One thing that I think warrants considerable thought is the mental aspect, the common theme that it isn't easy and you likely won't enjoy it while your are grinding it out. It's a labor of love, as has been said before, "it's something that I love to hate".
During our pack outs my buddy and I are all smiles and energy for the first half of the first trip, then the reality of the situation slowly dawns on us, that we have to pack 200+ lbs of meat and 50 lbs of gear anywhere from 2-5 miles overland and through mountainous terrain full of brush and blow downs. The joking, the high spirits & high fives, the talking ..... all subside, you find yourself in split worlds, your feet are slowly churning up the miles, your muscles are toiling through the elevation gain and the obstacles, but the world turns into a less vibrant version of reality. Your mind is elsewhere, thinking of past hunts, odd recollections from years past, anything other than the task at hand. Before you know it, 2 hours has passed and you find yourself suddenly at your tailgate, the first trip is under your belt. With an empty pack, a snack and some water, you head back in for another load making surprising headway. The day or days pass like this, you find that hours pass without any sense of time, marked only by brief states of consciousness when you arrive at A or B. Sometimes you get pried out of lizard brain to the realization that you have a new blister, or that an existing one just burst, or that there's a deer observing your progress, but for the most part you just grind it out, one step at a time.
What I'm trying to illustrate is that it's not very enjoyable DURING the packout. Fortunately our minds are capable of finding ways to distract themselves (marathon runners will tell you the same). BUT, when you set that last load on the tailgate and make that wobbly walk down to the creek to retrieve a mountain-cold beer or soda, knowing that the hardest part is over, that you and your family will reap the rewards of your efforts all year, there's a monumental feeling of satisfaction and gratitude.
It took me 5 years to kill my first bull with a bow. Not because I didn't know how to kill animals or because I wasn't smart enough, but because it took me that long to expand my comfort zone, to go in deep, to hunt where the elk are, knowing that every step away from the truck would be twice as hard with meat on my back. It took me that long, 5 years of packing deer out on my back, to convince myself that I was physically capable of Much More than I ever thought possible. It took me 5 years to learn that being uncomfortable, that getting multiple blisters on each foot, that the feelings of pain ...... are all just temporary, a week after you return you will be wishing you could do it all over again. To learn that the reward far exceeds the effort, that you can always hike another 100 yards, that no bowl is too steep and no bull is too far .... once you get her, knowing that success is always possible.... That's a beautiful place to be.
Read this thread. This is a guy that CAN.
https://www.longrangehunting.com/threads/colorado-wilderness-6x6-bull-elk.210289/
