New Hunter Kit

[Cheeks]

Did a bit of a search on the forums and couldn't find much so here goes...

I am just starting out hunting edible game (been shooting gophers since I was 12, and I am now over 40 ;-), and I was wondering a good place to start for a kit / get ready for first season hunting deer, elk, and moose. I took the hunter training program, and they have items but it seemed to be a bit dated. Not planning on going too far back country (truck a mile or so away), being new to the activity. What do you guys suggest?

Here's what I was thinking - 6 months to go! (pick it apart - I am here to learn!):

-WIN Number
-PAL
-30-06 rifle with scope - approximately $1200 in total for both - no need to go crazy until I know how to take care of it / determine if hunting is for me
-Truck
-Lots of practice with gun prior to heading out
-Emergency kit
-4" knife
-warm jacket / pants / hat / gloves that don't swish in cold (is camo required?)
-Good boots
-rope
-binoculars
-lots of reading on this forum!
-Watch videos
-place to go with plenty of sign
-put in for draws / get tags
-Line up someone to go with

I go into any outdoors store, and I see so much! Blinds and tree stands and scents and antlers and camo and cameras, etc. What does a guy need really, in order to have some early success, which will in turn build that hunting addiction you all have ;-) that will then justify the other stuff?


Cheers

Cheeks

[Stinky Buffalo]

Personal preference- camo isn't required. Comfort and mobility is key; wind direction and minimizing movement are more important than the color of your clothes.

Get good boots.

Tree stands help, but aren't necessary. You'll be amazed at what you see when you still hunt off the beaten path.

First aid kit, reliable flashlight, fire starter, compass, binoculars and knife/sharpener are musts. I carry backups of some stuff.

I print off the regs for my area, and keep a copy of the booklet in my vehicle. (iHunter/iHunt apps are great too)

I also keep glow sticks and flagging tape to mark my kill if I need to leave it.

Game bags and/or clean poly to lay the carcass on.

Game calls are great. Learn how use them effectively (lots of great help on this forum as well as YouTube etc.)

That should get you started! happy hunting!

[albertabighorn]

Looks like you got a good starting point. You left out regulations, try to get last years and start reading it/learning it. That is vital! Also id suggest a package gun savage make a few good starters http://www.savagearms.com/firearms/m...TROPHYHUNTERXP or buy a used set up.

[Cheeks]

Originally Posted by albertabighorn

Looks like you got a good starting point. You left out regulations, try to get last years and start reading it/learning it. That is vital! Also id suggest a package gun savage make a few good starters http://www.savagearms.com/firearms/m...TROPHYHUNTERXP or buy a used set up.

Hah - I was looking at them. I have heard that the tikkas and other light weight guns 'hit hard' compared to a 700 or a 70 - how are the savages?

[north american hunter]

Savages are accurate and cheap, I would consider the Winchester model 70

[Cheeks]

Originally Posted by north american hunter

Savages are accurate and cheap, I would consider the Winchester model 70

Gunslinger said the same thing. I am a lefty, though, and they are rather spendy as they are so rare...

That may be my second gun

[albertabighorn]

Originally Posted by Cheeks

Hah - I was looking at them. I have heard that the tikkas and other light weight guns 'hit hard' compared to a 700 or a 70 - how are the savages?

Good shooting out of the box. I shoot it in a 7mm at the age of 11, a savage was my first gun. Im not big on the 30 06 cal but lotsa guys use it. It shouldnt be a problem as a few of the sav are not to light. But yes the lighter the gun the more they kick.

[Fisherpeak]

Originally Posted by Stinky Buffalo

Personal preference- camo isn't required. Comfort and mobility is key; wind direction and minimizing movement are more important than the color of your clothes.

Get good boots.

Tree stands help, but aren't necessary. You'll be amazed at what you see when you still hunt off the beaten path.

First aid kit, reliable flashlight, fire starter, compass, binoculars and knife/sharpener are musts. I carry backups of some stuff.

I print off the regs for my area, and keep a copy of the booklet in my vehicle. (iHunter/iHunt apps are great too)

I also keep glow sticks and flagging tape to mark my kill if I need to leave it.

Game bags and/or clean poly to lay the carcass on.

Game calls are great. Learn how use them effectively (lots of great help on this forum as well as YouTube etc.)

That should get you started! happy hunting!

Yup,keep it simple.I got a 30.06,a small pack with a couple good knives and a wetstone and a small first aid kit.A plastic bag for the heart and liver and at least 4 Bic lighters scattered between your pack,truck and pockets.Chuck in a couple chocolate bars and I also carry a small shaker of salt and pepper mix.Meat on a stick for if you score but have to spend a while out there..Space blanket just in case.Binos.That`s about it.I don`t get all camo`d up.Quiet clothes,worn jeans and a warm lined jean jacket,maybe a vest under.Decent boots.Don`t waste a bunch of money on crap every hunter "NEEDS" to have.Spend it on a good rifle and scope and LEARN HOW TO SHOOT.That`s the biggest thing.You will be fine.

[Cheeks]

Originally Posted by Fisherpeak

Yup,keep it simple.I got a 30.06,a small pack with a couple good knives and a wetstone and a small first aid kit.A plastic bag for the heart and liver and at least 4 Bic lighters scattered between your pack,truck and pockets.Chuck in a couple chocolate bars and I also carry a small shaker of salt and pepper mix.Meat on a stick for if you score but have to spend a while out there..Space blanket just in case.Binos.That`s about it.I don`t get all camo`d up.Quiet clothes,worn jeans and a warm lined jean jacket,maybe a vest under.Decent boots.Don`t waste a bunch of money on crap every hunter "NEEDS" to have.Spend it on a good rifle and scope and LEARN HOW TO SHOOT.That`s the biggest thing.You will be fine.

Yeah, that will be the big thing for me. Used to shooting my ruger 10/22 - I think the kick on the 30-06 will be a bit more;-) I have a large acreage so I plan to setup a bit of a range this year to practice the different distances. I would like to get comfortable to 300 yards. Gives me 6 months! Feel sorry for the few gophers I have left, but they won't feel a thing ;-)

[Armando]

I started rifle hunting 2 years ago with the help of acouple friends.
In the pass two years I have come up with new ideas of what is needed other then the supplies my friends always brought.
Learn what you can from others and expand your abilities.
Scents were a big one for me

[Okotokian]

So glad to see you put binos on your list. No scoping people!

Couple other things that are not essential, but sure nice to have...
-toilet paper. You're going to be out there a while!
-a small folding saw. Good for survival/comfort and also for taking apart an animal.
-County landowner maps to aid in your asking for access.


This is definitely in the "nice to have' category, but should be a possible future purchase... a range finder. You don't need one if you are going to keep your shots under 200 or 250 yards, and can always tell what 200 or 250 yards is, but if you plan to ever shoot further, good thing to have.

Also, before you shoo anything, be sure you have watched a ton of field dressing videos online. I did my first alone, and did fine, but I'd watched it being done a fair bit.

And read the regs... and then re-read them.

Good luck!

[openfire]

One this that is great is a bit of rope.
When I get an animal I drag it to the nearest tree and tie the legs from one side of the animal to it so keep them spread nice and wide, makes it way easier to field dress the animal.

Also some straps/rope you can use to help you drag the animal out is nice to have too.

[Okotokian]

Originally Posted by openfire

Also some straps/rope you can use to help you drag the animal out is nice to have too.

Dragging? Nawwwww I remember seeing a video in my Hunters Ed course of a guy packing a whole deer out on his back, one front leg over each shoulder. I think that is the best way.

Note to new hunter: I'm joking!

[Snm]

Originally Posted by Okotokian

Dragging? Nawwwww I remember seeing a video in my Hunters Ed course of a guy packing a whole deer out on his back, one front leg over each shoulder. I think that is the best way.

Doing this with a pack on one handed makes you a true hunter.

[Xiph0id]

I don't think it's been said enough but land to hunt on is key.

My first year was mostly a right off because I did not have private land to hunt on.

I believe private land access vs public land is a huge benefit when hunting.

Also lots of scouting and hours watching, looking, tracking and talking with land owners pays off immensely.

[igorot]

You will need this for your camel back , I know

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...d_i=B00437RREI

[Stinky Buffalo]

Originally Posted by igorot

You will need this for your camel back , I know

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...d_i=B00437RREI

That's pretty neat. Will have to look into getting one of those!

[Mateo]

For the knife guys:
I carried a fixed blade knife that I keep with my pack and used the carbide scissor sharpener. Was real easy to master and gave a glorious edge. This year I'm going ceramic. Schrade sell the sch401L folding ceramic knife. At less than 2 ounces and super slim I will throw it in my butt stock pack and never worry about having a sharp knife again. They can be found for less than $40 now. The stock pack is brilliant for keeping your tags and licences at hand.

[kevpack]

As I walked down the frost coated cutline I could hear these odd sounds with every step. It wasn’t the crunching of the frozen clover or my footfalls on the hard packed muskeg. It wasn’t the distant croaking of a raven calling his friends and family to join him in some newly discovered feast. It was the creaking, groaning and squeaking of my knapsack straining under the burden of all the “necessities” I deemed necessary to pack along while hunting. And there was this other sound... not so loud as to disturb the critters but just loud enough so that I knew what it was…the sound of my long dead father-in-law laughing uproariously at me and turning slowly in his grave.
You see my father in law Chuck got me started big game hunting, planted the seed so to speak, and it grew. My own father was more of a duck hunter, he admitted he didn’t really enjoying chasing after big game, knocking it down and sweating it out for the rest of the day getting all that meat taken care of. Once my future father in law gave me a taste of the big stuff, though, I was hooked for life.
A minimalist is what you would call Chuck now, back then, we just called him stubborn and old fashioned. He would stuff his open-sighted Savage 99 rifle full of cartridges as he climbed out of his two wheel drive pickup and traipse off with a giant “old timer” knife strapped to the belt holding up his wool pants. He had one tag in his pocket and he was huntin. Yes my friends, that was about it, work boots, wool toque and jacket and he was on his way. “A sling is too slow” he would say. I still remember his words as he handed me my first big game rifle, a Winchester Model 94 30/30, “This is all you need to hunt with around here.”
I did manage to smack a little Black Bear with that thutty thutty before I retired it. The rifle, of course, did just fine, that bear wasn’t gonna get stuck in the honey jar no mo. I should have listened to Chuck. I get dizzy thinking of all the kilo-kilo’s I would have cut out of my life if I had only listened.
Note. A kilo-kilo is a term I have coined to describe the amount of work needed to haul a kilogram for one kilometer. This is the metric version of pound-miles.
Well I didn’t listen, I had to be the modern man, I knew better. I didn’t have just one knife; I had 4 knives - a gutting knife, a skinning knife, a caping knife and one just for survival. For a while I tried just one knife, it had three blades - a gutter, a skinner and a saw but that one alone weighed a full kilogram and after about a half a mile that’s another kilo-kilo. A magazine full of shells might not be enough, I had to have a snazzy leather case with another 10 rounds strapped to my belt. Another half kilo-kilo.
There’s stuff hanging around my neck jingle jangling all down the trail. I got a range finder, a deer grunter and a birch bark moose call. I got a pair of 8x42 binoculars with a little leather thingy to keep the rain off. Chuck didn’t even own a pair of binoculars and I’ve got the 8x42’s, a “big-eye” set of 15x58’s, a pocket sized 8x20 and two, count ‘em, two spotting scopes. For all these optics I’ve got three different sized tripods plus a window mount for when I got so much crap I can’t even leave the truck. (Lots of kilo-kilos).
Years ago my brother-in-law and I gave Chuck a cute little monocular for his birthday
and after he died I found it in a drawer, still in the box it came in.
I carry so much stuff around that I have graduated up three levels from how I have to
carry it…from pockets to belt pouches, fanny packs and finally a knapsack that empty-by
itself- weighs 3 kilos. I’ve got a saw with both a meat/bone blade and a wood cutting
blade and if that gets lost at the bottom of the pack I’ve got a little hatchet.
I used to shake my head when I saw the cops at Timmys struggling under the weight of
all the equipment they carry around on their belts. How they gonna catch the crack
dealers with twenty kilos of equipment latched on? They carry flashlights, extra ammo,
radios, batons, pepper spray, firearms and various other heavy leather pouches with secret
things inside. They’ve got nothing on me. Hell I’ve got all of that stuff except that baton
but I do have a little ski pole type walking stick that would whack somebody on the
noggin just fine.
I’ve got a survival kit, a first-aid kit and a little mess kit. I’ve got extra socks, gloves,
toilet paper and an extra toque. I have 20 metres of rope and a whole roll of orange
survey tape. In case those 4 knives don’t last I’ve got a diamond coated knife sharpener.
I’ve got a little case for my licenses, tags and attachment wires with a little pad of paper
and a stub of a pencil inside it. I’ve got a handheld GPS and a little pen to gently brush
and clean all of my optical surfaces. When the GPS stops working I’ve got extra batteries
for it and 2 separate compasses in case I don’t believe the first one. I’ve got a little case
filled with my scalpel and extra blades in case my 4 knives don’t work for field caping.
More kilo-kilos.
Strapped onto my rifle I’ve got still more ammo, a bipod and a big-ass carrying strap.
When you add my 4-14x56 bullet drop compensated, ballistic turreted, parallax
adjustable, illuminated superscope, my thunderstick is tipping the scales at over 5 kilos.
That’s eleven pounds to you and I and I haven’t even filled the magazine yet. I’ve got
pop-up plastic covers on my scope and little sealed packets of gun oil for when it rains.
I’ve got polarized sunglasses inside their hard case. There’s a little package of trail mix
from I don’t know what year and a whole bunch of other things down at the bottom of the
pack I don’t even know what for. I’m afraid to throw them away because they look like
they’re for hunting and after I pitch it that would be the first thing I need. It’s very
difficult to cut down on the kilo-kilos.
If I have enough strength left in me to keep a steady aim and manage to bag something I
even have a camera and tripod with me to capture the moment. The critter would have to
be patient though as it takes me five minutes just to get enough stuff outta the way for me
to pee, I really don’t know how long it would take to line up for a shot. If I shot
something I’d have to go back to the truck for more stuff like a my calf sled or my cart or
my 500 feet of haulin rope 'cause I don’t have enough extra room in the pack to fit an
antelope heart.
I’m glad Chuck didn’t live long enough to see this.
I’m sure it’s a sickness-I really am gonna try to simplify, maybe I don’t need the full pack with me, maybe I can go back down to a fanny pack. One knife is probably all I’ll really need and just my binoculars around my neck. Really, one or two lens cleaner packets and a few sheets of tp in my back pocket and I could get by. Do I really need every tag and what in the hell is that pad of paper and pencil for? I shouldn’t need more than a magazine full of cartridges.
I must have too much money - just because I bought all of this junk doesn’t mean I have to bring it all with me every time…at least that’s what my therapist says. There was that neat little harness I was looking at to keep your binoculars off of your neck

[Jucebox]

Lots of practice with your gun, confidence is very much key when youre out there, especially by yourself. Mark sure you KNOW what its going to do. And you can get a decent gun off the site for around the 4-700 range. I got my .270win tikka here for just over 600. And like the guys said, use the extra on a good set of Binos. Amazon is GREAT for some of those deals. They make life nicer
Id bring a couple different knives, I use a cheap sharp paring knife for the scent glands exclusively. And if you have the option, bring someone who can dress the animal to teach you, its simple enough, but to have access to that kind of expertise on the job is priceless. A bottle of water to wash the carcass isnt a bad idea.

AND, bring your phone. Silence it and just leave it in your pocket, maybe even those portable batt chargers. If you get lost, something happens, itll save you a bit of grief.

Also, lunch and coffee.

[Big Red 250]

Best reply so far. Sums it up for me. But of course, I grew up in the same time period as "Chuck".