cwitt
FNG
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2021
- Messages
- 42
Back in February, I was asked by a longtime friend and former client to accompany him on a combo Dall Sheep and Moose hunt in the NWT. We just returned and I wanted to do a recap on the gear I took and my thoughts. To preface, while we did move camp on our back at times, this was a helicopter supported hunt — not purely backpack based. I still packed close to as light as possible but this style of hunt did allow for certain luxuries so there were gear choices that I made accordingly. Knowing what I do now, there’s still other things I’d leave, change, or bring. I’ve attached a picture of the full gear list I brought. Hopefully it can help somebody preparing for a similar hunt.
Clothing:
My clothing choices for this trip were basic but I was extremely happy with how they performed. Over 12 days in the field we saw temps everywhere from 25 to 80 degrees, snow, wind, rain, and sun. The Kuiu Kutana Stretch pants are in my opinion the ideal pant for this kind of hunt. Fast drying, tough, and they don’t lose their shape. I brought the Peloton Zip-off bottoms to pair with them on the colder days and was glad I did. This was also my first time using the Sitka Ambient 100 over extended periods and I was super happy with this piece for the mix of high exertion and static activity we experienced. A puffy suit is always essential gear IMO and it was used daily on this trip. SG Grumman Jacket was fantastic but I was happy to have my Kuiu SD Pro pants. Their fabric is just a little tougher than the SG and held up much better sitting in the rocks compared to the Grummans others wore. SG gaiters and M5 rain gear, Darn Tough socks, Kuiu Merino, and Sitka Core LW hoodie all were great.
Boots:
For 95% of my hunts I wear my Crispi Guides but preparing for this trip I picked up a pair of Crispi Briksdal MTN GTXs. Overall, they did the job but I was unimpressed. I have generally stayed away from stiff boots and these were supposed to be a 3 on Crispi’s scale, the same as my Guides. In using them, they just felt much softer and less supportive. The synthetic material also took a beating. I wore them a lot training over the summer but issues like these just don’t arise until you’re in the country you’re hunting day in, day out. If I were to do any hunt like this again, I’d look at the leather Brikstal EFXs or stick with my Guides.
Pack:
It feels redundant to hype up the EXO K4 on this forum but it really shined on this hunt. I’d been very satisfied with it in training hikes but this was my first time really using it in the field. In the past I’ve typically used my SG 7900 for all my guiding and personal hunts so I was a little nervous to downsize, but the 5000 was a great size for this type of hunt. I also really enjoy the layout and think it will be ideal for the rest of my hunts this fall. The Nalgene holder is something I was skeptical of at first because I’d never had an issue in the past just keeping my Nalgene in my pack but I have come around completely. It’s well designed and easy to forget it’s there except when you need it. The hip belt pouch on the other hand just isn’t something I find very useful and I removed mine. I also replaced all the top buckles on the side and lateral straps with the locking buckles and was glad having those to use for securing tripods, trekking poles, etc.
Optics/Glassing:
This was an area I debated a lot on prior to the hunt and am ultimately super happy with my choices. I elected to take my NL12s over my IS Sigs. It is hard to go back to non-stabilized as a chest bino but they hand hold just fine. Between long days watching sheep and glassing for moose off the tripod, they were perfect. For my spotter, I brought my 95mm ATX. This was definitely not conventional for this type of hunt but I was not carrying a gun and a little extra weight for the extra performance was well worth it to me. The guides were packing an ATC and a 65mm STS so my 95 quickly became the go to for everything including identifying rams vs. ewes at long distance, getting ages on rams up close, judging moose, and digiscoping. For a tripod, I brought my AZIAK Frontcountry with the VA5X head that I use for most of my hunts. Again, not the conventional choice when you think of sheep hunting but I wanted something that could handle my 95 in the wind and I wouldn’t have preferred to have anything else. The Ollin system continues to be the best system I’ve used for digiscoping. If I were to do this hunt again, I would definitely bring something like a Crazy Creek or helinox chair or just a glassing stool. I brought a foam glassing pad which was useful but the comfort factor of something with more support would have been well worth it.
Sleep System:
I’ve used my Chilkoot 15 a ton and it performed really well as expected on this trip. I brought a Thermarest Neoair XTherm and it was fine but if I were looking at a pad specifically for this type of hunt I would have gone with something a little bigger and thicker, just because I could. One piece I’d have liked to have brought was the new Argali pillow but they were sold out as I was getting ready to leave. I mistakenly brought an inflatable pillow despite knowing I hate them and ended up using my puffy most of the hunt. One extra item I brought was a FlexTail pump. I had never used one before but it was so nice both for inflating and deflating my pad quickly that it may come with me on more hunts.
Shelter:
Rather than bringing tents as we weren’t sure exactly what we’d be getting into, we decided to use what the outfitter supplied. They ended up being Hilleberg Allak 2Ps and I was extremely impressed with these tents for how they did in the wind, how easy they were to set up, and just generally living in them. I am strongly considering picking one up for myself. They’re pretty heavy for what they are so I am having a hard time seeing where it would fit into my personal system. But, again, if I was looking to buy a tent specifically for this type of hunt then it is definitely what I would bring.
Food/Drink Mixes:
You never know what you’re going to get with outfitters when they say they supply the food so we elected to bring a few things ourselves. As it turned out, they had a store room that looked like 7/11 and Whole Foods had a baby so we would have been just fine coming empty handed. That being said, I made a trail mix with chocolate covered macadamia nuts, pecans, cashews, yogurt covered cranberries, and dried cherries that was delicious. I also brought some candy I enjoy, salami, and single servings of Tillamook cheese. They kept no problem over the course of the hunt. Knowing you have foods you agree with, perform well on, and enjoy eating can be so important on any hunt, especially a demanding hunt like this. I sometimes have trouble with muscle cramps so I also brought a packet of LMNT hydration mix for each day. We had a lot of hot weather and big days in sheep country so I was super happy to have it. I’m not a coffee drinker so just some of the Celsius energy packets for a caffeine boost worked great.
Other:
Unsure of the water situation, the hunter I went with brought a Hydrapak Seeker 3L with the filter cap. I elected to drink the water straight from the source as the guides were — fingers crossed, no issues — but that is a system I was impressed with. I plan to pick one up.
Another noteworthy gear choice, and a bit of a surprise for me on the trip was just how well the hunter’s gun/ammo combination performed. He brought a custom 6.8 Western, shooting factory Winchester ammo - 162gr Copper Impacts. I had no experience with either the caliber or the bullet. I expected it to be a solid choice for sheep and caribou, but maybe a bit light for moose. His shots were between 280 and 540 yards and the bullet performance was unbelievably devastating on all three animals. The moose in particular was very impressive. We recovered the bullet under the hide on the offside and it had mushroomed perfectly.
Overall, the trip was a huge success and all of the gear choices we had made got the job done. If I were to do it over again, the only areas I’d change would be different boots, a better pad/chair, a better pillow, and maybe a more plush sleeping pad which are all pretty minor.
Clothing:
My clothing choices for this trip were basic but I was extremely happy with how they performed. Over 12 days in the field we saw temps everywhere from 25 to 80 degrees, snow, wind, rain, and sun. The Kuiu Kutana Stretch pants are in my opinion the ideal pant for this kind of hunt. Fast drying, tough, and they don’t lose their shape. I brought the Peloton Zip-off bottoms to pair with them on the colder days and was glad I did. This was also my first time using the Sitka Ambient 100 over extended periods and I was super happy with this piece for the mix of high exertion and static activity we experienced. A puffy suit is always essential gear IMO and it was used daily on this trip. SG Grumman Jacket was fantastic but I was happy to have my Kuiu SD Pro pants. Their fabric is just a little tougher than the SG and held up much better sitting in the rocks compared to the Grummans others wore. SG gaiters and M5 rain gear, Darn Tough socks, Kuiu Merino, and Sitka Core LW hoodie all were great.
Boots:
For 95% of my hunts I wear my Crispi Guides but preparing for this trip I picked up a pair of Crispi Briksdal MTN GTXs. Overall, they did the job but I was unimpressed. I have generally stayed away from stiff boots and these were supposed to be a 3 on Crispi’s scale, the same as my Guides. In using them, they just felt much softer and less supportive. The synthetic material also took a beating. I wore them a lot training over the summer but issues like these just don’t arise until you’re in the country you’re hunting day in, day out. If I were to do any hunt like this again, I’d look at the leather Brikstal EFXs or stick with my Guides.
Pack:
It feels redundant to hype up the EXO K4 on this forum but it really shined on this hunt. I’d been very satisfied with it in training hikes but this was my first time really using it in the field. In the past I’ve typically used my SG 7900 for all my guiding and personal hunts so I was a little nervous to downsize, but the 5000 was a great size for this type of hunt. I also really enjoy the layout and think it will be ideal for the rest of my hunts this fall. The Nalgene holder is something I was skeptical of at first because I’d never had an issue in the past just keeping my Nalgene in my pack but I have come around completely. It’s well designed and easy to forget it’s there except when you need it. The hip belt pouch on the other hand just isn’t something I find very useful and I removed mine. I also replaced all the top buckles on the side and lateral straps with the locking buckles and was glad having those to use for securing tripods, trekking poles, etc.
Optics/Glassing:
This was an area I debated a lot on prior to the hunt and am ultimately super happy with my choices. I elected to take my NL12s over my IS Sigs. It is hard to go back to non-stabilized as a chest bino but they hand hold just fine. Between long days watching sheep and glassing for moose off the tripod, they were perfect. For my spotter, I brought my 95mm ATX. This was definitely not conventional for this type of hunt but I was not carrying a gun and a little extra weight for the extra performance was well worth it to me. The guides were packing an ATC and a 65mm STS so my 95 quickly became the go to for everything including identifying rams vs. ewes at long distance, getting ages on rams up close, judging moose, and digiscoping. For a tripod, I brought my AZIAK Frontcountry with the VA5X head that I use for most of my hunts. Again, not the conventional choice when you think of sheep hunting but I wanted something that could handle my 95 in the wind and I wouldn’t have preferred to have anything else. The Ollin system continues to be the best system I’ve used for digiscoping. If I were to do this hunt again, I would definitely bring something like a Crazy Creek or helinox chair or just a glassing stool. I brought a foam glassing pad which was useful but the comfort factor of something with more support would have been well worth it.
Sleep System:
I’ve used my Chilkoot 15 a ton and it performed really well as expected on this trip. I brought a Thermarest Neoair XTherm and it was fine but if I were looking at a pad specifically for this type of hunt I would have gone with something a little bigger and thicker, just because I could. One piece I’d have liked to have brought was the new Argali pillow but they were sold out as I was getting ready to leave. I mistakenly brought an inflatable pillow despite knowing I hate them and ended up using my puffy most of the hunt. One extra item I brought was a FlexTail pump. I had never used one before but it was so nice both for inflating and deflating my pad quickly that it may come with me on more hunts.
Shelter:
Rather than bringing tents as we weren’t sure exactly what we’d be getting into, we decided to use what the outfitter supplied. They ended up being Hilleberg Allak 2Ps and I was extremely impressed with these tents for how they did in the wind, how easy they were to set up, and just generally living in them. I am strongly considering picking one up for myself. They’re pretty heavy for what they are so I am having a hard time seeing where it would fit into my personal system. But, again, if I was looking to buy a tent specifically for this type of hunt then it is definitely what I would bring.
Food/Drink Mixes:
You never know what you’re going to get with outfitters when they say they supply the food so we elected to bring a few things ourselves. As it turned out, they had a store room that looked like 7/11 and Whole Foods had a baby so we would have been just fine coming empty handed. That being said, I made a trail mix with chocolate covered macadamia nuts, pecans, cashews, yogurt covered cranberries, and dried cherries that was delicious. I also brought some candy I enjoy, salami, and single servings of Tillamook cheese. They kept no problem over the course of the hunt. Knowing you have foods you agree with, perform well on, and enjoy eating can be so important on any hunt, especially a demanding hunt like this. I sometimes have trouble with muscle cramps so I also brought a packet of LMNT hydration mix for each day. We had a lot of hot weather and big days in sheep country so I was super happy to have it. I’m not a coffee drinker so just some of the Celsius energy packets for a caffeine boost worked great.
Other:
Unsure of the water situation, the hunter I went with brought a Hydrapak Seeker 3L with the filter cap. I elected to drink the water straight from the source as the guides were — fingers crossed, no issues — but that is a system I was impressed with. I plan to pick one up.
Another noteworthy gear choice, and a bit of a surprise for me on the trip was just how well the hunter’s gun/ammo combination performed. He brought a custom 6.8 Western, shooting factory Winchester ammo - 162gr Copper Impacts. I had no experience with either the caliber or the bullet. I expected it to be a solid choice for sheep and caribou, but maybe a bit light for moose. His shots were between 280 and 540 yards and the bullet performance was unbelievably devastating on all three animals. The moose in particular was very impressive. We recovered the bullet under the hide on the offside and it had mushroomed perfectly.
Overall, the trip was a huge success and all of the gear choices we had made got the job done. If I were to do it over again, the only areas I’d change would be different boots, a better pad/chair, a better pillow, and maybe a more plush sleeping pad which are all pretty minor.
