Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire How Do You Stock Your Backpack

besides the usual saw, knives, matches etc. What do you carry for a day hunt with the possibility of an over night in sub-zero weather?

Some candy bars or granola bars or energy bars. A metal cup I can heat water in and some boullion cubes.

1. Extra clothes (warm coat with hood, fleece bibs, hat, gloves, extra socks & sunglasses)
2. Fire Starter Kit (several ignition methods, tinder & kindling)
3. Waterproof tarp (or bivouac bag) & foam pad
4. Metal pot (small lightweight) for melting snow
5. Extra food
6. Water in an Thermos
7. Collapsable snow shovel
8. The knowledge how to make emergency shelters from natural materials, quick and easy

All this stuff fits into a small daypack and weighs about eight pounds. You can use your daypack to keep your feet warm.

With whatever I think I need- season/trip/duration considered. It varies due to locale, season, etc.- but then I've been at this awhile.... Learn by doing. Be sure not to kill yourself, or even lose any body parts. Your brain is your primary survival tool.

Works for comfort level too.

With your specs, I'd carry a tarp, closed-cell pad, and light, down sleeping bag, along with the usual survival/hunting gear . Could leave off the tarp if in conifer terrain, but it's only a pound or so, and lots handier and quicker than boughs...

You did specify back-pack, and sub-zero....

depends upon the season, I've got summer pack that has along with fire makins, head nets, raingear, water purification.


also have a winter daypack that has a sleep bag, road flare to add to the fire making, chem pax, some bouillion and a bunch of other stuff, it's minus bug dope, raingear and head nets as you might imagine.


I don't call either of those packs backpacks though, so I may have missed your mark.


if you want to know what's in my backpack, you can do a search on the bping forum, I've pasted and posted my sheep bag contents a few times along with others, they seem to run pretty similar.


I've a bpack on when moose hunting too, but it's lighter and serves as a daypack basically with the added capability of hauling in the first load.

With regards to my hunting pack, I really don't carry one. There is never any sub zero weather here either.
I don't often hunt far from the truck, or in areas I don't know pretty well. What I take usually fits into a couple of pockets, and includes stuff like TP, Cliff bars, water, knives...........

I do carry in my truck or car, my emergency pack. That is packed with many more items that take care of the basics of fire, shelter, food, water, comfort and safety.

I could live out of that pack quite easily for pushing a week.

Always a firestarter, additional zippo, various size knives, additional ammo when in the field (you never know what kind of varmints you may encounter), clasps of string, water, a little food (something compact non perishable), ace bandage, neomycin, multitool

extra socks.
arkansas stone.
steel mirror.
deck of cards.
magnesium striker.
laminated picture of family.
space blanet.

i can get everything else from mother nature.

Bacardi 151.. Not only will it warm the insides but you can start fires with it..

chem lights
purification tablets
compass
magnesium fire starter
2 plastic canteens of water
granola/energy bars
parachute cord
army poncho, very versatile and handy!
a small cook kit
small spool of fishing line, hooks, sinkers
sunblock, bug dope

Whiskey, snuff, TP and road flares.