Gear Reviews
As I stated in the story, this wasn't my first rodeo with camping and hiking in the backcountry, so most of my gear is relatively dialed in. However, this was my first trip in mid September, and with that, there's a few things I will likely change for future hunts.
Henry Shires Tarp Tent, Double Rainbow:
This was my fifth year using this tent on backpacking trips, and it's always been a great shelter. It has enough room for some gear along with two adult men, one 6' 180 and the other 6'1" 200. That said, I'm not sure I'll ever take a single wall shelter along on a trip like this again. Condensation was a non issue our first two nights, but when the fog and clouds rolled in Monday evening, I knew things were likely going to get bad, and they did. My sleeping bag was fairly damp on the outside by the time Tuesday morning arrived, and had I not killed that morning, I'm not sure what we would have done as the weather got worse after we hiked out with snow over the next two days. I'll be researching my options and probably looking hard at a Hilleberg.
Western Mountaineering Alpinlite 20* bag:
This was my third year using this bag and it's still overkill for me as a warm sleeper in mild temps. Had we been out longer with the colder temps and snow that was coming, I likely would have been happy to have it, so long as I could have kept it dry. In my previous days as a tarp and bivy user, this wouldn't be as much of a concern, and I may consider going back to the tarp/bivy combo as it helps alleviate the moisture worry with a solid waterproof bivy and well pitched tarp.
Thermorest Neoair:
My sixth year with the same pad, and still no issues. This thing has been great for me, and I feel like so long as you take a little time to prepare your sleeping area and remove any rocks or sticks, you'll be in good shape with this pad. I'd estimate I've got over 80 nights on this pad, and again, never had a hole to repair.
Inov8 Roclite 295's:
These light hikers work great for me, even with a 120+lb load on the way out over 5 miles. I hate stiff soled boots and goretex as my feet sweat a lot in normal temps. That said, with the weather we had on opening day, I was wishing I had a goretex boot of some kind, and will probably look for something similar to the roclites with goretex for my next boot/shoe.
Prana Zion Stretch Pants:
I love these pants, for the price, I don't think they can be beat, and they offer a 34" inseam with a 29-30" waist, which I rarely find in hiking specific gear. I'll use these until they wear out.
Sitka Dewpoint Rain Gear:
This stuff works great for me. It kept me dry while I was waiting on a deer and had I kept it on while breaking him down, I'm sure I wouldn't have gotten hypothermic. I kept my rain pants on during the breakdown process and my prana zions were bone dry when we got back to the tent. Great rain gear for a minimalist like myself.
Cooper Excalibur Model 52 in 280 AI:
The miss was on me, not the gun. I had ranged the area earlier and just had a mental lapse at the time shooting the deer for 200 and missing low when he was at 300. This gun has been amazing for me consistently shooting 1/4 moa, very happy with this rifle.
First Lite Wool:
I was an early adopter of first lite, buying it for the first time in 2009 for whitetail hunting, and have never been disappointed with it. I used the llano ss and long sleeve, chama, allegheney, crew sock, merino gloves and beanie on this hunt and it all performed as expected.
Zeiss Victory HT 10x42 binos and Zeiss Conquest 4.5-14x44 scope:
Zeiss is great and both optics worked perfectly for me in the adverse conditions. No fogging or issues with either piece.
Vortex Razor 11-33x50 Spotter:
Worked great when I wanted to get a better look at long distance buck. For the weight, it's hard to leave in the truck, well worth the minimal weight for the extra power.
Sirui T-025x Tripod with C-10x Ballhead:
This spotter worked great with my binos (outdoorsmans adapter for them) and my spotter. It's extremely compact and weighs 28 oz with everything included, great combination for how I used my glass.
Outdoorsmans 42mm Ring Adapter:
This is a priceless piece of gear, using binoculars on a tripod is an amazing step up from holding them by hand.
Havalon Piranta Torch:
I used one blade to break down my buck, these knives are awesome and light, can't ask for much more.
Leupold RX-1200i TBR:
Great rangefinder and reliably reads out past 900 yards for me. Made it through the adverse weather conditions with no issues as well.
Anker External Battery Charger:
This thing worked as I needed it to. I was amazed I had service where we were, and of course ran my battery down faster than I had anticipated due to that. So long as I warmed it up before using it, it appeared to keep its full charge in the cold weather. I was cautious to keep it as dry as possible and had no issues.
Phoneskope:
No issues with this product, it works as advertised, just wish my phone would cooperate more when I've got the scope on max power. Focus can be an issue, but it's not the phoneskope's fault.
Stone Glacier Sky 5100:
This was my second trip with the pack, and I used it extensively during my training hikes this summer loading it up to 120 pounds. I love the compressibility of the pack and the load shelf system, and it has more than enough room for how I pack and hunt. That said, when the loads grew north of 100 pounds, I had some issues with the pack bruising my lower back where the lumbar pad attaches, and I had trouble keeping it up on my hips. Comfort is a very subjective observation, and for me, the comfort level was fine so long as I didn't get over 100 lbs, but on the pack out (easily over my 120lb training weight), there was some pain in my lower back due to hotspots and my shoulders took more of the load than I would have liked. For whatever reason, I seem to be incredibly difficult to fit a pack to, as I've had similar problems with kifaru (hip bruising mostly), so I'm unsure of what to do about it, aside from cowboying up.
Sawyer Inline Filter:
This is my sixth year using a sawyer filter and so far so good. No issues so long as I keep an eye on my water source. If I ever head into an area with only elk wallows for water sources, I'll probably take a pump, but for where I hike, this filter has worked great for a long time.
Tag BOMB:
These bags worked great. I put a deboned front and rear quarter in each of the two larger bags I took and then neck meat and backstraps along with tenderloins in the two smaller bags. I think you could get by with two of the larger bags, and one smaller bag for a good sized mule deer.
Gaia GPS App:
This app worked incredibly well. I see no reason to ever use a dedicated gps again. Even in narrow canyons and thick woods it picked up my location quickly and worked very well.