt in Alaska, Dall Sheep draw areas have the best sheep numbers, so your likelihood of shooting a sheep is way better than over the counter tags.
I danced around the kitchen the rest of the morning. I also decided the Meghan Trainor’s song “Me Too” was the theme song of the day and I played it pretty much on a loop. “If I was you, I’d want to be me too”
Let’s back up a second. Hunting used to be my life. I put a great amount of time and effort into my hunting trips each year. Seven years ago, I shot a Dall Sheep in the Tok Management Area (also a low probability draw area, I’m a lucky girl!). Before and after that I was obsessed with sheep hunting, then…. Life happened. For the last 4 years, I have been either pregnant or breastfeeding. But this year, it’s my turn to hunt again!!
Shortly after breakfast, my brain started to race about all the thing I would need to do to get ready for my hunt
- Get in shape
- Go Keto, get fat adapted
- Find someone to watch my kids while we are hunting, or find a hunting buddy if my husband must stay with the kids
- Work up a load for my rifle
- Hit the shooting range
- Pack list
- Gear testing
- Re-Read Sheep Hunting in Alaska by Tony Russ
- On and On and On
I’ve decided to blog about my hunting prep. The first couple months will be mostly preparing my mom-bod for the extreme physical challenge of sheep hunting.
Here we go, wish me luck!
*Wild and Well Fed is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. While this does not add any cost to the consumer it helps Gina continue to work on this blog. She will only provide links to things she thinks will help you or you might really like.
About Gina
Gina Shively is a Personal Health Cook and American Council on Exercise (ACE) certified Health Coach located in Anchorage Alaska. Her background includes a Bachelor’s of Science in Physiology from the University of Wyoming. For the past six years, she has lived in Alaska, where she can’t get enough of the active Alaskan lifestyle that for her includes hunting, fishing, hiking, and the occasional weekend race. She loves to cook for people and enjoys the challenge of making healthy food taste delicious. Her family includes two young boys, two packgoats, and a rambunctious Weimaraner, as well as a very patient husband.