Hunt prep

[Guy Miner]

My wife is laughing at me. Again.

I've crammed the back of the new Jeep full of coolers, a tent, sleeping bag, rifles, etc, just to see how I'm going to make this work after 25 years of using a big vehicle for hunting. Still need to change the oil before the trip.

I've got maps of Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming spread out on the desk. Not sure what I'm looking for, but it's got to be there along I-90 somewhere... A fishing spot? Camping spot? Someplace interesting that I've never seen? An old favorite detour? A friend's home? Hard to say... But the maps are spread out all over.

Wyoming mule deer & pronghorn tags & conservation stamp and my Montana fishing license are all tucked away in the gun safe. I'm NOT going to lose those. Hopefully I'll turn around, go back home and get them before I get to Idaho... Am pretty sure I'll forget and leave them in the safe. Have done so before!

Rifles are cleaned. Lightly lubed. Sighted in. Still pulled them out again, just to give them a once-over for the 20th time... Cleaning gear - need to pack that. Not yet. Might need to clean a rifle before then. Never know. Will likely make yet another range trip in the next few days. Just to be triple sure the rifles are sighted in. Shooting sticks. Probably ought to throw them in since I've been practicing a bit with them.

Ammo is loaded. Enough to fill 20 years worth of tags in several states. At least. Still, I'm considering loading up some more .25-06 ammo... Why not?

Steven said something about prairie dog shooting after the deer & pronghorn tags are filled. Hey, I've got a .204! Ammo? Plenty! Bring a bipod for that rifle. I like the way it shoots from the bipod. No kick, no bipod hop.

Gear is stacked. Once it was neat. Now it's a pile again. Needs to be neat again.

Spotting scope. Binos. Laser Rangefinder. Check. Tripod. Got it. Camera. Yup. Glasses. Hmm. Good idea. Helps when I'm driving, or reading a map. Why do eyes wear out so early in life?

Pack. Might not need it. Can't imagine hunting mule deer without it. Water bladder. No - no need to fill it 10 days before launch. First aid kit. Fleece jacket. Gloves. Orange hat. Warm hat. Orange vest. Gore Tex in case it snows or rains. Light boots. Heavy boots. Running shoes for running? No! I like to drive in them. Long johns. Liner socks. Heavy socks. Extra clothes.

Knives. Big one. Little one. Sharp? Ouch, you bet! Matches. All that survival stuff in case I wander off on my own and get stuck somewhere. Rope. Need some rope. Not sure why, but it seems like a good idea. Used to have some in the truck. What did I do with it when I traded for the Jeep?

Handgun. Why? Dunno. I try not to leave home without it. Good thing I'm not going on an airplane or into Canada! Almost made that mistake once. Canada, not the airplane. Wouldn't have ended well.

Chow. Gotta bring some Washington apples along to share. Everybody likes those! A little breakfast food for me and some sandwich fixings. Some protein/energy bars. I like to chew on 'em while hunting. Venison pepperoni sticks? Hmmmm. Maybe. If I take 'em they won't likely last all the way to Wyoming though... Beer? Naw, not much of a drinker. Coffee. Have to have my coffee.

Cash. Yup, that good ol' green stuff. Not too much. Just enough. How much is that? Beats me.

Fly Rod & gear! Dang! Almost forgot! What good is a dad-gum Montana fishing license without a fishing rod and some flies? Waders? Do I want to wade bad enough to take a pair of waders? Likely too cold to wet wade now. Hmmm. This means yet another pair of boots too. Maybe not. Stand on the shore and cast. Kinda limiting. Yup, will likely pack the waders & boots too.

Son told me to take an I-Pod. Said the stereo in my Jeep takes an IPod plug in. Really? How's he know that and I don't? Hmmm.

Constant talk about the trip. To my wife. She just raises her eyebrows and laughs at me. To my son, who is more than a bit put out that he's going to be in college classes while Dad is driving to Wyoming, fishing and hunting... I might even steal back "his" 6mm Remington just to really get him going! :twisted:

Sheesh... I'm wound up tight about this. Steven - you're going to have to calm me down a bit or I'm going to go into crazy "buck fever" shakes when I see my mulie buck this season! Remind me not to shoot the first one I see okay?

Told myself I was going to lose 15 - 20 pounds before this hunt. That didn't happen. Think 10 days is enough time? :grin:

Wow... Forgetting anything? Likely...

Wonder how bad I'll be if I'm ever going to Canada for a moose hunt? Probably be able to commit me to an asylum!

Guy

 

[DrMike]

Yes, you've captured in admirable form the tension of final preparation for the hunt. Best of luck, Guy. I'm certainly wishing you every success. Enjoy the scenery and the fishing, as well.

 

[FOTIS]

Hope you can get all that stuff in your new Jeep Guy. Good luck be safe.

 

[Mortis]

Coffee pot loaded? Cook stove? Fuel?

Archie & Jughead comics for the down time??

There be a reason I drive a Surburban. .

 

[Guy Miner]

I'm so used to hunting and fishing on day - trips from home that I get all nervous about hunting 900 miles from home... Kinda hard to just turn around and go get something that was left behind...

Ah well.

 

[bullet]

You only forgot one thing for your hunting trip - ME!! :mrgreen:

 

[JD338]

Guy,

You are going to have fun.
Have you considered renting a suburban? The new ones are nice and get 20 mpg.

Good luck on your hunt and be safe.

JD338

 

[Mortis]

Guy......another thing I forgot to mention.....

I hope ya have a great time.....!!!!!

Safe Journey Jarhead....

 

[bullet]

Good luck Guy, have fun, be safe and take your time and enjoy each part of it. Can't wait to hear how it all went.

 

[russ808]

Guy,
Good luck and happy hunting.
Russ

 

[257 Ackley]

Guy -
I have started doing the same thing with the elk hunt in Montana coming up in a couple weeks :roll: . Spent the night laying out clothes and gear with my checklist to make sure it was ready to go.
You won't need to worry about much rope...a person your size and in-shape will be able to swing a pronghorn over their shoulder and walk a couple miles with it. Remember the "fireman's carry" we used to practice with our buddys...same kind of deal.

Where are you looking to stop and fish in Montana? I fished Rock Creek, west of Phillipsburg couple years ago and had quite a bit of action for an afternoon.

 

[cloverleaf]

Hmm- well I'm laughing, smiling and maybe shedding a tear.... Im with Bullet...you forgot me . Now this just somthing Ive read....never met an antelope hunter who really used them, but some body suggested knee pads for the last 200 yds crawling through the prickly pear :shock: :grin:. Coolers for the back straps....Um well, they dont HAVE to make it home. A Fry pan though.... camera (cause we gotta have pics) extra batteries for same....lucky hat.

Hmm, just checked my "goat list" (yes, I really have one) a rag or whatever you use to clean lenses with, dusty country this year....

My wife dosent laugh at me, she loves me but I get impatient and cranky when Im waiting to go hunting.... good lord, it will be at least a year :shock: :? !!! She may not let me live that long....

Have a wonderful time. CL

 

[Polaris]

Hey, good luck out there. You can never have enough gear so long as it fits and you don't have to pack it on your back. A trick I use to not forget licenses is to pack them securely in my gun case. I put them in a plastic ziplock and duct tape them to tie down loop I sewed into the inside.

When I used to guide canoe trips in never ceased to amaze me what people dragged into the bush and refused to let me cull from the gear pre-trip. Usually I ended up carrying the heaviest packs but I made the clients canoe them. Return customers invariably packed lighter.

 

[DrMike]

It seems not uncommon to hear guides in this area speak of people leaving expensive binoculars (Swarovski, Zeiss, etc.) at the side of the trail together with a variety of gear. They over-packed, and hiking in the mountains forcefully demonstrated the wisdom of packing as light as possible.

 

[Guest]

Guy,
I laughed till I cried reading your prep and all.That's is me too getting ready to hunt out West, even when I lived in Colorado. Flying out now to go presents some issues now and then opposed to just living there. You have an awesome time my friend, wishing too I could be there. Be safe and shoot straight.

Don

 

[Bruce Mc]

Guy,

I'm there too. Heading out to Colorado next tuesday. The extra room is full of stuff. Luckily most wasn't unpacked from last year so its ready to go. This is going to be a much longer hunt than what he had in New Mexico so its gonna take a bunch more stuff and there is a river and lake near so I'm gonna add fishing gear.

 

[DrMike]

I trust your hunt is successful, Bruce.

 

[mcseal2]

Great read Guy. I was laughing my butt off halfway through. I was laughing because I can relate to every paragraph. Don't feel bad, I do the same thing. I wish I'd have been somewhere close to as anal about taking notes in college as I am about my journals, notes, and lists for hunting/fishing trips. My GPA would have been way more impressive. The great thing about computers is that I store those things and can re-use them again the next year instead of losing them like I used to. I have a system that works that I will share. It may not work for everyone, but has helped me.

Each hunting/fishing trip I make a list on Excel of what I take, or modify an older list I have saved. Each time I leave for a hunt I print the list including what container each item is in. When I get home I cross off items I did not use from the list and put it in my gunsafe. Then before my next hunt to that area, I review the un-used items, check the weather forecast, and update my current list. Excessive, probably. I have friends who pack a tote of underwear and extra bullets who are about as sucessful as me. My system works for me though and the friend with the tote of underwear ends up borrowing things I'm not using that day like Bogpods and rangefinders on the trip. I bust my butt all year working long hours on the ranch to go hunting out of state once a year and want to make the most of my opportunity. When hunting on the ranch around home I may get a call or see something wrong at any second that converts my hunt into another work day. When I leave my home state all that changes and even a hard hunt becomes relaxing in a way. If I'm not sucessful on a hunt because I hunted hard but never saw an animal I wanted to wear my tag, or because I made a mistake it was a good hunt and I learned from it. If I fail because I was unprepared for the situation I'm upset.

So anyway, back to my system. I make an excel spreadsheet of all items I take on a hunt and save it in a file dedicated to the species. Then I start a word file on the unit I am hunting. That file includes any advice I have recieved from area government personel or other hunters advice including the source and year. On the way home I ask anyone who went with me on the hunt what they would have changed about the hunt, how they would attack it if starting over, and anything else that seems important. When I get home I write a journal of the hunt including my notes and hunting partner's observations of what to try next time. I save this journal in the unit folder inside the state folder inside the species folder. I also buy a map for each unit and GPS card for each state that I draw a tag for and keep the maps in my gun-safe marked up from previous trips.

DrMike is right also about taking to much gear when you have to pack it yourself. I have postage scale and it gets worked hard on deciding what is necessary. Here again past lists with un-used items crossed off are invaluable. When I miss an item on a trip I dropped from the list I make a note to re-evaluate it when I get home. Having the postage scale and keeping actual weights of what you carry in an excel program that spits out the pounds you carry at the end definitely helps keep pack weight down. Practice hikes of 3-4 miles with everything still on the list invariably weeds out a few more items.

All this gives me something to do after dark on long evenings while building up or winding down from hunts. I can honestly say that after 3yrs the journals I've kept from my whitetail and catfish trips around home are already paying off. There are patterns that aren't evident until you compare multiple years results that start to make sense and open new opportunities.

So in closing Guy, you are not alone or odd, just very eloquent in stating what we all go through packing.

 

[DrMike]

I am humbled at the precision in preparation. There are some great ideas given here. Even for a day hunt, I keep a kit ready to set in my truck. I go through that kit at least once a week, even when I can't get out. Within a week of two into the season, there won't be many additions or subtractions, but there will be substitutions as one hunt flows into a second throughout the changing seasons.

 

[CatskillCrawler]

Had to read your post again this morning Guy as I needed a chuckle. Going thru my list now. The spare bedroom looks like a tornado went through a Cabela's store. I too use an Excel spreadsheet for everything.

One last trip to the range for 200yd verification work, quick run through the grocery, and then a final inventory and pack for departure tomorrow night. Is 200' of parachute cord enough? :? :lol: