BAKPAKR
Well-known member
My daughter used a borrowed Ckye-Pod triple pull last year. It was heavy, but it worked really well in snow.
EOY ‘23 - What Worked, What Didn’t?
- Thread starter BackofBeyond
- Start date
Lasiocarpa
Active member
I also switched to the Slik Sling this year. So far I think it is my favorite solution to carrying a rifle.
Also new and worked:
-MSR Windburner. A bit heavy and probably won’t make the cut for every trip, but so far the wind resistance is very real and noticeable.
-Stone glacier bino harness. I’m a bit of a minimalist and most bino harnesses seem geared toward people who want to carry the kitchen sink on their chest. The SG harness is simple, light, and does what I need it to and nothing more.
Also new and worked:
-MSR Windburner. A bit heavy and probably won’t make the cut for every trip, but so far the wind resistance is very real and noticeable.
-Stone glacier bino harness. I’m a bit of a minimalist and most bino harnesses seem geared toward people who want to carry the kitchen sink on their chest. The SG harness is simple, light, and does what I need it to and nothing more.
woods89
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2021
- Messages
- 821
It's great, but it weighed 12 lbs with tripod, so it has its limitations!
Irrelevant
Well-known member
If you get a quality knife you don't need a sharpening stone.
the difference between quality 3-season backpacking tent and 4-season backpacking tent is all $ and lbs, both trending shittier. Performance there's almost no difference if you get a quality 3-season.
GrantK
Well-known member
New things that were good:
La Sportiva Aequilibrium ST- best mountain hunting boot I've ever owned, and I've owned a bunch...
Hydra Pak flexible water bottles, I'm never going back to a nalgene.
didn't get anything new that was a miss, my kit doesn't change much these days...
La Sportiva Aequilibrium ST- best mountain hunting boot I've ever owned, and I've owned a bunch...
Hydra Pak flexible water bottles, I'm never going back to a nalgene.
didn't get anything new that was a miss, my kit doesn't change much these days...
Mallardsx2
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2015
- Messages
- 2,616
My homemade black walnut cover secnt stained my pants in a bad way. lol
Schaaf
Well-known member
I’d sell my second born first.
EYJONAS!
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2017
- Messages
- 6,528
Id sell one to buy it.
MTLabrador
Well-known member
Bonus mention: Outdoor Edge razor lite, specifically with the 5” boning/fillet blade. I was very pleased with this knife for butchering my deer this fall, and I’m going to carry one or two of these blades in addition to the regular skinning blades and the Benchmade steep country I carry while elk hunting. It would be great for breaking down an elk in the field.
PorterHouse
Well-known member
Some notable additions for me this year:
Ditched the sling and switched to a Kifaru Gunbearer. To each their own, but I much preferred this setup, especially on longer hiking days
Wiser Precision Quick Stix. Buddy used my poles and his to make a very solid rest to shoot his buck with. Quick, efficient and a great option if getting prone isn’t a possibility.
Ditched the sling and switched to a Kifaru Gunbearer. To each their own, but I much preferred this setup, especially on longer hiking days
Wiser Precision Quick Stix. Buddy used my poles and his to make a very solid rest to shoot his buck with. Quick, efficient and a great option if getting prone isn’t a possibility.
brocksw
Well-known member
Did you have any issue with the SG sling coming loose and your rifle dropping to the ground? I heard some people saying they have issues with that and I’ve never been able to confirm if that was prone to do that or if maybe it was operator error.
ShootsManyBullets
Well-known member
The release has a hair trigger IMO but I don't remember it coming open. I j-rigged it to a non SG pack and like it fine. Sure is nice to be 100% hands free and have the weight off my shoulder too.
With a little practice you can release and shoulder your rifle quickly.
D
Deleted member 16014
Guest
Never catastrophically that I recall, but I did catch it coming loose a couple of times. The main thing the slik sling does differently is change some of the angles of force in a helpful way.
BackofBeyond
Well-known member
Another couple “yups” and a “nope”upon further review:
Ditto what @neffa3 said about the Ambient Hoody - it’s awesome. Light, super soft and comfortable, and somehow seems to sense how much body heat to hold in, and how much to let pass. I normally live in a Sitka heavy weight hoody for most of rifle season, but I don’t think I put it on at all this year.
Atlas quick detach bipod with the leg extensions worked great for me as well. Both my elk and antelope were shot from prone, off the bipod, in tall grass. Having the leg extensions on, plus extending the legs allowed me to get high enough, but no to high that I would be seen.
The “nope:”
I decided to replace my Tyvek footprint with a chunk of Commercial Tyvek as it was available on my job site. Big mistake. The commercial version is much thicker, doesn’t roll or compress down, and is much much noisier than the thinner residential Tyvek.
Ditto what @neffa3 said about the Ambient Hoody - it’s awesome. Light, super soft and comfortable, and somehow seems to sense how much body heat to hold in, and how much to let pass. I normally live in a Sitka heavy weight hoody for most of rifle season, but I don’t think I put it on at all this year.
Atlas quick detach bipod with the leg extensions worked great for me as well. Both my elk and antelope were shot from prone, off the bipod, in tall grass. Having the leg extensions on, plus extending the legs allowed me to get high enough, but no to high that I would be seen.
The “nope:”
I decided to replace my Tyvek footprint with a chunk of Commercial Tyvek as it was available on my job site. Big mistake. The commercial version is much thicker, doesn’t roll or compress down, and is much much noisier than the thinner residential Tyvek.
Tradewind
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2015
- Messages
- 4,657
I am curious to see how that works. Doesn't your bino harness get in the way of the pistol? Or does the pistol sit
below the harness?
BackofBeyond
Well-known member
noharleyyet
Well-known member
Picked up a pair of SLC HD 8x42 from Snowy for Texas Mesquite maze whitetail & hog. I'm seeing more and earlier/later. Stable with great field of view. The 10x42 Pures did the job last year for CO elk and this year in NM. Our SIL will use them this weekend on a NM bull hunt. He's also taking my Mashburn.
His target yesterday at 430 yards.
His target yesterday at 430 yards.
Last edited:
Slm864
Well-known member
Hunting from the camper definitely spoils ya. I’ve had people ask my my sleep setup a couple times on hunts I’ve shot elk, and when I tell them I slept at the truck in the camper they seem a bit befuddled. It’s like there’s some unspoken rule that if you’re not in a tent you can’t get an animal.
I don’t mind sleeping on a real bed, drinking my coffee on the couch and getting dressed in front of the heater. I’ve actually found the years i stayed in the camper vs tenting it I always had more energy to hunt harder. Never got fatigued at all.
There is something special about hunting off your back and using the tent though and I still enjoy that.
Until you listed a camper as a piece of gear I guess I never thought of it that way but definitely agree. In a round about way I can say it’s helped with my success a time or 2 when otherwise I might have hung it up, especially in bad weather.
brocksw
Well-known member
NW retention is also an option to try for a chest holster. I had the Kenai and it was well built but just uncomfortable for me. The hinges connecting the strap to the Kydex always dug into my stomach. NW retention uses leather there, and I can get a nice snug fit and don’t even notice it there. I called to specifically ask about that attachment point and the owner seemed like a great dude. Said he’d ship me one and I could hunt with it for a week and if I didn’t like it he’d let me return it.
invaderconcepts.com
The Best Chest Holster for Hunting | the RECON | NW Retention
The RECON chest holster has the best fit, function and quality on the market. Made to be tight to the body and ultra-flexible with no hotspots or binding points. Fits seamlessly underneath your bino harness and backpack, allowing for a quick and effective draw when things get a little hairy...
invaderconcepts.com
BackofBeyond
Well-known member
This is what I have also.NW retention is also an option to try for a chest holster. I had the Kenai and it was well built but just uncomfortable for me. The hinges connecting the strap to the Kydex always dug into my stomach. NW retention uses leather there, and I can get a nice snug fit and don’t even notice it there. I called to specifically ask about that attachment point and the owner seemed like a great dude. Said he’d ship me one and I could hunt with it for a week and if I didn’t like it he’d let me return it.
The Best Chest Holster for Hunting | the RECON | NW Retention
The RECON chest holster has the best fit, function and quality on the market. Made to be tight to the body and ultra-flexible with no hotspots or binding points. Fits seamlessly underneath your bino harness and backpack, allowing for a quick and effective draw when things get a little hairy...
