It's been an interesting progression of gear decisions for me over the years I've been doing this, including a couple solo hunts. When I did my first moose diy hunt, I was pretty obsessive about every detail of gear. I likely burned up a couple million brain cells trying to think through many scenarios and how to address them before they happened. I (and my partner) brought way too much gear and didn't need a good bit of it. In subsequent years (next 2 or 3) I still found myself with more than I needed and it actually irritated me to paw my way past extra headlamps, coils of 550 cord, backup knives, backup first-aid stuff, too many socks...etc. That might sound crazy but it's exactly what I experienced. As the hunts and years went along I found myself needing and wanting less stuff. I don't think I could have done that on my first trip...my brain wouldn't allow it...and I needed the comfort of knowing I had lots of gear. I had so many clothes...it was ridiculous. Now I take exactly what I need and nothing more. And in a very interesting way, I've found that more experience = less gear in my case. I can go in for 2 weeks, and all my gear fits nicely inside the tail of the Super Cub behind my seat. No extra gear drops. This definitely is only just me relating what I've experienced in my time, and it's not to encourage anyone to take less or more gear. Take what makes you feel comfortable, but don't be afraid to improvise up there. That's part of what a wilderness hunter does.
