Southern Shooter,
My First bit of advice is to forget everything everyone wrote above this post, and go out and do a trial run.
Pick a 3-day weekend and use a vacation day or two to extend it. Plan to go with a friend or three. Make up a lit of everything you can stash in your bug-out vehicle in 20 minutes, plus a notebook and pencil. On your embarkation day, limit yourself to those 20 minutes to pack up and go. Meet up with your friends, and drive out to a preselected location.
On the first day, camp around your vehicles and conduct "hunts" and "patrols". Take notes of what works and what doesn't work.
On the second to last day, pack up and hike out (3 or 4 hours) to a more remote site and set up camp again. Conduct a "hunt" and "patrol" again. Always take notes.
When you get back home, write out your results and compare them with your friends. Then come back here and ask specific questions regarding specific situations.
Your needs will be dictated by your situation.
For instance, I have done this twice, once an actual bug-out trial and the other an amateur radio "Field Day" event where you practice emergency communication techniques.
The most important thing I learned is that my local environment (Nevada) requires a minimum of 2 gallons of water per day per person, to sustain moderate to heavy activity. I also prefer 5000+ calories. The terrain is mostly hilly to mountainous, requiring good hiking boots. Weight is everything if I'm going to be travelling by foot. Since my secound bug-out, I have been researching ultra-light backpacking stuff, including clothing.
On the first trip, two of my friends were police officers, and brought their department approved AR-15s, with all the super useful tactical stuff bolted on. I brought my Bushmaster Superlight (with A1 upper) and the fourth brought an M4gery. After half a day hiking around the desert we found that my Superlight felt three times lighter than all the other ARs. Also, under the intense sunlight, the standard black furniture was simply too hot to touch with bare skin.
The most prevailent wild game is rabbit. In my 10 years of living in Nevada, I've seen several wild rams, and 1 deer.
After those two trips, I still haven't got an ideal bug-out setup, but it is getting better. I've mapped out several secluded nature water sources. I've reduced my pack load by many pounds will increasing the amount of stuff I'm bringing along.
My Bushmaster AR-15 Superlight is still my bug-out rifle. This is supplimented by my CCW and and M6 Scout in my truck. My bugout kit is first comprised of an LBE that carries ammo, first-aid, water canteens, minimal survival kit, poncho and 3600 calorie survival bar. The full kit is packed in 12 5-gallon buckets, complete with everything two people would need to survive for two months except water. Plus copies of all the important documents I would need to recover.
The whole thing is that your bug-out kit will be determined by what you will be attempting to do. If your SHTF plan is to fortify in place, Your bug-out kit should probably be the bare minimum you need to move from your fort to a place of designated safety within a few days march, or perhaps what ever you need to march from wherever you are to your fort. If your plan is to move to a predetermined place of safety, then your kit should be designed to get you there. If your plan is to move out to BFE and survive there or elsewhere, then plan accordingly. And so on and so forth.
