Wear it in?

[Allegheny Tom]

Well, when I hike in I sweat. On public thats a long hard walk. So much so that I sweat through lightweight wool base layers and t. Why would I want to then hunt in a bunch of sweaty hunting clothes when it's 20deg or below?

I change in the woods.

There is really no lost time if you have a system in place.

For those close to bedding hunts, just plan it out. Change after the majority hike but before you arrive at your destination. Take a break to cool off in between. Make the change with terrain and wind in your favor.

Not trying to convince you, just responding to your incredulity with what I consider a logical order of operations for me and my hunting conditions.

I don't quite understand either how packing it in equates to potentially forgetting something. Or necessarily needing a larger pack.

Hey, do whatever style works best for you.

Packing gear just isn't efficient for my style.
I've hunted some stands that were over a mile to walk in. From the waist down I'm dressed which allows me to wear my saddle. If I need to regulate my temp, I do so by ventilating or stripping down my upper body. That works for me.

And time is time...If you need to stop at the tree to put on gear, it will take some amount of time. Now, if you are dressing a couple hundred yards from the tree and then approaching the stand, that's a different story. Hey, maybe I walk differently than a lot of other guys, or maybe my access trails are prepped better, but I have had many occasions when deer come the sound of me approaching the stand. I consider that a good thing but it also requires getting up the tree asap. I've paid the price from having to reinstall the bottom 3 screw-in steps. In the past, I've wanted to prevent other hunters from climbing into my stands so I used to remove the bottom few steps. The time it takes to mess with gear at the tree has cost me some opportunities at good bucks. Maybe if I sounded like a human walking, that might not happen, but I don't want to walk like a predator.

I prefer to carry the smallest pack possible. If I need to pack a full set of clothes, a saddle, ropes, etc, I will need a larger pack. Not sure how you get around that.

And for me, the more prepared that I am before I walk away from the vehicle, the less chance that I'm forgetting a detail...meaning all my gear is "buttoned up", everything in it's place and well secured. Less chance of having any surprises when I get to the tree.

 

[TommyDee]

I wear it in, two pouches including my 40' rappel line and LB etc. I use suspenders so there is no issue.

I like to wear it in because as soon as I pick my tree I'm climbing with little effort.

same as this guy. Lots in my pouches, I like to be able to grab what i need, and don’t take my pack off til top of my climb, settled in tree. I have an oplux bridge on my latitude, shorten it all the way, lash in the 2 linesman belts, and lash it around the waist buckle of the pack, this fixed all problems of it sagging without the need for suspenders. Obviously néed to unbuckle/rebuckle the pack waist strap, but this is fast and quiet.

 

[Islandshooter]

For 8 years I have always wore my saddle in, and I am always uncomfortable with either the leg straps or it pulling down from the weight of my pouches. I tried suspenders last year and it was better but with a bino strap and pack it seemed like I had too many straps to deal with on my shoulders. This year I started packing my saddle in because I got a much better pack Kifaru Stryker XL so the weight is not an issue, and I love it so much more comfortable. I have had two hunts one 1 1/2 mile walk in and the other just a short 300 yards, and on each one I packed the saddle in. I don't mind spending an extra minute on the ground putting the pack on since usually It usually it takes me a while to select the tree.

Same here, but with either an E&E solo or on the tactical frame.

 

[Robert loper]

Thanks for the thoughtful post. I guess the main issue with leaving everything back at the truck is that when a hun is successul, that is a lot of time to leave the kill unsupervised...like, kill deer {and find it}, hike back to truck to leave sticks and platform and bow etc, get kill bag etc, get back to deer. All that could easily add an hour to the post mortem time till the deer gets eviscerated and starts cooling. That can be a lot on a hot day, no?

Heres an old trick i learned years ago.
Leave a shirt or somthing you were wearing directly on your kill.
Yotes or bears wont mess with it for awhile because of the human scent.
Pack your stand , sticks ,and gear up and take back to truck and bring back the essentials for gutting and dragging
.

 

[Nosaj]

I always wear it in. I have done this with a Phantom and an Orion. I keep the leg straps loose. With the Orion I keep the pleat closed. I have SYS haulers on each side of my saddle, a role pouch on the back and a HSS Gear hoist between the role pouch and a sys hauler. When I get to the tree I undo my single stick from the bottom of the pack without taking the pack off and start climbing. I climb with my backpack on my back until I am at height.

 

[Iron_llama]

I prefer to still hunt my way through the woods. I don't want to bump a deer on my way in to a tree, and I'm ready to work up a stalk if the opportunity presents itself. I generally like a lumbar pack with water bottle pouches, ratchet pruner, scent bottle, etc. on my waist; in that scenario a tether, rappel line, etc. are just in the way. I switch between still-hunting and saddle-hunting modes at the tree.

 

[Plebe]

Hey, do whatever style works best for you.

Packing gear just isn't efficient for my style.
I've hunted some stands that were over a mile to walk in. From the waist down I'm dressed which allows me to wear my saddle. If I need to regulate my temp, I do so by ventilating or stripping down my upper body. That works for me.

And time is time...If you need to stop at the tree to put on gear, it will take some amount of time. Now, if you are dressing a couple hundred yards from the tree and then approaching the stand, that's a different story. Hey, maybe I walk differently than a lot of other guys, or maybe my access trails are prepped better, but I have had many occasions when deer come the sound of me approaching the stand. I consider that a good thing but it also requires getting up the tree asap. I've paid the price from having to reinstall the bottom 3 screw-in steps. In the past, I've wanted to prevent other hunters from climbing into my stands so I used to remove the bottom few steps. The time it takes to mess with gear at the tree has cost me some opportunities at good bucks. Maybe if I sounded like a human walking, that might not happen, but I don't want to walk like a predator.

I prefer to carry the smallest pack possible. If I need to pack a full set of clothes, a saddle, ropes, etc, I will need a larger pack. Not sure how you get around that.

And for me, the more prepared that I am before I walk away from the vehicle, the less chance that I'm forgetting a detail...meaning all my gear is "buttoned up", everything in it's place and well secured. Less chance of having any surprises when I get to the tree.

I will.

But, I'll add a few more comments to round out the discussion too.

1. I almost always hunt deeper than 1 mile on public. But I'm generally pretty sweaty by the mile mark even in frigid temps, wearing just light wool bottoms and t, so I guess we don't regulate heat the same. I've hiked a couple of hunters in with me before and even an elite endurance athlete was sweated up bad. But we don't "walk like deer" or we'd not make it to where we hunt before light unless we headed out very very early. It's more efficient use of time to cover ground and then change.

2. Time being time. I don't have to put gear on at the vehicle, just boots and headlamp (I could wear them in the vehicle, but it's against my scent regimen). I then grab my setup and weapon and I'm off, while others would still be suiting up.

3. With the .5 I use the same small assault pack all season. I strap my bibs and coat to the pack/stand. Fresh socks, baselayers, hat, and glomets in pockets or rolled inside corresponding outerwear. My particular pack has a mesh helmet carrier, in which I stow a stuff sack with my saddle and ropes, no need to open the pack at all. My sweaty clothes gets bagged and stowed in the stuff sack once changed.

4. My hunting setup is prepared in essentially a single package before I wake up so there really isn't any increased likelihood that I'll forget something.

I have added a frame pack as an option, primarily for hauling bucks out. I intend to use that with a saddle platform and sticks or rope climbing. I'm projecting it is going to make for a very efficient system as I continue to do the style that works best for me.

 

[Allegheny Tom]

I will.

But, I'll add a few more comments to round out the discussion too.

1. I almost always hunt deeper than 1 mile on public. But I'm generally pretty sweaty by the mile mark even in frigid temps, wearing just light wool bottoms and t, so I guess we don't regulate heat the same. I've hiked a couple of hunters in with me before and even an elite endurance athlete was sweated up bad. But we don't "walk like deer" or we'd not make it to where we hunt before light unless we headed out very very early. It's more efficient use of time to cover ground and then change.

2. Time being time. I don't have to put gear on at the vehicle, just boots and headlamp (I could wear them in the vehicle, but it's against my scent regimen). I then grab my setup and weapon and I'm off, while others would still be suiting up.

3. With the .5 I use the same small assault pack all season. I strap my bibs and coat to the pack/stand. Fresh socks, baselayers, hat, and glomets in pockets or rolled inside corresponding outerwear. My particular pack has a mesh helmet carrier, in which I stow a stuff sack with my saddle and ropes, no need to open the pack at all. My sweaty clothes gets bagged and stowed in the stuff sack once changed.

4. My hunting setup is prepared in essentially a single package before I wake up so there really isn't any increased likelihood that I'll forget something.

I have added a frame pack as an option, primarily for hauling bucks out. I intend to use that with a saddle platform and sticks or rope climbing. I'm projecting it is going to make for a very efficient system as I continue to do the style that works best for me.

I'll clarify a couple of my points. When I talk about "time", I'm referring to time at the bottom of the tree, which IME is a very critical period of the hunt.
Your's and my total time frame is probably very similar. I just spend more of that time preparing at the relative "safety" at the vehicle well away from the herd.
And my walking style only applies to the final approach to the tree. Until I get to that point, I am probably walking at the same pace as you.

And yeah we all sweat at a different rate. I know that I don't sweat nearly as much as I did 20 years ago.
Like I said earlier, if it works for you then live it up.
As for me, I'm gonna keep doing what I'm doing.
Knock em dead

 

[Islandshooter]

My hunting setup is prepared in essentially a single package before I wake up so there really isn't any increased likelihood that I'll forget something.

Sounds like maybe an old habit that dies hard…I’m ALWAYS reconstituted before I hit the rack!

 

[Iron_llama]

Sounds like maybe an old habit that dies hard…I’m ALWAYS reconstituted before I hit the rack!

Exactly. I hunt close to home so it's a trivial matter to re-pack at the truck, close to home. It gets dark early enough I'm on the road before the stores close and I can re-stock anything I need on the way home. I imagine the same sort of approach would work in a spike camp scenario, prep for the morning before you go to bed.

 

[Plebe]

Sounds like maybe an old habit that dies hard…I’m ALWAYS reconstituted before I hit the rack!

Even more crucially...before hitting the grog.

 

[Islandshooter]

Ok, so thanks to a high quality saddle with a rigid waist belt (thanks @Fl Canopy Stalker ), i just did a short mile and a half walk wearing my saddle with no issues. So now short distance and small pack walks get got easier. For longer distance or more clothing, it’ll go back inside so it doesnt interfere with the Kifaru waist belt. Thanks guys, always evolving!! Just hated the other saddle belts that kept falling down.