'20- What Worked, What Didn't?

[ashersdad]

Worked:
Nemo Sonic down bag. Super light, warm, accommodating spoon shape.
Klymit Luxe pad.
Marmot Tungsten tent.

Didn’t:
Pillow. Tried a couple; still not satisfied.
Sleep: I never sleep well in the backcountry.
Fire ban. Absolutely understandable, but not having a campfire was surprisingly tough mentally.

Have you tried the Mt. Ops Slumber? I have a hard time sleeping in the backcountry as well but when I take this I'll get a good solid 4-5 hours (which is about all I can hope for) and fall asleep very quickly. They have individual packets and I just take one for each night I'm going to be out.

 

[blueridge]

Have you tried the Mt. Ops Slumber? I have a hard time sleeping in the backcountry as well but when I take this I'll get a good solid 4-5 hours (which is about all I can hope for) and fall asleep very quickly. They have individual packets and I just take one for each night I'm going to be out.

I haven’t, but will check it out. Thanks! When you’re completely exhausted and relatively comfortable, sleep should be easy right!?!

 

[Pucky Freak]

What worked:
-Vortex warranty for rangefinder. They sent me a couple models newer unit to replace my discontinued one which had fogged up.
-using a lightweight collapsible tripod for glassing, shooting, and photography
-dispersed camping and bringing all my own food to save $$.
-darn tough socks
-aggressive hunting tactics in a high-pressure antelope unit
-wrapped paper towels to attach (with friction) antelope horn sheaths to the skull
-downloaded podcasts make long drives pass a lot more quickly
-Frequently exposing my 3-year-old to hunting and fishing. She asks to tag along now.
-Army surplus primaloft puffy pants. Cut and reassembled to fit my smaller waist at a total cost of $30 and a couple hours on the sewing machine.
-$6 Kifaru gun bearer upper and homemade lower (<1 hr hand sewn). This is the greatest value gun hunting item ever IMO.

What didn’t:
-lightweight pants for hot weather antelope hunting. Wife graciously removed about 50 prickly pear spines out of places I can’t see or reach, but they had been there a week and were infected.
-foam z-rest. My bones are too old to sleep comfortably on this any more. Should have brought my inflatable thermarest.
-realizing how crippling it is not to have a spotting scope when trying to size up animals over a mile away. I’m still upgrading my binos first, but adding a spotting scope soon as well.
-I’m sure I’ll have something to add after I fail to fill some of my last 6 tags. 4/4 so far in 2020.

 

[ashersdad]

I haven’t, but will check it out. Thanks! When you’re completely exhausted and relatively comfortable, sleep should be easy right!?!

It should be, but those are the nights I’ll lay awake for hours unless I take something to help.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

I haven’t, but will check it out. Thanks! When you’re completely exhausted and relatively comfortable, sleep should be easy right!?!

Doxylamine, caffeine pills, ibuprofen, rolaids should be in your med kit.

Night before, morning of, post pack out, after the beers and pizza.

 

[MNElkNut]

shined:
Sitka pants and jackets. I sometimes forget I am even wearing pants they are so comfy.

Vortex Rangefinders. I have 2 and both worked awesome (son used one).

Schnees boots. Year 14 of hard use on my Beartooths (or would it be Bearteeth?). Anyway, I love those boots!

Leupold VX3 Scopes. 5 critters fell to Leupy scopes this year!

Browning Xbolt in 7mm-08. A pleasure to shoot and it just kills stuff when paired with TTSX loads. Shots this year varied from 22 to 309 yards. Certainly earned the 7mmHT label.

Smartwool socks. they always perform well.

Reviewing hand signals 100 yards before encountering a bull. Priceless on an archery elk hunt. My buddy knew exactly what I wanted when I wanted it which was crucial as he couldn't see the bull.

Insulated enclosed trailer for camping. You haul your stuff, the turn it into a camper. 43 nights in ours over the last 2 years.

Patience. Brought my twin 12-year old boys out on their first western hunt. They each shot buck muleys and buck antelope. Learning to have patience during the stalk worked well. They did great and that made me one proud dad! They also shot really well. Always room for improvement, but overall no wounded animals and mostly bangflops.

Growing up. One of my sons went on a fairly uncomfortable 7+ mile hike in horrible winds. Then a few days later packed half a buck mule deer uphill over a mile with a terrible pack in blizzard. All with no complaints.

sucked:
For total comfort, we need to put a direct vented propane heather in our trailer. the generator/electric heater combo works for heating it up before you go to bed and when you are getting ready in the morning, but my nose got cold during the night. Yes, I expect you diehards are laughing at my softness and go ahead, I deserve it! But if you are going to stay in the trailer anyway, why not be super comfy?

Long drives. Can I pay someone to shorten up South Dakota?

Organization. I work really hard to be organized. Even so, by the end of the hunt I wish I had done better. Now try taking two 12 year old sons with you. "Dad, where is my glove?" I really stressed that they need to take care of their own stuff. Not sure if that lesson was learned or not.

 

[sacountry]

It should be, but those are the nights I’ll lay awake for hours unless I take something to help.

One other thought....depending on if I've been hiking a lot or with a heavy pack, I'll pop a few Advil PM before bed. Guaranteed to fall asleep and stay asleep without a prescription

 

[MTGomer]

Replacement wind indicator powder - just didn't work as good as the original.

I used diatomaceous earth. Didn’t work as well as original either.

 

[BRoth82]

For the guys using wind indicator powder, I've been using milkweed fluff from the pods here in the Midwest it's everywhere. The best part about it is it's free and you can see it for a long ways so you can really tell what the wind is doing. You guys should check it out.

 

[golfer]

Replacement wind indicator powder - just didn't work as good as the original.

I too have had this issue in the past. Switched to breeze squeeze and worked like a charm.

 

[ricomexico]

What worked:
-Vortex warranty for rangefinder. They sent me a couple models newer unit to replace my discontinued one which had fogged up.
-using a lightweight collapsible tripod for glassing, shooting, and photography
-dispersed camping and bringing all my own food to save $$.
-darn tough socks
-aggressive hunting tactics in a high-pressure antelope unit
-wrapped paper towels to attach (with friction) antelope horn sheaths to the skull
-downloaded podcasts make long drives pass a lot more quickly
-Frequently exposing my 3-year-old to hunting and fishing. She asks to tag along now.
-Army surplus primaloft puffy pants. Cut and reassembled to fit my smaller waist at a total cost of $30 and a couple hours on the sewing machine.
-$6 Kifaru gun bearer upper and homemade lower (<1 hr hand sewn). This is the greatest value gun hunting item ever IMO.

What didn’t:
-lightweight pants for hot weather antelope hunting. Wife graciously removed about 50 prickly pear spines out of places I can’t see or reach, but they had been there a week and were infected.
-foam z-rest. My bones are too old to sleep comfortably on this any more. Should have brought my inflatable thermarest.
-realizing how crippling it is not to have a spotting scope when trying to size up animals over a mile away. I’m still upgrading my binos first, but adding a spotting scope soon as well.
-I’m sure I’ll have something to add after I fail to fill some of my last 6 tags. 4/4 so far in 2020.

What kind of Tri-pod are you using? I'm hoping to do a Western hunt next fall and have been wondering about a do-all tripod.

 

[Nick87]

Didn't work- waders again. Every year, never holes either always the seams leaking tried 3 different brands too I give up.

 

[sacountry]

Shined:
Garmin InReach (no long term subscriptions, bread crumbs worked really well without draining battery)
Cheap rechargeable battery supply with 4 solar panel ordered on Amazon (held upto 8 phone charges, charged pretty quick)
Fullcurl pack system from Hornhunter (modular features provided valuable flexibility when day hunting after the pack in)
Blackovis game bags. (Small, super light weight, breathable, and durable)
Sawyer water filter coupled with their 2 gallon holding resevoir (super fast water filtration)
Black Diamond trekking poles (3 sections that when extended can't collapse unlike telescoping, clamp style trekking poles)

Failed:
Bob soles on my Danners (awesome on everything but sharp rocks in goat country, having them resoled after just 2 years)
Slumberjack Bivvy sack (Couldn't keep from getting hit in the face)
KUIU chugach rain jacket and paints (light and kept me dry, but not as quite as the Sitka stuff)
Fenix 1000 lumen rechargeable flashlight (awesome brightness with 6 hours runtime at 1,000 lumens, but it gets flammable hot...to the point that I pull the battery when not in use in case I accidently bump it on in my pack)

@ajricketts
I'm adding a further fail on top of a fail. My Kuiu Chugach rain jacket peeled like a banana as I brushed up against a broken tree limb while helping haul out an elk over the weekend. For now, I'll have to duct tape it from the inside until the season is over.

 

[cwitherow]

What worked:
Kelty Cosmic 20
BOSSSHOT in 12 and 16 gauge
My introduction into duck hunting- got birds every time we went out
Crocs as camp shoes
Cheap amazon gaiters

What Didn't work:
Weather. Cut our hunt almost in half.
cheap tent stakes. MSR groundhogs are on their way.
cheap amazon camp stove. I'm thinking MSR pocketrocket deluxe with the built in ignition since I have a few pot options already, otherwise I would go with the jetboil.

 

[geetar]

RayBan Wayfarers aren’t worth a flip once you drop your binoculars onto them lying on a cot as you throw on your bino harness on without checking to see if it’s latched. Snapped em right in half.

VP Racing Fuels gas can doesn’t hold gas anymore when you hit a bump on a dirt road and throw it off the back of the Jeep hitch hauler and break the spout off. ( Strap came undone without me knowing it. )

Buck 112 Ranger knife works great to whittle a stick and plug up hole in previously mentioned gas can.

Tenacious tape works great in combination with small pine branches to repair a broken fishing rod in the back country. Worked well enough to catch my biggest trout to date after the repair.

So yea all this happened this season. 2020 has been on par with its reputation as a weird year.

 

[JLS]

A couple of additions:

KOA Alpha Wolf knife. Love this thing. Did an elk and a deer without touching the blade. Hit it with the WorkSharp and put it away for next year.

Zamberlan Guide boots: I’ve absolutely hammered these things and they are holding up great. The soles are almost shot, I’ll send them in after chukar season is done.

Mystery Ranch Beartooth 80: two deer and two elk on this. Love the frame. I did get a little bruising and road rash on my tailbone last week packing out my deer. I may need to add a little padding, but I also think that’s just the name of the game when you’re in the 110-120 pound range. Slowly getting used to the bag design, but still find myself wishing for the simpler Metcalf.

Toyota Tundra: loving this truck. Rides like a dream. Fuel economy could be a little better, but I’m getting a solid 15-16 with pretty aggressive tires.

 

[JLS]

Krylon works. Made the Mountain Rifle feel sexy again after some hard use.

 

[Irrelevant]

I'll add to my previous list.
Pros:
-MR Metcalf still going strong. Up to 5 elk and a deer. Still wishin' I'd have bought a small instead of a med, but that's not the packs fault.
-New MSR windburner... works flawlessly.
-Tylenol PM. It's the best addition to backcountry hunting I've made it a while.
-My grandfathers old schrade hunting knife. I redid the handle and she's been going to town all year like a champ, sharpens very easy and holds a good enough edge for a deer in one go.

Cons:
-Cheap Amazon Havalon replacement blades, they're still super sharp but I need to be replaced WAY more often.
-Manfrotto 190B tripod. The cam locks started breaking in the cold weather this year.
-My mid weight boots, they've finally gone out to the point where I'm getting blisters after 4 years of perfection.

 

[JFish]

Worked:
Crispi boots, well worth it no blisters or sores

VIAM 10 degree quilt. I will always be a quilt person now. I can roll up like a burrito and be comfortable.

Backpacking coffee filters

Advil PM and Benadryl

Cheap Eddie Bauer down puffy. Got it an outlet for pretty cheap and it is incredibly warm.

Outdoor Research Ferosi Pants. Got them during their big sale for 40$. Awesome hot weather pants

Didn’t Work:
Pre soaking homemade oatmeal the night before. Wasn’t appetizing.

Being unprepared for winter weather.

Hiking in with broadheads in my quiver. Lost an arrow on the hike back and spent a long time looking for it.

Camouflaged Bugle Tube. Lost some time looking for that sucker too. It’s getting some flo orange duck tape around it for easy re locating.

 

[Flatlander3]

What worked:
-Sirui tripod with Bogpod bino mount. For those of who contemplating to buy the bog pod or not, do it. It was so slick and convenient. I also stopped using my rifle bi pod a couple days into my trip and just used the tripod and bogpod mount to rest the rifle on. Very solid.

-windproof clothing for Wyoming winds

-Carring an extra loaded clip in my pocket. Very quick and easy to reaload when needing to be fast and efficient.

-Kuiu attack pants above sitting above 30.

What didn't work
-Kuiu attack pants sitting below 30. I need to invest in some puffy pants or something similar for sitting.