Proven Alaska Hunting Gear List, Pack Dump, and How To Pack for Airline Travel

today i'm gonna go through all my alaska hunting gear i just returned home from two months in the bush and so i'm gonna go through this is gonna be pretty close to comprehensive might be missing a few things but i'm going to go through everything that i use and how i pack to travel on the airlines so what i'm what i'm unpacking here lasts me for two even to three months so if you're going on a diy hunt or a guided hunt this is going to be plenty to last you you know for 10 days or two weeks whatever so i'm going to try to talk a little bit about each item i don't want to get too long-winded but try to give you just a rough overview of what i've figured out works for me in the last 23 years of guiding in alaska first thing i'm going to start with that i didn't bring with me this year that i didn't need is footwear in hip boots these are just standard lacrosse hip boots everybody's probably pretty familiar with those if you're going on a moose hunt caribou hunt if you're working in and out of a boat you're probably going to want those maybe some breathable waste waders or chest waders all depends on where you're hunting another thing that's real handy these are called neo air or wiggy or excuse me sourdough slippers they sell them at barney sports chalet in anchorage these are pretty heavy duty nylon with some grip on the bottom these actually slip on over your hunting boots so you pack them with you but if you need to be in them for prolonged periods of time they work pretty handy so if you're in and out of float planes and that's about all you're going to need them for these are pretty slick these weigh about two pounds the hip boots are probably about four or five hip boots really aren't so much packable these are packable i'm going to show you some wiggy's waders here in a little bit which are the ultralight version which is all i brought with me this year because it was all that i needed one thing that i left behind that i have here at home but i didn't have packed with me because i threw it away when i was done with the end of the season is a bone saw what i use is just a small carpenter saw they're i don't know 12 15 bucks i'll usually get a season or two out of them i find that they're a lot more versatile than let's say a wyoming saw they're a lot more heavy duty and easier to use than one of those flip open hand saws and you know they're real they're real thin obviously usually i'll i'll take any rubber or excess weight off of them so they're very lightweight but these are heavy duty and they'll last a long time definitely the best that i've used for the last 10 years is basically all i've used when i'm sheep hunting i actually just bring a hacksaw blade and put a little piece of duct tape at the end and work it in reverse and then that's all i use to cut the skull of a sheep that works pretty good usually only get one sheep skull per uh per sheet or per blade rather so what i do when i pack is on the airlines they're going to allow you 250 pound bags well actually you got to pay for bags nowadays all the way around but i can get everything that i need in two 50-pound bags and a carry-on so with my gun case i take out all the padding and then i stuff all my clothes around my rifle and my pistol so one thing to start here's some down puffy pants these zip all the way up and down the sides which are basically in my opinion they're an essential item in alaska anymore you can get to your glassing knob and then you put these on you glass all day you can put rain gear over them but when you find that animal you want to go after zip zip down either side stuff them in your pack and you're off and running these are a must have for sure heavy duty glassing gloves uh these are by kuyu these these are good long gauntlets or wrists are very important if you're going in real cold weather probably mittens are going to be better off for you some of those expedition type gloves are great but definitely get the long wrists this is a hat actually i had a hunter give me here this fall i was kind of eyeballing it and all i had was just my little beanie and he gave it to me boy this sucker is nice and warm um pretty self-explanatory there pair of gators i think are a must um these are katana gators by uh by kuyu probably the yukon gators i prefer these are a little bit short for me but they work alright everything against my skin is wool wool t-shirt this is actually this is a synthetic real short long underwear basically go right below the knees this is all i use for the entire sheep grizzly bear caribou uh shot a wolf and moose season so these zip up and down the sides again i really like those because they're easy on and off you don't have to take your boots off ammunition i won't get too much into that too much i mean obviously my rifles for stopping bears i'm not a fan of burger bullets um i i just had pretty poor experience with them a lot of guys are a lot more uh they're becoming very popular i know they're very accurate um for bears i like barnes triple shock a whole bunch accubond bullets are good uh nosler partition bullets are good um i won't get into that too much here but pretty much one 20 round box of animals all you're going to need i've got my pistol ammo here trekking poles i consider them to be a must unless you're in brushy country and doing very little walking just hunting in and out of a boat you maybe won't need them i broke one here and had to make a little bush salvage repair but i tend to like aluminum rather than carbon just had a guy two guys broke carbon poles this year they just have a tendency to break a lot easier obviously you can still break and bend the aluminum but usually they're more salvageable if something goes wrong with those so i've got a this is a ruger 375 because i lost my winchester 375 and a win on a river crossing last year kind of a long story but i won't get into that one right now but i just pack my rifle basically like this stick the action in a sock my scope i've got detachable scope mounts but yeah you can just fit that right amongst all your your uh clothing and i put my scope i've got my scope and this sock this set of socks here as far as socks go i think i brought like six pairs i didn't even wear them all granted i was able to wash them halfway through the season but i like wools at least wool blends i also like sock liners particularly for sheep hunting when i'm doing a lot of hiking they seem to work pretty good for me avalon knives those are real popular nowadays kind of a must-have all i use is just this victory not with a homemade just a cardboard sheath you can see it's nice and clean um this is what i use it's a boning saw it's a little bit stiffer than a fillet knife but for skin and bears butchering mousse if i'm sheep hunting all i bring with me is this and then i've got a multi-tool a leatherman in here right here actually if you're going on a guided hunt all i would probably bring is a multi-tool your guide's going to have the knives all that he needs carbide sharpener which i'm due for a new one that thing's about worn out uh here's my leatherman like i said if you're going on a guided hunt this is probably you're not going to need anything more than that 44 piste i have a pistol 44 it's a scandium titanium by smith and wesson i like it nice and lightweight more guys are going to 10 millimeters nowadays again if you're going on a guided hunt probably just bring your rifle assuming you're a rifle hunter if you're a bowhunter probably bring a pistol um but i don't think you need both i bring both because when i'm sheep hunting i don't carry a rifle or if i'm uh moose hunting and we kill out i'll bring the pistol with me if we're packing so i'll bring i'll wear a pair of wool underwear with me when i'm traveling so when i'm traveling i'll wear an outfit maybe like this but something that i could also wear hunting in case one of my bags gets lost uh for a couple of days so i'll i'll wear a pair of underwear obviously and then i'll bring two more and that'll last me for two months if need be but usually i'm able to wash them uh in between so that'll get me by for a month i think even most hunters maybe are gonna change their underwear once during a hunt you know if you get really wet or whatever but you usually need a lot less than you think because you're gonna stink no matter what the biggest thing is just having dry clothes so i'll bring two wool t-shirts and then maybe one or two long sleeve wool shirts here's just a long wool long sleeve wool hoodie here's a more heavy little bit thicker fleece hoodie which i wear all the time i like this thing it's kind of durable the wool tends to snag a little bit more where this is a little bit tougher so i wear this quite a bit here's one of my long sleeve um yeah but this is i believe there's a wool this might be a little bit of this might be some polyester here but either way i like the long sleeve shirts particularly when it's hot and sunny it has merino wool lightweight cuyu new yarn marina wool when it's real sunny i actually kind of prefer having just that long sleeve shirt on to protect me from the sun a little bit so all other than the pants i wear uh on the airplane i'll just bring two other pair of pants with me one light one heavy this is my lightweight pant i believe this is the katana this is a foot care kit which i didn't use but handy to have another item that i think is a must have is just this camp chair works is obviously good for padding in the gun case so just a camp chair if you're going to do a lot of sitting and glassing this is pretty invaluable saves on the back real handy piece of equipment and this case itself just an aluminum job i don't even know if it's got a brand to it i've had it for a bunch of years seems to be holding up pretty well but pelican uh there's a bunch of good cases out there i don't need to get too much into that um i guess next we'll go with my pack this is the uh kuyu pro 7800 i like the big pack you know for guiding you kind of got to have it if you're going on a guided hunt any type of guided hunt i would say go with at least 45 cubic inches probably 5 000 is more like it because you know just to handle bulk and it's better to have it a little bit too big you're not adding that much weight if you're going uh you know hiking to a glassing knob and then you're sitting all day you're going to need a lot of clothes so you'll fill that pack quicker than you think so water bottle i don't use the filter water bottles ken if you want most of the country that i'm in i'm always trying to find springs like we're a sheep hunt we we drink all that water and even if i'm moose hunting or places where giardia is more prevalent i'm usually able to find springs but we'll have filters in our kits water treatment available and then the the filter water bottles you just you got a filter built into it it just doesn't carry as much water and it's just a little extra added weight so here i've got a small dry bag i don't know what this 13 liters i guess this is a little bit on the small side i would pack basically most of your gear or have readily available 20 to 30 liter dry bags to pack your gear particularly if you're going in and out of super cubs that's handy because then you can break it down and then the pilot can stuff things a lot easier i'm just a cheap broke guide so i use zip locks and trash bags for a lot of my stuff this i call my possibilities bag just oddball things lens cleaners some tape extra batteries ear plugs a pen blister kit some medications uh anti-inflammatories some sunscreen tape measure a few extra buckles for my pack things like that uh baseball cap which i should probably put in my head now hide my mop um bug nope just a small little thing here that's about all i bring and not it'll last me for several seasons i like some energy drinks emergencies as a wilderness athlete mountain office there's all kinds of stuff out there [Music] a big thing is just electrolytes you know having electrolytes handy i find is pretty critical particularly you're doing a lot of hiking you might find muscles that you've never really worked before so i bring a bunch of those and bring maybe some snack food with you if you there's some kind of energy bar or snack food that you really like you're going on a guided hunt they should be providing you with food but i would bring a little something of what you like and what you're used to if you like good coffee you know bring some coffee with you but i would keep that down probably under five pounds sleeping bag get a stuff sack a good one that'll protect it obviously one trick that i found over the years that works well for me i don't have it in here now it's just my sleeping bag because when i came home i brought some moose meat and some sheep meat and i actually froze it putting in my sleeping bag traveled for a day and a half almost two days before i got home and that meat was still partially frozen in here but when i go up i'll put my sleeping pad in this i will put my head lamp my toothbrush and a book all in this one case and that's handy because i never know where i'm going to end up at night everything i need at night and to lay down and sleep is in one stuff sack that's worked out really handy for me over the years so that's a that's something i'd highly recommend this is just a lightweight fleece jacket pretty handy i actually travel with this i wore it up a neck gator merino wool neck gator very thin lightweight must-have for sure here's my rain jacket went with katana this year really like it uh there's a heavy fairly heavy uh what do we got here super down pro jacket basically windproof i i stuff this keep it in my pack at all times this is kind of the jacket that i wear once i get to wherever i'm sitting and for a period of time this is kind of my last layer that i put on stuff's down to nothing gotta have something like this this is a soft shell jacket to be honest i don't wear this a whole bunch i wear this more around camp again a more durable layer when i'm doing stuff in base camp or uh you know where these these puffy layers i wear them almost exclusively for my outer layers when i'm hunting but they have a tendency to snag and rip very easily so a soft shell layer is pretty handy but i don't wear that a lot i will bring two pairs of hunting boots with me here's a pair of crispies and i always stuff them full of stuff um so i'd bring my own coffee cup too uh that's pretty handy one thing i'd recommend is having one with a wide bottom because you're always setting it on uneven terrain and so that's kind of nice keeps it stable got a couple lighters in here some more leftover wilderness athlete stuff i'd recommend get having some good insoles that's one thing the mistake that i've made over the years i used to wear extra tufts all the time with no arch support and over time that's kind of wore my smash the arches of my feet down from packing heavy loads for so long so i i'm a real big believer in arch supports these days so i'd probably find something other than you know your factory arch support we'll come back to this try to stick with boots now so these are the crispy hunter boots which i liked um crispy also makes a guide no these are the yeah these are the guide boots i like them they als also make the hunter boot which i really like another water bottle just got a new one here got a predator call in there a lightweight pair of gloves some emergency packets that were left over here's my rain pants again the katana reindeer very good for the weight unless we're done with the crispy boots the other pair of boots that i bought or brought with me is uh lathrop and suns got them in trash bag obviously these were nice i had really good luck with them they come with a lathrop and sons deal is all about a custom fit custom insole you can buy just the boots if you want as well but i did like these the only thing i would change about them i would probably go with some higher top ones that's just me i know a lot of guys like the shorter ones to save some weight got an extra pair of socks in there but these boots worked good for me and i would bring even if you're a guided hunter is bring an extra trash bag with your a compactor bag just stuff it in there weighs nothing works as a makeshift dry bag you can put meat in it um it's just all sorts of uses so i would probably bring two heavy-duty like big uh commercial grade or contractor grade trash bags with you or at a minimum like a 30 gallon couple 30 gallon compactor bags handy to have so here i've got now there's some tent stakes in here for my fly but this this is my fly here this is a 10 foot tarp so it basically just has guy lines on the corners and the sides if you've watched any of my videos you'll see that i sit under these things all the time if you're a diy hunter got to have one of these they're slick to have in your pack you set up as a shelter to glass under you maybe cover your meat with it you get an animal weighs i don't know two pounds maybe and even if you're going on a guided hunt i wouldn't really hesitate to bring this thing along if your guide doesn't have one which i know a lot of guides they're tougher than i am they just sit out in that stuff all day i've been using a tarp for basically as long as i've been guiding and i just can't imagine hunting without it so i'd say this is a must-have item maybe check with the guide you're going with see if they have one but yeah that thing is worth its weight in gold this is a seek outside teepee it's a six man i use it as my spike out shelter when i'm sheep hunting stands about seven foot tall in the center spreads out gosh i don't know 10 feet probably 10 12 foot circle three guys easy can fit in it in their gear um i don't know what it weighs six seven pounds but i love this thing this worked out really really well for me but hilleberg tents are good um coo utens been hearing pretty good things about them now i think they're about second or third generation on those now uh there's a lot of good tents out there i always keep my first aid my guide license hunting license you know basically my first aid kit i didn't even have i haven't even had band-aids in it for years consists of mole skin and those um kind of like silicone like blister pads batteries couple extra scalpel blades neosporin and honestly the biggest thing that i use if it's anything major is going to be athletic tape you know to wrap something up a few pills of various sorts i've got some heavy duty antibiotics that i bring with me just in case i got a jet boil here again if you're going on a guided hunt probably won't need that msr makes a reactor stove that works pretty well and i've got another pair of socks stuffed in here to more or less to keep it from rattling uh and by the way i really like this pack i've uh i've used barney's packs for many years those are about bomb proof those are kind of an alaska standard pack i like that frame for hauling heavy loads particularly external loads antlers and meat if you're going on a diy caribou or moose hunt pack frame is a really handy thing to have you know if you know you're going to be doing lots of packing they're very nice but i really do like this pack i ran a stone glacier for about three or four years i like that very lightweight probably the biggest advantage that i've seen over the kuyu pack for me as a guide more easily accessible external pockets which i kind of like yeah that just seems to work well for me that i can access things more quickly that's my wife's dog trying not to claim him he's actually barking at my compactor bag of blueway i had a labrador he's not a not a real manly uh pet here but i had a lab but he passed away on me this fall or this summer he was 14 years old he's a good old dog but anyways um here's just a gun carrier for this pack here's the wiggies waders that i was telling you about they're just nylon over boots basically they wear like hip boots they're essentially just good for crossing creeks they're probably going to only last four five maybe a dozen creek crossings and then you'll start poking holes in them so you're not going to be able to use them for any extended period of time but let's say you've got one creek you need to get across and then you go climbing up into the mountains these are what you need they're pretty slick this is a msr dromedary holds uh two liters of water just kind of a nice extra water jug that doesn't take up much space i always carry with me every day a pair of socks in a zip lock that's always kind of handy if you swamp the boots once a year twice a year i'll maybe use them and it's really nice to have my other pair of underwear this uh i don't know what uh kuyu calls these talus hybrid really like these pans they're a little bit heavy so i don't i i'll literally go the whole month of august and sheep season wearing that one pair of pants that uh that katana pant but later season i really like these bear hunting moose hunting when it's a little bit colder and these knee pads i really do like them they don't really seem to bother me much i've worn some other pants that they have the inserted knee pads i never really like those but i really do like these pants here's another wool t-shirt so just three wool t-shirts is all you need and that's pretty much it for the pack one thing that you definitely need to have is a good system to sling your rifle you need to be used to that when you come on your hunt there's a few of them out there but just have used it and be familiar with it before you come on your hunt you'd be amazed how many times how many hunters come up hunting and then i have to help them put that on their pack and it takes some days to get that figured out and to get used to it so this is my carry-on tip money tip your guide well it's always nice uh some more bug dope i guess hand sanitizer they gave me at the airport the whole uh pandemic thing there of 2020 i got some more tip money yeah 10 20 good tip for a guide in case you're wondering it's always appreciated uh book i always carry uh copy a new testament with me um toothbrush and stuff which i normally have in my pack um don't have it here just i was kind of in a hurry packing up to leave got an rx bar a couple of ibuprofen hydrate and recover head net bug net is an absolute must to have i'm sure i'm not missing here key for my locks on the gun case you have to have a lockable gun case which everybody probably can guess but other than that flying into the u.s with firearms is very very simple i bring a pillow with me i'm getting to be an old man this is kind of handy stuff's down to virtually nothing nice on the airplane and i kind of like it you know having it in my base camp wherever the airplane lands i don't pack it with me when i'm spiking out sheep hunting or anything here's a lightweight down vest i i'm a big vest guy i really like it keeps the core warm without extra bulk on the arms that's uh pretty slick video camera i've i'm working on at this point by the time you're watching this i've probably got it available for you to watch at this point i'm gonna do uh i don't know probably a four or five part series on how i videotape all my own hunts this is uh one of the big things right here is just having a small video camera that you can attach to your belt i'll get more in depth with that on the uh video your own hunt series but i i'd advise bringing a video camera with you here i've got my still camera in this little uh pouch here from stone glacier keep that on my waist belt of my pack generally and so you can see i've got all my my small heavy expensive electronics in my carry-on and i just threw my sleeping pad in there for this one usually i pack that in my pack but like i said i brought some meat home so i needed to bring a little extra stuff in my carry-on so my chargers chargers for my air-to-ground radio my video camera my camera in reach pretty handy tool to have most hunters anymore they bring those um i don't know what they remember what they call these but these are some heavy duty like worker chore gloves that's pretty nice to have or like a thin or medium weight leather glove are pretty handy to have but other than that the best glove that i found are just some cotton lightweight roper gloves that you buy at a farm farm supply you can buy 10 of them for like 10 bucks and i'll bring a couple pairs of those hey scout get get out of here um binoculars binocular case i got a pair of swarovskis with a rangefinder i really like them extra weight for sure but me videotaping my hunts another thing that's really handy is i don't want to be trying to work a video camera binoculars and possibly a spotting scope and then a rangefinder that's really handy for me to have the rangefinder built in here's one of the dry bags i was telling you about roughly 30 liters that's usually about the perfect size i bring a ton of batteries with me i don't bring the recharging cells which i think they probably work great most hunters most other guides they use those i just bring a lot of gopro batteries camera batteries and camcorder batteries with me and then usually every month or so i'm able to get to a generator and charge them all back up definitely i would not bring a solar charger lots of hunters bring them lots of guides i've seen try them and they seem to be more hassle than they're worth here's my gopro i use a head mount quite a bit you know because you can still just use the camera without the head mount again i'll get a lot more in depth into how i videotape my hunts and my filming series outer ground radio those are pretty handy to have again you probably want you you won't need this if you're going on a guided hunt but if you're on a diy hunt this can be a pretty slick device but probably not necessary assuming you have an in reach so these are the type gloves that i i kind of prefer just these thin lightweight gloves easily have little grippy tabs on them but bring two three pairs of these they rip easy but they're cheap you can just throw them away so tripod super lightweight kind of the way to go but you need something that a is going to hold your spotting scope so depending on how heavy your spotter is but also how windy it is wherever you're hunting in the alaska peninsula i use this bogan manfrotto tripod that's a lot heavier than this but this works fine in moose country where i hunt most of the time and it works great in cheap country it's lightweight it's a velbon ultramax m i guess got a swarovski spotter i've got an hd because i'm filming through it a fair bit i really like the angled eyepiece it takes a little bit of getting used to but i would never go back to straight and lastly i've got a dirty still works though headlamp you got to have a headlamp much uh much preferred over a flashlight so definitely bring a headlamp batteries a watch if there's one thing that i forget almost every year i've got about five of them i never use them around home but i get to alaska and realize oh i forgot to watch so that's a big one most people or a lot of people don't use those very often nowadays with our phones but a watch is pretty handy to have in the field so that again this that pretty well wraps it up that's everything that i brought with me so i've got a gear lesson list on my website www.billymolesadventures.com you'll find it all listed out there you'll ha i'll have some brand some of the models and the brands that i use um but yeah there's tons of good hunting uh brands and tons of great gear out there this is just stuff that i found that works for me you get good stuff you don't need very much of it that's that's the key and also other things will work you have a fleece sweatshirt i don't care if it's gray or brown or whatever as long as thing ain't pink or uh blaze orange the thing's probably gonna work just fine so um yeah i'm pretty fortunate i get to test out some gear for some companies here so most of it's camo camo is fine as far as i'm concerned i would probably wear more solids um if it were just me personally but nothing wrong with camo but don't think that it all has to be camo the reason why i bring that up i had a hunter this year he had some black rain gear that was really good and he was worried about you know it not being camo and i said no just bring it don't worry about that but yeah bottom line is good get good gear get the best you can afford uh that that like that therm-a-rest air mattress it's 170 bucks there's a lot of different ones now but nice thick air mattress get something like that it is so worth the extra money you pay for it you get good rain gear don't skimp on your rain gear your optics your boots those are probably the biggest ones right there and don't go buy a new rifle for one hunt bring a rifle that you're familiar with and you know how to shoot and you're not scared to shoot there's probably a lot of things i could go off on tangents about but that's probably just uh i think we'll just leave it at that if you've got any questions or comments feel free to leave them below um you know obviously that's going to help me help you so i appreciate you watching hope it was informative hope you got something out of it and best of luck hunting

Channel: Modern Day Mountain Man

Views: 74,524

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Id: _8lY5d58T6o

Length: 34min 29sec (2069 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 28 2020