Shake down time.... What's in your elk pack?

[WapitiTalk1]

Simply this… what’s in your elk hunting pack when you head in for a day’s grind in the elk woods?  Go ahead and head into your shop or garage and drag your pack out if you need to refresh for this ultra-scientific thread (you may have to brush off the mouse pellets).  This is just another way to weather the loooong off season, exchange/share some information, and perhaps pass some info on to some of our younger and inexperienced hunters.  So, elk hunters, let’s get this rolling!

Type of pack and what’s in/on the pack (headlamp, batteries, tracking kit contents, kill kit contents, emergency gear, type of chow for the day, a butt pad to sit on when glassing, rain gear top/bottom, puffy jacket, navigation gear, maps for area hunted….you see where I’m going here).  Please include what’s in your pants pocket’s also to complete your gear list (calls, tube, compass, TP (grin)…), etc. 

Let’s roll…. What is your standard gear packed for a hunt in the wonderful elk woods? 

Edit: Just for the record, for all of you old Army/military cats, a can of beans and a P-38 does not a lunch make 
       

[High Climber]

5500ish cubic inch pack kifaru something, 5 game bags, puffy jacket, lightweight rain gear top and bottom, all stuffed in a plastic garbage sack. headlamp, small handheld flashlight, 3 extra aaa’s, couple Benadryl for when the meat bees get me, gallon ziplock with my days rations, 3l water bladder, Nalgene bottle, water filter pump, outdoor edge knife with a couple extra blades, pocket knife, lighter, garmin inreach, couple dumps worth of TP, neck pouch with 3 or 4 of my favorite reeds, wiffle bat bugle tube, Binos, Rangefinder, my bow, and an extra can of Zyn 

[Dark2Dark]

Ok, let’s see what I can recall from memory.

Depending on if I’m hunting by myself or with a group of guys with coordinated equipment, I could have more or less of this with me.

I use an Exo K4.

I keep a Nalgene with Gatorade or similar in the holster on one side and my bugle in the holster on the other side.

In the pack I have an animal down bag with a hand towel, tags/sharpie, zipties, nitrile gloves, trash bag, blade swapping knife (Outdoor Edge or Havalon), solid blade knife, 550 cord, flagging, gutting hook, butt out tool and a meat hook.

If I’m alone I have a full set of game bags but 1/2 a set if I’m with buddies.

I have an emergency kit with a lighter, fire starters and a backup headlamp.

My normal headlamp is also in a pocket.

I carry a sit pad and a spotting scope, and tri pod in big country. If it’s very rainy I carry an 8x10 rainfly with 550 cord tensioners to put it up.

I tend to carry some spare/dry clothes- base layers, puffy, balaclava, gloves, etc all in a dry bag.

Food of course- lunch and snacks.

I carry my binos in a chest pack and my breeze squeeze, reeds, bite and blow and rangefinder are all on there in some fashion. If I’m rifle hunting I have extra rounds in there and a few in my pack.

If I’m going on a longer hunt I’ll bring a water filter in addition to my bladder/hose. Sometimes I’ll also have my trekking poles.

Toilet paper, wipes and Vaseline. Usually a small first aid kit including some pain killers, athletic tape and various first aid components.

During deer season I will trade the bugle for rattling horns, at times.

If I’m not wearing it and it’s supposed to be rainy, I’ll have my Seattle sombrero full brimmed hat and my rain shells.

Sheesh, no wonder it’s so heavy!!

[ghosthunter]

Gunrunner pack

Headlamp
Pen
Small flshlght clip on
Lighting stricter
Pitch wood
Compass
Folding knife
Mirror
Sling shot
Gallon snack bag half full of peanuts
Tp
Sawyer water filter
Gloves
Light cord
Zip ties
Poncho
Sitting pad
Extra batteries
Rhino battery pack
Stocking cap
Muzzle loader reloads
16 inch bush knife
Garbage bag
Mini iPad
Walking stick in scabbard

Shirt pockets…

Extra mags if deer
Camera
Truck keys

On my bino harness

InReach
Rhino
Bino
Small blinker
Small flashlight

Pants pocket

Hunting tags
Pocket pistol
Kimber blaster
Two extra LCP mags.

On my belt

Money belt with $100
Buck folder

[WSU]

Y’all are serious!

Depending on situation, but my western wa hunting is usually a pocket of speed loaders for my muzzy and some tp? We kill a couple elk a year that way.

[Skillet]

Y’all are serious!

Depending on situation, but my western wa hunting is usually a pocket of speed loaders for my muzzy and some tp? We kill a couple elk a year that way.

That's how you do it.  If I forgot the TP, I just planned on coming out of the woods with one sock. 

[Kingofthemountain83]

This is my usual set for muzzy elk in WA... To hunt spikes... Sometimes big bulls or cows...

A clip on knife in my right pocket... Phone in my right pocket... A hamerless Ruger 357 SP101 on my right holstered... Left pocket a couple reloads and primers... Right fleece pocket has a rangefinder... Left fleece pocket has bullet starter... Can of Rogue pouches in my back left pocket... A bugle tube and a few different cow calls around my neck... And my bino's of course on a harness...

A Badlands 3200 pack... 4 liters of water... Lunch could be freeze dried or a sandwhich depending on how I feel and if I think the mayo will spoil by the time I eat it... So may need the stove and fuel, may not... And I always carry plenty of snacks and junk food, jerky, granola bars, cashews, hostess cupcakes, m&ms, and a Coke... Toilet paper, I start the season with a full roll in my pack so I have no excuse for running out, I'm not using pine needles and my socks are way too expensive... Buck knife with gut hook and Buck sharpener... 4 game bags and two contractors garbage bags to put meat in a creek to cool so it doesn't get wet or inside of pack bloody... Small compass... Enough flagging tape to map out a couple miles like I was a logger if needed... Wind detector which I should move to my left fleece pocket and forget until I need it... A lighter and some fire starter... A couple 25' rolls of para cord... An emergency blanket... A small first aid kit with medical tape, gauze pads, half a dozen ear swabs, tweezers, nail clippers, and Neosporin... Chapstick... A two way radio with ear bud and spare batteries taped together... A small roll of electrical tape... Half a dozen zip ties... Tags and license... A headlamp... 3 extra AAA batteries taped together for headlamp... Extra battery for range finder... Another pair of wool socks... Gloves... Light rain gear top and bottoms... And possibly many layers of clothes and puffys depending on temperature swings and movement... A little allen wrench and flat screw driver that fit my fiber optic sights... 3 or 4 more reloads and primers with a nipple pick... I just got a new butt pad last year and it's so comfy, keeps my butt dry, warm and worth the weight in gold... Without a muzzy this usually weighs in about 37-39# depending on how much crap food I pack... I drink a lot of water... So I may add 1-2 more liters if necessary... If I stuff this same load in my Elberlestock it adds 4# and I can fit so much more! I've gotten it down to 25-27# pounds by making some sacrifices last year to try it out on some short hunts for blackies... Felt like I was hiking like I was in my 20's again!   

[highcountry_hunter]

Y’all are serious!

Depending on situation, but my western wa hunting is usually a pocket of speed loaders for my muzzy and some tp? We kill a couple elk a year that way.

That's how you do it.  If I forgot the TP, I just planned on coming out of the woods with one sock.

Shirt sleeves result in less blisters on your foot haha

[mburrows]

Speaking to archery day hunts...


- Pack: Kifaru Ark Frame and Gnarali bag
- Kill Kit: kifaru game bags, havalon with extra blades, 550 chord, leatherman, tyvek sheet to keep meat clean and 2 contractor bags
- Clothing: Layers as needed but always rain gear
- Calls: external reed and at least 5 diaphrams and 1 bugle tube
- 2 things of wind checker
- 2 releases
- Optics: Swaro NL Pure 12x42 and Maven Range Finder. Swaro STS HD 65mm depending on the game plan
- Wet Wipes
- Two head lights - Peax and petzl mini
- Small or large battery charger depending on the game plan
- Med kit
- Lots of snacks and usually about 70 ounces of water and some electrolytes, love the LMNT packs right now
- Minimum 5 arrows

[pianoman9701]

I'm old so I hunt within 2 miles from camp, sometimes less, and travel fairly light. I usually hunt alone. I have a small, vacuum-packed survival kit with an SAS survival book, extra knife, extra rope, lighter and wax/lint starter, signaling mirror, extra compass. I have a small first aid pack, 3 liter camelback (usually about half full), processing knife with spare blades, two headlamps and a few batteries, garden shears, snack bars, InReach, 100 ft of paracord, multi tool and sheath knife, bugle and cow/calf calls, bino and harness, bunch of pine needles from last season, a Montana decoy or two, cell phone with OnX and the program to pair with InReach for texting. That's about it.

[Longfield1]

Mystery ranch pop up 38
4 game bags
2 game cameras (more or less depending on if I’m moving cameras or not)
Pocket rocket msr stove
Propane for stove
1 stainless pot/cup for food
2.5 liter water bladder
Katadyne water pump
Food for the day Knorr rice, top ramen, protein powder
Havalon with a bunch of replaceable blades
Headlamp
Battery bank with phone charger
Lighter
550 cord
Puffy or guide jacket
Rain gear only if I expect it to rain otherwise it stays

Bino harness has
10x42 vipers
Garmin inreach
Rangefinder
Wind checker
Tags
Mouth calls

On my body I have a small bugle tube
On my hip I got a Bowie knife
Carrying my bow v3 31


Pockets have my phone and ear buds.

[GOcougsHunter]

After my experience this year, when hunting alone for elk, bring a small pulley system to help move your elk around.  I processed my elk in the middle of a steep clearcut with nothing to tie off to but 5 yr old reprod.  A small block and tackle set up would have helped immensely in manipulating the dead weight by myself.

[Sliverslinger]

Stone Glacier x-curve Approach 2800
Marsupial bino harness
Leupold RF
Havalon in the bottom bino pack and a small clothing tape measure
Extra contacts
License and tags
Pack has first aid kit I put together with what I actually need
Fire starter
Duct tape around lighters
Benchmade Saddle knife
550 cord
Argali game bags
Sometimes an Argali tarp
Tripod
Trekking poles
Zip ties
Baby wipes
Puffy jacket
Extra socks
Windchecker
Emergency whistle


Everything else either escapes me or depends on the season.