Back Pack

the blur

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What's in your hunting backpack for a day in the woods?

My pack is like 20 lbs. It's getting ridiculous.

water, rope, lighter, calls.....

I have to dump it out, and start over.
 
same problem

I went from a day pack attached to my climbing stand, to a climbing safety vest, for the same reason. If I can't fit the stuff in the vest, it doesn't go along.

A spare release (archery), a snack, whistle and superknife, I'm ashamed to admit it but a cell phone, small bottle of water attached to the stand. Loppers and a limb saw, in the stand. Usually a compass, but not for navigation (wind direction). Shooting gloves and the tether for the vest. That's it.
 
Try a smaller pack - heck, a fanny pack will work for a day hunt. I have noticed that I tend to keep adding stuff as long as I have room. It got pretty ridiculous...
 
I like to wear my old BDUs or ACUs, and I stuff the pockets as needed.

I typically carry a ziplock with baby wipes, a folding knife, a reloadings worth of ammo, a few cliff bars, smokes, lighter, radio, some paracord, and a camelbak on my back. If we get an animal, we either drag it out, or quarter it and I tie it to me, my hunting buddy typically has a pack he puts his share in. I am saving for a good internal frame pack, right now I just have a loud creak bulky pita external frame pack, so I go without.

P.S. Gotta have them baby wipes!
 
I wasn't much on back packs until recently, I would stick a sandwich in one pocket, water in another pocket of my coat.

This year I was hunting in the Rockys up 7 or 8 thousand feet. The temp was maybe 30 degrees in the morning at camp, several degrees cooler up where we were hunting. Then by lunchtime it might be 60 degrees. Usually I would ride a horse up on top then hunt my way down a couple of miles and let the wrangler bring the horses back. Problem was I was cooking pretty fast and needed to shed some clothes. I usually just tie them around my waste by the sleeve. I had my sweater around my waste and my jacket crammed down in the botton of my sling with the rifle on my shoulder. Coming down a steep incline crawling over and under blowdowns and snow brush I lost my jacket. Needle in a haystack comes to mind. A backpack to stuff my jacket and sweater in would have been nice.

Lost my camera was the big thing, had another jacket in camp.
Old habits are hard to break, but I took advantage of the Cabelas sale and bought a nice one for $50.
 
Ya need a backpack to pack yer "stuff" in and ya need to be able to pack out meat. It seems to me that a backpack is a really important item unless you have a lot of help with the animal ya kill.
 
A pack?

Oh yeah, one of them there things. It would come in handy. I have to confess that lately my hunting forays seem to be spur of the moment affairs between other crises. During elk and deer seasons I always have a rifle stowed in the truck just in case I can take a few hours during the day. For some reason, I never take the time to plan ahead enough for a pack though. Lately it seems like my preparation is grabbing a bottle of water and a package of jerky while I am fueling up to run up the mountain that afternoon. Sometimes I do it better, but too many times it seems like I just have my rifle and knife and water and jerky and cussing myself for not having other things when I have an elk on the ground. Luckily it's only 11 miles from home to the top of the mountain.
 
Ya need a backpack to pack yer "stuff" in and ya need to be able to pack out meat. It seems to me that a backpack is a really important item unless you have a lot of help with the animal ya kill.

A lot of hunting packs will do no good trying to pack meat out. They are just not designed for it. We keep a couple of pack frames at camp and will get those if we have to haul meat on our backs.

Where we elk hunt, though, there are enough logging roads that we can usually get a rope to it, tie off a snatch block on a tree to keep the rope off the ground, and drag them out.
 
I'm a believer in a pack

I started using a pack many moons ago and don't know if I could function without one now. First, by having all of my incidental items organized I literally grab my pack and my gun and I'm gone. My buddies are fumbling around trying to remember where they set their flash light or grunt call while I stand there laughing. I have a good size pack but it's far from full for a reason. If I am stand hunting and know I have a hike to get there I usually don't wear my coat. That get's tucked in the pack and I minimize the sweat factor. Nothing will get a guy colder than having all your cold weather gear on and walking 3/4 - 1 mile heating yourself up only to freeze in your own sweat for the rest of the time on stand. As far as must haves in the pack, I have a flashlight, grunt call, rattling bag, knife, paper towel, cover scents, gloves, neck sock, range finder, water, and a few extra rounds. If I am doing an all dayer in the woods, a lunch gets thrown in as well.

If I am going adventuring, I have been know to grab a few things and hide my pack close to my stand so that I can go as light as possible when I still hunt. Just so you know, I am an expert at hiding things in the woods. I have pulled gutted deer next to a dead fall, covered them with sticks, branches, and leaves and made them disappear. I took a buddy back to a hidden deer to help me retrieve it and he could find it 5 yards away from him. He thought I was pulling his leg until I reached over grabbed a leg and jerked out the buck.
 
Water, disposable camera, rope, deer drag, 2 flashlights, different head covers, matches, extra jacket or coat, sometimes snacks, gloves, cover scents, grunt call, The Can, Johnny Urinal, my cushions attached to back of pack, sometimes my artic shield boot blankets.

I know there are things I left out. I feel like the pack weighs 25 plus pounds, but dang it I believe in being prepared. The way I see it is, if I am not strong enough to tote it on my back to my hunting location, then I need to stay at home and watch hunting shows on the couch....:D
 
Camelbak Mule

DSC03269.jpg


Inventory:
GPS
Camera + small tripod
Knife (fixed for skinning+backup pocketknife)
Diamond sharpening stone
2 lighters, Wetfire tinder
2 trashbags
First aid kit
Snacks (peanuts/Goo packets)
1 bottled water

Weighs just over 6 lbs with all of the above. If I think I will need more water, I put in the bladder that holds 3 L of water. Without the bladder, I stuff a book in the bladder compartment. I consider this the perfect day pack.
Regards,
-Dan
 
dnr1128, ask if you may, I don't care...:) I will answer you, but my question is to you. Do you pee on the ground, pee in a little bottle or do you hunt at all?

Lot easier to hit a bigger hole (with pee pee, not number 2 of course if that is what you were thinking....:eek:) than to try the plastic bottle trick. As you know when it is real cold and a guy has tons of clothes on, the call of nature 20 feet up a tree can be fun. I do believe in containing the fluids (pee pee) at my hunting spot. Some people claim they just pee on the ground and it does not matter. Who knows?
 
Usually I handle business at the truck before walking in. Haven't had the call hit me while I'm in the stand, but I'm normally only in for three or four hours at a time. No way I'd pee on the ground at the hunting spot... I'd think the deer would smell that a mile off.

I don't have a pack per se, but all my pockets are usually full with GPS, phone, calls, etc etc. How I'd carry the pack, a rifle, and the stand without making a huge racket would be a problem. :)
 
I am like you. I try my best to take care of business before getting near the woods, but dang it somedays are different. I generally try to limit my intake of liquids before my hunt, but sometimes I have to have a cup of coffee before the hunt.
 
Your comment about hitting the hole reminded me of something a coworker told me a while back. He said he uses a 3 liter bottle, since the hole is bigger than 2 liter. :D

Anybody got any recommendations for backpacks? I'd never thought about them much till the last few days with this deer season getting going.
 
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