Doing my first Elk hunt this Sept. Anyone have a list of items for my day pack?

Thanks T.J.

Rope, headlamp, extra knife & sharpener, TP, fire starter, compass, extra batteries, map, gps?, license, TP (yeah, I know),   , rain gear.....I'll think of more.    

TP, I also carry a small SnowPeak Giga Power stove and fuel, a small metal coffee cup, a few packs of minute soup.  Water purifier, Matches. Signal mirror, maps, Cliff bars, jerky, space blanket, rope, parachute cord, and WATER!

First aid kit, Lunch. Before I leave, I take a gallon ziplock bag and fill it with

1 lg can mixed nuts
1 bag dried pineapple
yogurt raisins
m&m's
reg raisins

On my critical list are water, waterproof hat, wool gloves, spare socks, ultralight space blanket, fire starting stuff (candle, bic lighter, waterproof matches), light rope/cord, string, lightweight poncho, watch cap, first aid kit, swiss army knife, paper (both kinds) and pencil, compass, candy bars, spare bow string, and maglight w/extra bulb and batteries. Also good to have are a light sweater, sandwich, 2-way radio that uses same batteries as light, mirror, and a double handful of rocks to slow me down. I'm sure I left something out.

I've gone out under beautiful conditions and been rained, snowed, and iced on before getting back to camp. I've been caught in a thunderstorm when there was lightning below me! Truly scary. Take no chances in the mountains- you can't see it coming from behind the mountain, so the weather can change in a heartbeat and kill you, or at least make you damned miserable, if you're not prepared. If you kill that beast way out there, you may be caught out after dark or have to stay over, too. When I killed my first elk, I got back to camp at midnight, exhausted and very happy!

Thanks TJ,I was thinkin of askin the same. Good luck with the elk!!

The stuff I take in my day pack is very important to me, both in what is taken but also, more importantly what is not taken.  The elevation inthe Rockies will rip out your lungs.  Typically it'll take the better part of a week to acclimate oneself to the elevation.  I live at 3500 feet, 10,000 ft is tough to get used to.  That said, I try to keep pack weight to around 25-30 lbs.

Badlands 2200 pack.  The pack is larger than I need to put what I carry but the idea is leave the woods with more than you went in with.....(elk quarters)
and the list:
two knives, (one a gutter/slicer, one is a detail scapul.)
30' 3/8 rope & mountaineering pulley
50' para cord
GPS & Compass
Leatherman
Camelbak 100 oz.
Titanium cooking cup, spork and 4 Nesbit cubes.
extra bowstring and bow stringer
2 extra broadheads
2 Game bags
whistle & Mirror
binocs 8 by 30 Steiners
tripod
binocs 25 by 80 Steiner astronomical
hat & gloves
magnesium fire starter
Cotton balls soaked in Vaseline
small sharpening stone
license/tags
GORP, dry soup & Hot chocolate & a snack
bow, arrows & Hand axe.
Sometimes I also take a small backpack tent (1 1/2 lbs.)

That does it for me

Rain Gear
Game Bags/1 large heavy duty garbage bag
Water Bladder
Baggie with extra string, tab\\glove
parachute chord 50 ft.
space blanket
snacks
compass/maps/gps
foam pad for sitting
knive(s) sharpener
TP
calls
firestarter

I like to know I could spend the night out if I had to.  Might not be a comfortable night, but I could make it.  I know some successful elk hunters who forgo the parachute chord/game bags, which is the bulkiest part of what I take, and they have developed other ways of dealing with the downed animal.  Personal choice I guess.  Have fun, and you will be spoiled for life now!

Nathan

Compass/topo map (even if you have a gps)
The only other thing that I would add to everyone else is a tube tent or some other lightweight emergency shelter.  Here in Idaho I have had it go from 75 deg to a snowstorm.  I also carry a brunton crux stove, titanium pot and ramen.  Sure tast good in that freak snowstorm!!!

Thanks guys for the responses. I'm glad I asked because there have been a few items I didn't think of.

T.J.

There have been several similiar threads over the last couple of months. In one of them, someone made a suggestion that I have added to my Maxpedition "go-pack" - a Tyvek painter's suit. You can get them at most hardware stores for about $5. They are very light weight and have similiar properties as GoreTex - so they might make a night in cold, wet, windy weather somewhat less extreme.

Beyond basic hunting, personal and field-care items we all carry, the most important thing to always carry when elk hunting, and which I'm shocked how many folks do not, is enough game bags to hold an elks-worth of meat. There's nothing better than the giant, heavy-cotton elk quarter game bags marketed by T Bar M (Mike Murphy) if you can find them. YOu can get an entire quartered elk into two of them for temporary storage, so I always carry two, with two more on my meat pack back in the truck or in camp. These bags are tough enough to drag if you must, and can be hung by the parachute cord draw strings. Bugs can't filter through and they keep you meat clean -- check out the photo to the left. Wash and use year after year. Forget plastic and gauze bags. You can also lay one of these big bags out on the ground, like a tablecloth, to keep the meat clean while you're boning it for packing out. d

Do yourself a huge, I mean huge favor and dump the TP for scentless baby wipes.  Yes I mean it.

Buy a huge pack and one of those little wallet size containers for your day pack.  Fill from the big to the little as necessary.

You will not believe how much nicer it is on your tuccus after a week of tromping around the mountain sweating and such.

They also work great first thing in the morning for a "sponge bath" because jumping in a mountain stream at 4:30 AM isn't happening for me.


The also work great for

Man, I can't believe nobody carries a camera.

Most stuff got listed and then some, but one thing I really use is my belt bow hook. Not sure who makes the kind I have, it's not a big bulky thing like the tarantula one but small and grips the string of the bow. I attach it to my pack waist belt, then whenever I need to glass, which is a ton, I don't have to set my bow down or balance it on my shoulder.

Make that a double ditto for the baby wipes ! They work really great at getting the blood off too! JG

I'm adding a camera and baby wipes to my list!

lt-m-grow, I'm all over the baby wipes. I have them in my truck here at home.  Multi-functional for sure.

tj where are you going elk hunting?

Colorado D-I-Y hunt.