I use a Kifaru Medium "Ultralight Pullout" to store my kit. It contains:
- Havalon Talon with two styles of blade (regular/gut hook + serrated for working around tendons/bones)
- Smiths CCKS sharpener. Never used it (field dressing is literally the ONE TIME I'm careful with my knives) but for the 1oz and $6 I like to have it.
- Sharpie with 2' of electrical tape wrapped around it for marking tags (here in CO you sign your "carcass tag" only when you take game - not before). I also mark which game bag has the "carcass tag" in it. I've had CPW ask to see this twice and it's annoying to fumble to find which quarter I stuck it on.
- 3 long zip ties. Perfect for attaching tags to rear quarter leg bone and field repairs of game bag strings/hems. Pro tip, if you hunt CO, the tags have two small holes pre-perforated in the middle of them about an inch apart that are almost exactly right to run a zip tie through.
- 2 pairs of 7mil "Venom Steel" gloves. I always tear at least one. The brand is meh. It was cheap at Walmart a few years ago.
- 4 paper towels. Mostly for hair - a dry paper towel pulls hair off your hand faster than water/other options
- Pair of AAA lithium batteries, weighs almost nothing, 10yr shelf life. By whatever luck or karma all of my elk so far have been taken at dusk, and I like having a backup for my headlamp.
- A 1 gallon ziploc - for trash. It's a great idea, weighs nothing, super light. Never used it. I've been carrying the same one for years.
- My Anyooo poncho/tarp isn't IN my kill kit but I consider it part of it. I lay it out as a ground tarp to lay my meat bags on while I'm dressing out. It washes out really easily too.
- 5 compost can-liners that I use for pack liners. I found a no-perfume, no-chemical, no-nothing, compostable brand a few years ago and a box is lasting me forever at this rate. These are super opinionated - nobody really "needs" pack liners, but I like the convenience. I never need to wash my pack, I just air it out at the end of the season and I'm done. Time saved.
- Caribou Gear game bags. BIG fan.
- 10' of waxed bank line for hanging game bags. Almost as strong as paracord but half the bulk and weight.
This isn't a new idea but I take most of the above and at the end of the season when I'm vacuum-sealing other things (like game meat) I put my game bags, gloves, and so on in and vacuum-seal those. It makes a very compact package and keeps it all together and clean for the next year.
Sounds like a big list but it's all pretty small ultralight items. This is all for elk of course - I wouldn't carry half this much for turkey or small game. The only thing you really NEED is a good knife. Everything else on the list is just quality of life items. I think the whole thing weighs 9oz not counting my poncho.