Mule deer gear priority list

I’ve got my eyes out for a good tripod. Kill kit needs some touching up. Have a replaceable blade scalpel but need game bags and small tarp. Those type things are “budget plus” for me after I get the bigger ticket items. The crossover from whitetail has been more expensive than I anticipated but it’s been fun.
Kifaru used to sell meat bags that were super thin and lightweight. I still have them, but apparently they're not selling them any more? So got the Argali's one for my son. Forget whose I got for a small lightweight tarp. I just bring it to put the deer on top of for deboning. To help keep debris off the meat while I'm processing.

Also, because of "The Meat Bees" I encountered at the first location I took deer at... I quickly learned to instead gut them, and carry those guts a minimum of 25yds away before dumping them. Giving the insects someplace ELSE to go to, first!

Or.. maybe you're more Alpine? ... and if you think you can pull-off gutless where you're at, without having a buncha Yellow-Jackets coming in to it... I've also kinda learned to only skin to uncover the immediate body-part I was about to debone, right before I'd process that one area... in order to reduce the attack surface for the incoming insects to be able to try to get in on.
 
A solid tripod setup would be high on my list. You mentioned binoculars but do you have a spotter? I wouldn't consider it a necessity but I'v found a fair amount of deer glassing at extended ranges after switching out the binos and picking things apart.
 
Kifaru used to sell meat bags that were super thin and lightweight. I still have them, but apparently they're not selling them any more? So got the Argali's one for my son. Forget whose I got for a small lightweight tarp. I just bring it to put the deer on top of for deboning. To help keep debris off the meat while I'm processing.

Also, because of "The Meat Bees" I encountered at the first location I took deer at... I quickly learned to instead gut them, and carry those guts a minimum of 25yds away before dumping them. Giving the insects someplace ELSE to go to, first!

Or.. maybe you're more Alpine? ... and if you think you can pull-off gutless where you're at, without having a buncha Yellow-Jackets coming in to it... I've also kinda learned to only skin to uncover the immediate body-part I was about to debone, right before I'd process that one area... in order to reduce the attack surface for the incoming insects to be able to try to get in on.
Thanks for the advice. I was looking at the mountain ops kill kit whenever they had their version of the marsupial gear bino harness on sale a week or so ago. I’ve never thought about bees on a carcass before so that’s great info. Never encountered that before.
 
A solid tripod setup would be high on my list. You mentioned binoculars but do you have a spotter? I wouldn't consider it a necessity but I'v found a fair amount of deer glassing at extended ranges after switching out the binos and picking things apart.
We are borrowing a Swaro spotter from a buddy that insists on us not buying one. It’s been awesome to see how supportive folks are in the sport. Great to see.
 
We are borrowing a Swaro spotter from a buddy that insists on us not buying one. It’s been awesome to see how supportive folks are in the sport. Great to see.
That's awesome! You'll have some top tier glass to pick things apart then. I'd recommend looking at some of the glassing techniques on here or youtube if it's new to you. Coming from east coast whitetail to picking apart country effectively was definitely an acquired skill for me and I'm still trying to pickup new tips.
 
If I had to only glass while seated with a tripod, I’d miss half the deer. As new areas open up and you automatically stop to scan by eye if something stands out, you should also be putting your binoculars up as the next step. Glassing while standing is skill that gets better with practice. I’ve hunted with guys that barely look at anything until at a high glassing spot or a convent place to sit and I was constantly finding deer and other animals they didn’t even take the time to look for. Tripods can be valuable, but during the day an effective hunter has to maximize the odds at any given moment. That also applies to seated glassing with a spotting scope - good technique is a combination of binocular and spotter use. I spend 75% of the time scanning with binoculars before picking apart areas with the spotter, then back to binoculars. Like fishing, don’t assume all the fish are near the opposite bank, or all deer are a mile away and forget to focus on what’s closer first.

There are a number of places well known for giant bucks that I don’t bring a 3 pound tripod when hunting from roads because getting around in steep country with 3 lbs less weight increases my odds more than being able to use the spotter for glassing. I still bring the spotter to evaluate a buck that’s found with binoculars, but for that use resting on a pack works just fine. Depending on topography, many areas aren’t conducive to long range glassing since glassing across a single big bowl or small ridge is as far as you can see, so if it doesn’t make sense don’t feel guilty about leaving the tripod in the tent.

The days are gone when some hard work puts you all alone in the middle of good western hunting. Todays hunters are in better shape, better equipped, and know more about animal behavior than ever, but deer that are easy to spot from a distance don’t live long, so remember you’re hunting as much to avoid areas other hunters can easily reach as you are places deer might like to hang out.

Sounds like a fun trip!
 
Thanks for the advice. I was looking at the mountain ops kill kit whenever they had their version of the marsupial gear bino harness on sale a week or so ago. I’ve never thought about bees on a carcass before so that’s great info. Never encountered that before.
Ugh.. dude.. it's (at first anyway) soo "Unnerving" especially since Yellow Jackets are known to be aggressive. I had to... with my latex gloved hand... gently and slowly swipe my hand across the areas I'd be working on in order to shoo them away from where I was processing at!

And eesh.. one of them? flew into the chest cavity and landed in the pooled-up blood in the ribes cavity and I swear.. it sounded just like when a person has their cellphone on vibrate and has it sitting on the countertop.
Somehow the ribs cavity acted like an acoustic sound amplification chamber! Was soo weird.

I look down, and he's like half-drunk-looking half-stuck into that pool of blood, tryna buzz his wing to get free of it.
 
P.S. And just because YOUR BEHIND already glassed thru area X, and you FELT you did so very thoroughly.. DO NOT.. REPEAT.. DO NOT... then in your mind.... mentally mark that area as having "already been glassed thru" and not needing to have you look thru it again. NAY! NAY!!!

You'll be SHOCKED to find... at times... a situation where you were glassing in all your FOV all day. And didn't see anything. But then... as the afternoon wears on... all of a sudden WTF!!? One just seems to emerge as if being birthed into existence by the land itself!

If you're out there long enough, you WILL experience this.
 
Tripod, Bino tripod adapter, Accordion Style foam sleeping pad cut in half for glassing seat.

SLIK 624 with a used VA-5 is a terrific setup for less than $300
 
Pad to sit on
Beard-Buster Turkey Hunting Seat Cushion! That has the chair-back to it with aluminum supports w/in it is CRUCIAL... if you have bulging discs!

EDIT: currently using a SIRUI I picked-up used from CameraLand. It plus Outdoorsman's Pistol Grip Head + Panner. LOVE.. this setup! Most natural and intuitive interface for pointing your binos and lighter spotter. The only negative about it is, has some shake to it when in windy conditions. Like when I go down to Bolsa Chica Wetlands reserve right there by the beach, in the PM, ya get a bit of wind in the PM, and typically I just clasp my hands and place them upon where the 3 legs meetup, to stabilize it back down.

Get the TALL Bino adapter so that way you have more height in your tripod setup AND... that way you're prepared for later on, should you then wanna get 15s as well.

I'd recommend getting one of their adapters that's NOT the BLACK colored one, just to make it easier to not displace it. I have the black one and just thru on some blue painters tape upon it and then muted that blue color w/ some sharpie markings to break-up the blue. Makes it quicker for my eyes to spot it when light starts fading-out during last-lite. Decrease your chance of oppsie-ing and leaving it upon the forest-floor when loading your pack back up after last-lite.
 
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