Runnin & Gunnin & just attempting to keep my vest/set up light

[kevin2]

Regardless of how I'm hunting, be it in a blind OR on the move, I'm really putting in an effort to keep things, all things, light/er!

Of course, bringing fewer items is always the fastest & cheapest way to lighten up the weight, but getting lighter gear & modifying gear is another. Whenever I buy a new peice of equipment that I'm going to lug in, I try to consider the weight of it before I purchase.

Here are a few things I did to lighten up my deer hunting vests & now my Turkey Vest...

1. Got a monocular to replace my 7x35 Nikon actions Binoculars, 25oz vs 9.7oz. Saved 15.3oz

2. Updated my GPS unit from a Etrex 5.6oz to Garmin Foretrex® 401 & NOT using the wrist band (1.1oz)
and I'm down to an even 2oz.                                                                         Saved 3.6oz

3. Run and Gun pop up VS full size pop up for gun OR Bow  24lbs VS. 14lbs         Saved 10lbs!!!

4. Dumped my old "compact" flashlight for a headlamp                                     Saved 8oz

5. Dumped my multitool for a smaller Multitool!                                               Saved 1.6oz

6. Bought the lightest turkey vest I could find THAT was comfy                        Saved 10.2oz

7. Attempting to only have one of each call-pot-box-locators (proving hard!)      Saved ??

8. Countless items I no longer carry in my vest                                               Saved lbs??

9. Got 5 strikers now-only taking 3-maybe even 2                                           Saved 2oz

10. taking my oldschool walmart special cell phone VS the monster smartphone    Saved 2oz

11. Returned larger decoys for much smaller-2 inflates & 1 Funky Turkey      Saved 1lb 11.2oz

12. Bought a new camo outfit, super lightweight VS. old bow hunting camo       Saved 2lbs 2.5oz

13. Rain gear upgrade last season Camo                                                      Saved 1lb 6oz

            That is 17.9lbs if I'm lugging the blind & still 7.9lbs less with just modified gear.



These are some of the larger items I've modified OR changed out in the last couple years. It is a huge difference. At 49, I'm in pretty good shape, but those lbs will really make a difference in comfort & fatigue at days end.

I'd love to hear how some of you save on weight, especially if it is free. For example, I was reading on how to keep box calls quit, and several suggestions came up. The one I went with was a vegetable rubber band (thing you find around broccoli at the market, WHICH I happen to keep in the junk draw at home!). It worked great & clearly was free & much lighter than the cool contraption Primos sells!

[catman529]

Dang you carry a lot of gear! This past weekend I carried...

-Point and shoot camera case and cheap $10 binocs around neck
-cheap camo'd-up tripod with camera mounted on it, in left hand
-loaded 12 gauge, in right hand
-camo hand warmer/fanny pack containing head nets, gloves, TP, car keys
-iphone (use for GPS too) in left pocket
-one tube call and one mouth call in right shirt pocket (lost the tube call now using lanyard in future)
-wallet in left shirt pocket
-knife on belt
-a dead gobbler over shoulders (on the way back from each trip)

sometimes I pack more, but I prefer light. If the birds aren't working in the early morning then I will run all over the place trying to find a bird

[land cruiser]

What kind of s blind are you using?

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

You carry a lot of gear:

The contents of my vest include:

4 pot calls stored in Avery pot call holders

3 strikers

1 Albert Paul pocket box call stored in an Avery box call holder

1 haint gobble call

1 crow call

1 turkey wing

1 pair of pruning shears

Facemask/gloves/ 4 shells/toilet paper

Heck, even looking at this list I feel like I should reduce my baggage but my even with all of this, my vest is still very light.

[WNM]

One pot call and striker in my front shirt pocket, facemask and gloves on or in my pants pocket, maybe a mouth call in my cheek, and gun with 4 shells over my shoulder.

[BrowningGuy88]

One pot call and striker in my front shirt pocket, facemask and gloves on or in my pants pocket, maybe a mouth call in my cheek, and gun with 4 shells over my shoulder.

I have gotten it done many mornings like this!

[howl]

No point in rain gear if I was carrying all that. I'd be drenched in sweat. That's the usual thing with rain gear. Unless its really cold, you're got the option of being wet from the inside or the outside, but you're wet either way.

You really don't need decoys.

You really don't need a blind. Sit in the shade and don't move. With practice you should be able to remain motionless for up to an hour and a half.

I always carry a compass. If I'm heading way back into a large area I'll take a partial map. To this I will add extra water, a space blanket, a lighter and a waist pack to carry it if I'm headed into a large roadless area for a full day hunt. Otherwise its just a compass a bottle of water.

Why a monocular?

I hunt pressured public land. Locator calls are about useless.

A tube call, suction yelper, two mouth calls and two pot calls with a couple strikers covers it for me. Later in the season I only carry one pot call and one striker. Box calls are next to useless where I hunt. If you dig box calls, switch to scratch boxes. You can get an equivalent to even a boat paddle in a much smaller package with a scratch box.

I generally carry everything in a call organizer hung from a binocular bra/buddy thing. A seat cushion is clipped to my belt.

[kevin2]

We bow hunt, so the blind is not a must, but pretty helpful on the ground. Was considering one of those Mad Max Blinds I saw on the King of the Spring Turkey hunting contest, can't weigh much & might be able to use it to conceal the pulling of the bow. Wouldn't bother with it when using the shotguns. Having one kid that insists on using her bow to turkey hunt HAS COMPLICATED things!

My son shoots the shot gun, so we'll be doing it without the blind during his season.

A few guys think I got a lot, here the list, seems pretty scant when weighed in I think...

In my Vest

long box
1 pot 2-3 strikers
2 locators
Miniture multitool 1.9oz WHICH includes a saw!
Miniture cell
1 OR 2 inflateable hens-1 mini jake
1 monocular-half size!
1 miniture gps
2-3 diaphragms
tp
1 miniture headlamp


I'll be wearing either my lightweight camo outfit OR the camo raingear, so don't count that as in the vest!

[kevin2]

When I'm on the move hunting, I carry a binocular to scan. I hate the weight, but I don't like being busted by deer. So, I opted to downsize & increase my power by 1x by going with the monocular. Read some good reviews on it. We'll see how it plays out. If I find I don't use it while turkey hunting, I'll drop it fast. Otherwise, it is compact & weighs half of the other contraption & I know I'll carry it on the stalk for deer OR elk this season.

Decoys? I have no idea what I will OR won't need, as it is my first season Turkey hunting. I will be hunting open crop fields opening day with my daughter (private land), so it seemed reasonable to have a decoy from what I read on the threads here. We shall see how that plays out as well. I'm thinking if we hunt the timber & in a different part of the state with my son WHO has a tag for the late season, we may very well go without decoys. As I've read that many guys don't use them then. Shall see!

No point in rain gear if I was carrying all that. I'd be drenched in sweat. That's the usual thing with rain gear. Unless its really cold, you're got the option of being wet from the inside or the outside, but you're wet either way.

You really don't need decoys.

You really don't need a blind. Sit in the shade and don't move. With practice you should be able to remain motionless for up to an hour and a half.

I always carry a compass. If I'm heading way back into a large area I'll take a partial map. To this I will add extra water, a space blanket, a lighter and a waist pack to carry it if I'm headed into a large roadless area for a full day hunt. Otherwise its just a compass a bottle of water.

Why a monocular?

I hunt pressured public land. Locator calls are about useless.

A tube call, suction yelper, two mouth calls and two pot calls with a couple strikers covers it for me. Later in the season I only carry one pot call and one striker. Box calls are next to useless where I hunt. If you dig box calls, switch to scratch boxes. You can get an equivalent to even a boat paddle in a much smaller package with a scratch box.

I generally carry everything in a call organizer hung from a binocular bra/buddy thing. A seat cushion is clipped to my belt.