We are smack dab in the middle of spring bear season right now! I’ve been out a ton having a blast chasing these shadow walkers around some pretty breathtaking country. While I love spring hunting seasons, the time between now and August is essentially our planning and prepping time for fall hunting seasons. So, having all of our ducks in a row in terms of gear is high on the list of importance. A key kit in everyone’s backpack is a good kill kit. The bag of tricks that’s going to allow one to process their harvest right out in the field and get to back to the vehicle. Here, I’m going to show you what I’m carrying in my kill kit for the 2021 hunting season.
I’m a big fan of game bags. They allow one to keep their meat clean in the field, keep flies off, as well as ease the process of hanging the meat if you must. I personally like a reusable game bag. My go to for the last few years has been the High Country Bags from Argali. They are lightweight, durable, and have a few features that makes them stick out to me over others. The first being the reflective logo on the side. It allows one to find their hanging game bags full of meat much easier in the dark. That logo reflects in a headlamp beautifully.
The next is the draw cord. It’s legit paracord that can serve as a multi purpose item. One could repair a drop-away limb driven arrow rest with it, or even use it to replace boot laces in the field. Plus, the stuff is super strong, so I never have to worry about it breaking while meat is hanging in a tree.
Every kill kit needs a quality knife to slice and dice your way through a critter in the field. My knife of choice is the Argali Serac Knife. I’ve been super impressed with this bad boy over the last few months and it’s been a pleasure using it. The deeper bellied blade is fantastic for skinning and the handle feels great while not giving up it’s tackiness when wet. I also really dig that they cut out a ferro rod striker on the spine of the blade. Call me old school, but I start fires in the field with a flint and steel, so the ferro rod striker is much appreciated. And because I do so much backpack hunting, weight is always a concern for me. The Serac is of no concern in that department, because it weighs a mere 2.1 oz. A big knife in a lightweight package.
Yeah, you read that right. A belt and a knife sharpener in one. Argali recently announced their Kodiak Belt to the world not too long ago. I’ve had the pleasure of testing this thing out over the last few months, and I’ve got to admit, I’m pretty dang excited about this. It’s only so often when a company truly pushes the boundaries of innovation and Argali did that with the Kodiak.
The Kodiak is a fully functional belt and knife sharpener. In fact it actually has 3 ways of sharpening a knife along with a way to sharpen fish hooks. The top of the belt buckle is equipped with a carbide rod for fine tune adjustments on a blade. On the backside of the buckle you’ll find an inlayed piece of diamond grit(800 grit) for heavier sharpening jobs. And then on the actual belt itself there is a leather strop for some real fine tune sharpening and a knife that will shave the hair right off of your arm. With the ability to fully sharpen a knife, there is a small slot in the diamond grit specifically designed for sharpening fishing hooks. So, whether it’s hunting or fishing, the Kodiak is ready for adventure.
At the time of writing this, the Kodiak is actually available for pre-order and won’t be out officially until Fall of 2021. You can pre-order the Argali Kodiak Belt HERE.
A few other small items that I carry in my kill kit are rubber gloves, extra paracord, and flagging tape. The rubber gloves are for faster clean up after a harvest. Some folks give me grief about them, but I truly think they make me more efficient in the field when working on an animal. I’ll carry the extra paracord just in case I find myself hunting alone and need a little help with positioning an animal for skinning. One could use paracord to tie a leg to a tree, which is essentially the paracord being the hunting buddy you’d ask to “hold this for a second.” And finally flagging tape. When blood trailing, especially a tough trail, I really enjoy being able to physically see the trail marked with tape, past small waypoints on my phone. It make it easier for me to see the path of travel the animal took. If you do use the flagging tape, be sure to take it down afterwards, so there isn’t blowing orange flags tied throughout the forest. Leave no trace.
After going through all of that, I am so pumped for the coming fall hunting seasons! I hope you’ve all draw the tags you were after and have some killer adventures planned. With any luck, you’ll be getting to put these kill kits to use and bring home some of that oh so precious wild game meat we all love. Good luck out there this year!
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