Hello fellow ATSer's, just thought I'd share my first "survival" outing coming up here in the next week.
Been gathering backpacking supplies for some time now, as time & money permits. We go car camping pretty frequently in the summer, so I have some
camping gear, but not alot of stuff I could easily carry with me hiking, and definitely not alot of cold-weather gear.
Purpose of the trip is to take my son out for his first deer hunt. We had planned to go to a friend of mine's property about an hour or so from
here, but my sister got married about two months ago, and my new brother-in-law owns somewhere close to 12,000 acres of pasture/farmland/timber in NW
Kansas only about 200 miles away. Talk about awesome! Planning on a 2-day 1-night trip, just me and the boy.
So the plan is to show up, say howdy to my in-laws, throw on packs and just start walking. We'll spend the first day exploring, hopefully find some
deer trails and good area to hunt from and setup camp. Day two we'll setup a small blind somewhere and hopefully take a couple nice bucks!
Weather is supposed to be in the 30's during the day, 20's or maybe teens at night. Not supposed to be windy but this is NW Kansas we're talking
about so I expect at least a bit of a breeze.
Here's a list of (most) of what we'll be taking with us (haven't finalized a pack list yet)
Eureka
Apex 2XT tent
Kata
dyn Pocket water filter
Slumberjack Optimus sleeping bags
Standard 1qt GI canteens with cover, cup
Heinekin penny stove
Wind shield for stove
~8oz HEET (fuel for penny stove)
Small mess kit for cooking (pot, utencils, etc.)
Pocketknife
Larger fixed-blade knife (K-Bar)
Gerber multi-tool
Small first-aid kit
~50ft paracord
Couple small flashlights & spare batteries
Binoculars
Lighter
Firesteel & tinder
Toilet paper
Collapsible hunting blind (roll-up kind with stakes)
Chapstick
Small towel
Compass
Wearables:
Camo cover-alls for both of us, gloves, hat, boots, etc. Will probably throw in some rain gear as well. Some blaze orange vests so we stay legal.
For deer my son will be using his Stevens .30-06, I'll be bringing my Swiss K-31 carbine. Box of ammo (20rds) for each. And as always I will have
my carry gun (Springfield XD45c) and an extra mag.
For food I'll pack a couple MRE's and probably one or two of those Mountain House (or similar) dehydrated meals we can cook up on the stove. Plus
some "snack" stuff like peanuts, jerky, power bars, etc. With any luck we'll spot some rabbits while out there and maybe snack on one of them.
Yeah the deer rifles would be overkill for bunnies but I don't want to carry a third rifle.
Anyway, I'm pretty stoked for the trip! Like I said we camp frequently but this will be our first situation where we're really out there being
self-reliant, not within walking distance of my car or the campground trail shop. Comments & suggestions are welcome!
