What do you bring with you on a hunt(on body)

[BearsDad815]

I’m doing a High fence/Ranch hunt in February and want to make sure I bring all the essential items and not be a burden to the guide or my buddies. Here are the things that seem obvious to me. Please add/subtract/help me adjust as needed. It’d in Florida so, it wont be freezing cold.

Rifle w/ scope
1 spare mag
Range finder
pocket knife
headlamp/light

Jacket
gloves
water
snacks
small back pack

 

[Cowpokey]

Binoculars

 

[Ranchhand]

Baby wipes in a zip lock bag close to your body so they don't freeze. Better than TP.

 

[Fig]

Fence/Ranch, day-hunt I'd go as light as you possibly can. If you are carrying binos and glassing putting everything in (or attaching to) a Bino-Chest Rig is the way to go. Changed my life, and doesn't interfere with drawing a string or shouldering a rifle at all.

If you are a few hours or less from civilization/EMS bring as little as possible. Your first list is good, but I wouldn't even loose the backpack if I could put the stuff in my jacket, or maybe just like one of those small Camelback backpacks. Not drinking all the water is better than running out. I always have a shot kit when hunting (Israeli bandages, tourniquet, quick clot packs, sucking chest wound kit, etc.). On a ranch it wouldn't bother me not to have it, but I would still have it in case the (un)thinkable happened.

Also, I'm old and watch every single Oz. When I was young I did the Continental Divide Trail and brought 2lb cans of Dinty Moore stew for dinners. I remember the first night I pulled one out and started opening it with my pocket knife as the other guys prepared their ramen. The looks on their faces were priceless, both in envy for my dinner, and in disbelief that I packed it all the way up the mountains (a couple of them). Now a 50 lb pack seems like 100 to me. Getting old sucks.

 

[sodakhunter]

I would try to get a map of the area you will be hunting and get a feel for how far away from your kit you will be. Remember it is in a fence. If you have to break contact with the animal to head back to the rig for something, they will still be there when you get back. Keep it simple and light. The guide will let you know what you should bring.

 

[Jigstick]

Cope

 

[Anb618]

Change out the pocket knife for (or keep it, but add) a fixed blade. Cleaning blood/fat out of a folding pocket knife is a huge PITA.

I have no idea what Florida hunting looks like. I assume if this is high fence/guided Florida hunting, you’ll probably be setting up in fixed position ground blinds? If so, a window bag/rest might be beneficial.

Some HotHands are always in my daypack (regardless of the temp for me, but I primarily bowhunt out of treestands with little/no wind cover).

Not sure how Florida’s tags work, but in IL I have to have a fine tip Sharpie with me all the time to write a call-in confirmation number on my tag. Hunted in MT this year and only needed a knife to notch the tag.

Lens Cloth
Small GSW medkit (tourniquet, Olaes bandage, quickclot combat gauze at minimum)

 

[davsco]

kestrel

 

[BearsDad815]

Binoculars

Don’t have but, its on my short list.

 

[BearsDad815]

kestrel

Don’t have one yet but, it’d one of my next purchases for sure. Currently I’m using an application on my phone as a ballistic calculator.

 

[Maxduty]

I’m doing a High fence/Ranch hunt in February and want to make sure I bring all the essential items and not be a burden to the guide or my buddies. Here are the things that seem obvious to me. Please add/subtract/help me adjust as needed. It’d in Florida so, it wont be freezing cold.

Rifle w/ scope
1 spare mag
Range finder
pocket knife
headlamp/light

Jacket
gloves
water
snacks
small back pack

Call the guide and ask suggestions. I'm betting they'd appreciate it and could honestly tell you what to bring. If it's like most high fence, you're paying for convenience and they don't want you uncomfortable, at least for long.

 

[Cowpokey]

Don’t have but, its on my short list.

Folks think, I'll just use my scoped rifle for "glassing". Not only is that a bad idea because you're pointing the gun around trying to see better than you can with your eyes...but it is much heavier and will wear on your endurance...no matter your age, it will. Also, you have to move a lot more with a larger "tool" that could alert the game.

 

[Cowpokey]

Don’t have one yet but, it’d one of my next purchases for sure. Currently I’m using an application on my phone as a ballistic calculator.

Kestrel is a great tool. You have to get it calibrated to your rifle for it to give you a good calculation though. Sure, the built in ballistics will help, but until you match it to the actual ballistics of your equipment...it's just a guess. If (when) you get one, don't skimp out and buy "what I can afford today", save up and get the best one, you'll save money in the long run.

 

[Billdoe708]

Ammo

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Depends. (No, not that kind.)

What you bring is decided by tons of factors. Because no two hunts are really alike. Best advice above is ask the guide. And when you get to the hunt… listen to the guide. He he doesn’t brief you… ask for details on what to expect. Guiding should start long before you chamber a round.

Basic questions… to many to list. But they start with:

What am I hunting?
What is the terrain?
What is time of year/weather/climate?
How far from civilization?
What is my fitness/health?
Is their cell coverage?
How do I get my harvest out?
Anyone else in the area?
What are game laws?
What borders/property lines do I need to know?
Do I know the area or is it first time?
No-shit experience and comfort level?
What is weather next 72 hours?
Am I walking in or driving or atving or horse, for that matter?
What ranges do I think I might shoot?

The list goes on almost forever, but thinking it all out (in your head or on paper) is part of the fun of planning a hunt.

And every time is different. Bird hunting in VT in late sept, I’ll carry ammo and a snickers bar and tp. Maybe a cigar.

Deer hunting in the NEK… I am prepared for 48 hours of “turned around.” And unexpected weather. Both have happened.

That said, being “loaded with tons of stuff” is a distraction and no fun to carry. At least not for us old guys. So take/wear the necessities… but think them through.

So… good if the OP to ask these questions. The prep is part of the fun.

Sirhr

 

[zeroz]

Typically too much shit.

 

[isofahunter]

Light is right, but ask the guide. High Fence guided you should not need much as you are in a fairly controlled environment.
Binoculars as mentioned above would be nice but your Rangefinder will have to do.

 

[cas6969]

Typically too much shit.

Amen. Decades ago I started wearing a small pack so I'd have a place for extra clothes, or a place to put anything I took off. Over the years it's filled up will all sorts of crap. I go out like a back country spike camp hunt, when in reality I'm usually about a half hour walk from the cabin.

My most recent addition to the pack was a pair of reading glasses to be left in the pack full time. A smart move.

A lot of it is shit I don't need. I think I have three different ways to start a fire. I've never started a fire while hunting in 35 years. lol I make it a point now to go through it all twice a year, just to remember what's there. The only thing worse than needing something is needing something, having it, but not remembering you do.

 

[308pirate]

Condoms

 

[Cowpokey]

Condoms

 

[atepointer]

A rifle, some boolits and a therma cell. The mosquito is the state bird of FL swamps

 

[spamassassin]

I hunt large high fenced stuff a lot. What I bring is water, enough ammo to fill the gun 1 time, a fixed blade knife and a very small med kit (tourniquet, clotter, tape, epi-pen, decomp needle, airway) and a lighter. I have a little micro emergency kit with some primitive survival toys wrapped up in paracord that clips to my belt loop. If I'm really far from anyone else I bring the micro e-kit. Where ever I go I usually have the other stuff with me even if I'm not hunting.

 

[Longshot231]

Condoms

I'm reading the book, "With British Snipers to the Reich" by CPT C. Shore. He notes the curious habit of American soldiers using condoms to keep the water out of the muzzle of their rifles.

My father was in the sector close to the British in Holland at about the same time as CPT Shore and told me they kept the water out of the muzzles that way a lot.

+1 on the baby wipes mentioned earlier.

Now back to the regular programing for this thread.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

I'm reading the book, "With British Snipers to the Reich" by CPT C. Shore. He notes the curious habit of American soldiers using condoms to keep the water out of the muzzle of their rifles.

My father was in the sector close to the British in Holland at about the same time as CPT Shore and told me they kept the water out of the muzzles that way a lot.

+1 on the baby wipes mentioned earlier.

Now back to the regular programing for this thread.

There is a story from ww2, probably apocryphal, that upon hearing that the British soldiers were using condoms to keep their weapons dry, Churchill approved a plan to make “extra large” ones specifically for weapons use. But he ordered them marked “Made in Britain, size Medium.”

Psychological warfare takes many forms.

Though I tend to think this one did not happen.

Sirhr

 

[308pirate]

I'm reading the book, "With British Snipers to the Reich" by CPT C. Shore. He notes the curious habit of American soldiers using condoms to keep the water out of the muzzle of their rifles.

Oh I guess you could use them for that too

 

[cas6969]

People suggest carrying non lubricated condoms as a means of carrying water in an emergency.

As a rule though, drinking out of a condom is something I'd rather not do.

 

[spamassassin]

People suggest carrying non lubricated condoms as a means of carrying water in an emergency.

As a rule though, drinking out of a condom is something I'd rather not do.

So ummm... is that a hard pass?

 

[cas6969]

Probably a soft pass at that point.

 

[TurdFerguson]

Get a compass/ and map and understand how to use it. If you can't use a compass download avenza maps on your phone (Works on either Apple or Samsung) and get a geospatial PDF map.

 

[Holliday]

TP….

 

[flyfisher117]

Probably a soft pass at that point.

Has 69 in username,twice, but won't drink water out of a condom?

 

[cas6969]

My birth date, easy to remember.

 

[Aftermath]

My rule for survival is if I do not have it on my person, I may not have it when I need it. I carry the bare essentials for actual survival in the pockets of the clothing I am wearing or on the belt. Not in the pack. Your choice of survival items are just that, your choice.
Tourniquet
Knife
string
fire
water
lifestraw
essential meds
cell/sat phone charger
cell phone or sat phone, depending on where I'm headed
Spot
GPS

 

[FN15]

2 knives a folder and havalon
Extra bullets or extra finger tab
Wyoming saw if elk hunting or very small hatchet if deer hunting
Camera
Headlamp x2 with extra set of batteries
Flagging tape
Band aids
100 ft of rope
Aleve
Very tiny multi tool for changing havalon blades
Lightweight tripod for camera
At least one extra shirt depending on season
Blister kit
Some amount of food
4 game bags for elk 1 for deer
Fire starter
2 lighters
Clot kit

 

[Baron23]

Uh....a flask?

 

[brianf]

.....Small GSW medkit (tourniquet, Olaes bandage, quickclot combat gauze at minimum)

THIS ^^^

if you dont have a IFAK with a tournequet, your not carrying the correct gear

the most common cause of death is not the gunshot itself but the loss of blood...military learned something the last 20 years

bandages and quicclot or alike work great on wounds but if you hit a vein or artery they arent the correct gear

and dont just put the strap in your bag practice a few times before the trip, tight enough that you dont feel a pulse below the strap

if you do..go tighter

 

[diggler1833]

My stands are ~ 600 - 800 yards walking distance from the house. So I pack as light as possible, and everything fits in my pockets.

-Legal hunting tool (rifle/crossbow)
-Rangefinder (doubles as monocular)
-Sidearm
-Any calls I plan to use
-Butt pad
-Headlamp
-Cell phone

I have a little daypack that I ditch about 100 yards from the stand. It usually only holds my field dressing gear, or ill put my outer garment into it for the walk over.

 

[hlee]

High fence from a box?

License
Gun
Ammo
Magazine
Scope
Sling
Binoculars
Book/entertainment
Knife
Nitrile gloves
Paper towels- not a whole roll
Water
Snack
Something to lay across the windowsill to pad the rifle stock
Pump Pillow
Hand warmers

 

[Ronws]

Condoms

In the days of old when men were bold. And sheep were nervous.

 

[Ronws]

Condoms

In the days of old when men were bold. And sheep were nervous

 

[Ronws]

These days, I have shelved the Alps Commander Z backpack (full frame.) it is too bulky and the frame does add weight. My hunts are one day hunts on public land about an hour from my house.

I have switched to the Eberlestock Just One J34 pack. It can collapse quite small but I have also bought the added kit and kaboodle for it. The super duffle, which could add enough space to make it a camping backpack. And you can remove the duffle and just wear the base which is also capable of carrying meat. I hunt whitetail deer and feral hog. This spring, I will also be hunting eastern spring turkey with my Mossberg 590A1 SPX and #4 upland shot (12 ga.) So, now, I have a 2 L hydration bladder and tube, which is more than enough water for me and I sip water constantly while hiking. In the rifle scabbard is my TC Compass II .308 Win with an Arken SH4 Gen 2 4-16X50mm scope.

A gambrel and a small 400 lb pulley system. Some 500 lb rope to hold the pulley. A few 50 foot logs of paracord. Outdoor Edge Wild Pak processing kit and some dressing gloves. Some 30 gallon trash bags for carrying meat. Orange ribbon for marking trails. A folding knife that clips to my pants pocket. A fixed blade with ivory handle because it is so pretty and sharp enough for surgery. Trigger Stick tripod. A little folding camp chair and a little foam pad to make that comfortable. A compass. 2 rolls of toilet paper because it is not a question of if, but of when.

In a chest rig, I have my Vortex Diamondback HD 12X50 binoculars. So much better than a scope for looking into the bushes and trees for movement. The rifle has a 5 round rotary mag. I bought two more from ebay. So, I carry 3 loaded mags.

The main difference where I hunt is opening rifle weekend (first weekend of November) and Thanksgiving weekend. At those times, you have to field dress the deer and then bring out the whole carcass, minus the guts and take it to a deer check station to get weighed and take bone samples for CWD. During those times, I also take along a deer sleigh'r. It is a toboggan you can drag out a deer with. Otherwise, at other times, I am going to at least quarter. But I might also de-bone. That being said, I have a cheeky idea to get two spikes with the spike being on opposing sides and then do them both on european mount and set side by side.