The past few years I have spent a good portion of late August/early September chasing elk around with my bow. Along the way, I’ve made some incredible memories and harnessed a potent love for archery elk hunting. While that love has not faded, this year is going to be a little bit different for me. This year, I was fortunate enough to draw not one, but two early archery mule deer tags. One is in Utah and the other is in Colorado. A high country mule deer hunt is something I’ve wanted to do for quite a few years now, but never have because of elk season. I decided to finally pull the trigger and try to make it happen. Looks like it worked…..double! Both of these hunts will be backpack hunts lasting from 7-10 days each. As you can imagine, my head has been racing trying to figure out what I’ll be bringing with me gear wise and all. So, with this post, I wanted to lay out just that. What I will be packing with me along the way for the 17 in total days of backcountry hunting for velvet mule deer!

Backpack

• Exo Mountain Gear 4800

Shelter

• Nemo x First Lite Recurve 2P

Sleep System

• Quilt – Enlightened Equipment 20 degree Revelation
• Sleeping Pad – Thermarest NeoAir XLite
• Liner – Sea to Summit Reactive
• Pillow – Sea to Summit Aeros Pillow

Cooking Kit

• Stove – Optimus Crux Lite
• Cup – GSI Halulite Minimalist
• Fuel – 1 Small Fuel Canister
• Spoon – Toaks Titanium Long Spoon

Hydration System

• Pump – Katadyn Hiker Pro
• Bladder – Platypus Big Zip 3L
• Other – (1) 32 oz Nalgene Bottle

Trekking Poles

• Black Diamond Carbon FLZ

Lights

• Headlamp – Black Diamond Spot(with extra set of AAA batteries)
• Lantern for Tent – Black Diamond

First Aid/Survival

• First Aid Kit – 1P Ultralight Adventure Medical Kit(I’ll add in extra Ibuprofen, Tums, and whatever else I think I might need for the trip.
• Survival Kit – Adventure Medical/homemade(I’ll throw in my flint and steel as well, along with a compass)

Navigation

• Map – Topographic Map
• GPS/Communication – Garmin inReach Explorer+
• Watch – Garmin Fenix 5x Plus

Kill Kit for Mule Deer Hunt

• Knife – Argali Carbon Knife
• Game Bags – Argali High Country
• Flagging Tape
• Paracord
• Rubber Gloves
• Work Sharp Pocket Knife Sharpener

Optics for Mule Deer Hunt

• Binoculars – Vortex Razor 10×42
• Spotting Scope – Vortex Razor 11x33x50
• Rangefinder – Vortex Ranger 1000
• Tripod – Slik Pro ii
• Bino Harness – FHF small bino harness
• PhoneSkope

Clothing

Base Layers

• First Lite Wick Hoodie
• First Lite Kiln Hoodie

Insulation

• First Lite Brooks Down Sweater

Pants

• First Lite Corrugate Guide Pant

Rain Gear

• First Lite Vapor Stormlight Jacket
• First Lite Boundary Stormtight Pant

Socks

• First Lite Mercury Crew(2 Pair)

Headwear

• Ball Cap

Boots

• Crispi Colorado

Camera Gear

• Camera – Sony a7rii
• Lens – 24-70mm Zeiss
• Camera Clip – Peak Designs

Miscellaneous

• Spare Release – TruFire Hardcore
• Allen Wrenches – Pine Ridge Archery
• Power Bank – Dark Energy Poseidon
• Food Hanging System – (1) 20L Sea to Summit Dry Bag, Carabiner, 30 ft. or so of Paracord.
• Face Paint

Ending Thoughts

So, there you have it! I’m super stoked about these hunts coming up and cannot wait to experience them for the first time. It will be slightly weird not chasing elk for the first time in 4 years, but I think all will be well. A different kind of adventure is on the horizon. One filled with steep and deep country, lush basins above timberline, and big velvet mule deer calling my name! With any luck, one of them will be coming home with me. The Fall seasons are about to kick into gear!

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Joshua Kirchner