[Andrewsky]

I used to just carry stuff in my pockets, but I got tired of the discomfort and lack of organization.

Now when I go deer hunting I usually just put on a normal "clothes" belt outside my jacket and hang a few pouches on it and my knife. I can keep a little ammo, a bottle of water, an energy bar, and all my paperwork all right there.

How about you?

[john1911]

I don't carry enough stuff that it's a problem. Stick my hunting knife in my right front pocket, permit & license in a shirt pocket, 3 reloads for my muzzleloader are carried on the stock of the gun, reload for the revolver is carried in a MTM ammo wallet in the other shirt pocket, lighter & other fire starter carried in the left front pants pocket and a bottle of water carried in the cargo pocket of my pants. If I plan to stay out all day, I'll add another bottle of water and an apple or candy bar.

In real cold weather, I'll carry some handwarmers and another light jacket.

[Clipper]

Up in the northern lower peninsula area I hunt in, you're never more than 1/2 mile from a road or fire trail, so I can park fairly close to where I hunt. License is in my wallet, I don't need more ammo than what's in my rifle, unless I'm small game hunting with a rimfire, in which case a couple boxes can go anywhere. Whatever the weather causes me to dress in, and maybe a spare shirtjack.

[Vern Humphrey]

Depends. I can shoot deer from my barn loft.

But in Colorado, out elk hunting, I carry a small pack.

[.41 magnum man]

Even though I hunt my own place, I like to stay out all day if possible. I carry a nylon belt with one large pouch and two small ones draped around my neck and one arm, like a bandolier. In them I put some water, snacks, muzzleloading stuff, etc. When I get to one of my stands I hang it beside me on the a tree.

[koja48]

I carry a day pack . . . have 1 set up for big game, 1 for predator hunting, & 1 for waterfowl. When hunting pheasants, I carry the dog first aid kit & water bottles in the back pouch of my vest.

[Charles S]

I carry a day pack . . . have 1 set up for big game, 1 for predator hunting, & 1 for waterfowl. When hunting pheasants, I carry the dog first aid kit & water bottles in the back pouch of my vest.

Nice....

I also use a day pack. I am using a Kelty this year. If anyone is interested I will review it at the end of the season.

[xd45gaper]

i have a pack, i carry various stuff in, first aid kit some hand warmers, its made by camelback so it has a water bladder built into it, a sheath knife i carry that does not have a belt loop goes in there and a couple small odds and ends a book, pruners, hand warmers, and a couple snack bars. i normally just hang it on the tree next to me in my tree stand with a strap bungee i carry in there and sip on the water as i sit in the stand.

[W.E.G.]

I carry backpack for a day hunt.

A backpack is absolutely essential if you have to shed layers of clothing as the day warms. Frankly, if you haven't already realized this, you must go on really short hunts, or you hunt in an area where it is constantly hot or constantly cold throughout the day.

[Big Az Al]

I have a fanny pack, Some use.

I fall back on a bird vest, for my convienances.

But.

I find it is to easy for me to take a 5 mim, walk out of camp, where I left my Pack or vest. and end up 1 to 5 miles away from camp!

So I have a small but good knife, some cord, a ziplock baggy, a few spare shells, and some hard candy, in my pockets, all the time I am hunting. What I have in my pocket, is priceless compared to what is somewhere else!

[birdv]

Your going to laugh.

http://www.blackhawk.com/images/catalog/30VT03_0.JPG

Candy bars, Gatorade, Bug Spray, Water, Beef Jerky, Wild Turkey, Cell Phone

I would never wear it if I took anyone hunting. However I am almost always hunting alone, so no one sees me in my tactical snack vest.

[Andrewsky]

Come on BirdV, show us your balaclava set up!

WEG, another reason why I don't like to carry stuff in my pockets is weather variation. With a belt set-up like I described earlier, you can just take it off then put it back on.

[birdv]

The SAD thing is I have two OD vest. One crossdraw and One 6 m16 pouch. It depends on my mission and how hungry I am. I carry fence tools, but mostly food.

NOTE:
This weekend I saw my second mount lion this year!

[koja48]

As long as it works for you . . . but I'd call it a "Snacticle Vest" . . . & now I might have to get one in tan . . . I see possibilities here . . . thanks!

[Cannonball888]

http://www.atthefront.com/us_gear_infantry_webgear_set.jpg
without the shovel :D

[Lennyjoe]

If I'm hunting within .5 miles from the truck then I'll carry the fanny pack and a bottle of water.

If I'm out walking ridges farther than .5 miles from the truck then I use a backpack with a camelback bladder set up. Water is a must here in Arizona and having a pack with gear and water in it is a plus.

[sscoyote]

"I carry a day pack . . . have 1 set up for big game, 1 for predator hunting"

Same for me. When predator hunting in the winter, i park my vehicle and sometimes walk most of the day--therefore the backpack. If i'm predator hunting smaller sections, then i use my BDU-style leg pockets for my laser, and 10-20X Leupold spotter, and portable skinning gear.

[Mikhail Konovalov]

My rifle/shotgun slung on my shoulder, ammo in the pocket of my field jacket (It's an M51, love it.), Buck knife in a snap belt scabbard, .45 either 4:30 IWB or crossdraw depending on whether or not I'm alone, crackers and matches and such in the breast pockets of said M51, and instead of bug spray, a nice cigar to keep the mosquitoes away.

Oh, and sometimes a bottle of Gatoraid jerry-rigged to my belt. Cheap slings, duct tape, and a little ingenuity pay off!

[Nematocyst]

I find it is to easy for me to take a 5 min walk out of camp,
where I left my pack or vest, and end up 1 to 5 miles away from camp!A similar experience in the CO Rockies a couple of decades ago, where I was faced with sleeping out in freezing temps over night, convinced me to NEVER walk out of camp without basic survival gear on me. (I know myself well enough to know that I probably won't turn back when I'm walking ... I love walking ... )

Today, whether I'm taking a 20 min hike (which turns into 3 - 5 hours) or an overnight, I'm carrying a "day and a half" pack with layers and rain gear (don't like the weather? wait for an hour; it'll change), space to put in layers that you don't want to wear; shelter (tarp tent); food for 2-3 days (including trail mix, sugar and cookies); water (or a filter if water is plentiful); first aid; extra ammo for the .357 mag revolver and carbine or the .30-30; at least a couple of knives; a bottle of wine ... you know, basic survival gear.

All that can be carried in a comfortable 20-30# pack (depending on summer or winter). Ain't no thing. Aids fitness; always prepared. (Most important aspect of said pack: the waist belt; don't carry it on your shoulders; carry the weight on your hips. It's nothing.)

AND, most importantly,
if I don't want to walk back to camp,
I don't have to walk back to camp.
I just pitch camp where ever I'm at
(especially if where I'm at is
a beautiful place that I don't want to leave.)

Ah, life is good.

Nem

http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=60051&d=1183110292

[Geno]

I would encourage everyone to carry emergency supplies, for example to control bleeds in case of accidental shooting, etc. I always carry a 15' section of 1/4" cord for pulling the game back to camp, and for potential bleed-control. I travel light, but prepared. I always have some dried foods, small packs of cheese/crackers, bottled water, and emergency needs such as water-proof strike anywhere matches. I carry what I can fit into a small backpack, and perhaps most important a cellphone or two-way radio, and a flashlight. Of course always my CCW to boot. Total weight of the backpack doesn't exceed 5 or 6 pounds, but provides me a ton of comfort. I don't list the obvious that I carry on my body, such as knife, ammo, compass, etc.

[1911 guy]

When I go out hunting, I take a fanny pack with my "essentials" stowed in it, also inside a ziplock bag. Compass and game calls, usually squirrel, go in the pack, too. My "essentials" are a spare knife, poncho, whistle, toilet paper, lighter, 550 cord, space blanket and map.

[Nematocyst]

It's interesting that we who carry stuff
seem to fall between ends of a spectrum:

1) survive it.

2) live in it 'comfortably' for a few days ...
(where 'comfortably' means
significantly less than a bed in suburbia,
but more than sleeping under a poncho in the rain
with a blanket of spruce needles ...)

[Kimber1911_06238]

I have a "lumbar pack" with shoulder straps. Yes it's basically an enormous fanny pack that you wear facing backwards and it has shoulder straps to distribute the weight. I've even found ways to wear that and pack a climbing treestand on my back. Works well and carries everything I need. A good day pack will always be a good option though.

[Art Eatman]

If I'm hunting "big country", I'll carry a few things in a fanny pack. If I'm only gonna hunt in some little few-hundred acre area, I don't bother with anything.

:), Art

[JohnBT]

I like hunting ducks. It's amazing how much stuff you can get in a 16-foot Carolina skiff. :)

If I could still do a lot of hunting on steep slopes, I'd like to have a Filson vest. They make a bunch of styles www.filson.com/sm-filson-hunting-vests--fi-2075109_cp-2069836.2069837.html but I'd like to have one of the originals. It's even got a pocket high on the back that's just the right size for a sandwich. Yes, they're $179.50, but they gave one gentleman a new one in return for his 50-year-old one that he was still using. They wanted to put it in their ads.

http://fil.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pFILSON1-2994893p275w.jpg

[jmorris]

It depends on what kind of hunting I’m doing and where. If I’m out hunting Dove (can’t wait) I put shells in the vest and more shells and frosty beverages in a bucket cooler/seat. If it’s all day out hunting deer I bring a backpack with the sort of things I’ll probably want or need.

[ReadyontheRight]

Blaze orange hunting vest that can carry an amazing amount of gear - always with matches, small extra knife, rope, extra compass, whistle, mirror, paper towels, extra watchcap and a few snickers bars. Knife and pistol on my belt. Plus a backpack with some survival gear and lunch/snacks if I'm out all day.

[MCgunner]

What kind of hunting. I don't carry anything, but rifle, bonocs, ammo, and my Gerber when going to my stand. Duck hunting, I have a decoy bag, a new ammo pouch that clips to the top of my waders and will keep the ammo out of the water (why didn't I find this years ago?) and I have a deal that I slip the heads of the ducks in to carry 'em back to the truck.

Now, out west when I'm spot and stalking, I usually carry a day pack and I have this belt that has little goodies on it I might need for survival if I got lost or something in the middle of no where. It's a gun belt with pouches and I have a metal match, flashlight, batteries, space blanket, yadda, yadda as well as canteen with water purification tablets and I carry my handgun on it, usually. I also carry a day pack so as it warms during the day, I have a place to stash layers of clothing. I'll keep a lunch in it, stash my shooting stix, and such. I just bought a new day pack that's bigger and I could actually use to back pack with, though. Got it at Academy on sale. I can hang shooting sticks off it, a sheath knife if I want, and it has two pack compartments. Can also strap my sleeping bag and tent to it if I'm packing in somewhere. It has a belt around my middle like a regular back pack, a hard plastic padded back, and is waterproof. I just got it cause it was half off and I liked it. I don't even know if I'll ever use it, LOL! I'm sure I'll get out west again eventually, though, but I've not been out there in 10 years to hunt. I think this pack, though, will be much more comfortable even with a bigger load than my smaller old one with no belt and it's build out of the same no noise soft camo material. A day pack is really necessary when you're out all day spot and stalking. Too, with the bigger pack, I now have room for a spotting scope. Could never take one before. Out in the New Mexico mountains, a spotting scope with a good power is useful.

Here's my "survival" gun belt. Has necessities for survival in it, fire starting, compass, plastic bags, space blanket, some twine, tape, multi-tool, canteen, minimag light, ammo pouch, sharpening rock, K frame .357, mix and match for the situation.

http://imageigloo.com/images/2863PICT0176.JPG

[Leanwolf]

Small daypack with several straps. I can strap on my jacket, etc., when climbing, then put it on when I sit down to glass with my binocular.

L.W.

[RJS34]

When elk and deer hunting I use a Eberlestock J104.

It is a day pack that expands to allow packing out game and will actually fit an elk quarter.
Inside I Have:
Extra set of clothing
Field dressing kit (knife, saw etc)
game bags
tarp
headlamp
water/gatorade
emergency/First aid kit (bandages, matches, etc etc)
Tripod (http://www.adorama.com/SLCF713.html) and spotting scope (http://leupold.com/observation/products/spotting-scopes/golden-ring-spotting-scopes/golden-ring-12-40x60mm/)
On the belt of the pack is:
Range Finder
Shells
Shooting Sticks
and of course my binoculars and gun

Can't see the pack very well but here is my happy hunting grounds. The next month can't go fast enough.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/rjseals/100_2321.jpg

[JackOfAllTradesMasterAtNone]

GPS, Compass, GMRS radio, sometimes a cell phone, flashlight/batteries, huntin knife, fire starter, TP, bandana, gloves, rain gear, waterproof Bivwack sack, extra ammo, 2000ft pen gun flares, GAZ stove, 2 or more Cup O Noodles or Oatmeal, Sunshine Granola bars, Water, GI Pot, Map, Nylon cord, Ribbons, lip balm, thinned down wallet with medical card, DL and Hunting licenses/tags. Some cash...

All in a small day pack or large fanny pack, depending on how long I expect, don't expect, to be gone.

-Steve

[Sharps Shooter]

Nowadays they call them “adventure vests,” “travel vests” or “pack vests.” But 25 years ago when my Mom built one each of them for my wife and I, they were called “photographers’ vests.” They’re similar to tactical vests.
Like I said, my Mom built our vests. One hunting season way back when, I was telling Mom that I thought a photographer’s vest would be the perfect solution to carrying all the extra junk I always carry on deer or elk hunts when I leave camp before daybreak and don't return until after sunset. The only thing was, as I told Mom, photographers’ vests were usually khaki colored and I needed an orange one for deer and elk seasons. My wonderful Mom went to the fabric store, found a photographer’s vest pattern, some hunter orange material and surprised my wife and I at Christmas that year with an orange photographer’s vest for each of us.
They work great. In the many pockets, we carry a sandwiches, small apples, various hard candies, trail mix, matches and stubby candles, space blankets, garbage bags, deer liver bags, windbreakers and extra sweatshirts, small first aid kits, pieces of rope or cord, mini-mag lights, pocket binoculars, and every other piece of junk it takes to keep a person comfortable up on the hill all day. We wouldn’t even be all that bad off if for some reason we ended up spending a couple of nights out.
However, the heavier stuff my wife and I carry, such as a canteen of water each, goes on our wide, cotton tool belts. Trying to carry heavy things in a pack vest I’m sure would rub a person’s neck raw. We also carry our hunting knives and extra ammo on our tool belts. And because my wife is asthmatic and has to have quick access to her epistick and inhaler, she carries them in a small pouch in front.
We’re going to have to replace our orange photographers’ vests soon. They’re faded and worn. But it will be difficult, not because I don’t think those pack vests from Cabela’s will work as well, but just because I’m sentimental. There are a lot of deer and elk bloodstains on those old vests.

[Muzzy_B]

Depends on what I'm hunting and where. At home hunting doves or deer on the farm, I can fit everything I'll need into my pockets. All day deer hunts at the club or on a road trip, I carry an old back pack from my college days with the necessities: water to drink, empy bottle to pee in afterwards; fruit or jerky; mini mag light; extra layer; binoculars; good book; knife; drag rope; Thermacell; and most importantly... toilet paper in case I need to take a nature walk at some point.

[quicktime]

Where I hunt you never know what you will run in to so I never leave the house without:
Knives
Stone
First aid kit
emergency blanket
flint and steel for fire starting
550 cord
flashlight
compass
topo map of area
energy bars
freeze dried meal
canteen cup
water pur pills
an extra layer of clothes
light stick (never know when flashlight will die)
Game bags (Have had to quarter and pack out more than once)

All of this goes in a small back pack with a Camelbak pouch good for all day afield and all night if need be.

[eliphalet]

Day pack, I keep the essentials in it all year. If I hike all I need to do is throw it over my shoulders and I am good to go. If a stay close by, it is in the pickup.

Tags, knife. binoculars, window mount for the spotting scope, and the scope. small sharpening stone ( that is never needed) extra ammo in a leather carrier I keep in my back pocket, and a extra plastic box of 20 bullets. A rag, and a couple of small plastic trash bags for liver's and hearts, a pair of gloves and a stocking cap just in case of a very cold wind. These things are always with me in that pack, any time I am hunting.
Usually take the scope and mount out, and put in some water if walking very far.

Drew a doe tag this year so if I am smart I will add a 10 foot or so length of about 1" nylon strap to drag her with. Doe's are a pain to drag with no horns to hold onto, and a strap really helps.

[countertop]

What Nematocyst said.

I've got an LL Bean day pack - built in bladder (like a camel back). In it I always have some sort of rain jacket, extra socks, basic first aid kit, rope (this is especially helpful since if I am hunting from a tree stand I need to pull stuff up), extra days worth of food, matches (in a waterproof container), gloves and a wool hat (in addition to my baseball cap), an extra reload of ammo, compass and gps, map, notepad and pen, paperback book, and my leatherman (don't ask what model, its just a leatherman, they only had one model when I got it 17 years ago) two flashlights (one handheld and one head lamp) and spare battery for each. . .

Keep my revolver on my hip (2 rounds of snake shot and 4 rounds of .357 mag) and hunting knife on the other.

[Full Clip]

I just use a shoulder bag — blind bag — from Cabelas. It's moisture-proof with the essentials: TP, fire (matches, flint and bag of dryer lint), water, steel cup, day's food, mini cleaning kit (CLP, brushes, any tools needed, etc.), sharpening stone, binocs, clean rag and dry socks (in plastic bag), walkie/cel, 20 rnds of ammo, GPS and map, para cord, flashlight/batteries, light sticks, poncho, space blanket, latex gloves, first aid. My ID, blade, multi-tool, more fire, papers, Powerbars and another couple rounds go in my jacket pockets. Same bag for deer and ducks. All that changes is the ammo.

[B.D. Turner]

I use a Fieldline fanny pack with water bottle all in Mossy Oak.
The fanny pack was $7 and the water bottle was $1 (I love Walmart end of season sales)
Items inside include a grunt call, deer drag, pair of gloves,small flashlight, spare ammo, cover sents, fire starter, and a Browning big game folder.

[Mantis]

I see that lot of people here carry TP (for good reason). Instead of a roll of TP, I carry some unscented baby wipes in a ziplock bag. They take up very little room and will even fit in your pants pocket. They are also good for cleaning your hands after field dressing.

[Mannlicher]

I usually hunt on a farm, and am not far from the truck or house. I don't carry much stuff with me when hunting.