Kill Kit

[Whip]

I am working on upgrading my kill kit. Right now I have the following:
5 Tag Bag game bags
Small tarp
60' of 5mm accessory cord
3 lightweight pulleys
2 carabiners
Outdoor Edge knife and spare blades.
Total weight of everything is right at 3#. I also carry a small folding saw that's not included in that weight. Seems like a lot for a kill kit, but I had a bad experience once with a bull that died in a bad spot and I want to be prepared to handle whatever is needed.

What do you guys carry? Any feedback on mine or something I may be missing?

 

[Desk Jockey]

Tyvek instead of the tarp. I like a separate sheet than a ground cloth. Not sleeping on a bloody funky ground cloth is worth it.

I keep some marking tape and about 10 twisty ties that reflect light. They are like the tacks but less pokey. Also a small zip tie for tags.

 

[gumbl3]

A pen

 

[AustinL911]

What do people use the flagging tape for?

 

[mtnrunner260]

Blood trailing for the flagging tape. Can see last blood easier and start to get a feel for direction of travel.

I know elk are big and heavy but you could get nearly the same effect of the pulleys with the right knots if you wanted to drop those.

Is the saw also for processing wood for a stove or just the skull cap?

 

[Desk Jockey]

What do people use the flagging tape for?

Site marking. The tape and the glowy twist ties are for marking trail in case you have to haul in more than one trip. Perhaps not needed if you are solo and have a rock solid gps fix but they weigh next to nothing and can help guide you or a hiking buddy into your kill / stash / cache site. For instance, It is a lot easy to say "go to that big hill and follow the tape trail" than "it is near the a big tree on the left down in the middle of that draw near the big hill".

 

[adamm88]

B

Is the saw also for processing wood for a stove or just the skull cap?

What saw do people use? is there a multipurpose saw that can be used for bones and wood?

 

[fngTony]

What saw do people use? is there a multipurpose saw that can be used for bones and wood?

Curious as well. I had a geber exchange a blade. Awesome blades, horrible handle

 

[Whip]

The saw is for processing wood in camp, but in the pack while I hunt. Elk sometimes die in the strangest places. May need to cut them out of a tangled mess to make processing easier - I've had it happens a couple of times. And although I've never needed it for this, a saw could also come in handy for making an emergency shelter. (Another use for the tarp as well)
My 3 pulleys and a pair of carabiners weigh a total of 10 ounces (without the rope) I could eliminate them but that doesn't seem like too bad a price for the extra power and work they can do. No doubt I'll carry them many miles and never really need them, but when I do need them I'll sure be glad I have them.

 

[adamm88]

anyone every use a light hatchet instead of a saw to chop threw bones? Im thinking somthing like a fiskars hatchet could chop through bones plus be used for firewood/Kindleing/Emergencys. and it wouldnt weigh much more, if anything more.

 

[KJH]

What do people use the flagging tape for?

I always have the marking tape with me. Even with the biodegradable type I still remove it when I'm done the best I can.

I use it to follow blood trails when needed. I tie a piece off at the last place I found a drop of blood so I can come back to it.

I use it to mark the kill site so I can find it the next day. I'll put up a 6-8' long piece somewhere that I should be able to see with the binos or to let me know its "over there".

I use it to mark a trail once I've found one so I'm not busting a new one to get to where I want to be.

A few years ago I would have not found a few down caribou on the tundra. I tied it to the antlers, which were the only thing higher than 2' off the ground. When it was time to go back for the next load I would have walked about 30 degrees in the wrong way. I walked for a while and glassed and then finally found them "the other way". We were tired and totally out of it. It all looked the same once we got over the hill from camp.

 

[Whip]

anyone every use a light hatchet instead of a saw to chop threw bones? Im thinking somthing like a fiskars hatchet could chop through bones plus be used for firewood/Kindleing/Emergencys. and it wouldnt weigh much more, if anything more.

I've not found a need to chop or cut through bones. Elk or any other animal come apart pretty easily with just a knife. I prefer euro mounts so leave the skull whole, but if a person wants to take the antlers of with just the skull plate it can be done fine with a saw. And for cutting firewood I much prefer a saw.
I do have one of those small light hatchets. I actually found it on the side of a mountain in WY. Probably left there by some guy who got disgusted with it. Lold

 

[Whip]

I do carry some flagging tape also. I prefer toilet paper for blood trailing though.
I use the tape mostly to mark a trail back to the kill site for subsequent loads. The shortest route is often not the easiest, and I want the easiest route I can get when I have a load on my back. So I'll flag the path I want to follow rather than rely on gps or compass. On my last load out I always pick up any tape that I've used. A pet peeve of mine is to find trails of old flagging tape scattered around the mountain or woods.

 

[Tsnider]

been thinking about buying the Qiwiz saw. 4 ounce bucksaw. Looks like a really well made piece of gear, and in late season archery it would be beneficial to saw up some thicker stuff for the stove. seems like in almost the same time to gather enough small sticks to burn you can almost saw some 3" thick stuff that will burn much longer. you can get a bone saw blade with it too.

 

[Felix40]

I hate flagging tape hanging all over the woods too. TP is a good way to go as long as its not raining. Ive used arrows stuck in the ground at each drop of blood on a hard track before too. With 3-4 arrows you can look back and see the path an animal is on really easily. You just have to leap frog them as you track. On good blood its not needed.

Pulleys seem like overkill and 10oz is almost what my whole kit weighs so I wont be packing any. If it works for you then it works for you. Im sure it would be nice to have.

Something that doesnt come up much is tomahawks for cutting off a head or ribs. On deer I always take ribs whole because they are light enough and freaking delicious. The cold steel tomahawks are a lot lighter than a hatchet and the long handle gives you more power too. I use mine for camp fire wood, driving tent stakes, and occasianally clearing a little brush for glassing. I know you cant do a skull cap so thats the negative.

Its hard to say what my "kill kit" is because everything is dual use but the things I use are: deboned game bags (8oz), 275 pcord (12 ft), skeletonized knife (2 oz), 4'x4' silnylon tarp, a pen, 2-3 ft of flagging, occasionally the tomahawk on deer, sheep, and hogs for the ribs.

 

[ColoradoHunterHiker]

Mine's just the Rokslide Kill kit with the addition of a small bone saw and a pen. That's pretty much all you need.

Rokslide did their homework on building that kit.

 

[twunt]

A little glow stick for marking location when coming back in the dark could really help too.

 

[406]

I added a single cheap tent stake to mine a couple years ago. Hunt solo 99% of the time. Being able to tie off a leg when you're in an open field makes the work alot easier.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[fngTony]

Whip, what kind of tarp are you packing? I can't see how you got to three pounds even with the pulleys.

 

[Whip]

The tarp is a piece of a rain fly from an old tent. Not a real lightweight fabric and I know I could shave a few ounces if I replacedon't it. The accessory cord I'm carryng is heavier and probably longer than it needs to be - I could shave a little more weight there. And I want to replace the stuff sacks that I have for the rope/ pulleys and the game bags with one lighter weight sack, So I do have some ounces here and there that I can get rid of.