Oct
23
20 Essentials for a Deer/Hog Gun Hunter’s Hunting Backpack by Randy Rowley 10/23/19 ©
ByIf you are going to deer and/or hog hunt, you’ll need a backpack (or maybe a suitcase) to haul all your essentials in. I presently use a Magellan Outdoors Men’s Hunting Pack. It’s big enough to hold all of my stuff and is comfortable.
I recommend the following minimum gear for deer/hog hunting backpacks (in order of importance):
- Pee container. They keep you from having to leave your blind/tree stand to go pee and make noise/leave your scent everywhere in the process. Ones with screw-on lids are preferred, as are ones with handles. I use an empty Scent Killer Clothing Wash container. I carry corn in it to freshen up the corn at the feeder and then put the empty container in my backpack.
- 10×42 or 8×42 waterproof/fogproof/shockproof roof prism binoculars from a brand that offers a lifetime warranty, such as Vortex, Burris, Nikon, and Leupold (Vortex has a forever, transferable, warranty). If your binoculars fog up they’re worthless. Roof prism binoculars are more compact, lighter, and easier to hold than porro prism binoculars. I use a pair of Nikon Prostaff’s for deer and hog hunting.
- Vortex Fog Free Lens Kit. Rain and humidity can make the best rifle scopes, binoculars, range finders, etc. fog up. When that happens use this cleaner on your optic. It can make the difference between meat in the freezer and an empty one and works far better than spit and your shirt.
- Shooting sticks. They’re very helpful when using a pop-up or fabric blind. I recommend tripod shooting sticks. My present shooting sticks are Thunder Bay Tripods.
- Scent-A-Way Spray (or similar). A lot of hunters spray themselves down with scent removal products before their hunt, but sometimes you need to do it again during a hunt, particularly if you have swirling winds or are sweating. If deer/hogs smell you the gig is up.
- Laser Rangefinder monocular. Probably 95% of deer and hogs in Texas that rifle hunters kill are taken at 100 yards or less. Most hunters know how far their feeder is from their blind and sight their rifles in for that distance. For such hunting, most of the time a laser range finder is not needed. However, deer and hogs have a habit of showing up where least expected, often much farther away. Laser range finders are invaluable for such situations. They are even more invaluable for bowhunters including crossbow hunters. Affordable laser range finders are made by Bushnell, Vortex, Burris, Nikon, SIG Sauer, Leupold, and Weaver. More expensive ones are made by Newcon Optik, Leica, Opti-Logic, Zeiss, and Swarovski. Bushnell’s rangefinders have a rain mode that will penetrate most precipitation, a zip mode that reads through brush and foreground clutter. Most laser rangefinders have a scan mode that gives continuous distance readings as you scan multiple targets. Laser rangefinders boast accuracy rates of +/- 1 yard at 300 yards. I owned a Nikon 4X Yardage Pro 800-yard laser rangefinder until it died. I now own a SIG Sauer Viper 4X 850-yard laser rangefinder that they no longer make. It’s similar to their Buckmasters 1500 6x22mm.
- Night Vision monocular. They’re very useful for hog hunting at night, but also good for locating deer, so you’ll be ready to shoot at legal shooting time. This prevents hunters from having to shine their flashlights in all directions looking for hogs, which alerts them to your presence and wears down your spot light’s battery. I own a Night Owl Explorer Pro. It’s a 5-Power Generation 1 scope. With it you can tell that there are hogs under a feeder at 100 yards, but you won’t be able to discern many details. After about a year it stopped working and I sent it to Night Owl. They sent me a new one for only $79. I highly recommend them. The Night Owl Explore Pro has since been replaced by their 5-Power NOXM50.
- Drag ropes. I own a Hunter’s Safety System X-d Bowhunter Safety Harness with drag rope. It keeps me from wearing out my arms while dragging a deer/hog. Your shoulders and arms will thank you. I also have a drag rope that I use when I’m not wearing my safety harness. It’s similar to this Do-All Outdoors Pro Deer Drag one. It’s a lot easier to drag deer or hogs with than grabbing horns or a leg.
- Exclusive Wildlife Kill Light XLR 250. They and ones like them are very useful for hog hunting at night. Get the green lens for hogs.
- ThermaCELL Portable Mosquito Repeller with extra butane fuel and repellent mats. Don’t use OFF! or similar products, unless you don’t like seeing deer and/or hogs. ThermaCELL’s are quiet and odor-free. Best of all, they work. Include a bungee cord or zip tie to hang it with.
- Face mask. Mesh for when it’s warm and fleece for when it’s not. For mesh, I prefer a Hunters Specialties 3/4 Facemask. For fleece, I prefer a BASSDASH Winter Balaclava Fleece Ski Mask.
- Rattling Horns. I prefer natural ones (there’s nothing like the real thing).
- Grunt call. Sometimes you can get a walking buck to stop if you grunt at it. They no longer make the one that I use, but it’s similar to the Flextone Buck Collector Plus.
- Outdoor Edge RazorMax replaceable fixed blade hunting knife with 3.5″ drop-point/gut hook, and 5″ boning/fillet blades. It took me several years to finally admit that I’m not very good at sharpening a knife with a whetstone. And pull through sharpeners didn’t retain a knife’s edge for long. I finally bit the bullet and bought an Outdoor Edge RazorMax. Now when my knife gets dull I just change the blade. Easy peasy.
- Hunting Made Easy (HME) bone saw. One thing that a knife can’t do well is saw through bone. For such jobs, a good bone saw can’t be beat.
- Tink’s Doe-In-Rut Estrous Doe Urine and Tink’s Power Pig Sow in Heat with cotton hanging applicators. I’ve not had success with these, but others swear by them.
- Water bottles and snacks. Bring twice as many water bottles as you think you’ll need. If you run out of water during a hot hunt the jig is up. Snacks can make a long sit tolerable. For snacks, I prefer Jack Links Peppered Jerky and Fisher Deluxe Mixed Nuts.
- A digital camera or card reader to look at your game camera’s SD cards (if your game camera doesn’t have a picture viewer). I use a Nikon Coolpix AW130 5X Wide Optical Zoom camera.
- Seat cushion (attached to the outside of my backpack with a bungee cord), such as the Allen Vanish Seat Cushion (foam hunting chair pad). These can easily extend your blind hunts by an hour or longer and make such hunts much more tolerable.
- Extra ammo. You just never know when you’ll run into a herd of 30 or so hogs and wish that you had it.