Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting I'm Bored Gear Ramblings

I don't need any new gear. That's a relief! I think I have entered the phase in my life where I think I have my elk hunt pretty well figured out.
My basic kit consists of a custom Sako AV Classic in .35 Whelen, Zeiss Conquest 3-9x50, hand loads with 250 Hornadys at 2500fps, Swaro 8.5x42 binocs, Grohmann large pelter knife, A folding saw with bone & wood blades by Gerber, Columbia Gallatin wool jacket and Swedish Elg wool hunting pants, Nokia Retki boots, a pack halfway in size between a fanny pack and a daypack, with survival gear ( matches, brass snare wire, LED Petzl light, and a space blanket tarp, Parachute cord, water bottle, etc. a Silva Ranger compass and a good sat. photo and a topo map.
That's it.

A new Winchester, Garmin GPS, Game Hoist, gun cleaning stuff, a Suzuki Quad, and lots of ammo.

This year i've picked up a folding buck-saw (super light weight), a Mora Knife and was given a Custom fixed-blade knife made to my design (this is a HUGE gift to me!!!).

Otherwise, the biggest *gift* is my upcoming (like on Monday 30July) change in geography to Colorado Springs!!!! From there i will be able, for the 1st time in my life, to go elk hunting!!! I know i won't have time this hunting season, but i have next year and will begin preparation ASAP!!!

I have sooo much to buy (and sooo little $!!) so it's going to take some time to get "things" rolling again after 7 seven years living "abroad".

fmajor:

There is still lots of time to hunt elk in Colorado this year. You could buy an OTC bull tag right now and a left over cow tag on August 14. You would have to pay nonresident price since you won't be a resident yet. But that's better than not hunting at all. Send me a PM for more info.

KC

I've bought a few new things this year. I just got a new wall tent and stove. A 12x15 with a Utah Cylinder Stove. I'm going scouting this weekend and the wife and I are taking the tent on it's maiden voyage. It'll come in handy for the antelope, muzzleloader deer, bull elk, and cow elk tags I have this year (You can tell where all my vacation time is going).

This spring, I also bought a Swaro HD spotting scope. It really passed the time spying on elk when I was out turkey hunting. Well worth the money in my opinion and it'll pay huge dividends on all my hunts. The only other thing I got recently was a 20 lb. fiberglass propane tank. Much lighter than the regular metal tanks and way more stable in the back of my pickup. Plus, you can see how much propane is in the tank, so I don't have to worry whether I have enough for a trip or not.

I think buying gear is our way to compensate for the lack of ability to hunt in off season. I bet the outdoor companies love the fact that seasons are so short.
I always seem to want this, that and the other. But once I am walking the hills I realize that the only things I need are my rifle, ammo and pack with a few small things, notably binoculars. The rest of them are just gadgets that stayed in camp that most of the time remain forever unused.
So as of late I was able to resist the temptation of buying more unneeded stuff. Nonetheless, I got several upgrades in raingear and coveralls as presents from my wife. No complains there

I upgraded utility trailers and that's about it for this year. The one I had was an 8'x14' with the deck over the wheels. It was a nice trailer, but I was lucky to get a 1k miles on a set of tires (13" wheels).

I bought a 7'x16' with 15" wheels that's easier to load and should be able to handle anything I can throw at it.

Also wanted to add, you guys that bought Davis tents are gonna love 'em! I've already spent 11 nights in my 14x16 this year and still have about 20 more to go. Can't wait for September and November to get here!

PM sent!!!

I've only bought an aluminum camper shell for my truck so fare this year. I'm also in the process of building a game skinning shed that will handle all of my game processing here at home.

I drew a good, muzzleloader elk tag for this fall.
I have a couple of lower end front suffers for playing around with, but for this tag I wanted something nicer.
After doing some research, I decided on a new CVA Mountain Rifle.
It's a shorter, lighter version of there Accura V-2.

Nice!

KC

I picked up an orange handled piranta 2 years ago. Gutted and boned 2 deer, moose, bear and 2 elk. Blades are kind a pain to change out. Works ok but have to be careful as mentioned. Blades are a bit brittle when quartering out hind quarters.

Will carry one and a larger knife this year

Golite SL5
S&W 360 in .357 Mag. Too many wolves and bears last year to continue going unarmed in archery season.
Merino wool baselayers
Kuiu Spindrift

I have way to much gear. Picked up a 10x10 kodiak for solo winter chukar/predator hunts. Just ordered a couple wheels for the goose hunting trailer. I have been looking for a new LED lantern. Just ordered my elk/deer/bear tags online, should be here next week. I did buy a set of packable raingear in a unpopular camo pattern on clearance. Columbia sportswear Omni-tech $68 for both parka/pants.

Mind if I ask where you picked up the raingear?

Draws didn't pan out this year so no big game hunting this year. Does open lots of unexpected time to hunt birds, esp ducks.....so I'll be stocking up on a few decoys, a couple new calls and a lay-out blind. All in all, not a bad deal being as I have neglected buying much in the way of waterfowling stuff the last number of years.

Next year I'll be chasing elk with my favourite old Ruger though.

I'm with you SS, except for that last sentence. Don't know about you, but I accumulated the knives because I'm a gear nut.

After my first hunt out west last year I have upgraded in 4 areas. I got a Nikon ED 50 to replace the Minox MD 50. Also in the optics department I replaced my Stiener 8x30s with the Theron Wapiti APO 10x42s. The first thing I upgraded when I got home was in the sleeping bag area. I am backpack hunter and sleep in an ultralight tent. I went from the Marmot Sawtooth 15 deg bag to a Marmot Lithium 0 deg bag with liner. Finally I got a pair of the Cabelas Meindl Alaska Hunters. Very happy with all the new equipment so far and looking forward to Oct.

Picked up the Camp Chef� two burner oven/stove today!

CostCo has the model with the griddle for $169.00 with an instant $20.00 rebate.

Fired it up to test it out, what a nice set-up!

Seasoned the griddle and did a roll of biscuits, this product is elk-camp worthy !

I need a hose to run it off a bigger propane bottle, but it would do fine with a few disposable bottles.

This should make real-meals a lot easier.