Bigtimer

I went out on Saturday (opening day) and was just aggravated to death with all the stuff that I had to deal with. It's almost like a mental thing. I laid in bed and couldn't sleep for re-think all the gear that I had loaded for a day of hunting. I have a disability and have a difficult time hauling all of the stuff to the woods. Here's everything that I had with me:

1. Turkey vest loaded with:
2 slates
5 strikers
1 box call
5 mouth calls
crow call
owl hoot,
gloves, mask,
Primos slate conditioner stick
camera
Emergency kit with insulin and other required meds
Shotgun shells
2 bottles of water
B-Mobile
She-Mobile
Fan for B-Mobile
A few other goodies like TP
Therma cell
flashlight (big mag light, 3 cell I think)
camera
knife
Gerber Turkey Toter with tape measure
zip lock bags for bad weather
Bug juice for face and hands
A few other goodies like TP and that's just my vest

I have my Binos around my neck and my pruning shears on my belt as well as my range finder. My cell phone and keys are in my pocket. I have my turkey chair slung on one shoulder and my shotgun on the other. It wears me out just think about it. What you you guys take to "get by". How can I consolidate all this stuff. I thought about loosing the seat but it is really a neccessity due to my bad back.

Thanks and Happy Easter.

Pope94/IA

You mentioned TP a few times... are you trying to tell us something?

Dont feel bad, I take plenty of things out hunting also...both deer and turkey hunting.

Bow or gun (depending on what season)
gloves
hat
face mask
4 mouth calls
1 box call
crow call
a large bag filled with 4 decoys. (one of them is a full strutted tom)
video camera that is farely large
homemade steel camera stand that weighs quite a bit
bottle of dr pepper
bottle of water
TP of course
2 flashlights
sometimes two trail cameras
extra pair of gloves and hat

and then for deer hunting I have most of the things above plus...

3 deer calls: can call, wheeze call, and grunt call
set of rattling antlers
scent blocker
depending on type of weapon: shotgun shells, muzzleloader primers, powders, etc....
if hunting in treestand then my homemade camera arms


and I wouldn't really call it junk because without that junk your hunts probably wouldn't have much success

Hurricanespg

Wow you do have a lot of stuff. Here is what I carried on the opener yesterday in NC.

Shotgun (4 shells)
Gloves
Facemask
Box Call
Slate Call
4 Strikers
Binoculars
Hen decoy
Owl call
Crow call
Hawk scream
TP
.................and I did it all on crutches.

Here is the bird I got

2 Lunger

You guys carry a lot of stuff. Here's a question bigtimer. How many of those five strikers did you use? How many of them slate calls did you use? Do you really need two slates? Did you use all 5 of them mouth calls? Are you proficient on all 5 of them?

I've been after these birds going on 10 short years now and I've managed to kill 1 to 2 birds a year except for my first year.

In my vest you will find:

1 slate call
1 stryker
1 box call
2 mouth calls
5 shotgun shells
1 hen deke
1 owl hooter
1 crow call
1 mesh face mask
1 pair of gloves

That's it. The bare minimum. IMO people get caught up in all the hype and have their vests so loaded down plus carrying 2 suitcases worth of decoys that they can't even make a fast break on a hot bird. Why do people do this?

2 Lunger

double post

Arrowmaster

I carry pretty much everything you do bigtimer except for the B mobile and the she mobile. I also carry a blind, chair...

cahaba

I carry
1. 2 slate calls (Magic Morning slate) (primos crystal)
2. 3 strikers
3. Charles Joyner box call
4.several mouth calls
5. wingbone call
6. primos tube call
7. shears
8. knife
9. 3 extra shells
10. 16 oz. water bottle
11. compass
12. 10 ft. 550 paracord
13. waterproof matches
14. cell phone
15. license and map
16. TP
17. scotch brite pad and 120 grit sandpaper
18. gun
19. mask and gloves x2
20. baggies
21. rubber bands
22. crow call
23. owl call with my mouth
24. small binocs
All of this fits in a Mossy Oak Elite III vest. I was thinking about getting a gobbler lounger.

trophyhunter60

Wow you guys are wearing me out.I have one call and that is the Power Crystal.Hoot Tube, crow call,One decoy.Gun ,shells,gloves,mask and seat.I have killed a bird every year for ten years.I personally think people get cuaght up in all the hunting gear and don't use half of it.

Pope94/IA

Well some people are differant. There are people who just go out there with camo, their gun, and a call and thats how they get their turkeys and then there are people who want to film their hunts with all the cool and new equipment to make it look good. It just depends on how you hunt.

I use to only hunt deer with my bow, camo, and nothing else. But I've learned more about scents, calls, etc. and it has proved in helping my hunts.

Some of the things I take out I just leave out in my blind. Like the camera stands, decoys (if i know there is good wheather and im going to hunt the next day), and chairs.

2 Lunger

I agree that everyone is different. I really don't care how much gear someone takes with them. But sometimes you go hunting with guys who got so much stuff shoved in their vest that they can never find what they need to use because the stuff they will never use is in the way. I'm not down on Bigtimer. He just asked where he could cut back and I gave him some examples.