Re: Alpine Hunting Gear List
Originally Posted by
dana
LAJ,
I personally wouldn't get too wrapped up in the latest gear yet if I were you. Some guys like Brambles have a gear fettish, kinda like the Outdoor Variety of Tim the Toolman. Doesn't mean you have to be like them and break the bank to become a backpack hunter. I would go with the same old KISS rule. Keep it simple. I have spent a lot of my backcountry hunting using cheap inexpensive gear that I have purchased in the Buy and Sell or in Thrift Shops. That is where I would start if I were you. In this age of reccession, no sense going overboard just so you can try to look smart on the internet.
Even namebrands can be found for a steal in the Buy and Sell. Look now, as guys are getting hard up on cash and those one time used items can be bought cheap. Be it backpacks, sleeping bags, tents or even spotters.
I like to have my loaded pack (excluding food) in the 40lbs or less range. Why do I exclude food. Well that's simple, you eat it and don't pack it out with ya. A large deboned muley will weigh roughly 60lbs. If you actually have the intent of killing a big ol buck, then you need to be able to pack it out don't ya. So max gear weight should be less that 40lbs so your pack is a doable 100lbs for the trip out. You want to go lighter, easy to do. Just burn your gear. You buy your clothes at the thrift store for 5 bucks, pretty easy to part with them at the end of the trip ain't it?
Oh year, leave out the heavy stuff, sure you can get your pack weight down to 40lbs, try getting a 40lb pack weight with food and water.
Add food and water Dana and you have a 60 lb pack, no to mention that 10 pound gun you pack around. If you plan on camping ridgetop for any length of time you'll need to pack up all your water. Sure if you got water your laughing, but you know as well as I do, more often then not there isn't any water up on the muley ridges.
Also he asked for a gear list so that he wouldn't have to buy everything twice to get it all accomplished.
Most of the stuff I recommended isn't the most expensive, it gives great bang for your buck if you actually take the time to do the research. Makes it alot easier to get your pack weight down. The only premium product was the downmat 7, still not the most expensive but certainly worth the price when you sleep all night instead of your hip digging into the hard ground and having to roll over every 20 minutes.
Also I'd be curious to hear what you actually pack out on a mule deer to only be getting 60 lbs of meat. The deboned mulie I did weigh was 100lbs, Approx 90 lbs of meat and 10lbs for the cape and antlers. My pack was 115 lbs an my brothers was 118 lbs, NO water when they were weighted either. You replace some of that lightweight gear I have with your salvation army selection and your pack weight is all of a sudden too heavy. Especially for smaller stature guys
-Lightweight gunaholic
-Half of a Human Pinata
-Bear Kung-Fu Master
-Gatherer of the Elk meat