Anyone gone full circle yet?

[robby denning]

I reckon for me it was the day I shot a doe at 15’ with a handload I’d taken quite a bit of effort to develop, in a rifle I’d tweaked to death, and laughed at myself while looking over the turret.

now that's funny stuff.

 

[Kevin Dill]

I try to buy good stuff, but I find myself buying less of it as the years march on. I own very few weapons and my goes-everywhere is a longbow. I own one good pair of binoculars and no spotter...don't need more optics. I've never been into electronics of any type, whether for local deer or far-flung hunts. My boots are good but not the finest. I think I came full-circle decades ago and realized I could find no true joy or advantage in being fascinated with or owning more gear than what I needed to get the job done. Mt goal is to keep selling the excess stuff and pare things down to the bare essentials.

 

[Billinsd]

Full circle? You mean back to blue jeans and plaid shirts. Not me. I'm a little slow to upgrade my stuff. I recently upgraded from Predator and Day One in the 90s to Sitka outwear and First Lite innerwear. I'll probably keep all that for 10 or 20 years.

 

[Huntindog45]

i crack up at hunters (self included) and the things we "need" so we can successfully accomplish the job my grandfather accomplished wearing blue jeans, red flannel, shooting a lever action model 99 with a four power scope.
I know that technology has made hunting far more comfortable. Gore tex (or similar), has been a life changing. Good glass is amazing. but at the end of the day a good hunter with an average rifle will out perform an average hunter with great gear every day.
All that being said, my all time favorite "vice" of ours has to be camo though. the amount of debate over which camo to wear is hilarious. I dont care what species it is...it really doesn't matter. .... at all. but blue probably isnt good.

 

[full choke]

Full circle? You mean back to blue jeans and plaid shirts. Not me. I'm a little slow to upgrade my stuff. I recently upgraded from Predator and Day One in the 90s to Sitka outwear and First Lite innerwear. I'll probably keep all that for 10 or 20 years.

You won't be keeping the First Lite inner wear for 10-20 years...

 

[elkguide]

On my drive to Idaho hunting last fall, I stopped, as always, at Cabelas right off I 80. Had a very enjoyable break/rest/walk through/time to handle all the new stuff and walked back to my truck and called my wife. I told her that it was finally official...… I am old. She asked what made me decide that then. I replied, that I had just spent two hours in Cabelas and had come out without buying a thing!

 

[ODB]

On my drive to Idaho hunting last fall, I stopped, as always, at Cabelas right off I 80. Had a very enjoyable break/rest/walk through/time to handle all the new stuff and walked back to my truck and called my wife. I told her that it was finally official...… I am old. She asked what made me decide that then. I replied, that I had just spent two hours in Cabelas and had come out without buying a thing!

I must be really old...I don’t even go in anymore. 16Bore and I feel the hardest money to spend is a $50 gift card to cabelas....

 

[elkduds]

Skinflint that I am, my usual high dollar purchases are lightly used, with a reputation for quality/durability earned over years of good service. Vehicles and most gear depreciate fast in the 1st few years after introduction. Forums and user reviews are far more reliable than "new and improved" retail hype, in evaluating gear. Sitka, C4E, Kodiak canvas, MSR tent, Zeiss, Leupold, Badlands, etc. Quality gear from the classifieds, much w lifetime warranty. So I didn't go all the way around to get back where I started. I am, however, grateful to all the zoot du jour guys who sold me my gear, when they replaced it for The Latest. Works for me.

 

[elkguide]

I must be really old...I don’t even go in anymore. 16Bore and I feel the hardest money to spend is a $50 gift card to cabelas....

I had $200 of gift cards in my pocket as well! Of course my wife's smart aleck come back was......

"Come on. There must have been something in there that you don't have only 2 of!"

 

[WV Mountaineer]

I'm a full circle guy by some standards. And a guy that finally found something that can't be improved on too. And, have no intentions of going back. Even though I was never a big spender on luxury items, I wasn't afraid to spend the dollars on top of the line when I had it and, could justify using it more efficiently.

I tried a lot of different calibers in guns and, have settled back to the '06 for most of my hunting. I hand load and have been doing it for 35 years. I've learned that when you load that '06 to its potential, there is no need for the 300's and other long range stuff for my uses. I own quite a few of the old reliable now in calibers from .22 up through .35. And, I get the things shooting good and leave them alone. I simply have spent way to much time, money and effort chasing the magic loads. Because I've never fired a gun off a bench and let the barrel cool before shooting another one while I was hunting.

On the packs, I'm never going full circle as long as I hunt in areas that I have to pack game. Just the last couple years I've bought the best for me. So, I won't be going back to my Alice pack and frame.

Clothing, I'm in both sectors. For my pants, Its simply going to be wool when I can justify wearing it. For my purposes, the US military WWII pants are hard to beat. Same with their wool glove liners. Aside from that, the stretch nylon stuff from Wrangler follows up for most other uses. I just started using those a couple years ago.

Jackets are pretty much never going to run full circle. I love wool but it is heavy and I need something that compresses better. Primaloft and the Kenai from KUIU has become my layering stuff I depend upon most. Light, packable, and my layers weigh about a 1/3 of what a wool jacket does.

Baselayers have saw me go full circle. I'm mostly a synthetic kind of guy against my skin. I went the merino route and, while it is very comfortable and warm, it doesn't dry well. So, I'm back to polyester most times.

Bow, I started on trad, went to compound, back to trad, and now back to the compound mostly. But, Im getting bored again so, I'll probably be carrying a stickbow again next year

 

[Wrench]

I have infinity rifles and I killed my stuff this year with a muzzleloader and longbow.

Last year I took my elk at 850 the year before 700....then I decided the thrill is gone.

I'm back to trad.

 

[Shraggs]

I have a lot of gear. Much is new in recent years as I started western and back country hunting.

For me, some of the new fangled stuff made sense like the shelter equipment that is so light today. Years ago, I’ve thought, hunters hunted in the same places but access was assisted with animals and canvas tents blankets etc in the day were hauled in with animals. This light gear is a step up when you consider one person can solo hunt for extened periods in the back country.

Much of my stuff is old, proven and still great gear. I prefer my Filson wool to bow hunt deer in a stand more then anything new. It will outlive me too. But too heavy on a mountain for me. I don’t consider merino new really, an improvement and will keep buying as needed.

I do spend lots money on good optics, then keep it. Worth every penny to me. But only a few pieces.

Never gone crazy on the weapons. I’ve owned three bows, first a recurve for s long time, just got a new wheel bow couple years ago and my first wheel bow I shot for at least a dozen years. Once I Dail them in, I’m done and I get to know them real well so animals I point at dies.

I’m nostalgic about guns too. Shot a lot of different calibers along the way. I’ve formed opinions about killing effectiveness and like mid bores for shorter ranges and or bigger game and faster smaller bores as expected ranges increase. These affect my buying decsions.

32 win special model 94 - deer short range, drives, fast
358 win BLR - anything big or small to mid range
6mm rem browning b78 single - vermin and small deer long range
7mm Ruger 1 single - deer to big game long range
308 kimber - do all and mountain rig deer sized
350 rem mag Ruger 77 - do all and mountain rig big game

Good optics too. I’ll spend money to take a rig longer than 300 yards, scope handload etc. but don’t go crazy.

Great thread, for me it mixed. I hope I’m spending to increase my capability either in range to take game or how far, high or time I can stay and hunt.

 

[HookUp]

I added a 2nd upright freezer. Not sure about full circle but feeling justified for all the $$$ I spend.

I will not be chasing the newest gun gear to shoot a mile away. Gun, muzzie or bow I want to be as close as I can.

 

[Beendare]

Im not knapping my own points yet.... but yeah, Im trying to keep it simple.

 

[Kevin Dill]

My wife has more interest in visiting Cabela's or Bass Pro Shops than I do. I still have an appreciation for good gear, but i no longer feel the tug to buy it...even if I like it. I can wander around almost any outdoor or sporting store and come out with nothing after an hour. I'm pretty sure it's just like golf. Guys (some) reach a point where they have an appreciation for the actual game itself and are content to focus on enjoying a beautiful day with a good set of familiar clubs. They aren't chasing the lowest score and constantly buying the latest thing in an effort to drop one stroke....nor do they get bored using what they know works perfectly well for them.

 

[elkguide]

My wife has more interest in visiting Cabela's or Bass Pro Shops than I do. I still have an appreciation for good gear, but i no longer feel the tug to buy it...even if I like it. I can wander around almost any outdoor or sporting store and come out with nothing after an hour. I'm pretty sure it's just like golf. Guys (some) reach a point where they have an appreciation for the actual game itself and are content to focus on enjoying a beautiful day with a good set of familiar clubs. They aren't chasing the lowest score and constantly buying the latest thing in an effort to drop one stroke....nor do they get bored using what they know works perfectly well for them.

Sort of like being married to the same wonderful woman for a long time!

 

[MtnOyster]

Yea...………………………..but I just love looking at all this junk I've collected over the years!

 

[Huntindog45]

I must be really old...I don’t even go in anymore. 16Bore and I feel the hardest money to spend is a $50 gift card to cabelas....

the last few times i went into cabelas i was totally disapointed. crappy mass produced crap gear. I just dont bother anymore. the draw of the cabelas stores used to be the bargain cave. seems most stores dont even have those any longer.

 

[16Bore]

the last few times i went into cabelas i was totally disapointed. crappy mass produced crap gear. I just dont bother anymore. the draw of the cabelas stores used to be the bargain cave. seems most stores dont even have those any longer.

Can’t tell you how many times my legs fell asleep while sitting on the can reading a Cabelas catalog...

 

[S.Clancy]

I feel like those gift cards are still food for ammo. That's all I buy at cabelas.