POW Gear list

[MThuntr]

Hey all,
A bunch of us drew POW tags. I think all 3 others have been multiple times but this is my first. I'm sure we'll start talking logistics like location and dates and gear needs in the coming months however I'm stuck at home with a bum leg so I need something to occupy my time. I have the standard gear but I think I'm lacking AK Essentials.

Anyone have a list of gear essentials for POW Spring especially clever "ah-ha" items?

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

Grant you guys planning to hunt from a skiff?

 

[MThuntr]

I think that's the plan. Likely a copycat of your recent hunt.

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

-I was really happy I invested in new breathable waders and wader boots.
-extra lens cleaning spuds (your are wiping water off all the time, and it rarely got warm enough to dry things out fast)
-I brought one of those "Solo Hunter" rifle covers, kept the salt spray of the rifle a little better, and protected it from getting too banged around in the boat.
-if you stay where we did last time, bring a thick sleeping pad.
-good rain top. I wore waders everyday with a Firstlite SEAK jacket, I was really happy with the setup.
-protective spray for your rifle to keep the salt at bay.
-a rubberized rolltop drybag might have been a better solution than using your pack in the boat. My pack was soaked....
-a pair of neoprene gloves would have been nice, especially when handling the crab pots.

More to follow....

 

[brownbear932008]

Helley Hansen rain gear if it's a nasty week you will glad you packed it. All I can say..... I've seen Gortex type gear fail and guys be miserable while out getting pelted by the rain SE AK can seem to have for days.
Good point on salt water issues it is very hard on rifles up there. It seems to get in every crevice. We had to totally break ours down and detail them.

 

[----]

Ross has a lot of good stuff on his list.

I got by last year with Helly Hansen and muck boots. It was kind of an in between set up that wasn't great for either the boat or hiking, but worked for both. On the boat, waders are definitely a better option. The Helly Hansen gets pretty steamy hiking, although I don't think we went for a single hike this last time, mainly boat hunted and glassed from the truck. I picked up one of the SEAK jackets when the ASAT went on clearance last year, it should be a nice improvement from the Helly Hansen. Ross looked pretty comfy in his. I was also jealous he thought to throw his Stormy Kromer in.

I'm also glad I brought insulating layers. I don't remember my first trip being that cold, but in 2018 I was wearing every piece of clothes I brought and was still cold about half the time.

I took those cheap folding backpacking cots, those were a pretty nice set up for sleeping on the plank beds, compared to a thermarest.

 

[MThuntr]

It's good to hear that the First Lite gear held up. I have a decent credit with them so maybe I'll check out that SEAK gear. Sounds like we'll have to pin down some more logistics before I go buying gear but from what I hear breathable waders and a waterproof coat are necessary regardless. I have the breathable waders but only have imitation "waterproof" gear.

Ross good call on the rifle scabbard. I've often thought that would be a nice addition during those rain/wet snow hunts.

Randy thanks, I'll have to check out those little cots even if for car camping. Being a wide man, I'll have to do some testing.

I had planned on buying the Rem700 AWR which is a factory cerakoted rifle however I think I'm going to need to divert that money into essentials.

 

[----]

It's good to hear that the First Lite gear held up. I have a decent credit with them so maybe I'll check out that SEAK gear. Sounds like we'll have to pin down some more logistics before I go buying gear but from what I hear breathable waders and a waterproof coat are necessary regardless. I have the breathable waders but only have imitation "waterproof" gear.

Ross good call on the rifle scabbard. I've often thought that would be a nice addition during those rain/wet snow hunts.

Randy thanks, I'll have to check out those little cots even if for car camping. Being a wide man, I'll have to do some testing.

I had planned on buying the Rem700 AWR which is a factory cerakoted rifle however I think I'm going to need to divert that money into essentials.

Might want to keep an eye on Camofire. The other day they had a couple different types of Sitka raingear on there. That SEAK jacket is nice, but it's not real packable so you won't get a ton of cross use in the lower 48. I did wear mine on some rainy 40° days hunting whitetail in November last year. It worked well for that.

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

A couple other thoughts.

- If you guys stay in that same cabin, bring up a tin snips, some sheet metal, and a damper to install in the chimney, and probably a battery CO detector. I think if it wasn't just a straight shot up the pipe, that stove would have kicked off some better heat and actually dried the place out a bit. As it was with the soft wood and easy escape for the heat, you basically had to be standing right next to the stove to even feel it.

- I would see if the meat counter at the grocery store would just give you a some beef/pork scrap instead of buying herring for the crab pots. The herring was super expensive and we actually had better luck once we started baiting with bear scrap.

- One of those CO2 powered life jackets would have been slick to have. There was a couple of day where we really should have been wearing life jackets, not just sitting on them.

 

[----]

Plus either some real mouse traps, or a pellet gun.

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

Plus either some real mouse traps, or a pellet gun.

Yeeesssss!

 

[MThuntr]

I get a prodeal on both Firstlite and Sitka and sometimes their sales discounts stack. I have some packable stuff but I don't think it's POW waterproof.

I have a friend in Craig that I'll be bothering soon with hopes of getting some help.

Maybe we could catch a bunch of mice then use them for crab bait.

 

[LCH]

I'm going this May, so will be poaching a few ideas off of this and other threads. I intend to hunt off of the road system though, similar to how I've hunted in MT (hopefully successfully this time though). I'll be alone most of the time, and do not want to try to handle a skiff and the tides by myself.

I talked to a guy just today that did the fall hunt up there and said they only saw a couple small bears the whole week they were there. They were flown in though and dropped with no boat, so were limited to the stretches of stream they could walk from their drop-off point (they were hunting the salmon-run). I'm hoping that by renting a truck and being mobile, especially in the spring, I can get into some good bear activity sometime during the 8 full days I'll have for hunting.


Good luck with your planning, I'll be following along with interest.

 

[ewludwig]

I think Ross pretty much covered everything. I will echo the following:

Rifle scabbard. The salt spray was impossible to manage regardless of how much lube I put on the rifle. Breathable waders with a good boot were awesome. I wish I had those longer neoprene gloves with the Velcro wrist strap. Put them over the rain jacket cuff and cinch them down to keep the water from soaking up your arm. Ask for fishing poles from the guy that rents you the skiff. Buy some “mucking” tackle from the sporting good store. Make sure you tell them you are going to be “mucking”. We were led astray by the less than helpful sporting goods employees and our tackle wasn’t suitable for that style of fishing. Extra ammo. We had a blast plinking when tags were filled. Fly Alaska airlines. They were awesome....didn’t charge us a thing for all the extra fish boxes stuffed with frozen bear on the way home. Had I known it was so easy, I would have frozen the hide and brought it back for my taxidermist vs using some dude named “squirrel” who works at the water treatment plant.

 

[----]

If you don't already have airmiles built up, look into that Alaska Airlines credit card. You should easily be able to your flight for "free" by then, and if they do charge you for luggage you get a good break by having the card.

 

[mtmiller]

^^^^

Good advise. IIRC, I have been to AK 3x at $15/pop.

 

[AlaskaHunter]

4 items to consider

1) A tarp.
Expect rain, rain, drizzle, rain, and more rain.
Glassing underneath a tarp is more fun than glassing out in the rain.

2) Breathable stocking foot waders.
I prefer these for 3 reasons:
1) compact for flying,
2) easier to work with a boot that fits really well
3) turn the stocking feet inside out overnight in the cabin,
the next morning you start with bone-dry waders

3) WD-4 to spray down any metal that is exposed to salt spray

Also consider steelhead fishing gear...

 

[Deleted member 28227]

I'm headed up for this hunt in May and will be camping out of a skiff.

I'm pretty much taking my standard hunting set up plus a few extras:

Waterproof, gun dry bag (floats)
https://nomaralaska.com/products/waterproof-rifle-scabbard

Rubberized rain gear, like others have said in constant rain gortex eventually wets outs
https://www.cabelas.com/product/GRUNDENS-NEPTUNE-JACKET/2360009.uts

Sea to Summit Dry Pack
https://www.rei.com/product/863391/...R9cHD2b1PtsZHLtja8XN5nLuPUsU8sLIaAptBEALw_wcB

Xtratuffs
https://www.sportsmans.com/footwear...727oasR5tWep19yNRYFiu3oXCFqNnnG4aAtpNEALw_wcB

I think I'm also going to get a couple buckets w/ lids at walmart in Ketichikan, they are the cheapest but best floatable gear containers and/or camp chairs you can buy.

 

[----]

Xtratuffs
https://www.sportsmans.com/footwear...727oasR5tWep19yNRYFiu3oXCFqNnnG4aAtpNEALw_wcB

Do you have experience hiking in those wllm? I know everyone on the island wears them, but I've never seen any of them hiking in them either.

I was going to buy a set for my return trip but ended up getting a more aggressive soles muck boot and had good luck.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Do you have experience hiking in those wllm? I know everyone on the island wears them, but I've never seen any of them hiking in them either.

I was going to buy a set for my return trip but ended up getting a more aggressive soles muck boot and had good luck.

I do and have hiked a decent amount in them and they work certainly not a hiking boot but your feet stay dry. if I was going to be gaining a ton of elevation I would definitely just bring boots and gaiters. Not that it matters but that seems to be the meateater crews footwear of choice on the most recent POW episodes.