neweboarhunter

bigbulls,

Thanx for your suggestions. I figured I was overpacking the jeans and shirts. I like the idea of the LED headlamps-hands free plus long battery life. I will do this for sure. Your also right about the boots, i overlooked that. I have always taken 2 boxes but have never needed it. I will cut back on the gloves, but will still take one pair, I have never liked mittens.
The outfitter dosen't want ponchos around the horses and mules, says it could scare them. I'm going to try to keep the socks though, be nice to have clean/dry socks after hard days hunt, if I have to cut them I will.

Thanx for your help,
NBH

ironranger

Cut out the blues jeans (Cotton) totally and buy some light camo pants instead...maybe two pair at the most. Instead of Wool pants, you may want to look at picking up a pair of fleece pants as they are very warm and I would think they'd be lighter than the wool. That wool coat should go and instead find a fleece sweatshirt or something like that. Even in October at 11,000 feet in CO, when it snowed I would hunt in my canvas pants that I usually use for pheasant hunting and a t-shirt plus fleece sweatshirt at most. Sure, you'll be glassing some but I would imagine you'd also be covering some ground and would be sweated up from walking if you had too much clothing on. If you are taking rain gear then you could bring that in your daypack to wear as an outer shell (with orange vest over it) if need be. The main thing I try to do is to bring clothes that allow layering for different temp differences. Also, from the map it looks like where you are hunting is prime grizzly country. Get pepper spray even though you will be carrying a rifle as I would think every advantage would help. For game bags, I went to Walmart and bought kingsize cheap white pillow cases. They are light weight, big enough to hold one elk quarter, and I didn't like those thin mesh ones that some outdoor stores sell. One thing I always carry are some unscented baby wipes to wipe my face, neck, hands, pits, etc down with. I buy a box and then take a bunch out and put them in a zip lock bag to take along. I've only done 5 "Do it yourself" elk hunts so I'm not a veteran by any means. Hope some of this makes sense...

Wolf killer

newboarhunter I know the area you are going to hunting in. I will sent you a email.

neweboarhunter

Wolfkiller,

I'll try to give you a ring Saturday.


New question. What are the essentials to carry in your daypack. I know some of the regular stuff---extra socks, knife, matches, rope, water/munchies, etc... I am trying to pick the veteran elk hunters brains a little.

bigbulls

I carry a poncho, space blanket, matches & lighter, LED light, knife, knife sharpener, fire starters, rope, two bottles of water, first aid, calls, scent, candy, beef jerkey, lunch, granola type bars, .22 pistol and bullets, motrin, chap stick, sun screen.

neweboarhunter

Bigbulls,

What type of firestarter you carry? Thanks for reminding me about chapstick and sunscreen. I would take a .22 as well, but being on a weight resriction I don't think there will be room.

NBH

bigbulls

I get those sticks that have the match tip on the end. They are basically saw dust molded with wax. They burn a heck of a long time so you don't have to rush to get a fire started. You can get them at Wal-Mart or any sporting goods store for a couple of bucks. It's also pretty easy to make these with some saw dust and Gulf wax.


If you got some gun powder you can mix it with nail polish remover and mold into balls. It doesn't take much nail polish remover to get the powder saturated and sticky. These burn very hot with a tall flame but slow enough to get a good fire started.

Simply mix the two and squish in your hand to form a ball and set out to dry.


One thing to remember should you ever get lost forget your fire starters. You already have a good fire starter. Your bullets. Push the bullet sideways against something hard so you can remove it, dump the powder, build up some twigs, and start a fire.

Dirt2

My 1.9 cents worth: In general, I think bigbulls anticipated my own thoughts. If I were taking two pairs of boots into that country, I'd take one pair of hikers and one pair of heavy pac/insulated boots. You'll be hunting up to 10 or 11 thousand feet in that country, and even in Sep. it could be mighty cold and snowy. I would drop the blue jeans and sweatshirts, maybe take in one set, and buy another pair of wool or fleece pants and a midweight shirt, also wool or fleece. You might want to ADD some polypro liner socks, maybe four pairs. Wear then under your main socks, they'll help with preventing blisters as well as helping with warmth.

121553

My 1.8 cents worth is leave all the blue jeans and flannels at home along with the 22. Leave the cotton stuff and bring fleece and wool. I don't know what a 22 would be good for since your going to be in griz country. I carry peeper spray and 357 with a 3" barrel, its very lightweight. You will see evidence of griz all around there. I hunted across from Absaroka wilderness last year over in the Tom Miner drainage and I have never seen so many elk and the mulies are very impressive on each side of hwy. 89. I did see a lot of white-tails but not any shooters though, but thats not saying the're not there. You are going to go nutz over the amount of game your going to encounter. Your going at a great time of the year as the bulls should be in full rut in the latter part of Sept. You will probably encounter hot days and cool to very cool nights, but its kinda like a crap shoot predicting the weather. Good luck and let us know how you do. Bobby

bigbulls

The .22 sure isn't along for bear protection. It comes along for all of the wonderful tasting grouse around camp.