Backcountry gear

[mblauch]

I’m planning a backcountry elk hunt for this fall, are there any must haves that might not show up on a typical gear list?

 

[Honyock]

Good boots that fit your feet and have good ankle support are a must in my opinion. Gaiters are also an overlooked piece.

 

[hereinaz]

Swedish fish

 

[Mr Drysdale]

Swedish fish

Had to look it up

 

[hereinaz]

Had to look it up

I couldn’t think of anything else I take that that isn’t on some list…

 

[Soj51hopeful]

Horses

 

[TFrank]

Must haves are going to be on any list as you have to have them.

I think I get where you are going with with this though. A subjective must have for me is a pocket bidet. If you burn through TP fast this helps alleviate that.

 

[bjack6755]

It depends on the hunt. My gear list changes depending on lots of things. Diy backpack hunt in November? Archery or rifle?

 

[mblauch]

Yeah I probably could've worded my question a little better, one thing that came to my mind was something like down booties, I haven't seen those on too many lists, but seem like they might be nice, maybe I should've said luxury item? And it'll be a late October/early November DIY backpack rifle hunt

 

[bjack6755]

I have some down pants and recommend them for backpack hunting in October/november. I consider them to be part of my sleep system but occasionally use them while glassing. Dry merino wool socks with the down pants allow me to sleep comfortably in single digit temps. I’ve never used booties. Maybe consider those if you find them necessary after this first season. A good sleeping pad with a solid r value is more important imo.

 

[BuckRut]

Is this your first DIY backcountry elk hunt? Solo? Northern or southern state?

 

[Wyoming Hart]

Chapstick

 

[Hussar]

It really depends on what type of hunting your planning on doing. Are you planning on spike camping, or changing campsites frequently? Are you planning on sitting and glassing for extended periods of time? Or, are you planning to try to cut some fresh tracks?

If the area you're planning on hunting is conducive to glassing for extended periods of time, pack in the extra insulation layers. If you're you're looking for fresh tracks, I'd ditch the unnecessary insulation (down booties/insulated gloves).

Our strategy for hunting new areas is to plan to pack for 3-4 days. It keeps us light enough that we can get in and scout an area. If we like it, we can always send one person back out to the truck to resupply if we want to stay longer. Otherwise, we can pack up and get back out pretty quickly if there's no sign and head to the next area.

 

[mblauch]

This will be my second backcountry hunt, the first one I did was a bit of a bust due to some altitude sickness in our group so we ended up at a hotel more than we had wanted, it’ll be either Montana or Colorado, and there will be at least two of us, hoping another one or two guys we’ve asked decide to come too, either way the hope would be to find a place where we could glass for a few hours at a time and then move if we aren’t seeing much


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[BuckRut]

This will be my second backcountry hunt, the first one I did was a bit of a bust due to some altitude sickness in our group so we ended up at a hotel more than we had wanted, it’ll be either Montana or Colorado, and there will be at least two of us, hoping another one or two guys we’ve asked decide to come too, either way the hope would be to find a place where we could glass for a few hours at a time and then move if we aren’t seeing much


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Definitely bring a communication device. Elk are heavy and there's a lot that can go unexpectedly wrong for someone new to the back country. Also if you decide on Montana bear spray or a side arm is pretty much a must.

 

[mblauch]

Definitely bring a communication device. Elk are heavy and there's a lot that can go unexpectedly wrong for someone new to the back country. Also if you decide on Montana bear spray or a side arm is pretty much a must.

two good suggestions, I've got an Inreach that I purchase the plan for to communicate with for the time I'm out there, and yeah good thought on bear protection, I've never hunted in grizzly country so I'd likely look at either spray or a pistol, I know this has been debated a million times, but the largest caliber pistol I have is a 45 ACP, not sure if my risk is great enough to invest in something bigger, or if that with some of the solid core bullets would suffice for the short amount of time I'd be out there