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I am going out West in Colorado for the first time ever this year with a friend on a Mule Deer hunt. I am primarily going as his hunting buddy for safety however I will be taking my rifle and if we see Elk I will grab an over the counter tag. I am putting together a list of what all to bring but I was figuring some of you more seasoned mountain hunters already have your checklist for what you lay out to ensure you have everything when packing for a trip. If you'd be willing to share your lists I would be extremely grateful. There are some things I still need to buy between now and the trip. Some of them will require break in time before we go too so I need to get some stuff sooner rather than later.

Again, anything you are willing to share from your list would help me out tremendously.

I also need to buy a pack, looking at Kuiu but not sure which one would be appropriate.

This is a generic list. I have intentionally left out manufacturers and product names.

MY GEAR FOR COLORADO BACKPACK ELK HUNT

WHAT TO WEAR, NO COTTON CLOTHING - The only thing that I carry that has any cotton is a bandanna, which has multiple uses.
DRESS IN LAYERS - Dress in layers so that you can adapt to a changing environment.

Wear the following
___ 1 Pair Long Johns (top & bottom, synthetic)
___ 1 Pair Socks (thick insulated wool/synthetic)
___ 1 Pair Trousers (synthetic)
___ 1 Pair Hiking Boots
___ 1 Each Shirt (synthetic, long sleeves, pockets, orange)
___ 1 Pair Gaiters
___ 1 Each Hat, ball cap (orange)
___ 1 Pair Sun Glasses
___ 1 Pair Gloves (lightweight synthetic)
___ 1 Each Binoculars
___ 1 Each Rifle with Scope
___ 10 Each Ammo & Magazines

Carry the following IN YOUR DAYPACK
___ 1 Each GPS or Digital Tablet & Mapping/GPS Program
___ 1 Each Topography Map (USGS) & Compass
___ 1/2 Each Foam Pad
___ 1 Each Hat, knitted (orange)
___ 1 Pair Mittens (ski gloves)
___ 1 Each Fleece Jacket or Goose Down Puffer Jacket
___ 1 Each Parka (Gortex/nylon with hood, orange)
___ 2 Each Canteen, 1 quart (full of water)
___ 1 Pair Socks, thick insulating wool (no cotton)
___ 10 Each Extra Ammo
___ 1 Each First Aid Kit (see list)
___ 1 Each Ditty Kit (see list)
___ 1 Each Field Dressing Kit (see list)
___ 1 Days Snacks

DITTY KIT
___ 1 Each Bandana
___ 1 Pack Toilet Paper & Paper Napkins
___ 1 Each Swiss Army Knife
___ 1 Each Headlamp, lightweight, new batteries
___ 1 Each Butane Lighter
___ 50 Each Matches, waterproof
___ 4 Each Fire Sticks or Candles or Triox tablet
___ 10 pages Old Phone Book Pages

FIRST AID KIT
___ 16 Pills Aspirin Tablets
___ 16 Pills Antacid Tablets (Rolaids or Tums)
___ 16 pills Ibuprofin
___ 12 Each Acetamenofin PM
___ 1 Pad Moleskin, 3" x 3" & donut pads
___ 8 Each Bandaids, 1"
___ 4 Each 2"x 3" Adhesive Bandages
___ 1 Each Ace Bandage
___ 1 Each Battle Dressing or Kotex pad
___ 2 each Burn Dressing, WaterJel 4”x4” & 2”x6”
___ 1 Each Needle
___ 1 Each Tweezers
___ 1 Tube Chap Stick
___ 1 Botl Sun Block

FIELD DRESSING KIT
___ 1 Each Caping Knife
___ 1 Each Havalon folding scalpel w/stainless steel surgical blades
___ 1 Each Bone Saw, Gerber Gator Saw
___ 4 Each Large Game Bags
___ 2 Each Small Game Bags
___ 2 Each Rope, 12’ x 3/16” woven nylon
___ 1 Each License/Tag
___ 1 Each Chord, 12”x 1/8” woven nylon (to attach tag)
___ 1 Each Leaf & Garden Bag

CAMPING GEAR (personal)
___ 1 Each Backpack, internal frame
___ 1 Each Sleeping Bag
___ 1 Each Mattress Pad, self-inflating or air mattress
___ ? Days Food
___ 1 each Mess Kit (cup, bowl, spoon, fork)
___ 1 Set Tooth Brush & Tooth Paste

CAMPING GEAR (group)
___ 1 each Stove, lightweight backpacker (with matches)
___ 1 can Fuel, butane
___ 1 Each Water Boiler
___ 1 each Tent
___ 1 each Water Filter

OPTIONAL
___ 1 Each Camera & film (optional)
___ 1 Each Lazer Rangefinder (optional)

Good list KC.

OP,

If I were you, I would get a secondhand climbing pack for cheap off Craigslist, that way you can try it on and make sure it fits. An older Dana Terraplane or Astralplane is every bit as good as a MR or Kifaru and can be had for $75-$100.

With a lot of the gucchi gear, you are just paying for the name (Sitka or Kuiu, etc ) in my opinion.

Note: you can only get an OTC license at a CPW office after the day prior to the season. Recommend buying tag first.

And the office might not be open on a weekend. Some are, some aren't. What season?

I think the CO OTC tags are gone. I screwed around for 3 days and lost out on my unit- and it had 141 on opening day....

That said, anything you take for an overnighter is basically the same for a 10 day, except the amount of food. And socks.

I've been at this for 50 years.... speaking basically as a back-pack hunter.

The 3 basic things you need to mind are: (for a back pack trip). Or I guess any trip.

1. Take care of your feet

2. Eat enough calories

3. Sleep warm (preferably dry). - but which is why I don't own a down sleeping bag. If assured as to dry, use a down bag.

A couple decades ago I typed out a list of everything I MIGHT need or want, depending on the trip, printed several copies, and laminated them.

Prepping for a hunt, I go through item by item, using colored dry erase markers as I lay the items out on the floor, indicating which I will take on that particular hunt with one color, and marking off with another color what I won't be taking. The dry erase than can be removed to prep for the next hunt.

My upcoming CO elk hunt, we will be staying at a friend's house, minutes from the trail-head.

That eliminates a whole bunch of "back-pack" stuff!!! . I'll still use my list.

Oh yeah - if you have a Lab, watch him! He will add or subtract items from your pile of "to-go" gear....

And ALWAYS wear two pair of socks if hiking much. I prefer synthetic next to the foot. for wicking,, and whatever as second pair. This greatly reduces/eliminates blisters.

If your foot develops a "hot-spot", stop, preferably wash, dry, and put a patch of moleskin on it. Blisters are a PITF!

KC knows his chit... more than I carry.

But then, he forgot his license and permit..... and toilet paper!

Some of these items should be doubled or tripled up in camp, backpack, field kit. Like TP and matches. You decide.

OK - here is my list.

Keep in mind this list is 20 or more years old- I have had cataract surgery since- only need reading glasses for arms-length or closer now. The rest still works...

Tag

Those lists cover most everything pretty well, but I'll add emphasis to a GOOD pair of boots and insoles (I use Scarpa and Superfeet, but everyone's feet are different). Don't skimp there. Darn Tough socks have been great for me and those that I hunt and hike with.

Kifaru packs for me exclusively. I've tried quite a few and like them a bunch. Have seen and heard of too many KUIU frames snapping to even think about them and prefer giving my money to the Coloradans that stitch the Kifarus.

A puffy jacket is an absolute must have for me, as well. I use Arc'Teryx, but First Lite makes a good one, also. Kifaru's Lost Park Parka gets great reviews, but they don't fit me.

You won't nail your gear on the first trip. Just take notes on what worked and what didn't and switch out gear over the years until you have a setup that works for you.

Did I really forget license and toilet paper? No, their in there. las is just rattling my cage. You got me.

If it is a high-elevation hunt, one thing I bring is Excedrin. Without going into detail, it, for some reason, is the ultimate altitude sickness antidote. But, if you use it, make sure you have the Rolaids/Tums KC mentioned above. I took some about 18 years ago, and had heartburn I could not get rid of. Wish I had some Tums.

If there is a lot of snow, I bring a few cheap, almost weightless, grocery store bagging plastic bags. I had some on the first backpacking hunting trip I took my son on (when he was nine), and there was a big unpredicted snow of about 14 inches and it kept coming. We kept the fire going at the campsite as much as possible. At night before retiring, I would fill up a grocery bag with dried tinder (leaves, some paper trash, small sticks, a few medium sticks, etc. …), and put it into the vestibule. The next morning, I generally could just lay the bag of tinder on the warm coals and start a fire quickly—instead of running around and looking for tinder that wasn’t wet from the subsequent overnight snow. Anyway, it’s a fairly-weightless item that can allow you to pre-stage dried tinder overnight in the vestibule and drop it on hot coals in the morning without scavenging around. Once you have the morning fire going well, you can collect the same for the evening or next day.

Good times (2014):

I already placed an order for a KUIU pack system. Didn't look into Kifaru much. Their stuff looks good too and more of a tailored fit. The Kifaru pack system priced out is about $100 more than the KUIU system I have on order.

I rarely make packing lists for hunting because it could be summer weather or winter weather, and about 75% of my gear could vary trip to trip. The stuff that doesn't vary is no trouble to remember. I used to make lists and just check off which version of this or that I carried, but then it just ended up being a giant list of everything I had. Maybe it's unorthodox, I don't know, but I enjoy just putting in the necessary pieces as I pack; it forces me to be conscious about every item that comes along. I'm packing for a 5 day backpack hunt this week, I'll see if I have time to put a list together.

I'm at about the same place as far as backpacking gear. I've winnowed it down to the point that there are not a lot of questions about what I'll be taking, except for food.

Maybe I should start making a list for food, I always forget something, LOL.

This is my list for mule deer later this week. It's been quite a while since I went to the trouble of weighing gear and plugging in alternatives, although I usually weigh my pack the day I leave and day I get back from a backpack trip. This is my favorite backpack hunt every year and it looks like this time the weather is going to be pretty darn nice, aside from afternoon/evening winds consistently into the 30 mph range. I always try to be thoughtful about what goes and what doesn't, without obsessing. My primary weight splurge on this trip will be a 14 oz. bipod. I've found that in the area I'm headed there are often long shot opportunities, and I shoot a bit better off a bipod than my pack. In the future I intend to mess around with a tripod attachment for that purpose, but haven't had a chance to do so yet. With the nice temps and no precip forecasted I could get by with a tarp below treeline, but the places I'll be sleeping are just too exposed with that much wind. I could also leave the center post of my tripod but I like to hang rocks on it to stabilize in the wind. Of course I may add or subtract an item or two before heading out, but this is the jist.

-4 nights, 5 days
-Backpacking at or above treeline
-Temperatures in the 50's and 30's, windy
-Mileage to camp #1 is 6.0, anyone's guess after that

On my body leaving the rig:
-Icebreaker 150 T
-Smartwool boxers
-Icebreaker light hiker socks
-Arc'teryx Gamma AR pant
-orange cap
-Hoka Tor Ultra High trail shoe
-BD Distance Z trekking poles
-OR flex tex gaiters

In the pack, weight in ounces adjacent:
Hilleberg Niak, no inner 34.0
Valandre Mirage 23* bag long 29.0
Exped Pillow 2.9
Neo Air X-therm 17.9

Ibex wool hoody 10.7
Brooks Range Puffy 16.9
1x spare socks 2.2
Integral Designs puffy hat 1.6
Orange vest 2.5
Patagonia Houdini windshirt 4.0
Softshell gloves 2.9

65mm spotter w/ plate 53.3
8x42 binos w/harness 36.6
Tripod + head + adapter 58.1
Rangefinder 6.7

Tikka T3x Lite w/ full mag 132.8
Spare ammo + pouch 11.0
Bipod 14.0
Rear bag 4.6
Kill kit (knife, tags, pen, etc.) 13.6

Always bag (H2O treat, Ibu, tape, tp, spoon, etc) 14.2
Headlamp, SPOT, batts, battery booster 19.1
Camera 7.4
Water bladder, 6L (empty) 7.4
Water bladder and tube (empty) 3.2
Nalgene, pint 2.4
Sit pad 2.1
Earphones 0.4
Toothbrush + paste 1.6
Smartphone 6.4
Wind checker 0.7
Meat bag 4.6
MSR Windburner + gas + striker 23.7
SG Sky 5200 + frame 84.5

So gear all up = 39.6 lbs.
Adding 2L of water and 5 days of food puts me at: 47.5 lbs.

That's a number I can live with on a glassing intensive solo trip like this. Even with a mature buck that will keep me at or under 110 lbs. on the trip out w/ no cape. Last year was a colder, wetter ordeal where I had to take more gear to stay safe and it ended up being 116 lbs. The area requires hauling back up about 800' over a pass to get out, so keeping things reasonable is important. Happy hunting!

Snowy thats some great gear info! I'm between 50-52lbs for 5 day hunts. Usually pack enough food for 7 days. Happy high hunts my friend!

Weigh all your gear and put on a spreadsheet, then kinda pick and choose and watch the total weight tally. Turns into a "this for that" kinda game.