Check Your Gear Before You Hunt

In this episode of the Hunting Gear Podcast, Dan Johnson discusses essential gear preparation for the hunting season, including tips on maintaining trail cameras, ensuring archery and firearm readiness, and managing clothing and footwear. He emphasizes the importance of post-hunt procedures and gear management to enhance the hunting experience and ensure safety.

Takeaways:

• It's crucial to have your gear organized and ready before hunting season.
• Using stealth tape can significantly reduce noise from equipment.
• Regularly check and maintain your trail cameras for optimal performance.
• Daily practice with your bow is essential for accuracy during hunts.
• Ensure all firearms are clean and properly sighted in before the season.
• Keep backup equipment, like releases and rangefinders, in your pack.
• Proper clothing care, including ozone treatments, can enhance scent control.
• Warm, dry boots are vital for comfort during hunts.
• Post-hunt procedures, like gutting and cooling the deer, are important for meat care.
• Always verify property boundaries and access routes before hunting.

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Dan Johnson (00:01.045)
Here we go again, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another episode of the Ha. What man, I have so many podcasts that I just forget. This is the this is the hunting gear podcast. I'm such an idiot. The hunting gear podcast. Ladies and gentlemen, gentlemen, welcome back. And based off of my demographics, I probably don't need to say ladies because I don't know how many women actually listen to this podcast. So if you are a lady and you are a fan of

hunting gear and equipment, hit me up on Instagram because I want to interview you to see what you like about hunting gear and equipment. So there's that. All right. This is going to be a short episode. All right. And it's that time of year where our equipment plays a huge role, right? We've curated everything. Hopefully we have everything we need. Hopefully your bow is tuned by now or your firearm or your weapon is good to go.

and we need to make sure everything is organized. We need to make sure everything is set out. And so when it is time to hunt, we just grab and go. And then we come back and we put it away. It's like, it's almost like we got the silverware. We've used it. We've cleaned it. Now it's time to empty the dishwasher and put it back into the silverware drawer. And it's, we know where it's at. So it's time to go and get it and use it. And,

I don't know that that sounds like a really shitty analogy, but that's exactly what we're doing right now. Okay, that's what we need to plan for before we get into today's Conversation by the way, it's just me. I'm gonna talk to you a little bit about gear prep I'm gonna talk to you a little bit about my gear some tips and tricks of what I'm doing this time time of year with my gear and so commercial time code blue sense

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Dan Johnson (02:29.434)
The Feed Hub is a device that connects to any Spincast feeder and it allows you to remotely control your feeder through the Moultrie mobile app. So it allows you to set feeding times, allows you to do what else? Run a cycle that allows you to unclog your feeder, monitor feed levels, schedule feeding times, and it can all be done.

remotely through your mobile device. That's huge if you run feeders on properties that are hours and hours away from where you hunt. makes scheduling feeder cleaning and maintenance very efficient. Go to Moltremobile.com to check out the feed hub. And next on the list, we have two more. We got the Reveal Trail Camera. The new 3.0 versions are really awesome. And here's why. You take it out of the package, you put some batteries in it, you download

the Tacticam or the Reveal app, you scan a QR code and as simple as that, your camera is set up. It's really, really, really easy. It's really user friendly. It allows you to make adjustments through the app and it's a cell cam with a ton of benefits, right? So do me a favor, go to tacticam.com and check out the new 3.0 versions of the Reveal Trail camera. They're badass.

Last but not least, if you haven't checked out my company, Full Sneak Gear, do me a favor, go to fullsneakgear.com. It's getting cool, go pick up a stocking cap, pick up a crew neck sweatshirt, and place an order before the rut hits, and that way you got some swag to wear to and from the tree stand while you hunt. You may be here at deer camp, and you're gonna look the part. So, fullsneakgear.com.

commercials are over. Let's talk hunting gear and equipment for a while. Like I said, this is gonna be quick episode. A couple things that I'm gonna recommend doing that, number one, are really cheap, especially if you are a mobile guy. Now, I typically don't mod any climbing sticks or platforms, saddle platforms, or tree stands. However, this year, I did a couple things. One, I have something called Stealth Tape.

Dan Johnson (04:51.825)
and I've heard many people talk about this before. Stealth tape, and I'm holding some in my hand right now, so if you're listening to this on iTunes or Spotify, you can't see it, but if you're on YouTube, it's soft tape with an adhesive back and it allows you to wrap it around some metal parts and that prevents any clinging and clanging and noise. So let me just do a little test here. So here is a...

Here is one of my coffee containers.

Hear that? Now here is one of my coffee containers with stealth stripping on it.

Dan Johnson (05:33.192)
Okay, notice the difference, it deadens the noise. All right, so.

Stealth tape is really good at doing that, deadening the noise. It prevents like a buckle click or something like that or any metal on metal contact, it prevents that. Hockey tape or athletic tape does a good job as well. So hockey tape or I guess athletic tape is way more affordable than your average stealth strip here. But stealth strip is camo, it does a really good job.

Athletic tape is cheaper. It doesn't do as good a job, but it does a decent job. And so I have been wrapping. I have started wrapping my climbing sticks in athletic tape like gray or black. then, you know, whenever I get the opportunity, I pick up some stealth strips and wrap the ends of my tree stands or the vertical section of my climbing sticks and some of that as well. And it just does a really good job.

All right, so that's as deep as I go into the equipment modification side of things. It's something that I've been doing over the past couple of weeks is getting some of my climbing sticks ready. Mostly just my climbing sticks, one assault tree stand and two tethered platforms that I've kind of modded up for the upcoming rut and whatnot. All right, and of course, Kansas. So that's one thing.

The next thing that I kind of want to touch base on real quick is your tree stands that have been left out in the timber. Whether that's a ladder tree stand and you have a ratchet strap around the tree or you left up some climbing sticks and you have a, not a ratchet strap, but like a, a tightener on it that allows you to pull the cord through the clip and tighten it. And then you pull down on it.

Dan Johnson (07:35.944)
Throughout the course of a year, the tree grows. It really puts a lot of tension on that strap. So as I go into my tree stands that have been left out for the first time, I am unbuckling and resetting every single step and every single strap because you start to put pressure on that. The tree has expanded. It's putting a lot of tension on that strap. Your weight has the potential to snap that along with the tension the tree is putting on

So all I do every year is I just loosen it up, I tighten it back up, and then I pull down on it to make sure that it's tight and it's safe again. I just don't want the tree to break that strap and then that causes some major issues. I do that with my saddle platforms. I do that with my climbing sticks. I don't have any ladder stands anymore, but I used to.

I would recommend checking those. And of course my tree stands that are left in as well. All of that stuff gets checked. My cables when I'm in there for the first time. Now, I highly recommend using a lineman's belt around the tree when you do this so that way you're safe and secure. And if you fall, it's gonna hurt, but it's not gonna hurt as much as falling 18 feet out of a tree stand. There's been some pretty big names that have fallen this year.

And I highly recommend doing that. Do not step on the platform unless you are secure on the tree or unless you're tied in with a saddle, it's pretty easy. But I don't know. Sometimes I feel like it's very hard, especially if you're into the run and gun game to get a tree stand up and be connected to the tree the entire time. I wear alignment's belt.

when I run and gun and this allows me to pull up my sticks, get them set, be able to lean. It actually makes it easier to set up the tree stand when you can lean away and let the lineman's belt do the work for you. And then again, you just keep moving that up. You set your stand and then the lineman belt comes off for a second, wraps around the stand again. You step up, you're connected. Then you're able to connect whatever else you need to connect.

Dan Johnson (10:00.248)
So there's that. Make sure all your cables, straps are checked on your tree stands. The next thing is, right now, as you start to check your trail cameras, make sure you're checking the battery life. One thing that I have done that I have had to learn the hard way over the years is going into a spot to check a trail camera.

It's the last week in November. I wanna see what's running around and there's no, I don't have any cameras and my camera is dead or my SD card is full. And so I always make sure I have extra batteries. I also make sure that I have an extra SD card, like four or five of those. And the goal with that is to make sure that my trail cameras are running as much as possible. I don't like to see them dead.

I like to collect the data from them. And so it's always just make sure your trail cameras are working. Sometimes I even hang out in front of them for a little bit to make sure that they're working, they're capturing pictures. know, cell cams are different because it allows you to check all that stuff remotely. And so you have an idea of the power that your, you know, the battery life, the SD card being full. I use reveal trail cameras right now.

and they don't even need an SD card anymore, right? They go to the platform and you can save your pictures from there. Outside of that, on trail cameras, you may need to reposition them with all of the foliage coming off the tree. Especially if your trail camera is facing north or it's facing south or west in the mornings and evenings, you might get a little sunlight blur or blockage. You might want to readjust to a south-facing angle or...

at maybe a lower level to where the horizon, where the camera is tipped down so there's less horizon and more land in front of that, that might be an option as well. These are very, like what I'm going over right now is very like easy mode stuff. This is something we should be doing every single year because one thing that pisses me off is going to a trail camera, hoping that it's gonna provide me with a ton of information.

Dan Johnson (12:25.573)
and I go and check the SD card and it's been full for a month or the camera isn't working and I go to set something up and I'm looking for info like I don't connect on a deer within the first week of the rut and now I'm really scrambling. I'm looking to find some big deer and I'm not getting it because I'm not getting it because the batteries or the camera's dead and that really upsets me. So highly recommend checking that out.

All right, the next thing on my list, and this is something that we should all be doing every day, maybe not on the firearm side, but as far as archery is concerned, we should be shooting our bows every single day right now. Even if you're hunting, you should be shooting your bow before or after a hunt. Like if you hunt a morning, you know, before you put it away, throw a couple arrows at it. Before you go for your afternoon hunt, shoot a couple arrows and get that thing really dialed in.

And that way, when the buck of a lifetime shows up, you know you're going to make a good shot, right? In the past, I have been that guy who I work all summer at it. And then I go on my Western hunt. then between my Western hunt and the time that I, you know, start grinding here in Iowa and heading to Kansas this year, I put it away and I don't shoot it. Well, that's caused problems in the past. So now I just try to continuously shoot it. It helps with your muscle memory.

It helps know if you have an issue or not because there's times throughout the year where my bow, like I'm pretty hard on my equipment where my bow may drop or I take a spill and I trip over a stick and I use my bow to brace some things and things like that. So just make sure your equipment is on point. If you're in a firearm season, just make sure you're sighted in. Sight your bow in every single year or excuse me, your

rifle or your shotgun or your muzzleloader in every single year. That's something that I have to do yet this year is after I get back from Kansas, I have one priority and that is to shoot my muzzleloader and get it sighted in and sighted in very well. Then outside of that, we have your equipment, make sure your guns are clean, your rifle is clean, the muzzleloader.

Dan Johnson (14:54.052)
Definitely your muzzleloader for late season. Make sure that's clean. I just bought a muzzleloader last year and I 100 % understand now a dirty barrel does affect accuracy. So make sure that's clean. Make sure your bullets and your ammunition are 100 % ready to go. And then outside of that, what else? What else? bow strings. Put a little wax on your bow strings.

Right? Make sure all the bolts are tight on your rest, on your sight. Make sure there's no big giant phrase in your string. Like the last thing that we want is for a buck to come in, you draw or a deer in general, you draw back and now there's a malfunction of some sort. We want to make sure we catch that before the, you know, before the moment of truth. Right? So that's why it's important to go shoot your bow. Listen for

noise changes, listen for vibe, feel for vibration changes, right? Maybe there's a feel for a difference in your draw cycle. Maybe it's your cam has bent or something like that. Just pay attention to your equipment. Pay attention to your equipment. The next thing would be backups. All right. We got to, we got to talk about backups because there have been times where I wish I had a backup, but I do not. did not have a backup.

Right? I don't know how many times over the last 20 years I have walked to my stand without my release. get walk up in the tree or get up into the tree. get snagged in and I forgot my release in my truck and I did not have a backup in my pack. Make sure you have a backup in your pack, an extra release in your pack. So if you forget something,

I also keep an additional rangefinder in my pack, even though I have my Bino, my Vortex Bino harness now is connected to my chest, which is also, I have a little pouch that's dedicated to my rangefinder. That's not an issue anymore. Make sure your optics are clean, right? So that way when you go to look, there's not a smear or something and you gotta quickly do that. Make sure your rangefinder is clean so you can get a proper range.

Dan Johnson (17:21.144)
Make sure all your equipment is clean, ready to go. For me right now, all of my clothing is clean. It's ready to go. Today, when you listen to this, is gonna be a Friday. I'm gonna be hunting in Iowa in a tree stand, hanging from a saddle for my very first hunt this year. And I'm ready to go. Like I'm really looking forward to getting in the tree.

and going through, starting to go through the process here. Camo's clean. I will run an ozone cycle before I get out to really cleanse and deodorize my clothes, make sure it's smelling fresh. And then when I get done with that hunt, it's going back into my ozone container and I'm running an additional cycle of ozone on my clothes. I don't actually...

wash my clothes a lot, incense free, unless it gets really wet or muddy or like some deer blood on it. I am running ozone cycles with that and there several different ozone products out there that you can, and totes that you can go and check out, right? I use an Ozonics that seems to work really well. They have the closet that I hang my clothes in, especially my base layers. Some of my outer layers that I don't wear very much, only in the tree stand.

I'll set those outside and let them air dry, maybe in a garage or maybe in underneath of a roof. So that way if it gets cold or damp outside, it's not wet, but my base layers, my socks, maybe my mid layers, they're definitely going in and they're getting an ozone treatment. Boots, I always keep a boot dryer with me. That way, whether it's hot and you're sweaty or it's

It's cold. It's always nice to have your boots nice and warm when you put those on, especially if you're traveling and you're hunting it out of a tent or in your truck or even in a camper or someplace like that, which is really tight and cramped. It's always kind of a good feeling to put a warm pair of boots on and that way you don't get that shock of cold feet. You know, that's a luxury, but your boots are dry. There's no moisture in there. You won't go outside and

Dan Johnson (19:45.782)
Then that moisture turns to cold and then that cools your feet down extremely, you know, quicker than normal. And now you're suffering in the tree standing, especially in colder temperatures. So make sure you, you have that. I also in my pack and even in a couple of my pockets, I always keep an extra screw in step this way. If I need to hang something or I'm doing a last minute off the cuff run and gun, I have a screw in step.

in my bag and I can get up in the tree and I can hang something. This year, I'm being a dumbass again and I feel like I'm gonna start recording some of my hunts and I'm not 100 % sure how this is gonna go because I don't necessarily care about the outcome even though I wanna capture some footage and maybe it's gonna work, maybe it won't, but I'm looking forward.

I'm looking forward to trying it and documenting it. But that means there's a whole nother thing, a set of problems that I have to deal with, right? I got to make sure I have batteries in my GoPro, in my camera. I got to make sure that I have the lenses clean. I have to carry the cameras now. I also have to carry a camera arm. I have to carry an additional screw in thing for my

I don't know, for my GoPro, things like that, right? And so that's just another thing that you need to be prepared for. And so what you're hearing from me is all these things need to happen before and after a hunt. So it's better to be organized. Like I used to be the guy who would get home, throw my shit down, and then struggle in the mornings to try to get to the tree stand. Where'd this go? Where'd this go? I know where it went because it's in the same place every single day.

this time of year, I, I always like to spray an additional coating of waterproofing over my boots and whether it helps or not, it's just like peace of mind. And that way, if I'm walking through wet grass in the mornings or that, you know, that, that timeframe where you let's say you it's wet, the grass is still wet from a rainstorm. I also wear gators, so I'm,

Dan Johnson (22:14.43)
I'm taking a double approach to trying to stay as dry as possible. Sometimes in the snow that is an issue, but I'm also wearing heavier boots when it snows outside. One of my favorite, you guys have heard me talk about this product a ton, but you guys have heard me talk about the boot covers by Arctic Shield. There are several brands out there that make them, but the Arctic Shield boot covers are legit. They keep the...

You know, they keep your feet warm and it's just a huge benefit. I'm that type of person where if my feet go, the rest of my body goes and I don't want that. Right. And so, so Arctic shoot Arctic shield boot covers have been a game changer for me. They allow me to stay warmer and that means I'm in the stand longer. Even though I don't hunt all day, there are times where I need to be out in the woods when it's when the temperatures are dropped.

and you pair the boot covers with the heat boost technology from my camera or my camo company that I use Huntworth, you're warm and you're warm in the worst possible conditions. So that's a huge shout out. That's a shout out there to those two brands that I really enjoy using. Quick water break. I've been talking all day.

All right. The next thing that I want to talk about is what to do after you shoot the deer. Right. I always keep a knife in my bag. OK, so if I see the buck die instantly or the deer die instantly, I'm going to gut him immediately and I'm going to take the guts out. I'm going to prop open the rib cage and I'm going to let the insides cool down.

for that meat care, right? So I always have a, I used to have rubber gloves. I don't wear those anymore. I keep a saw. The way I gut is I cut the pelvis bone and I pull out the butthole and all the guts that way. And that way it allows me to get that animal cooled down as much as possible. Outside of that, I do have some game bags just in case, although I never need it in Iowa because I'm able to get to

Dan Johnson (24:36.306)
my truck to a lot of places. So get that deer gutted as soon as possible, get that animal to cool down, and then from there, you're on point. I also keep a length of rope in my bag because there are instances where I wish I had someone to help me hold a leg and that leg keeps falling down on me. So what I'll do is I will tie a leg to a tree with that length of rope.

And now basically that deer is spread eagle and it allows me to work as I'm up, you know, as I'm taking the insides out of this deer.

From there, it just, depends on where you're at, right? When I don't have a sled, I'm kind of still in the brute force phase of my life. It's always good to have another person help you get the buck in the truck. But outside of that, a sled or some kind of cart would be hugely beneficial, especially if you're solo. And then.

You gotta find creative ways to get that deer into the back of your truck or into the trunk of your car. Cause I know some guys who hunt with cars and they're, got a tarp down and they're doing that. I also have a little baggie in my, I guess it would be my, my, think I keep it in my Bino harness now, a little baggie and it's got my tags in it and my license. It's right on my chest at all times.

And so whenever I'm hunting, that Bino harness is with me. That means my license and my tag are with me as well. It's a win-win scenario. That way, if you're ever checked or you shoot your deer, you can immediately tag your deer. And then that's it, man. You know, I always keep a water bottle with me in my bag. And that way, you know, something that I can tip upside down and shake around a lot and it's not going to, basically it's an algein bottle and it's not going to spill.

Dan Johnson (26:41.851)
I keep one of those. Sometimes I'll bring an apple with me. don't eat in the stand as much anymore. And the reason, maybe an apple, maybe some carrots, because I used to eat no big deal, but now when I eat, I get tired. And so I don't like to eat until after the hunt. So there's that. And I think that kind of is a very quick rundown of the gear that we should be paying attention to.

Make sure your your broadheads, you know, you take off your practice broadheads and you put on your Your regular broadheads your kill mode broadheads because I have gone to this is no joke I have gone to the tree stand before and luckily it wasn't a big buck that walked by but I did plan on shooting a doe that night and I just had to watch her walk by Why because I left field tips on all of my arrows, right?

And so my field points were on my arrows. I couldn't shoot that doe and I had to watch her walk by that day. Anyway, there's that little bit of insight as we prepare for the next, you know, 15 days. Good luck. Check all of your equipment and make sure you are a hundred percent prepared for the hunt.

Quick thing that popped into my head, if you use digital mapping services like Onyx or HuntStand, I would double check property boundaries and make sure that you know exactly where you can and you cannot be on the properties, especially if it's a new first time hunt. Make sure you have easements and access routes planned out and you know that you're legally allowed to be where you're at. It would suck to get pinched in a scenario where you think you're on the right s-

but you're not on the right spot. So double check that. Good luck everybody. Good vibes in, good vibes out. Wear your damn safety harness and we will talk to you next time.

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