The long waiting finally made me succumb to stress shopping. I stopped by Walmart today. They had a really nice little padded shoulder bag that will replace my aging fanny pack. Geez! That thing has been with me since ’92 or so. This new bag has couple of nice features: a little LED light and a compass that are permanently sewn into the bag. It also has a divider in the big pouch. It will get rid of my biggest problem—the strap on the fanny kept slipping through the buckle.

For the most part, I stopped wearing the fanny pack on my waist several years ago. Instead, I stuff it into a homemade duffel bag I made for myself back in 97. It’s about 18X30”. It has drawstring top and a top-to-bottom strap that I sling over my shoulder. I found a bag like this holds my outer layer as I’m going to the stand. It also holds everything and more on my way out. I made it out of a sturdy cotton camo so that I can throw it in the wash and de-scent it along with my other clothes. The fanny pack was just a better way of organizing the small stuff.

I used to use a day pack, but I found that it was easier to get the duffel on and off. The day pack made it harder to keep stuff from falling out. The duffel gave me a lot more room with much less weight. In really cold weather, I stuff the freezer suit into it. On a weekend like the one coming up, my Gortex and Thinsulate camo bibs and jacket will go in. I leave these off until I’m at my stand so that I don’t work up a sweat.

This little pack will be nice for holding the small stuff. Here’s what I usually take along on a hunt:

1) Safety strap.

2) Two AA flashlights

3) A combination call (grunt, bleat, etc)

4) A retractable strap for hauling up my bow or gun

5) A 2 oz snag hook on 30 feet of stout line—great for retrieving stuff from the ground. This was what I used to get my bow up for years. I take a regular treble snag hook and grind off the barbs.

6) A meat stick and some cheese crackers

7) Matches and a compass

8) Buck Folding Hunter 110

9) My license, a pen, and a carcass tag

10) A Coughlins folding camp saw – prunes branches and it’s wicked on a pelvis.

11) A couple of T-Screws for creating a place to hang my bow or my gun

12) A foam pad for sitting

13) A whistle.

I’ve got a little possibles bag that I hang on the strap of my fanny pack for my muzzleloader stuff.

I’ve use MTM ammo wallets for my rifle ammo.

PS: The forecast keeps changing. The predicted overnight lows for Friday and Saturday just went up 3 degrees.

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