what useful gadgets do you put in the vest?

[Tailwalk]

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Man some of you guys must hike a good haul with all these dooms day kits you carry lol!


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[fallhnt]

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TP and Wet Wipes

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[Strutr]

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Zip ties for attaching your harvest tag.  I bought a new turkey vest this year and I forgot to stock it with a few zip ties.  The lanyard on my compass got pressed into service twice to tag my two gobblers.  Still better than chopping  off pieces of the strings from my boots.

[bobk]

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With 48 seasons  mainly hunting in the mountains this works for me.  TP,wet wipes, gps, compass, para cord, partially serrated knife,  lighter, fire starters, extra batteries for gps, phone and red dot, extra water, large garbage bag, extra face mask and gloves, and sawyer water filter.

[Greg Massey]

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A lot of the stuff mention and the first production turkey call i ever bought goes on all my hunts....

[Forked lighting]

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A pair of Florian racket cutters ,light an well made

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[TRG3]

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I always have a good supply of cough drops along with a pad of paper and a pen to jot down the things that need attention once I get back home or before the upcoming next hunting season. I always carry two flashlights since one will go out at an inconvenient time. My slate and box calls are slipped into old socks for protection. A black plastic bag goes down before I set my ground lounger in place. This keeps my butt dry. Items that might get lost once I'm in my ground lounger have a small strip of orange tape on them. Never knowing the concentration of buffalo gnats or mosquitoes in the area I'm planning to hunt, I carry a head net. I also carry two sets of gloves, a mesh pair with cloth palms for warm weather and a cotton pair for cool mornings. While I'd love to have a cup of coffee before and during the hunt, from past experience I've learned that I'll need to pee at the most inconvenient time if I so indulge.

[Rzrbac]

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I always pack a small, cheap shooting stick. Folds down small and I pretty much just hold on to the stick and shoot my shotgun one handed. I’ve got a bad arm so it makes it pretty convenient keeping my gun up while waiting on the gobbler to step into an opening.

[FullChoke]

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I carry a small flask of bourbon in case of snakebite. I also carry a small snake.

[Tomcat655]

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coffee.... Don't go into the woods without it

Dawn cracking, birds gobbling, waiting for fly down... that's the best cup of joe a guy can have

Amen

[wade]

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I carry a small flask of bourbon in case of snakebite. I also carry a small snake.

That's so funny it made my eyes water.

[wade]

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Not in my vest but on my vest I've sewed buttons made from deer antler to each shoulder. Helps keep my shotgun sling in place while maneuvering through the woods.

[shaman]

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Stuff that goes with me that ain't directly related to the turkeys:

1) 2 compasses. One Lensatic and one pin-on as a backup.
2) A survival whistle-- If you get incapacitated, you can literally kill yourself yelling for help.  The 3-shot thing is a complete fantasy. A whistle is the easiest way for folks to find you.
3) I never go out without a cellphone and/or a walkie-talkie.  If I'm out alone, I want to be able to call for help.  The walkie-talkies go out with everyone at the farm.  Cellphone coverage is spotty at our place, but GMRS reception is solid.
4) Flashlight-- even if I don't need it.
5)  Matches in a waterproof case.
6)  A garbage bag.

I've only been semi-lost once turkey hunting.  I came out of the woods and couldn't find the truck.  It was my first time out at this place, and I missed the truck by 50 yards, but couldn't see it.  I decided to walk 30 minutes to the right along the fenceline and then double-back and go 1 hour to the left.  If I hadn't found anything, I'd go back to where I had come out of the woods and hunker down with a fire until found.  It started raining. I had a poncho.  After 45 minutes, following the plan, I found the truck and the rest of my hunting party.  It was enough, however, to show me how life can come at you fast.

Here are some thoughts:

Shamanic Guide to Survival (short form)

 . . .and this one on garbage bags:
Garbage Bags as a Survival Tool
 


Oh, and one other thing, only it's what I leave behind.  Before leaving for anything outdoors, even a 1 hour hike, I make sure someone knows where I'm going, and has a rough idea of when I'm getting back.  There is an agreed drop-dead time, where they'll know something is wrong, because I haven't checked back in, and they know who to call.  At Turkey Camp, I write it on a chalk board.  If I'm off somewhere where I can't tell anyone, I leave a note in a baggie on the windshield.

I've been afield, a lot of it alone, and survived to my 60th year. In that time, I've hiked out on my hand and knees, and backpacked out on one leg and a crutch.  I've come inches away from falling in a hidden sink hole and nearly walked off a cliff before sun-up.  I've come close to succumbing from both hypothermia, and heat exhaustion.  None of it was fun. Only some of it was avoidable. What got me out, most of the time, was being prepared to handle what I couldn't expect.

[tha bugman]

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wet wipes and GPS

[Cut N Run]

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Individually wrapped wet ones are handy and easy to share if needed.  I carry a few 2-3 foot sections of light wire rolled up in my vest pouch.  They're handy for tying brush out of the way or making cover stay where you want it.  Wire can also be used to secure a tag, fix a broken sling, or lace up a boot in a pinch.

Jim