New to hunting..whitetail as an adult- gear check list / help.

[brokencar91]

Hey...getting into hunting a bit late in life..I am primarily going to bow hunt.
I have some private land and some public i am looking to hunt.
I got a mathews vrx 31.5
Ordered a saddle and accender
Built out vap tko with micro hades 3 blade fixed heads.
I need a pack..I think?
What else might I be missing?

 

[Sizthediz]

Safety harness, lifeline, gps/compass / flagging tape so you dont get lost while tracking. flashlight/headlamp knife or two for gutting/processing deer, some water plan on how your going to drag a deer out, proper footwear and clothing for conditions.
Good luck and have fun.

 

[Dave_S]

Climbing sticks and a platform (although I'd assume you have thought of these, as they go hand in hand with the saddle). A gear hanger of some sort is nice if you don't want to hold your bow the whole time. Also allows you to hang your pack if you carry one. I carry a small kill kit, a first aid kit, a drag harness. I hunt public land, you may not feel like you need some of this stuff if you are hunting private. I typically carry my inreach for worst-case scenarios (and it makes my wife happy). Snacks if you get hungry, layers if you get cold.
My best advice is take your saddle and go practice getting in and out of a tree now. Do it without the pressure of trying to do it quietly and in the dark. Get comfortable with how your gear works and while you are there, spend some time seeing what you like/dislike and what you might need to make it better.

 

[wesfromky]

There are a bunch of "what is in my pack" style youtube videos out there - here are a couple:

 

[*zap*]

normal treestand and sticks.

 

[Rich M]

You can hunt in normal clothes. Don’t need all kinds of crap, easy to accumulate it tho.

 

[Honyock]

wind checker and scent free soap

 

[mjspeers]

A winch in your garage rafters for processing. Invest in a Millenium stand. Climbers are for the birds unless you have no other option. It’s important to be still, so comfort pays and I’ve found nothing better than Millenium. In the same vein, warm/quiet clothes. I love Sitka’s fanatic line.

 

[Coopsdaddy]

I would say skip all the bs,it’s overwhelming with all the new gear.I still shoot a switchback xt because I want to,no other reason.All good advice above.Safety is paramount.If your not comfortable yet just buy a blind and ground hunt.Or a couple cheap ladder stands.
Any cheap pack works.
Wear some good backpacking clothes and buy a asat leafy suit to go over it.That way you can also utilize the clothes in off season.
Harness
Phone charger
onx and compass
Range finder
Boots
Headlamp

 

[Gutshot007]

New to deer hunting i would throw in a little firearm action for fun as well. I think it gives perspective on archery vs firearm. Good luck and have fun

 

[BoilerBowHunter]

Definitely want a range finder if bow hunting.

You really don’t need a ton to be successful. Enjoy!

 

[signing off]

Locate some milkweed pods and use the fluff to follow wind current. It will educate you on what is happening near and around you.
Observation of deer when you know what the scent stream is doing is fundamental. This could be done anytime, anywhere and can be very valuable. Better than chasing gadgets that "help" kill deer. Welcome to the hunting community.

 

[Novashooter]

I would say skip all the bs,it’s overwhelming with all the new gear.I still shoot a switchback xt because I want to,no other reason.All good advice above.Safety is paramount.If your not comfortable yet just buy a blind and ground hunt.Or a couple cheap ladder stands.
Any cheap pack works.
Wear some good backpacking clothes and buy a asat leafy suit to go over it.That way you can also utilize the clothes in off season.
Harness
Phone charger
onx and compass
Range finder
Boots
Headlamp

I agree completely. This is a new hunter and it's whitetail. There is very little you need to kill whitetail. 99% of the junk you see out there is for specialization going after that 1% biggest buck out there where no mistakes can be made.

You honestly don't "need" anything but something lethal, in this case a bow, whatever you need to be legal, probably an orange vest, and the rest you likely already have.

You don't need a fancy meat hauling backpack. It is possible you can find public land big enough to justify such a thing, for your first time you can get by with almost nothing. I own a good pack, and I don't remember the last time I've ever used it for whitetails. If you are within a half mile of a road, the best thing is a sled. One of those cheap kids sleds work. I use a Jet sled. A lot of people just get a buddy and drag them out.

You don't need any of that scent junk. Nothing works better for clothes than washing with water and baking soda, then air drying outside for a couple day. I'm not convinced that scent elimination spray does anything at all. When I take a shower, I just don't use soap. Same with wind direction checkers. Great things to use. Not super important for beginners. Lots of free options you can use in the wild.

Unless you are really getting in somewhere deep, which I would not recommend a novice do, you don't need a map and compass. Most people couldn't use them if they had to anyway. Keeping track of good topo maps is a PITA. I use them for huge tracts of lands, measured in millions of acres. I'm not using them to hunt a 300 acre section of public WIA. You don't need OnX, but I highly suggest you do get that. I'm sure Huntstand or whatever others are out there are good too. I've only used OnX. I would be really nerfed without it.

Rangefinder, you probably want. Not a lot of reasons to not have one with a bow. A reliable headlamp is a very great thing to have, I'll actually put that in a must have. Not a $10 store thing. Get something that will work when you need it. My favorite is the Princetontec Vizz. Great cheaper option that punches well above its cost.

Clothes, unless you plan on bow hunting late season, I wouldn't worry about it. Whitetails can't see for squat. If you don't move, they cant see you if you are dressed in 100% solid blaze orange from 10 yards away. They use their noses, a little of their ears, eyes are almost useless besides you moving. In the early season you are going to be just fine with what you already have. Basic cotton pants and shirt, cheap long underwear helps regulate temp. Cotton hoodies are fine. You will probably want some insulated boots if you don't have them.

Once you shoot a deer, some people bring out the kitchen sink, I don't. Rubber gloves are fine if you feel you want them. I never use any. Don't waste money on those garbage knife kits. Buy one good knife. A Buck 110 is as good as it ever was, it's all I use. I even got the drop point blade version which I prefer. You probably have a kitchen knife at home that is good enough for cutting them up the rest of the way. There is no need for saws for gutting deer. A single knife will gut and quarter a deer with no issues. Splitting a pelvic bone seems so pointless to me. No need to split rib cages, just reach in there. No need for winches or any of that other stuff. You don't even need to hang the deer if you don't want to, but it can be helpful if you have a garage. When I was living in an apartment, and even when I just rented a basement, I quartered my deer on the ground and carried them to the kitchen. I still don't own a winch, although it's not a bad thing to have. I just use a gambrel I made, and a ratchet strap. You are giving up a lot if you don't have a meat grinder. There's a lot of trim meat that is simply better ground up and used for other things. A jerky cutting board is cheap and works great for slicing jerky too.

That's about all you need to buy, everything else can be worked out.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

You don't need a lot of stuff, you need to go hunt to find out what stuff you're missing. Off the top of my head I would recommend:
As others stated I prefer a good portable tripod, Millennium T100 is short but light and comfortable.

Cheap rangefinder, if you've got money get a good one with angle compensation. If it's got magnification you can use it for glassing. Prerange all your yardage by hitting trees and trails or whatever so there's no guessing or fumbling when Bambi's daddy walks out.

Cheap knife and cheap drag through sharpener, if you've got money get a good knife and skip the sharpener.

Sitka Ascent 12 pack, less than $100 all over the web and you can strap your bow to it rapidly, it's got a little hook thing for the bow and good layout with internal pockets. It's not for packout, it's just your stuff. Mainly hiding your snacks and water bottle and spare socks or whatever else you bring. I saw one in the classifieds here a few days ago. If you're planning to use it to pack meat then get something else or keep a cheap pack frame (or game cart) in the truck to retrieve.

Some sort of hard case to put sunglasses in so when it gets dark they don't get crushed in your pack or lost keeping them on your hat.

Spare release so when you leave yours somewhere you're not screwed.

Some sort of quiet water bottle to keep in your pack, the plastic 16.9 oz bottles are loud.

I like some sort of light under layer with a hood, this is for sun as much as to mask movement from behind when you turn your head (hood slides mostly with little movement).

Headlamp is invaluable, get a good one as it's way more than hunting uses.

 

[CJ19]

Hey...getting into hunting a bit late in life..I am primarily going to bow hunt.
I have some private land and some public i am looking to hunt.
I got a mathews vrx 31.5
Ordered a saddle and accender
Built out vap tko with micro hades 3 blade fixed heads.
I need a pack..I think?
What else might I be missing?

Great to hear. Looks like others have made a lot of good gear suggestions. Not sure if others have plugged the safety aspect. Especially when tree hunting, make sure someone knows where you are headed roughly speaking. I like to have cell service or my inreach when i climb into my treestands any more purely for safety. I am not saying you need to go buy an inreach but it has added piece of mind for my wife on days i leave and come home in the dark. just be safe out there. Climbing in trees is one of the most dangerous things we do as hunters. Best of luck to you.

 

[Yoder]

For archery a range finder is a must. I would also carry two linemans belts for climbing trees with limbs so you can always stay attached. Maybe a pair of binoculars. They aren't necessary but come in handy, especially if you have antler restrictions.

 

[signing off]

Early season hunts in the Midwest are extremely difficult without a Thermocell. Darn skeeters.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

Early season hunts in the Midwest are extremely difficult without a Thermocell. Darn skeeters.

That's a good call. It's hard to sit still while swatting skeeters. Thermocell works great.

 

[brokencar91]

Early season hunts in the Midwest are extremely difficult without a Thermocell. Darn skeeters.

Would have never thought of..Thanks

 

[Macintosh]

My $0.02: There are plenty of people who were or are successful bow hunting with only a bow, arrows, a knife to gut a deer with and a little pack to carry some water and snacks and headlamp in, and rudimentary clothing. NOTHING more. I bow hunted for over a decade without most of the stuff I carry around now. You dont need scent killers. You dont need fancy boots. You also dont need expensive camo. You dont need a rangefinder. You dont need 95% of all the crap people (including me) carry around. Use what makes sense to you, practice so you know what it and you are capable of, and go have fun. You have plenty of time to accumulate all the excessive crap in the future, dont worry about doing it all at once. IMO 95% of it is time in the woods scouting so you know where to go, time spent shooting your bow so you can execute a shot when you are shaking like a leaf, and a dose of luck. The "crap" makes up MAYBE the other 5%.

*a rangefinder is nice to make sure you are aiming where you need to be--wounding a deer is easy to do and it sucks. but you dont need one--if you are using a fixed stand just pace off 15 yards or 20 yards in a couple directions from your stand and tie a tiny piece of surveyors tape to a branch--presto, you have a range marker (do this ahead of season so you dont leave your scent all over). If you are capable of making longer shots, a short and a long marker to show your max range can help you from wounding. Also when you are scouting or hiking, practice estimating range to a tree, stump or rock, then pace it off to check yourself. Most people can pretty quickly get good at estimating range pretty well out to 30 yards or so, which is more than enough for most people to be successful bow hunting--This lets you make successful shots when hunting from the ground or at an unprepared stand site. I know a number of successful bowhunters who still dont use a rangefinder becasue they practice this skill and dont see the point.

*camo...eh, read up, its scientifically debatable whether camo actually works on deer anyway. deer see movement though. simply making sure you have a screen behind you to break up your sillouette and covering up your hands and face goes a long way toward not being seen. I'll show you half a dozen videos of deer walking right up to within 5 or 10 yards of me on the ground, and that's wearing an orange hat and not wearing a stitch of camo--those are public land deer on state wma's in many cases, too.

*scent killer--for every hunter I know that swears by scent killer, I know 2 that swear it doesnt work. This stuff literally didnt even exist not that long ago anyway, and people got along just fine. Scent is the hardest thing anyway. Just learn to watch your wind and plan your hunts around the wind. Milkweed is the best windchecker on earth, and it's free.

If you are going to hunt from a tree, you do need a way up the tree (sticks, etc) something to stand on (platform or stand), a harness (saddle or harness), as well as a tether of some sort (short for hang and hunt or full length for a fixed stand) and a way to attach yourself to the tether. Not much else that you probably dont already have except maybe something to carry it in.

Once you get addicted and start refining this, optimizing that, trying to cut weight, etc, then you can start adding more or better gear.