Hunting Check Lists

[Doc]

Anybody got any equipment check lists that you use before heading out to go hunting, or when you are packing up the night before? I am about to construct one and am looking for some help as to what others think are good things to take.

For me, I see it as three different ones. The 1st would be for stand bowhunting. The 2nd one would be for stand gun hunting (everything but the kitchen sink). And the third check list would be for gun season still hunting (light and efficient).

[TurtleFace]

I'm pretty much just going to work from one end of my gear and clothes to the other and then try to leave behind as much as I can afford. My contact lense case is absolutly Going on tip of my toothbrush though

Edited September 30, 2017 by TurtleFace

[Doc]

Here's a start for my bowhunting check list. I'll bet I have left out  lot of stuff.

BOWHUNTING CHECK LIST

Bow

Quiver & arrows w/broadheads

Release

Arm guard

Drag rope

Compass

Grunt call

Bleat call

Range finder

Milkweed pods

Monocular

Stool

Brush nippers

Camo cloth

Knife

License

Flashlight

Pen

Glasses

Edited September 30, 2017 by Doc

[nyantler]

3 hours ago, Doc said:

Here's a start for my bowhunting check list. I'll bet I have left out  lot of stuff.

BOWHUNTING CHECK LIST

Bow

Quiver & arrows w/broadheads

Release

Arm guard

Drag rope

Compass

Grunt call

Bleat call

Range finder

Milkweed pods

Monocular

Stool

Brush nippers

Camo cloth

Knife

License

Flashlight

Pen

Glasses

What about some kind of fire starter? matches, lighter, flint &steel?... curious about the milkweed pods are you using that for tinder or is that a code name for something else?

[Rebel Darling]

I bring two releases for the bow. I'd hate to have one break while in the thick of it.

I'd add phone and food to this list, and I'm pretty much set for local hunting. Oh, and I bring a plastic bag for the heart and liver, and another for the entrails if the property calls for it.


I'm all thumbs when using Tapatalk

[wolc123]

I would put a Bible up near the top of the list, or at least read a few pages prior to heading afield.  It worked for me (4) times last year. Other than that, all you really need is arrows or bullets.  You can always come back to get a knife if you need it.         

[stubborn1VT]

I know a really successful hunter who won't bring a knife or a rope into the woods with him.  I asked him about it.  He told me that when you head out to hunt, you don't have a deer, and you shouldn't assume that you're going to get one.  No matter how far back in he hunts, he always leaves that stuff in the truck and hikes back out to get it once he has one down. I gotta respect sticking with a superstition like that.

[BizCT]

My biggest issue is sleeping the night before. Anyone got tips for that? Usually I can’t fall asleep till we’ll after midnight, then get up at 5am and have splitting headache by 10am which makes for a tough 13-14 hours in the Woods.

[nybuckboy]

the milkweed pods are for wind direction as they actually follow the wind rises and falls and are far more accurate than any powder puffer.  Have 2 in a baggie ready to go.  

[OtiscoPaul]

1 hour ago, Biz-R-OWorld said:

My biggest issue is sleeping the night before. Anyone got tips for that? Usually I can’t fall asleep till we’ll after midnight, then get up at 5am and have splitting headache by 10am which makes for a tough 13-14 hours in the Woods.

If you don't have little kids I can't recommend them enough for rendering you fully exhausted by 8 pm under any conditions...

Edited September 30, 2017 by OtiscoPaul

[Adkhunter1590]

My biggest issue is sleeping the night before. Anyone got tips for that? Usually I can’t fall asleep till we’ll after midnight, then get up at 5am and have splitting headache by 10am which makes for a tough 13-14 hours in the Woods.

I hear the herbal plant variety is good at making you sleepy

[Jeremy K]

Got an hour from the house and realized I left my license and clothes at home.

[The_Real_TCIII]

My biggest issue is sleeping the night before. Anyone got tips for that? Usually I can’t fall asleep till we’ll after midnight, then get up at 5am and have splitting headache by 10am which makes for a tough 13-14 hours in the Woods.

I'm the same way, it really kills me during Spring turkey when I'm getting up at 3. The rest of the day is shot

[The_Real_TCIII]

Got an hour from the house and realized I left my license and clothes at home.

That is a kick in the berries

[OtiscoPaul]

32 minutes ago, Jeremy K said:

Got an hour from the house and realized I left my license and clothes at home.

Brutal but at the tree w/out harness or in the tree and no release are my 2 worst.

[Adkhunter1590]

No release is the worst thing for me to forget. I can go without on just about everything else, but I can't hunt without a fully functional weapon. Anything else is just a luxury and can be gotten later in the day at lunch time. There's no worse feeling than walking in early and working hard to be as silent as possible only to get all setup in the tree and find you can't even fire your bow. I've only done this 2 times, but I was mad as hell about it lol.

I tend to pack a day or so early and have everything ready to roll so forgetting stuff is at a minimum for me these days. I use two separate pack setups and they both have everything I need and I don't take stuff out so it should always be there. I double up on just about everything so it's less likely to forget somethig

[stubborn1VT]

I hate forgetting my foam seat.  End up with a cold, wet azz.  I shoot fingers, but I can get by without my shooting glove.  I worry if I forget my arm guard in colder weather.  It keeps my jacket out of my way.  One less thing to worry about with a deer in front of me.

[Moho81]

This topic made me go back and check to see if I packed my range finder. It’s my first year with one so I’m bound to forget it. 

[Hock3y24]

always a backup release in my bag, cheapo from walmart

[wolc123]

53 minutes ago, Moho81 said:

This topic made me go back and check to see if I packed my range finder. It’s my first year with one so I’m bound to forget it. 

I use the range finder a lot more before the hunt than on it.  It is great on the range when practicing or sighting in.  For rifle, I use to have stakes every 50 yards out to 400 and they were a pain to mow around.  Now, I just use the rangefinder.  Similar, with my crossbow, every 10 yards out to 50.   Earlier today, I used the rangefinder from the ground and sighted my stands and blinds, putting bright ribbons at 50 yards (max effective range of my crossbow), and 100 yards, which is where I sight my rifle, shotgun, and ML.   Doing that work ahead of time eliminates the need to take the rangefinder on hunts.  When a deer shows up, it is nice not to waste time ranging it, by having those markers in place.  This eliminates the guesswork and allows me to hit right on, or very close to the spot I aim at on the deer.     

I do take it with me when I am hunting new areas, or still-hunting.  When I find a good spot to stop and watch for a while, I site some landmarks where I expect a deer may show up.   When you do that for a while, it gets easier to estimate the range of objects (or deer).   After you get a few years of practice with your range finder, it will not be so important to have it with you on your hunts.       

[Moho81]

4 minutes ago, wolc123 said:

I use the range finder a lot more before the hunt than on it.  It is great on the range when practicing or sighting in.  For rifle, I use to have stakes every 50 yards out to 400 and they were a pain to mow around.  Now, I just use the rangefinder.  Similar, with my crossbow, every 10 yards out to 50.   Earlier today, I used the rangefinder from the ground and sighted my stands and blinds, putting bright ribbons at 50 yards (max effective range of my crossbow), and 100 yards, which is where I sight my rifle, shotgun, and ML.   Doing that work ahead of time eliminates the need to take the rangefinder on hunts.  When a deer shows up, it is nice not to waste time ranging it, by having those markers in place.  This eliminates the guesswork and allows me to hit right on, or very close to the spot I aim at on the deer.     

I do take it with me when I am hunting new areas, or still-hunting.  When I find a good spot to stop and watch for a while, I site some landmarks where I expect a deer may show up.   When you do that for a while, it gets easier to estimate the range of objects (or deer).   After you get a few years of practice with your range finder, it will not be so important to have it with you on your hunts.       

If I hunt my normal 2 stands there is not much of a need for the range finder at all as I know where they come from most of the time and what distance they will be at in my shooting lanes. Where I hunt I always have an oppertunity  to sit in a stand that I’m not as familiar with which is where the range finder will come in handy to scope out a few landmarks ahead of time. I really don’t plan on grabbing it to range a deer just before shooting it. 

[DirtTime]

License & Tags

Bow

Arrows

Release

Arm Guard

Bino's

Water

TP

Knife

Pen

Pop-Up Blind and a strip of Camo Burlap ( not sure which I will use, depends on what I feel like hauling into the woods with me )

Compass

Snack

Everything but my bow and arrows is already loaded in the truck.

[Doc]

7 hours ago, nyantler said:

What about some kind of fire starter? matches, lighter, flint &steel?... curious about the milkweed pods are you using that for tinder or is that a code name for something else?

Old Indian trick ..... Ha-ha-ha.

A lot of people tie a thread onto their bow to always have a wind direction indicator. But that only tells you about what the wind is doing right at your immediate location.

Take one or two milkweed seeds out of a dried out pod, and let it go into the wind. You will see that seed start drifting, sort of airborne It will go out away from you, and then maybe start turning direction because of some terrain feature shunting the wind around, and then some unseen thermal may take over and send it in a different direction. In other words, you can trace where your scent is really going after it leaves you. It is amazing how that seed will float out there for a long distance and those white hairs on it make it visible for 20 to 25 yards and even more in good light. It can teach you a lot about what wind currents are doing in the area of your stand, and you can actually watch them work.  The pods have to be well dried out, but the very design that nature supplied for long distance seed distribution can also unlock the unseen wind currents that are trying to telegraph your scent to the deer. I've been doing this for decades ever since I first noticed the amazing flight design of these seeds as a kid.

[nyantler]

14 hours ago, Doc said:

Old Indian trick ..... Ha-ha-ha.

A lot of people tie a thread onto their bow to always have a wind direction indicator. But that only tells you about what the wind is doing right at your immediate location.

Take one or two milkweed seeds out of a dried out pod, and let it go into the wind. You will see that seed start drifting, sort of airborne It will go out away from you, and then maybe start turning direction because of some terrain feature shunting the wind around, and then some unseen thermal may take over and send it in a different direction. In other words, you can trace where your scent is really going after it leaves you. It is amazing how that seed will float out there for a long distance and those white hairs on it make it visible for 20 to 25 yards and even more in good light. It can teach you a lot about what wind currents are doing in the area of your stand, and you can actually watch them work.  The pods have to be well dried out, but the very design that nature supplied for long distance seed distribution can also unlock the unseen wind currents that are trying to telegraph your scent to the deer. I've been doing this for decades ever since I first noticed the amazing flight design of these seeds as a kid.

Thanks Doc... can't believe I have never heard of it... might be something I'll have to put in my bag of tricks... goes too show that one is never too old to learn something new!

Edited October 1, 2017 by nyantler
misspelling

[turkeyfeathers]

I'm far from OCD but like to plan ahead. ALWAYS make a list for hunting and what to pack if taking a vacation. Don't think I've ever forgotten anything as I check items off once they hit the car/suitcase . Just this second finished up "list" for youth season . Start your morning, what you'll need if you are successful, how to get it out of the woods etc.   Easy peasy if you go through your day, write it down and check it off "once it's in your vehicle" Once season has started mostly everything besides gun stays in the car