Caribou Gear Tarp

Does your pack stay full?

Do you leave your gear in your pack during offseason or empty it out?

  • leave gear in pack

    Votes: 23 31.1%
  • unpack everything

    Votes: 52 70.3%

  • Total voters
    74

michsteelguy

Active member
Joined
Aug 15, 2014
Messages
218
Location
S.E. Michigan
Well, I would say for most of us (if not all) the 2020 hunting season is over. While I still have opportunity for WT doe's (archery) in my county.... till 1/31/21, Im kinda focused on work and the upcoming ice fishing season (eagerly waiting for ice though), therefore I'am starting to initiate the end of season ritual.....washing the hunting clothes, clean my gun, store away the equipment, etc. Then i got to thinking..... why do I do this every year - unpack the pack then make a list, then repack everything once the season rolls around. My question is simple. How many of you guys leave your pack full of your gear (ready to go) for the next season, or unpack everything and do it all over again???
 
I have to unpack, smells like hell after a season! All that sweat and dried blood, usually mid season empty it out and wash in river when i have a day but end of season gets soap followed by waterproofing.
 
Unpack everything, take notes, make sure any batteries are stored fully charged and out of the cold.
 
Normally I unpack it clean everything up and put it all away until next season But this year I’m thinking of leaving it packed and just carrying it when we go for daily walks
 
I like others unpack everything and sort it for storage in my designated bin/shelf. I also make sure to empty my water bladder and clean it and store it.
I then can check my bins before season and see what I need to restock and what I didn’t even use and make note and possibly cut it from next years hunts. It also helps me assess gear and upgrade if needed.
 
my pack is used almost year round from training hikes, to checking cams, shed hunting and scouting
 
I unpack mine and inventory everything and pull the batteries out or they leak. I usually got some trash from my MREs that I carry in my pack so I pull that stuff out and my pack ends up with about 50% space until next hunting season between that and the game bags I used.
 
I unpack, clean and store everything. The wash the pack with warm water. I'll repack it several times next fall, depending on the state and game I am hunting. I load it differently for elk in Wyoming vs. Whitetails at home vs. whitetails in Kansas, etc.
 
I unpack everything. Wash pack. Put it all backing again. Then come fall I will go through it to verify it all. I have several different packs. One for back country or elk- Kuiu. One for day trip coyote or Turkey hunting ( Badlands) and one for Geese/duck ( Alps). I am OCD about stuff and have to keep each one separate with stuff in them. That's how come I have so much crap.
 
I pull out my game bags, leave the med kit, head lamps, cord, binos, camera etc. Sleep system comes out every trip as it's best practice to store all of that out anyway. Cook kit is in a little bag, stays or goes depending on what I'm doing.

I only have one pack so I use it year round. I tend to be a silly heavy packer in the summer, cause why not? Binos, camera, rain gear, etc typically come on every outing.
 
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