What to Eat for Elk Hunting | Backcountry Nutrition Tips for Mountain Hunters

What to Eat for Elk Hunting | Backcountry Nutrition Tips for Mountain Hunters

Why Backcountry Nutrition Is Your Performance Edge

Most backcountry hunters completely overlook one of the most critical elements of their success—nutrition. Not just what snacks you throw in your pack, but how you fuel your body to perform, recover, and stay sharp through long climbs, cold nights, and endless miles.

Out in the backcountry, food isn’t just calories—it’s gear. If you get it wrong, you don’t just move slower. You start thinking slower. You lose focus. You make poor decisions. And when that happens, your window of opportunity closes fast.

I’ve spent over 29 years as a professional strength, conditioning, and nutrition coach. I’ve worked with elite athletes, military operators, and everyday hunters who just want to perform their best. I’ve tested everything—balanced whole food, keto, high-carb endurance fueling, and even strict carnivore. And I’ve taken that experience into 33 years of chasing elk, mule deer, and other western big game.

Nutrition will make or break you in the field. It’s not flashy. It’s not a new call or camo pattern. But if you want to hunt longer, hike harder, and stay sharp all week—it starts with what’s in your gut.

Macronutrient Basics for Mountain Hunting

Your body runs on three macronutrients—protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Most hunters don’t understand how each one fuels their performance, recovery, and focus in the backcountry.

Protein: Repair and Recovery in the Field

Protein is your body’s repair crew. Every time you load a heavy pack or hike miles through deadfall, you create microscopic muscle damage. That’s not bad—unless you fail to rebuild.

You’re not trying to bulk up out there—you’re trying to protect muscle, recover, and stay functional under stress. Aim for one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight per day. That’s tough in the mountains, so plan ahead. Pack jerky, protein powders, tuna, or freeze-dried meals with real protein content.

Carbohydrates: Your Gas Pedal for High Output

Carbs are your body’s primary fuel source for high-intensity effort. Long climbs, quick stalks, and heavy packouts all demand glycogen. When those stores run low, you feel it—your legs fade and your mind dulls.

Use slow-digesting carbs like oats, rice, granola, and dried fruit to stay fueled without crashing. Pair carbs with protein or fat to stabilize blood sugar and extend endurance.

Fats: The Endurance Engine for Long Hunts

Fat is your body’s slow-burning energy source. It packs nine calories per gram, making it a smart way to increase calorie density without heavy pack weight. Nut butters, cheese, salami, trail mix, and coconut oil are efficient, packable fuel.

Most hunters underfuel. They either skimp on protein or overload on sugar. Others try extreme diets they’ve never tested. That’s how good hunts fall apart.

Common Nutrition Mistakes Hunters Make

Many hunters head into the mountains underfueled and untested. They rely on trendy diets or convenience snacks, not real performance nutrition. That’s where the carnivore, keto, and high-carb styles come into play—and where most go wrong.

The Carnivore Diet: Pros, Cons, and Real-World Challenges

The carnivore diet has exploded in popularity, especially among hunters chasing simplicity or anti-inflammatory benefits. It’s straightforward—meat, fat, salt, and nothing else. It stabilizes blood sugar, reduces inflammation, and eliminates processed junk.

But in the backcountry, it’s a different story. Fresh meat is heavy. High-fat foods digest slowly at altitude. There’s zero glycogen for explosive climbs or packouts. And micronutrient diversity drops off fast.

It can work for fully fat-adapted hunters who’ve trained their bodies for it. But most crash by day three or four because their systems aren’t prepared. Carnivore can be a great off-season tool to drop inflammation and shed fat—but when it’s time to hunt, you need carbs, protein, and fat working together.

Keto and Low-Carb, High-Fat: Benefits and Drawbacks

Keto and low-carb strategies train your body to run on fat instead of carbs. When done right, this means stable energy, reduced hunger, and less inflammation. Foods like oils, cheese, nuts, and salami give you high calories with less weight.

But the adaptation phase is brutal. If you try to go keto right before your hunt, you’ll crash. Without glycogen, your body loses top-end output. You might hike fine, but the minute you push hard—packing meat or climbing steep ridges—you’ll hit a wall.

Use keto for steady-state, low-intensity hunting. But if you’re covering miles or chasing bugles, you’ll need more carbs.

High-Carb Endurance Fueling: Strengths and Weaknesses

This is the go-to for athletes coming from triathlon or running backgrounds. It’s built around fast-digesting carbs like drink mixes, gels, and bars. The upside? Constant energy and quick recovery between climbs.

The downside? Constant refueling. Fast carbs burn fast, and without protein or fat to stabilize blood sugar, you’ll crash hard. That roller-coaster energy kills focus and endurance on multi-day hunts.

Carbs are a tool—not a religion. Use them strategically before climbs or long pushes. Pair them with protein or fat to slow digestion and stay steady.

The Junk Food Strategy: Why It Fails

Gas station snacks, energy drinks, and sugary bars are still the norm for too many hunters. It’s easy, cheap, and familiar—but it’s also the fastest way to tank your performance.

Processed foods spike and crash your blood sugar, cause gut distress, and wreck recovery. By day three, you’re bloated, tired, foggy, and irritable. That’s not a lack of grit—it’s bad fuel.

Food is gear. You wouldn’t take a broken pack into the mountains, so don’t take broken nutrition either.

Pre-Season vs. In-Season Nutrition

Pre-season is for testing and control. You’re training, adapting, and dialing in your food system. That’s the time to experiment with carnivore, keto, or balanced plans.

In-season is about execution. Once the hunt starts, you eat for fuel, not perfection. You’re not dieting—you’re performing. That means higher calories, balanced macros, and food that digests cleanly in real mountain conditions.

Train to adapt. Fuel to execute.

How I Pack Food for a Backcountry Hunt

For elk or mule deer hunts, I aim for 2,800–3,600 calories per day, about 1.5–2 pounds of food. My goal: at least 100 grams of protein daily, with a balanced mix of fats and carbs.

I pre-pack daily gallon bags with:

  • Breakfast: oats or egg scramble with added protein

  • Midday snacks: jerky, bars, and trail mix

  • Lunch: tuna packets, meat wraps, or crackers with cheese

  • Afternoon fuel: nut butter, fruit, or honey

  • Dinner: high-protein freeze-dried meal with olive oil for extra calories

Vacuum seal your meals. Label calories. Test everything before season. The more dialed your food is, the more mental and physical bandwidth you save when it counts.

The Big Picture: Nutrition as Strategy

This isn’t about diet camps—it’s about performance. Nutrition is part of your system, just like your bow, boots, and optics. When you treat food like gear, you stop guessing and start performing.

I’ve hunted with tough, driven guys who fell apart by day four because they didn’t fuel right. I’ve also seen average athletes crush hunts because they fueled smart. That’s not luck—it’s strategy.

Build your own system. Test it before the hunt. Refine it every year. You don’t need to be perfect—you just need to be intentional.

If you care enough to read this far, you’re already ahead of most hunters. Stack those small advantages—nutrition, training, mindset—and you’ll become a different kind of hunter. The kind who finishes strong.

TEAM BACKBONE MEMBERSHIP

If this episode helped sharpen your edge, that’s exactly what TEAM BACKBONE was built for.

Inside the membership, you’ll get access to my full systems for training, nutrition, recovery, and backcountry performance—plus exclusive content, monthly gear giveaways, and direct access to me for personalized advice.

Join TEAM BACKBONE today at BackboneUnlimited.com under the Membership tab.

Thanks for being here. Until next time—Train Harder, Hunt Smarter, and Never Settle.

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