Pro Tips and Hacks thread

[Beagle1]

I vacuum seal a lot of stuff. One of them that is great is to vacuum seal clorox wipes to clean up after gutting/butchering. DO NOT use them to wipe your butt though. You will only do that once.

I wish there were a way to easily unzip and "throw" the door open and have it stay at least partially open without having to manually roll it up. When the tent is wet, its not an issue as there is enough friction, but when its dry, I get annoyed with it. I've thought about trying some small magnets or velcro, but never gone so far as to experiment with it.

If you’re struggling to find a place to store all that hunting equipment, follow these steps for a perfect, organized solution.
1) Take all your gear and stuff it in a closet for the moment.
2) go to home depot or lowes and get big set of shelving.
3) as you use equipment, when unpacking it put it on the shelves, not in the closet.
4) at the end of the season, take everything that you didnt use out of the closet and get rid of it.
5) fill the remaining space in the shelves with photos, books, maybe a spider plant.

I wish I had a closet that big.

 

[5MilesBack]

I use all kinds of jugs. Milk, vinegar, bleach, cranberry juice, etc.

I use a lot of milk jugs, but they eventually crack and leak after a few freeze and thaw cycles. My favorites are the Kirkland brand 3qt grape juice jugs. Before those they always carried the Paul Newman's grape juice jugs that are the same size. Now they don't carry either for whatever reason, and haven't around here for about 5 years. But all the ones I have are still going strong after dozens of freeze thaw cycles. The other 2qt juice containers (apple etc) seem to hold up really well too, and are nice size for fitting into smaller crevices and packing around meat. I have a 15 cu ft chest freezer in the garage just for my frozen jugs. That way they're always available when I need them. And anytime I come home during the season, I can throw them in and have them 100% frozen again by the next day.

 

[Andyranger]

Some great tips here. Thank you all

 

[johnw3474]

Great idea! What app or subscription do I need for that?

Take a picture through your spotter of where the animal is bedded before the stalk, can look back a reference it for landmarks

I keep an UL tarp in my kill kit, keeps meat clean if you need to debone and lay out. I’ve also used it for a quick shelter, wrapped myself in it on a really windy point and can use to cover legs if you don’t carry rain pants.

If you don’t keep your bow in your tent with you, at least hang it somewhere off the ground at night. Critters like to chew strings.

similar to the take a picture prior to your stalk:
If your animal doesn't drop immediately, take a picture of the last spot you saw the animal after you shot before you begin looking for blood. Especially helpful if you are running out of daylight.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Do not bury your first aid kit down in your pack. Have it labeled and easy to get to. Someone having to sift through your pack after you cracked your skull open and are unconscious and need immediate aid sucks. Ask me how I know.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

similar to the take a picture prior to your stalk:
If your animal doesn't drop immediately, take a picture of the last spot you saw the animal after you shot before you begin looking for blood. Especially helpful if you are running out of daylight.

Yup, that reminds me of another. After you shoot, stay in the scope and if the animal is still standing and you have a shot you should still be sending lead(or copper for the hippies). If it dropped, same thing, stay in scope ready for a follow up for at least 30 sec.
I’ve seen multiple times animals get away because people shoot and drop it, get up celebrating, then the animal stands up and runs away. Or think their first shot was perfect and don’t follow up to later find out it was not perfect….

 

[Poser]

Do not bury your first aid kit down in your pack. Have it labeled and easy to get to. Someone having to sift through your pack after you cracked your skull open and are unconscious and need immediate aid sucks. Ask me how I know.

I learned this the hard way while backcountry skiing on an incident that happened in the dark. I now have my FA kit marked with reflective first aid patches and, since I change packs and bag sizes all of the time, I added velcro strips to all of my packs and lids and have my FAK location marked on the pack with a reflective FA patch. Never again.

 

[Poser]

Ok, I have a good one that I could have learned a hard lesson on while out on a FS road. Luckily, it happened in a parking lot. Noticed my tire was flat. I happen to have a kill in my truck for road kill opportunities. In my kill kit is a small spray bottle. I also have some wilderness soap in my truck. Whipped up a spray bottle of soapy water which:

Add soap and spay bottle to your vehicle kit.

Sprayed the tire and found a screw. No big deal. I have a plug kit and a compressor. I pulled the screw out with some pliers, reemed the hole with the reeming tool and went to drive the plug in. It just wouldn't go in. Got a hammer and started trying to pound it in, reemed it again, tried again. No go. Would not go in. It is a 10 ply tire and I've never had a flat on a 10 ply tire so I thought it was the fact that the tire is too stiff to accommodate the plug tool. . Broke down and removed the tire to get better leverage. Broke the damn plug installer trying to drive the plug in. Fortunately, there was an O'reielly's a few blocks a way. Bought a new plug kit, but continued with one of the older plugs I already had. Same thing. A guy stopped to see what was going on and we double teamed it and still couldn't get the plug in. Finally I tried one of the new plugs and it went it in as it should. No problem. easy as pie.

See, those plugs, especially when sitting in your hot truck for a few years, harden over time and won't conform any longer. If you haven't bought new plugs in awhile, replace them.

 

[Carr5vols]

Piece of velcro on pillow and sleeping pad so you not have to chase it all night long...

 

[displacedtexan]

I have a half sandwich sized ziplok bag with a usage of tp in my bino harness and pack all the time.

 

[Backyard]

I have a half sandwich sized ziplok bag with a usage of tp in my bino harness and pack all the time.

I have Dude Wipes instead. Easier


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Poser]

While I don't understand how some backpackers claim that bidet's eliminate TP altogether, adding a water bottle bidet into your hygiene routine is clean corn hole you din't know you were missing out on.

Ultralight Portable Bidet by CuloClean

CuloClean is the portable bidet that you can plumb in your plastic bottle, fully discreet, efficient, and portable. Compatible with most plastic bottles

www.garagegrowngear.com

 

[txtransplant]

While I don't understand how some backpackers claim that bidet's eliminate TP altogether, adding a water bottle bidet into your hygiene routine is clean corn hole you din't know you were missing out on.

Ultralight Portable Bidet by CuloClean

CuloClean is the portable bidet that you can plumb in your plastic bottle, fully discreet, efficient, and portable. Compatible with most plastic bottles

www.garagegrowngear.com

Wow I've never seen any such thing before. You carry a whole extra water bottle for this purpose, then?

 

[UKwildcatfan]

I vacuum seal a lot of stuff. One of them that is great is to vacuum seal clorox wipes to clean up after gutting/butchering. DO NOT use them to wipe your butt though. You will only do that once.

Fire!!

 

[TheCougar]

You can make your own suppressor cover for about $15. Vet wrap and some carbon felt (silicone high temp tape optional). And it’s not super heavy. I hated spending all this money for a Titanium can then putting a 5oz cordura cover on it that cost $100.

Tripod/bipod mounts and adaptors that fit both arca and pic. It took me a while to figure out these existed. RRS makes the clamp, btw. Total game changer for me, as now I can use the same tripod head and clamp for anything from binos to rifles to spotting scopes to my wife’s camera.

 

[TheCougar]

As dumb as it sounds, the best fire starters are Vaseline and cotton balls. They last, you cram wrap them around sticks to make small torches for lighting the fire, don’t get crushed into powder, are basically free, and they just work. All the putties and tabs and sticks are great, but totally superfluous and unnecessary.