Any Minimalists?

As the season progresses, I bring less and less. At the end I wind up with a gun, binocs, and a folding knife.

I don't consider myself a minimalist .. just getting worn out after 5 months of hunting.

If you think in terms of basic survival you'll trim your carry weight nicely.

Well, early, I carry my thermocell and my binocs, gun. Later on, I'll leave the thermocell, maybe carry a spare propane bottle for my heater once in a while. Morning hunts, I'll often carry my thermos. I've carried my Bible before to continue reading my studies. There's a gun magazine and a duck and retriever magazine out there already. I often carry a knife, but if I shoot something, I have to go back to the house anyway for my motorcycle so I can drag it out.

I use a rifle and knife. Thats all I have ever needed. Anything else is just foo fa ra

The definition of "minimalist" will change depending on where/how you hunt.

I hunt private land so while I may appear minimalist in my loadout...I have a huge barn/work shop full of everything I could ever need just a few minutes away.

Oh, I forgot about the flashlight if the moon's not out. Wouldn't wanna stumble into the fence or something.

gspn said:

The definition of "minimalist" will change depending on where/how you hunt.

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^^^This. What is bare minimum to take along varies greatly with the scenario. If it's a 30 minute stand on a drive and I can drive my truck to get the deer if I shoot one, then all I need is my firearm, a pocket knife and bullets. If it's an all dayer in a deer blind or an all day still hunt for deer or runnin' and gunnin for turkey, it's another story. Grouse and woodcock huntin' with the dog means a different collection of items. What I take with me changes daily. Experience and doin' without has taught me what I need to take in various hunts. In Wisconsin we need to tag a deer or turkey immediately after killing it. Don't bring a string or cable ties and you will be cuttin' a bootlace. Pretty soon they're too short to tie anymore. Shoot a deer a half mile back and don't bring a rope, you better hope you pants stay up without your belt. After the half mile drag, it'll never look like it used to. Cold or warm, if you are gonna be out all day, you need to hydrate. Big woods, good compass. A good well fittting comfortable pack makes a difference to what you bring along also, because there are the rathers. Depending on the hunt or how long you are gonna be out, you have things you'd rather not be without. I'd rather bring along a pair of rubber gloves to dress my deer out than spend the rest of the day with tallow and blood under my fingernails. I'd rather have T.P. than have to use leaves when nature calls. Antibacterial wet-wipes help with both. They also help if you cut yourself. Ticks around here all carry Lyme's. Only about 4 months a year that you are sure they are not active. There's always a small bottle of repellent in my pack, cause I'd rather have it than another bout with Lyme's. Along with a whistle and a way to make fire. If it's cold and wet, there's probably a spare pair of gloves. Sammies, Jerky, munchies, books, binos, all make it in sooner or later, again, depending on the hunt. Come Turkey season, different calls, and decoys may or may not be needed. Later in the week, I might need another pad for my butt.

Used to be, my license, firearm, a small pocketknife and enough ammo was all I ever took. Really all you ever NEED for a day hunt outside of the mountains or the wilds of Alaska. But then came "rather".

"another bout with Lyme's"
Ooh sorry about that, are you well?

I hunt in the Rocky Mountains. Things I have learned:

The right stuff makes your hunt more comfortable. The right stuff can make your hunt more successful. The right stuff can save your life.

Too much crap will hurt you, and can kill you.

^^^ Well said with a minimum or words. I also hunt public land in the North GA mountains, and have hunted public land in the west. Some days I'm less than 1/4 mile from the road, other days I may be 4-5 miles. It depends on how late in the season and the weather. Some days I only carry my rifle and a knife. Other days I may carry enough gear to keep me alive for 2-3 days in bad weather if an emergency develops.

When I was younger I often carried more than I needed, not much fun carrying around un needed weight. With time and experience I've learned what works and what doesn't, what I really need, and what I don't.

A lot of guys dismiss lighter rifles, but losing 1-2 lbs on the rifle/scope combo along with other carefully chosen gear can add up to an easy 10-12 lbs not carried each day.

I'm thinking one day hunts here, not extended stays.

If you can't stuff it all into your pockets or small pack (I use a fanny pack - camo so I get to keep my man card), you're carrying too much. Compass, knives, couple spare rounds, para-cord, survival blanket (the ones that fold up smaller than a deck of cards), lighter and light.

When deer hunting this year, I carried my rifle, a good knife, a pair of disposable gloves, a cell phone, and a compass.

Well, my stand is only about a quarter mile off a main road and camp is 5 minutes away so I don't have to carry much.

Gun
binos
iPhone
headlamp
thermos of coffee (morning hunt only)
maybe a book
1# propane bottle as needed for Mr Buddy heater

gun
knife
rope
lighter
flashlight
and GPS/radio combo.

if I'm just after deer and in easier territory where I can easily get my truck near my kill I just take gun and knife.

everyone's a minimalist

A sensible hunter packs the minimum needed to deal safely with the challenges of the environment(s) in which s/he hunts.

Some of us hunt at sea level in tropical climes, others above treeline, some where water is scarce. No matter, lack of preparedness kills.

Safety is one thing. Comfort is another.

As I get older comfort takes up a bit more room in my pack: thermos of hot coffee...insulated seat pad...better food.

I take my rifle, a knife, flashlight and sidearm. I usually have something to drink and something to snack on. Cell phone to play in the Internet when I get bored. Only a out 1000 yards back to camp with a 30 foot travel trailer packed with all the comforts of home. Yep I'm a true minimalist!

I view being a minimalist as carrying only necessities. I used to hunt whitetails in an area where I would rarely travel more than a mile from my vehicle. Now I am usually no less than a mile and a half from my vehicle at shooting light, often finding myself 5-6 miles in at times, and pursue much larger critters. Needless to say, necessary items have changed.

It used to be I would carry my rifle and a knife. Now if that is all I am carrying I am seriously lacking in the gear department. Water, food, rope, game bags, a flashlight and survival gear are now mandatory. Even if they are not used on every outing, being without them can either mean wasted meat or potentially death.

I can say that everything I carry has been needed during a hunt in the last 4 years. So I guess I consider myself a minimalist.

Bow, 4 broadheaded arrows, 2 field pointed arrows, release, pocket knife, phone (for texting fellow hunting buddies, GPS and compass), lighter, water. Add my Summit climber if I'm stand hunting. My climber has 50 feet of paracord attached for a bow rope. So should I need rope, I already have it. But I don't drag deer anymore. I use a deer dolly. Best investment I ever made for deer hunting. It's saved me 3 times having to drag 2 deer over a mile out of the woods when I shot a double.

If I'm hunting in a new place, my 44 mag or XD45 goes with me. But before I go to a new place I mark GPS coordinates on my phone, screen shot it and send a pic of the coordinates, and a screen shot of the area map with a dropped pin to my brother, father, and best friend. Never needed the help. But it only takes one time of being complacent to end up dead or severely injured and no one can come help you. I figure that's a minimum of what you should do before you go out.

I probably carry too little. I hunt public land mostly in the swamps where I'm almost certain IL eventually get lost. Just carry my weapon, ammo, a folder and fixed blade, cell phone, and thermacell If I can find one of the 4 or 5 that I constantly miss place. I'm thinking of investing in a good GPS with topo maps if such a varmint exists.

Some of my favorite hunting memories were as a high school student running for the hills after school with just my bow and knife - hunted in my socks. Learned a ton and loved it.

I posed much of this in a similar thread awhile back, but since this helps me re-live my love of hunting, I'll paste it here as well. I have a deer lease with a well stocked travel trailer, so I will go over actual blind gear. In the 4x8 box blind, I have a small wooden box with a few bottled waters, toilet paper, a few rounds of .308 & .30-30, leather gloves (to use as shooting rests on the metal window frames, so as not to scratch the rifles), surgical gloves in case I shoot one too big to load by myself without parting it out, some inexpensive but surprisingly bright bushnell 12x50 binocs, bug repellant, and a quality LED flashlight.

For the evening hunts, I make sure to have a very bright mag light LED in the Sammy for tracking in the dark.

All I carry to the blind is the rifle, I-phone, leatherman waive, Gerber folder w/ gut hook, case stockman and zippo lighter in the pocket, plus an LED headlight if cloudy or moonless. Both my blinds are a couple of miles from camp, so I keep a 1992 Suzuki samurai parked there year round. I usually park a few hundred yards from the blind, and walk in quiet an hour before first light.

In the Sammy, I keep some "hard use" gloves for loading animals (they are always covered in cactus thorns here), some rope for dragging big boars to the boneyard, spare batteries for the game cams.

For guns, I have a marlin 336 w/ a 2.5x7x33 leupold for the shorter blind and for walking around, and this year I've been using a savage weather warrior .308 w/a bushnell elite 5x15x50 ao in a DNZ tactical base most often. I do rotate other guns a bit just to convince myself I need them, but the marlin and the savage are my two primary game getters.

If my son is in camp while I'm hunting, each of us has a long-range walkie-talkie. I like to hunt the mornings alone, and since he is allergic to both cold and 5am wake-ups, he's good with it.

With so many pigs this year, I've been wearing a 4" S&W 686 on my hip, loaded with hot 158gr Golddots, two spare speed loaders in the jacket pocket.

Knife
Flashlight
GPS
Camera
Water
Rope
Cell Phone
Toilet Paper
Chair or Tree Stand

BigBore44 said:

Bow, 4 broadheaded arrows, 2 field pointed arrows. . .

But before I go to a new place I mark GPS coordinates on my phone, screen shot it and send a pic of the coordinates, and a screen shot of the area map with a dropped pin to my brother, father, and best friend. Never needed the help. But it only takes one time of being complacent to end up dead or severely injured and no one can come help you. I figure that's a minimum of what you should do before you go out.

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Wise words.

Out of curiosity, why do you include two field point arrows on your hunts?