Proven Alaska Hunting Gear List, Pack Dump, and How To Pack for Airline Travel

Today I'm going to go over all my Alaska

hunting

gear

. I've just returned home after two months in the bush, so I'm going to review this, which will be quite comprehensive. I may be missing a few things, but I'm going to review everything I wear and how I

pack

for

airline

travel

, so what I'm un

pack

ing here lasts me two to three months, so if you're going to do a DIY search or a guided search, this is It will be enough to last you, you know, 10 days or two weeks, so I will try to talk a little about each element.

I don't want to go into too much detail, but I'll try to give you a rough idea. Overview of what I have found works for me over the last 23 years of guiding in Alaska. The first thing I'm going to start with is what I didn't bring with me this year and what I didn't need is hip-high boots. These are just standard lacrosse hip boots, everyone is probably pretty familiar with them. If you're going elk

hunting

, caribou hunting, if you're working on and off a boat, you're probably going to want those, maybe some breathable waders or a chest. waders it all depends on where you are hunting, another thing that is very useful, they are called neo air or wiggy or excuse me, sourdough slippers, they sell them at Barney Sports Chalet in Anchorage, they are pretty durable nylon with some grip on the bottom, they actually slide.

They go over your hunting boots so you can carry them with you, but if you need to be in them for long periods of time, they work great, so if you're getting in and out of float planes and that's it, you'll need them. because these are pretty slippery, they weigh about two pounds, the hip boots probably weigh about four or five hip boots, they're not really that foldable, these are foldable, in a moment I'll show you some waders that are ultralight . version which is all I brought with me this year because it was all I needed one thing I left that I have here at home but I didn't pack it because I threw it away when I was done with the end of the season is a bone saw what I use is just a small carpenter's saw.

It's, I don't know, 12 15 dollars. Normally I'll take one or two seasons out of them. I think they're a lot more versatile than let's say a Wyoming saw is a lot stronger and easier to use than one of those open hand saws and you know they're real they're very thin obviously I'll usually take rubber or excess. They take weight off them, so they are very light, but they are durable and will last a long time. Definitely the best thing I've used over the last 10 years is basically everything I've used when I'm sheep hunting. I actually just bring a hacksaw blade and put a little piece of tape on the end and work it backwards and that's all I use to cut out a sheep skull, which works pretty well.

I usually only get one sheep skull per sheet or Per sheet, what I do when I pack is on the

airline

s, they will allow you 250 pound bags. Well, actually, these days you have to pay for bags every which way, but I can get everything I need in two £50s. bags and a carry-on so with my gun holster I take out all the padding and then I stuff all my clothes around my rifle and my pistol so one thing to start with here's some padded pants with a zipper on all sides. which basically, in my opinion, are an essential item in Alaska.

You can reach the knob of the glass and then put them on the glass all day. You can put rain

gear

on them, but when you find the animal you want to chase. Zip them down on each side, throw them in your backpack and you're done, these are a must, hands down, heavy duty glass gloves, uh, these are from kuyu, these are good long gauntlets or wrists, they're very important if you're going in . Really cold weather will probably do you better with gloves. Some of those expedition style gloves are great, but they definitely have long wrists.

This is a hat. In fact, a hunter gave it to me here this fall. He was looking at it and everything. I had just my little hat and he gave it to me, boy this sucker is nice and warm, self explanatory, there are a couple of alligators that I think are a must, these are katana alligators from uh, from kuyu, probably the alligators from Yukon, I prefer these are. a little short for me, but they work well, everything that is in contact with my skin is wool, wool t-shirt, this is actually, this is a synthetic underwear, short and long, it basically goes just below the knees, This is all I use for all the sheep, grizzly bear, caribou, uh.

I shot a season of wolves and elk, so these zippers go up and down the sides again. I really like them because they are easy to put on and take off. You don't have to take off your ammunition boots. I won't talk too much about that. I mean, obviously, my bear-stopping rifles. I'm not a fan of burger bullets. I just had a pretty poor experience with them. Many types are much more. They are becoming very popular. I know they are very accurate. For the bears. I like Barnes Triple Shock, a bunch of accubond bullets are good, uh, Nosler partition bullets are good, I won't go into that too much here, but roughly a box of 20 animal rounds, everything you're going to need, I have e Here gun ammo, trekking poles, I consider them essential unless you are in a brushy area and do very little walking, just hunting in and out of a boat, you may not need them.

I broke one here and had to make a little bush. salvage repair, but I like aluminum better than carbon. I just had a guy, two guys break carbon poles this year, they just tend to break a lot easier, obviously you can still break and bend aluminum but they are generally more recoverable if anything. goes bad with those so I have a Ruger 375 because I lost my Winchester 375 and won in a river crossing last year. It's a long story, but I won't go into it now, but I'll just pack it up. my rifle is basically like this, you put the action in a sock, my scope, I have detachable scope mounts, but yeah, you can put it right in between all your clothes and I put my scope, I have my scope and this sock, this set.

Socks here as far as socks go, I think I brought like six pairs, I didn't even wear them all, although I was able to wash them mid-season, but I like wools, at least wool blends, I also like wool linings. socks, especially for sheep. I hunt when I do a lot of hiking they seem to work pretty well for me Avalon knives those are very popular nowadays a must have all I use is just this victoria not with a homemade one just with a cardboard sheath you can see it's nice and clean , this is what I use, it's a boning saw, it's a little stiffer than a filleting knife, but for the skin and bear killing mousse, if I'm hunting sheep, all I bring with me is this and then I have a leatherworker's multi-tool right here, in fact, if you're going on a guided hunt, all I would probably bring is a multi-tool, your guide will have the knives, everything he needs, a carbide sharpener, and I should Buy a new one. that thing is worn out uh here's my leather man like I said if you go on a guided hunt you probably won't need anything more than that track 44 I have a pistol 44 it's a smith and wesson scandium titanium I like it, nice and light.

Nowadays, more guys are going to 10 millimeters again. If you're going on a guided hunt, you'll probably just bring your rifle, assuming you're a rifle hunter. If you're a bowhunter, you probably bring a gun, um, but not me. I don't think you need both, I bring both because when I'm sheep hunting I don't carry a rifle or if I'm elk hunting and we kill I'll bring the gun with me if we're packing so I'll bring a pair of wool underwear with me when I

travel

so when trip I'll wear an outfit maybe like this, but something I could also use for hunting in case one of my suitcases gets lost. uh for a couple of days so I'll wear one pair of underwear obviously and then I'll bring two more and that will last me two months if I have to, but I can usually wash them uh in between that will be enough for a month, I think even most of Hunters might change their underwear once during a hunt, you know, if you get really wet or whatever, but you usually need a lot less than you think because it stinks, no matter what, the most important thing is to have dry clothes. , so I'll bring two wool t-shirts and then maybe one or two long-sleeved wool shirts.

Here is just a long fleece hoodie. Here's a slightly thicker fleece hoodie. which I wear all the time I like this it's kind of durable the wool tends to snag a little bit more where this is a little bit harder so I wear it quite a bit here's one of my long sleeves um yeah, but this is, I think there's wool, this could be a little bit of this could be some polyester here, but either way I like long sleeve shirts, especially when it's hot and sunny, it has merino wool, light guinea pig new yarn, navy wool when it's very sunny, in I actually prefer having just that long sleeve shirt to protect me a little bit from the sun, so everything else except the pants that I wear on the plane, I'll just bring two other pairs of pants, one light and one heavy, this is my light pants.

I think this is the katana. This is a foot care kit that I didn't use, but it's helpful to have another item that I think is a must-have. This camp chair works, it's obviously good for stuffing your gun case, so just a camp chair. If you're going to be sitting and looking at glass a lot, this is a pretty valuable saving on the back, a really useful piece of equipment and this case itself is just an aluminum job. I don't even know if it has a brand. I've had it for many years, it seems to be holding up pretty well, but Pelican, uh, there are a lot of good cases out there, I don't need to go too deep into that, I guess we'll go with my backpack next, this is the uh kuyu pro 7,800 like the big package you know to guide, you should have it if you're going to do a guided hunt, any type of guided hunt, I would say go with at least 45 cubic inches, probably 5,000 is more like It's because you know how to handle the volume and it is better to have it a little too big.

You're not adding as much weight if you're going to walk up to a glass doorknob and then sit all day. You're going to need a lot of clothes so you'll fill that backpack faster than you think so water bottle I don't use the filter water bottles ken if you want most of the country I'm in I'm always trying Finding springs like we're sheep hunting, we drink all that water and even if I'm hunting elk or in places where giardia is more prevalent, I can usually find springs, but we will have filters in our water treatment kits available. and then the filter water bottles, you just have a built in filter, it just doesn't carry as much water and it's just a little bit of extra weight, so here I have a little dry bag, I don't know what this is. 13 liters I guess this is a little small.

Basically I would pack most of your gear or have 20-30 liter dry bags available to pack your gear, especially if you're going in and out of super pups, that's helpful because then you can break it down and then the pilot can store things a lot more easily. I'm just a cheap, broke guide, so I use zipper closures and trash bags for a lot of my stuff. I call this my bag of possibilities, just weird stuff, lens cleaners. duct tape extra batteries earplugs a pen b

list

er kit some anti-inflammatory medication some sunscreen tape measure some extra buckles for my backpack things like that baseball cap I should probably put on my head now hide my mop um bug no, just A little something here, that's all I bring and it won't last several seasons.

I like some energy drinks. Emergencies as an athlete in nature. Mountain office. There are all kinds of things out there. A big thing is just electrolytes. You know, have electrolytes on hand. It's pretty critical, particularly if you're doing a lot of hiking, you might find muscles you've never worked before, so I bring a bunch of them and maybe bring some snacks with you if there's some kind of energy bar or snacks. that you like a lot you're going on a guided hunt they should give you food but I would bring some of what you like and what you're used to if you like good coffee you know bring some coffee with you but I would keep it down probably less than five pounds.

Sleeping bag. I'd get a bag of stuff. A good one to protect him. Obviously a trick I've found over the years that works well for me. I don't have it here now. bag because when I got home I brought some elk meat and some sheep meat and I actually froze it by putting it in my sleeping bag I traveled for a day and a half, almost two days before I got home and that meat was still partially frozen here, but when I go up I'll put my sleeping mat on this I'll put my head lamp my toothbrush and a book all in this case and that's useful because I never know where I'm goingfinishing at night everything I need at night and to go to bed and sleep is in a stuff sack that has been very useful to me over the years, so it's something I highly recommend.

This is just a lightweight and quite useful fleece jacket. I actually travel with this. I wore it during a crocodile collar crocodile merino wool collar very thin lightweight must have for sure here's my rain jacket that katana used this year I really like it uh there's a pretty heavy one uh what do we have here? Professional super down jacket basically windproof. I keep it there. my backpack at all times, this is kind of a jacket that I wear once I get to wherever I'm sitting and for a while occasionally this is my last layer that I put on.

Things have come down to nothing. I have to have something like this. This is a soft jacket to be honest. I don't use this many times. I use it more at camp again. A more durable one. layer when I'm doing things at base camp or, do you know where these puffy layers are? I use them almost exclusively for my outer layers when I'm hunting but they have a tendency to snag and tear very easily so a soft layer is quite useful but I don't use it much I'll bring two pairs of hunting boots with me here's a pair of crunchy ones and I always fill them with stuff um so I would also bring my own coffee mug uh that's pretty handy What I would recommend is having one with a wide bottom because you always put it on uneven ground and that's pretty good, it keeps it stable.

I have a couple of lighters here. Some leftover stuff from wild jocks. I would recommend having some. good templates, that's a mistake I made over the years. I used to wear extra tufts all the time without arch support and over time that wore down the arches in my feet from packing heavy loads for so long. So I'm a big believer in arch supports these days, so I'd probably find something other than the factory arch support. We will return to this. Try to stick with the boots now, so these are the crispy Hunter boots that I liked um crispy also makes a guide no, these are yeah, these are the guide boots.

I like them. They also make the Hunter boot, which I really like. Another bottle of water. I just got a new one here. I got a predator call. A lightweight pair. of gloves some emergency packs left over here are my rain pants again the reno katana very good for the weight unless we are done with the crusty boots the other pair of boots that I bought or brought with me is uh lathrop and the soles the They got it in a trash bag, obviously these were fine. I had very good luck with them. They come with a Lathrop and Sons deal.

This is a custom template. You can buy just the boots if you want too, but I liked these, the only thing I would change about them, I would probably wear some of the higher top, that's just me. I know a lot of guys like the shorter ones to save some weight, have an extra pair of socks, but these boots worked well for me and I would even bring If you are a guided hunter, bring an extra trash bag with your packer bag, just stick it in there, weigh it, nothing works like a makeshift dry bag, you can put meat in it, it has all kinds of uses so I'd probably bring two. heavy-duty garbage bags, like large, commercial or contractor grade trash bags with you or at the very least like a couple of 30 gallon compactor bags on hand so here I have now are some stakes of carp here for my fly, but this This is my fly here.

This is a 10 foot tarp, so it basically just has guy lines on the corners and sides. If you've seen any of my videos, you'll see that I sit under these things all the time. the DIY hunter has to have one of these, they are handy to have in your backpack, you set it up as shelter for a glass under you, maybe cover your meat with it, you get an animal that weighs, I don't know, two pounds, maybe and even if I go on a guided hunt. I really wouldn't hesitate to bring this if your guide doesn't have one.

I know that many guides are tougher than me. They just sit with that stuff all day. I've been using a tarp for basically as long as I've been guiding and I can't imagine hunting without it, so I would say this is a must have item, maybe check with the guide you're going with to see if they have one, but yeah, that thing goes its weight in gold. This is an outside search tipi. It is for six people. I use it as my spiked shelter when I'm sheep hunting. It's about seven feet tall at the center spread out, oh my god no.

I don't know, 10 feet, probably 10, 12 feet in a circle, three guys can easily fit on your team. I don't know what six and seven pounds weigh, but I love this. This worked great for me, but the Hilleberg tents are good. um coo utens been hearing very good things about them now I think they are second or third generation now uh there are a lot of good tents out there I always keep my first aid my guide license hunting license you know, basically my first aid The kit that I didn't even have, I haven't even had band aids for years, it consists of mole skin and stuff like silicone, like b

list

er pads, batteries, a couple extra scalpel blades, neosporin and honestly the biggest thing I use if it's . anything important will be sports tape, you know, to wrap something, a few pills of various types, I have some heavy duty antibiotics that I bring with me in case I get a boil again here if you're going to have a guided hunt probably not You'll need MSR to make a reactor stove which works quite well and I have another pair of socks stuffed in here to more or less keep it from making noise.

And by the way, I really like this package. See, uh, I've used Barney backpacks for many years, they're bombproof, they're kind of a standard Alaska backpack. I like that frame for carrying heavy loads, particularly external loads, antlers and meat, if you're hunting caribou or elk. The frame of the backpack is a very useful thing so you know that if you know you're going to be packing a lot, they are very nice, but I really like this backpack. I ran on a rock glacier for about three or four years. I like it. very lightweight, probably the biggest advantage I've seen over the kuyu pack for me as a guide, easier access external pockets, which I like, yes it seems to work well for me, I can access things quicker, that's the my wife's dog. trying not to claim him, he is actually barking at my blueway compactor bag.

He had a lab, he's not a really manly pet, but he had a lab, but he passed away this fall or this summer. He was 14 years old. a good old dog, but anyway, here's just a gun carrier for this pack, here's the Wiggies wellies I was telling you about, they're just nylon boots, they're basically worn like hip boots, they're essentially good for crossing streams. It'll probably only last four, five, maybe a dozen stream crossings and then you'll start putting holes in them so you can't use them for an extended period of time, but let's say you have a stream you need to cross and then you go up into the mountains. .

This is what you need. They are quite slippery. This is a greater dromedary. It has capacity for two liters of water. It is a kind of additional water jug ​​that does not take up much space. I always carry a pair of zip socks with me every day which is always handy if you get your boots wet once a year, twice a year I might wear them and it's really nice to have my other pair of underwear like that . I don't know what Kuyu calls these talus hybrids I really like these pans they're a little heavy so I don't know I'll literally spend the entire month of August and sheep season wearing that pair of pants that uh that katana pants, but in the last season I really like these bears that hunt moose when it's a little colder and these knee pads, I really like them, they don't seem to bother me much.

I have worn other pants that have the knee pads inserted, I never really like them, but I really like these pants. Here's another wool t-shirt, so you only need three wool t-shirts and that's it for the backpack. One thing you should definitely have is a good system for hanging your rifle, you should be used to that, when you go out hunting there are a few of them out there, but just having used it and familiarized yourself with it before going out hunting you would be surprised how many times. how many hunters come to hunt and then I have to help them put that in their backpack and it takes a few days to figure it out and get used to it so this is my carry on, tip, money, tip for your guide, well it's always good. uh, a little more bug dope, I guess hand sanitizer they gave me at the airport, the whole pandemic thing there from 2020.

I got a little more money for tips, yeah, 10 20, good advice for a guide In case you're wondering, it's always appreciated. uh, always book. I carry a copy of a new will with me a toothbrush and things I normally have in my backpack. I do not have it here. I was just in a hurry to pack up to leave, bought a prescription bar, a couple of ibuprofen hydrate and got my head back together. net bug net is absolutely essential, I'm sure I'm not missing the key for the gun box locks here. You have to have a lockable gun case which everyone can probably guess, but other than that, flying to the US with firearms.

It's very, very simple, I bring a pillow with me, I'm getting old, this is a useful thing, there is practically nothing nice on the plane and I like, you know, having it in my base camp, wherever the plane is. Lands, I don't carry it with me when I'm hunting sheep or anything else. Here is a lightweight vest. I'm a big vest guy. I really like it, it keeps the core warm without extra bulk in the arms, that's quite slippery. video camera that I have that I'm working on right now, when you're watching this, I'll probably have it available for you to watch right now, I'm going to do, uh, I don't know, probably a four or five part series on how I videotape all my own hunts.

This is one of the most important things here is to just have a little video camera that you can attach to your belt. I'll go more into that in your video. hunting series, but I recommend you bring a video camera here. I have my camera in this little bag here on the stone glacier. Keep it on the belt of my backpack in general so you can see what I have. All my small, heavy, expensive electronics in my carry-on and I just threw my sleeping pad in there for this one, I usually pack them in my backpack but like I said, I brought some meat home so I needed bring a little extra stuff. my carry-on, so my chargers, chargers for my air-to-ground radio, my video camera, my camera within reach, a pretty useful tool for most hunters to already bring, um, I don't know how you remember how They call them but they are some heavy duty gloves, like housework gloves which are pretty nice to have or like a thin or medium weight leather glove, they are pretty useful but other than that the best gloves I found are just a few lightweight cotton gloves purchased from a farm. supply, you can buy 10 of them for about 10 dollars and I'll bring a couple of those, hey scout, get out of here, binoculars, binocular case, I have a pair of swarovskis with a rangefinder, I really like them, they have extra weight, sure, But I videotape my hunts.

Another thing that's very helpful is I don't want to try to use a video camera, binoculars and possibly a telescope and then a rangefinder. It is very useful for me to have the built-in rangefinder. Here is one of the dry bags. I was talking about approximately 30 liters, which is usually the perfect size. I bring a lot of batteries with me. I don't carry the recharge cells, which I think probably work just fine. Most hunters. Most other guides use them. I only bring many. of gopro batteries, camera batteries and camcorder batteries with me and then usually every month or so I can get to a generator and charge them all again.

I definitely wouldn't bring a solar charger. Many hunters bring them many guides. I've seen them, try them and they seem to be more trouble than they're worth. Here's my gopro. I use a head mount quite a bit, you know, because you can still use the camera without the head mount again. I will get much more. Go deeper into how I video my hunts and my series of outdoor radio shoots. It is very useful to have them again. You probably want it. You won't need this if you're going on a guided hunt, but if you're on a DIY hunt, this.

It can be a pretty nifty device, but it's probably not necessary assuming you have it within reach, so these are the type of gloves I prefer, only these thin, light gloves have little grip tabs, but bring two or three pairs Of these, they tear easily, but they are cheap, you can just throw them away, so a super light tripod is the way to go, but you need something thathold your telescope, so depending on how heavy your observer is but also how windy it is wherever you are. When I'm hunting on the Alaska Peninsula I use this Bogan Manfrotto tripod which is much heavier than this one but works well in elk country where I hunt most of the time and works great in cheap country it's lightweight , it's a velbon ultramax, I guess I have a swarovski.

Spotter I have an HD because I'm shooting through it quite a bit. I really like the angled eyepiece. It takes a little getting used to, but I would never look at it straight again and lastly, I have a dirty eyepiece that still works. Although a headlamp is a must, it is much preferable to a flashlight, so definitely bring headlamp batteries and a watch. If there's one thing I forget almost every year, I have about five. I never use them at home, but it works for me. to Alaska and I realized, oh, I forgot to look, so it's important.

Most people or many people don't use them very often these days with our phones, but it's pretty handy to have a watch in the field, so again, this is pretty cool. In short, that's all I brought with me, so I have a list of gear lessons on my website www.billymolesadventures.com. You'll find it all listed there. I will have some brands of some of the models. and the brands that I use, um, but yeah, there are tons of good hunting brands and tons of great gear out there. These are just things I found that work for me, you get good things that you don't need a lot of, that's the key and other things will work too.

You have a wool sweatshirt. I don't care if it's gray or brown or whatever, as long as it's not pink or bright orange, it will probably work. Well yeah, I'm very lucky to be able to test some gear for a few companies here, so most of the camo is fine as far as I'm concerned, I'd probably wear more solid clothing if it were just me personally, but nothing. It's wrong with camouflage, but don't think everything has to be camouflage. The reason I mention that. I had a hunter this year. He had black rain gear that was really good and I was worried because, you know, it wasn't camouflage.

I said no, just bring him, don't worry about it, but yeah, the bottom line is he's good, get good equipment and get the best you can afford. That, like that term-a-rest air mattress, it costs 170 dollars, there are many different ones now, but nice thick air mattress get something like that, it's worth the extra money you pay for it you get good rain gear no skimp on your rain gear your optics your boots those are probably the biggest ones there and don't go buying a new rifle for a hunt bring a rifle that you are familiar with and that you know how to shoot and that you aren't afraid to shoot.

There's probably a lot of things I could go off on a tangent about, but that's probably just... I guess I'll leave it at that, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. You know, obviously, that's going to help me help you, so I appreciate you seeing me. I hope it was informative. I hope you got something out of this. good luck hunting