Monday, August 15, 2011
Huntography Deer Tour Equipment List PT 2
So far we have seen where I plan to hunt during the Huntography Deer Tour along with the archery equipment I will probably be shooting. Now I am going to take a look at what I will be carrying in my pack. One good part about the hot weather of early season is I haul less stuff but I do throw in a pair of limb cutters since limbs can still be in the way. Early November here can be almost anything from summer heat to near winter cold so last minute weather reports will determine if anything extra goes in. Here is what goes to the woods pretty much every time I head in even if it isn’t needed yet, it just lives in my pack year round. The first week of November isn’t early season, it is a short 5 day archery season so I am sticking to what I start the year with barring a big cold front moving in.
My pack is nothing special, a Redhead I bought off of a bargain table for maybe $12-$15. In fact it might have been less. I have no need for a high dollar day pack to walk a couple of hundred yards at most then hang it in a tree. The pack police have never come up and told me it wasn’t good enough. This one has been used for years in all kinds of weather without any signs of wearing out. Plenty of internal spots to organize, extra external pockets plus the Buddy Lock system for adding pouches. I only add a pouch to carry my range finder everything else goes inside. What I carry with me varies depending on time of year but not by much.
Here is the list.
1. An OLD pair of camo jersey cotton gloves with the trigger finger cut off. These are my lucky gloves. Can’t begin to remember how many I’ve taken wearing them.
2.A light weight mesh camo head net. Good for keeping skeeters off.
3.Zip Ties, good for all manner of things and what I use to attach tag to deer critters.
4.Assorted calls. 2 Primos can calls, a Knight & Hale fawn bleat (only two 8 pointers I‘ve taken came RUNNING to this call), Primos Buck Roar and rattling bag. I have no idea why I keep dragging the rattling bag around since it never works.
5.Crossbow crank
6.Bushnell range finder. The cheapest version.
7.Chuck Stapel custom drop point skinner. This knife has cleaned many a critter.
8.Hand held light and 3 color head lamp. Under $20 for both.
9.2 screw in hangers just in case I need them.
10.Safety rope. I use an HSS vest but hate their strap system to attach it to the tree. This is one from Summit that works great. I hook them together with a locking gate carabiner.
11.Drag strap for my HSS vest. Comes in handy dragging slick heads since they don’t have handles.
12. Pull up rope
If the weather looks like it is going to be cold I throw in an extra fleece cap, gloves and fleece face mask. If it looks like rain I chuck in a set of camo Frogg Toggs. These go in the big compartment along with essentials like TP enclosed in a Ziploc bag, whatever lunch is for the day and a snack or three along with water.
This list of 18 things changes only slightly during muzzle loader when I add powder, primers and bullets for whichever smoke pole I decide to carry to the woods. I try to keep everything in this pack so I know where to find it. If I do take any out to say, put in a fanny pack for a short hunt, it goes right back in afterwards. I know people that buy calls, flash lights and such every year because they move stuff around and it gets lost. Most of this stuff is cheap so I grab extras when I can to have if I need it and this lot stays where it belongs.
Disclaimer time: I did not receive compensation from any company mentioned in this post. All was purchased at full retail.
Here is a link to pick up a copy of the first Deer Tour DVD from Huntography.
My pack is nothing special, a Redhead I bought off of a bargain table for maybe $12-$15. In fact it might have been less. I have no need for a high dollar day pack to walk a couple of hundred yards at most then hang it in a tree. The pack police have never come up and told me it wasn’t good enough. This one has been used for years in all kinds of weather without any signs of wearing out. Plenty of internal spots to organize, extra external pockets plus the Buddy Lock system for adding pouches. I only add a pouch to carry my range finder everything else goes inside. What I carry with me varies depending on time of year but not by much.
Here is the list.
1. An OLD pair of camo jersey cotton gloves with the trigger finger cut off. These are my lucky gloves. Can’t begin to remember how many I’ve taken wearing them.
2.A light weight mesh camo head net. Good for keeping skeeters off.
3.Zip Ties, good for all manner of things and what I use to attach tag to deer critters.
4.Assorted calls. 2 Primos can calls, a Knight & Hale fawn bleat (only two 8 pointers I‘ve taken came RUNNING to this call), Primos Buck Roar and rattling bag. I have no idea why I keep dragging the rattling bag around since it never works.
5.Crossbow crank
6.Bushnell range finder. The cheapest version.
7.Chuck Stapel custom drop point skinner. This knife has cleaned many a critter.
8.Hand held light and 3 color head lamp. Under $20 for both.
9.2 screw in hangers just in case I need them.
10.Safety rope. I use an HSS vest but hate their strap system to attach it to the tree. This is one from Summit that works great. I hook them together with a locking gate carabiner.
11.Drag strap for my HSS vest. Comes in handy dragging slick heads since they don’t have handles.
12. Pull up rope
If the weather looks like it is going to be cold I throw in an extra fleece cap, gloves and fleece face mask. If it looks like rain I chuck in a set of camo Frogg Toggs. These go in the big compartment along with essentials like TP enclosed in a Ziploc bag, whatever lunch is for the day and a snack or three along with water.
This list of 18 things changes only slightly during muzzle loader when I add powder, primers and bullets for whichever smoke pole I decide to carry to the woods. I try to keep everything in this pack so I know where to find it. If I do take any out to say, put in a fanny pack for a short hunt, it goes right back in afterwards. I know people that buy calls, flash lights and such every year because they move stuff around and it gets lost. Most of this stuff is cheap so I grab extras when I can to have if I need it and this lot stays where it belongs.
Disclaimer time: I did not receive compensation from any company mentioned in this post. All was purchased at full retail.
Here is a link to pick up a copy of the first Deer Tour DVD from Huntography.
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About Me
- Tommy Ellis
- Born and raised in middle Tennessee.I'm a working wildlife and landscape artist specializing in watercolors. Now making cedar lures and custom turkey calls.
5 comments:
Good post Tommy,
You kept it real and no BS about it. Use what works for you and not what TV says you should have! Remember that Natives used to carry a Knife bow and some arrows. Probably more successful than most of us.
Thanks Jake,
Yep my people knew how to do it. I am Odawa, Ottawa to the white folks :-). Part of the reason behind the tour is the fact that so many just follow what they are told they need. Latest and greatest just to spend money.
A $10 day pack would last most hunters forever but many can't believe things like that. We hate to think we spent $ on things we didn't really need. That goes for most of what we use.
Tommy,
Good post! I like to keep things simple as well. I would agree with you that a $10 pack may do as well as a $200 pack in some instances, however that doesn't mean that a $200 doesn't have its place.
Is my Badlands 2800 necessary for tree stand day hunts? Absolutely not, and in fact it doesn't work well for them. That said, my Badlands pack is invaluable when I am carrying my food, water, tent, sleeping bag, bow, etc., and doing a backpack hunt. (That is just an example, the same thing could be said of bows, boots, or any other piece of gear!)
Good post!
Mark
Mark you are absolutely right. You read it the way I meant. Not that ALL higher priced things are bad but that most people over pay or carry too much for a short hunt. Would my inexpensive pack work for a longer hunt? No, I would dig out a better one from the gear closet.
Decent equipment does the job if used within its' limits. I don't shoot a $1000 bow or $200 a dz arrows but some folks do. I do shoot a broadhead that is $15 each after our tax. That is more important than $300 boots to me.
Great list and some of the same kind of items I keep in my bag, plus my hand-held Yahtzee game of course!
Also your reference to slick heads not coming with there own handles has got me in stitches tonight! Thank you!
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