Empty your vests

[SpitnDrum]

What's wieghing down your vest every season.Heres my list

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[*] Zebra Wood slate over glass pot call
[*] Osage aluminum over slate pot call
[*] Cedar box with purple heart paddle box call
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[ul]
[*] Hickory stricker birch sound top
[*] carbon striker birch sound top
[*] purple heart striker
[/ul]
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[*] Pileated woodpecker locator
[*] Scream'n hawk locator
[*] Crow Locator
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[ul]
[*]Owl locator
[*] split v mouth diaphragm
[*] triple reed half moon diaphragm
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[ul]
[*] wing cut double reed diaphragm
[*] Ziploc bag for valuables just in case I fall in a mud hole[:D]
[*] extra winchester 3" mags
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[ul]
[*] Magnesium stick
[*] pocket knife
[*] cotton balls
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[*] 100% deet
[*] thermacell
[*] water and a few snacks
[/ul]

[shaman]

First off, I don't use a vest.  I use a shoulder bag.  If I need the extra room, I also carry a musette bag.

Here's what's in the shoulder bag:

Essentials:

license
ammo  -- 6 rounds
whistle
cellphone or walkie talkie
compass  (actually there's two on me)
knife
matches
tinder (dryer lint)
2AA cell flashlight
A spare shoelace (besides the obvious, it works as a spare turkey tote)
A plastic garbage bag-- great piece of survival gear if you know how to use it.

Calls:

One box
1 or two pot calls (1 is almost always a slate)
3 pegs
a push pin call
6-8 mouth calls

On the outside of the bag I have a foam pad attached for sitting.
Somewhere in my kit is usually a hunter orange turkey bag.

On most trips out, I carry a musette bag. In that bag I carry:

rain gear as needed
decoys (although last year, I didn't use a deke )
a book to read
lunch or breakfast or both
a small thermos of coffee
4X6' camo diecut blind
Either an Orange Hat or an Orange poncho on opening weekend

The nice thing about the musette bag is that I can slough off layers and throw them in the bag as the weather warms during the day.  I can also leave the bag somewhere and come back for it as I'm heading in.



What's not in my kit:

1)  DEET -- I don't have skeeters to worry about until late in the season if at all
2)  GPS -- I'm on my own 200 acres, but I'd carry one if I was out on public land
3)  Locator calls-- I use the local aggravators instead
4)  Water -- I tank  up before I go out


5)  A lot of extra calls.  I am careful not to throw the kitchen sink at the turkeys.  I rotate my calls through the season, and only take a few each time.  I don't want to let the gobs hear everything I 've got.

[MAKEemQUIVER]

Three mouth calls
Talkin Stick Aluminum call
Primos Slate
Knight and Hale Ol Yeller
Knight and Hale box
Owl, Crow, and Hawk locator calls
Extra shells
One hen decoy
My Wing
Turkey tote
Gloves and Mask
Snack and Water

And I didnt think that I carried to much stuff [:D].

[kenturkey89]

Items always in my vest include:

Lynch Foolproof Box with chalk
WRC Glass pot
HS. Strut Crystal pot
4 strikers (HS Rosewood, Crosscut, and Carbon along with a WRC purpleheart)
3 diaphragms (Woodhaven Red Scorpion and Red Wasp along with a Primos A-frame double cut)
80g sandpaper and scotchbrite
Crow call and coyote howler
A few Hevi-13 3" 2oz. #6 shells
Collapsable hen decoy
Binoculars
Pocket and field knife
Zip-lock bags
1 garbage bag
Lighter
Hunting license
Water/Snacks

Sometimes I will take an extra collapsable hen decoy and a jake decoy as well. Also, this year I plan to take the camera with me but only after I harvest my first bird (if I'm lucky enough too)!!

[TeocTom]

Slate Call-Poplar w/slate
3 strikers1
2 box calls
3 mouth calls
1 pair of gloves
1 face mask
1 Coca-Cola-it is great to sit down and have one in the woods waiting for Ol' Tom
1 Hen decoy
1 Jake decoy
2 pair of decoy stakes
Cell phone
Compass/whistle-just in case it goes down wrong
3 extra Rem. HD 3" #6
Pack of mixed nuts

[870aficianado]

Bill Purdy Custom calls:
Slate over glass
Aluminum over glass
Glass over elk antler sound board

And one slate over cherry sound board pot call I put together myself

2 diaphram calls

Compact binoculars

6 strikers or so

Primos Power Crow
Owl call

Spare batteries for flashlight
Spare batteries for red dot

Jake and hen decoy

Mechanix camo gloves
face mask

Compact rain jacket

Cell phone

GPS


Clif Bar

camelbak full of water (or half full if its a short hunt)

6 shells






Whats not in my vest:
Bug spray (clothes treated with permethrin before the season)
Box call- like em but they are too bulky

[SpitnDrum]

Elk antler sound board????I gotta see that got any pictures?

[natman]

Gun (Mossberg 500 12 ga, 3" 20" barrel)
5 shells (one turkey a day limit, that's 4 extra)
Large box call, small box call, barrel mounted box call, slate & striker
Water pouch with camo cover
Power bars (Chocolate and Peanut Butter bars are favorites)
Small bird knife

Mesh camo hat
Orange flydana
Cotton camo flydana
Fleece camo flydana
Why all this? I hunt near the CA coast; in the spring it can vary from the 30s in the morning to the 80s once the fog burns off. You need a LOT of thermal versatility! By mixing flydanas with the hat I can be comfortable in any temperature.

Peltor6 electronic earmuffs
Vest w/seat cushion
Thinsulate camo vest (rolls up and fits in turkey vest pocket. A lifesaver!)
Warm camo gloves
Thin cotton camo gloves
Plastic garbage bag
TP
Matches in waterproof container
Hunting license
Whistle
Compass
Small multitool

[retranger]

I see in the post everybody has most of the essentials,,,,,,,,compass, whistle, food, drink, matches, sometime a GPS. What about a topo map?[;)]

[paboxcall]

ORIGINAL: retranger

I see in the post everybody has most of the essentials,,,,,,,,compass, whistle, food, drink, matches, sometime a GPS. What about a topo map?[;)]

Never leave the truck without a topo. Don't carry a decoy, nor a GPS though, to me a GPS is just another thing needing batteries and may or may not work if I take a fall in one of the creeks. So I carry (2) compasses, a ball compass pinned to the vest and a traditional compass in the vest.

I also take a short box and paddle box, couple pot calls I made, a trumpet and a wingbone call. I only run one mouth call these days, a stacked frame call.

Tools: pruners, DEET, and a couple of plastic bags the newspaper came in to wrap the bird's head to keep the walk out clean.

Water, snacks, a small Case pocket knife for cleaning duties, and a walking stick.