General Info...

Mike, sounds like you learned some valuable lessons!

Your message reminds me of a few things.

Namely:

Having a dog out here is a VERY good idea. Definitely one of the husky persuasion. they shouldn't be expected to defend you (though some might try) but are invaluable as alarms against moose/bears/people. Also, a good rescued sled dog (there are lots of them out here) could be conditioned and trained to be a useful pack animal.

The down side is that while you may be able to live relatively ok on a vegetarian diet for a while, a high energy husky won't far quite so well, which necessitates the need to haul some dog food (make the dog pack it, I say).

Second, I wouldn't carry a whole fishing pole out into the bush, but I wouldn't go anywhere without the basics of some line and weights and floats and other fishing tools.

Third, don't even think about going out here for the winter without a -15 to -30 degree bag. Also, don't try to stay out if you haven't accumulated a solid stack of at least 10 cords of fire wood, maybe a little more or less depending on insulation and size of the structure you're trying to heat.

About the tent, if you're dead set on building a structure to live in, I would look into tarp tents with drop down bug netting. If you're not sure you can cut enough trees to build a cabin and heat the cabin through the winter (pretty unrealistic, I think, unless the whole group dedicated all their time to this all summer which would hugely cut down on the amount of time for putting away food for the winter,) I would check into sharing the weight of an arctic oven tent. This is an expedition quality tent structure that, while heavy and expensive, is totally something you could live in year round and would still be moveable if you discovered later on the "perfect spot" wasn't perfect after all.

I would say it would even be worth a second trip. (If you're really thinking about going out in March, most places will still have enough snow cover to run a dog team or snow machine out. After finding your spot, you could rent a snow machine and run additional supplies out.)

Thanks, Mike!

I have been doing alot of research and you can get a tundra 10 man stove tent with a 20 lbs stove for around $400 for a basic model. My dog is more of a rabbit and bird dog. English Cocker but he still woofed a few times when things were running around the camp.. I figure he may be able to catch small game that you get a wack at with a throwing stick.

I found a great website about American Wilderness areas and descriptions and pics of the areas.. which I guess you could google.
http://wilderness.net

Check it out for picking a spot.

Mike

Hey thanks for the info mrgoodtimes420.

I've also been thinking about bringing a good hunting dog most likely an english springer spaniel <also a small game dog>. But good dogs use to have one when I was younger. Whats your guys opinion on the dog?

also a fishing pole isnt much of a burden with. Ugly sticks are realy good durable and small pole, and you can get some that breack down in two pieces.

I've also been thinking about taking a store baught bow. I recently made a home mad one from a branch from my back yard tree. not the best kind of tree wood to use but got some experiment and insite on making one. Unless anybody has any experience in makeing bow and arrows it might be a good idea to have atleast one even if a small burden.
what u guys think?

I don't know about you guys but I can carry alot in and if you do the research you can find the Ultra Light Equipment. I feel that equipment that will Protect us from the weather,Get us food, and offer protection is a must. I don't see why you wouldn't bring a few dogs they offer company and like you said if we manage to wound a small critter it would be nice to have something to chase it down.

We would be able to bring more than you think since we won't need 20 of everything we can share. And really I don't see us going more than a day or two into the wild we could send a small party with rations back to bring in more stuff while the rest get camp setup and patrol the area for resources.

Mike