What’s in your Kill Kit?

On this Episode of Huntavore, September is here and the final push to season opener for whitetails is here upon us. Nick walks through his archery equipment and how he checks the condition of very vital gear. Later he breaks down the contents of a recovery bag and his own kill kit for making life easier and cleaner when bringing home the harvest. Lots of good tasks to add to your to do list on this episode of Huntavore.

Nick starts out with a run through of his archery setup; saddle, sticks, platform, bow, & arrow. Getting the stand pieces organized, and essential parts checked for damage or wear is a priority at the moment. Only real change this year is switching to a framed pack. He purchased the F1 Mainframe with two batwing pouches. While it’s not been tested in the whitetail woods, the pack served Nick very well chasing elk. Light and study, modular and expandable, Nick hopes for more stability than his frameless pack.

Kill bags can range from full kits in the deep wilderness, to a sealable freezer bag with a few essentials. Preparing for success can make the recovery process a whole heck of a lot easier.

My whitetail kill kit:

All fits in Quart sealable freezer bag; 3’ x 3’ folded plastic sheet or contractors bag, Gallon sealable freezer bag, Gloves, 2 blue shop towel sheets, A folding replaceable blade knife, Length of paracord.

Tossed in the pack pocket: Fixed blade, bull nosed gut hook knife,Hoof shackles/ drag rope

Elk or deep woods add ons:

Bigger ground cover, Honing stone/steel or sharpener, Another knife, Bone saw, Game bags, A bit more length of paracord

Items to consider:

Butt out II, Roll of TP, Game Cart/electric bike saddle bags, Meat hauler pack

[00:00:00] Welcome to the Hunt of War podcast, powered by Sportsman's Empire, where we celebrate the hunting and fishing lifestyle through the utilization and consumption of our wild game. No egos fork in hand, beer in the other, no status, a piece of red meat on a hot grill, and turn it into a burnt offering. Just catch it.

Cut it. Cook. This is episode 1 31. What's in Your Kill Bag? On this episode of Vore, September is here, and the final push to season opener for White Tails is here upon us. Nick walks through his archery equipment and how he checks the condition of very vital gear. Later, he breaks down the contents [00:01:00] of a recovery bag and his own kill kit for making life easier and a heck of a lot cleaner when bringing home the harvest.

Lots of good tasks to add to your to-do list on this episode of Vore.

Hey folks. Beautiful morning here in Michigan. I tell you what, we're gonna be getting into the nineties the next couple days, but. That's the last hurrah of summer. I feel fall is upon us. The autumn season is coming in and I tell you what, their seasons are already opening in several areas of the country out west.

People are already chasing elk. Good luck to you guys and gals that are out there. Please be safe as you pursue those amazing majestic ty. Here in Michigan, I know Waterfall has opened up for Canada Geese. So that's an exciting thing that we've actually got got people on [00:02:00] the ground starting the autumn harvest at this point.

For me, we're still in the prepping stage. We're still in the planning stage, and I'm, you know what, to be honest, I'm okay with that. We've had a whirlwind of activities with kids with just. Starting back up at work. Being an educator the first couple weeks of school, not only for yourself, but just for your students, is is there's a lot going on.

So we've been able to just endure that, find our new routine, trying to fill up The kids' time has turned into, now it's filled up my time. It's one of those things that you just, you live with as a parent. We did get to do a venture here this past weekend. I took the boys on their first mountain bike adventure over in Yankee Springs, the Deep Lake trails that go around Deep Lake and up through some of that amazing country that's there.

A big thing here in Berry County. But anyway we got a chance to do that and the boys took it [00:03:00] on full force. It was so fun to hear them race ahead and then, just the shouts of, whoa, my gosh. Because now they have to go down a steep hill with some rocks and some roots, but then on the very next breath they have to then climb.

Up a very steep hill when with rocks and roots, and to have them take on that challenge, take on that adventure. We had our own spills. We had our own thrills, but I tell you what, they had a blast. And I think I've got them hooked at least for until snow flies, until it gets real cold. I think we're gonna be hitting up sections of that trail.

I've heard it put that And I think it was an article quite a while ago, not to tell your boys or even your girls or just your kids in general. Don't be careful as in don't tell them to be careful because at that point it puts a stigma of they are in danger, [00:04:00] that they are that they should hold back, that they should come back.

Whereas instead, I want to ask them different questions. Watch what you're doing. Is being one of those questions to ask, what is your plan for climbing that tree? What is your plan for this route going down this steep hill? Do you want to go on the rocky side? Do you want to go on the smoother side?

Ask 'em these questions, not just tell them to be ge. Be careful in general. And I know that's gonna, that's gonna flare up a lot of moms and dads right now, being like, oh, but my baby, I want them to be careful. And at the same time, I don't, I want my kids to be safe as well, but letting them take on difficult challenges, letting them take on adventures that.

You're prepping them for and letting them experience a little bit of that. Ooh, what if I do fall? What if I do this? And to process through [00:05:00] that to have them think ahead. I know, shoot I'm speaking to my own self. 'cause here I am not very much of a for thinker as a kid and even as an adult.

But at the same time, that was just something that stuck to, stuck with me several years ago. I need to dig that article back up. But anyway, that was a great. Time to be able to do that out there on the trails that as we get to a sticking point and before my middle boy just decides to go plummet down the middle, just, keep the tires rolling.

Ask him a few questions. What is your plan for this? Watch what you are doing. And that, that just puts, that just instills a bit of forethought into them. Yeah, that's my, I guess my current events right now. We've yeah, we're, like we said, we're getting into September and really, I've been prepping a lot of my gear.

We've been, I've been shooting and shoot actually the last, couple weeks have not been the greatest when it comes to archery, shooting and getting out there, just being busy. I [00:06:00] do the idea of Hey, take five minutes out of every day and go shoot three arrows. 'cause honestly, from our talk with Jeremiah, we're learning that it's the first cold shot that counts.

When it comes to our tree, you don't necessarily get a second shot. So really working on that cold shot, go through your process and now repetitions do improve your process. Repetitions will in. Improve your confidence, seeing how you can group. But at the same time, you never get to put a group on an animal.

It is always the first flying arrow that is going to be doing all of the work. So yeah, I haven't had a chance to quite get out as much as I've wanted. But we've got we got the prime all fixated right now with the hunting arrows. At least it's tuned up and now we're just fine tinkering getting those to fall right where they need to, each season.

Yeah. You put I, I put [00:07:00] marks on my rest, and I put marks. On my bow, so I know where things need to line up and how it needs to go. But even once you get there, like little things here and there have changed, or maybe the way that I'm holding my bow is is now a little bit different. And so you do have to go through and make those few adjustments.

It's not like the old shotgun where you can just, true it up once and leave it. No, this is something that's an ongoing process. As for any new equipment I'm not, again, I'm not doing any this year. 2020 was a big year for purchasing even in 21. A lot of big purchases.

Preparing myself to do my own elk trip a year ago or a year and a half ago, that was such a, just an amazing adventure. And yeah I'm just working with the same equipment that I have now to just go along with that. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. We, yeah, I am making some modifications.

So we are [00:08:00] rocking the the prime black one. I am using day six arrows that are tipped with Ethics archery stainless steel insert and cover sleeve insert and outer. I got the R M SS cutthroats. I've been loving those single bevels Those things are just awesome. I'm also running the bone broadheads.

I'm not sure if bone's still pumping those out or not, but anyway, they made a single bevel years ago and I've just had 'em, and they're a great backup. Put a, tried to put a, put one into a coyote that was running through and. Just about had him the, that the mist was on me at that point. 'cause he was moving pretty fast.

But, so I've got got the cutthroats as the primary and then the backups. I got those bone, single bevels. Ow Yeah, just totally [00:09:00] diving in with the heavy arrow and the single bevel. It has been great for my confidence. It's been great for my. My shooting ability, I just, that trajectory the way that it makes the bow just absolutely silent is, has been really good.

Rocking the saddle again this year. I did a post about this earlier this weekend on going through and just checking. All of my equipment. I used to run, I used to I used to be a facilitator. I didn't used to run a camp or a high ropes course, but I was a facilitator at a high ropes course and I would instruct anywhere from elementary kids to high school kids up in a high ropes course.

We'd be up 20 feet and you'd go through different Implements and you go through different challenges to try and get these kids to be outta their comfort zone, to work through problems. Some of them include yeah, just going across the skinny bridge. Others of them are blindfolded and [00:10:00] doing very complex tasks while they're up there, and the whole idea is to just get them to get out of their comfort zone to, to put a little bit of stress.

In their, in, in this activity where then we can unpack that, talk about that. And from there we work, worked a lot with with harnesses, climbing harnesses, helmets ropes and webbing and different implements like that. And just the things that I learned from that applies directly into getting my gear ready to be used this fall.

We put a lot of equipment, whether it's our. Our safety harness, whether it's our actual stands, climbers, hang ons, whatever it is, there's just a lot of stress. Like we can't even really talk about. The forces that get put on that equipment, we can't even, we can translate it into pounds, but it's almost like energy Newtons that we're talking about when it [00:11:00] comes to if you were to fall, will this hold you?

And even though you might weigh 180 to 200 pounds, the amount of force that strapping and stitching will undergo in that fall. That's the equation that is crazy. And I never got deep into all the technical aspects of it. I just understood that, hey, you're not, even though you are 200 pounds falling, that is not 200 pounds of force.

That's a lot more force coming down on whatever equipment. And that's why making sure that your equipment can handle that. But then at the same time, People also talked about how they're, oh they're tough on their equipment and using that as a badge of honor. And yeah, you want to, you wanna be able to not worry about your gearless to say as you are going through your hunting, I.

As you're getting to your stand, as you're getting to your spot, as you're hiking up, as you're walking out or whatever your scenario, you don't wanna worry about the [00:12:00] equipment failing at the same time. You wanna be able to check that equipment. You want to be able to, at a safe time when you're not 20 feet in the air, check to see if that equipment is operational.

The warranties are checked when you're feet on the ground, not 20 feet in the air. Then it's a little, then it's a little more difficult once you're up there. But anyway, I went through and just checked all that, checked the sheathing of my lineman and my my girth hitch and saw that, yeah, on the lineman I got a little bit of fuzziness, a little bit of fraying on the sheathing, but that's just a little bit of wear and tear.

And that is at, as of right now, it is cosmetic. It has not worked through the sheath. It has not gotten into the core. I haven't had to really inspect on or I haven't had to. Really find a spot, a hot spot, yet on, on any of those ropes. But you're just seeing okay, we're getting a little bit of wear and tear here.

Even on the harness it, or excuse me, the saddle itself that I'm using [00:13:00] the tethered phantom At the ends of where the webbing are at, I'm getting some fuzziness. I'm getting a little bit of fraying, but the stitching is all held very tight. I have nothing wrong with the stitching.

So it's literally just at those ends, it's beginning to get a little fuzzy. I. A couple things you can do that, you can go with the lighter trick and you just get some heat on there, or even a heat gone, and then just pinch it all together. Or you can just leave the, leave a little of that, little bit of that fuzziness.

But as you grab your equipment, you pull it outta your tub or now if it's hanging in the garage or in your go-to spot, just check some of that stitching. Make sure that there's not an end that's coming undone, and make sure that You haven't got any big gashes in any of those pieces or even in like in the carabiners.

'cause again, the forces that you put on those things, Sitting back, you can stretch those out eventually. Yeah, they are made to withstand a certain amount, but at the same time would, doesn't hurt to check that. So look for stretching in carabiners or [00:14:00] bending and twisting in any of your metal buckles or attachment areas.

Burrs, making sure that anything is, if it's forgot. Webbing that's gonna run through it, or if it's got rope that's gonna run through it. You want to be able to run your finger along and not find any burrs, maybe. Maybe it clinked on something and it's just made a sharp point. It's amazing how fast stuff like that can happen.

Again, working at that a ropes course. Daily checks happened on stuff and we would find burrs in the afternoon that we didn't find in the morning, and it was because it clicked on something or it got twisted up, or we saw some of the stitching come off and it was just one of those things like we need to now.

Set that this one is now retired. We gotta get a new one. Can you do that with every piece of equipment? Every single time? Can you retire all of your equipment at once and then buy new? No. But at the same time, checking that and seeing when you need to make your best, your next Your next purchase, or at least keep that in mind.

Me picking up another [00:15:00] lineman's rope here in the next, oh, maybe two years. That might be a good thing. 'cause because that fraying is gonna continue, the entropy is gonna happen on all of that equipment. And I don't want to get to the day where I'm now looking at the core of my lineman's rope as I'm about ready to climb a tree.

That's just not the responsible part. So anyway, that is my 2 cents on checking your equipment. Yeah, like I said I'm running the saddle, I'm going with the tethered phantom. As far as sticks, I'm using my Hawk helium full length sticks. I'm a short guy, so I need the full three feet. Got a homemade What am I, oh, I got an eighter.

I got a homemade eighter system made out of a couple old ratchet straps that I lost some of the ratchets to, so I tied the ends of those go slip over my feet, and then the hook is left on my thigh, and I'm able to then make a step up, put my toe into the tree, hook onto that first rung, and be able to pull myself [00:16:00] up, step up onto that ladder.

Or that, yeah, that, that stick that's now on the tree. So that's what I've got for that. I have been running a pack that is, it's like a, it's a no-name pack. It does the job though for me. It was small, it was compact, but it doesn't have a frame in it. And when I switched over to running the saddle, I had to bring my sticks out with me and I can strap those to the back.

But not having a frame on that pack makes it real loosey goosey. I could feel that thing just moving all over the place. Did it get the job done? Yes, it would carry my equipment out there, but now I'm to the point now where it's like, ah, it's just a mess. And I purchased an Eberly stock. F one mainframe for out west.

And actually I've used that on several occasions here, just around the farm and around the woods. It's been really nice to use [00:17:00] that pack. Just I have taken a five gallon bucket, just slapped it on there and it's so easy to put, tools in there and hike those out to wherever I need.

And then I got my, my bucket of bucket of tools there. That's been really nice to do. But I got the bat wings for that, and I think that's how I'm gonna run. All my equipment this year is with that framed pack. So the sticks will, I think I'm gonna drop the sticks in against the frame and then whatever, like overlayer that I wanna be able to put on there.

And then all my equipment, everything that I'm gonna be wanting to take out with me, my my recovery kit or my kill kit that's gonna go in one of the bat wings. Another, my. Down vest that's gonna get shoved into one of the pockets. I'm definitely not gonna need that here, I think in the first part of the season.

Water, definitely. I'm gonna be able to bring out some water in these coffee for the mornings. The hand warmer, the All the equipment that I'm just gonna wanna [00:18:00] bring out. I te I, when it comes to a pack, I guess I don't need a whole lot when I go and just sit out in the woods, but just the organization that's gonna be able to bring is gonna be super, super nice.

I. Yeah, I'm gonna leave the bat wings zipped together, but not zipped to the pack. And I'm gonna use the compression straps. And the compression straps on that whole frame will hold the sticks, will hold those two bat wings and will hold my. Platform. I went cheap on the platform. I went with another hawk hawk platform.

I've heard a lot of not goods and a lot of goods about it, but for the price it'll do me for what I need right now until I can get rid, get something a little bit better. So I've got all that strapped in. Once I get to the tree, the. Sticks go on my hips. I've got two loops of paracord that those are gonna, that once I make up the first rung, I carry the sticks up with me and then I put the platform at my back and I would put the pack on [00:19:00] my back.

But I think what I'm gonna do is run the bat wings separate and they're gonna ride up with the bow. So I'll hook on my. Bo string to the bow and those batwing packs leave the mainframe on the ground at the tree, hoist everything up, and then at that point hook it all up with a little d i y hook system that I got going on.

Yeah. Again, until I can find something better, the old d i Y option is gonna do what I need it to do. So yeah, that is a very quick run through about my setup. Before we continue, let's get a word from one of our partners sooner. Truck sirens. If you are heading across state lines for Hunts this year, be sure to secure your truck and all your gear with a sooner truck siren.

John is currently testing out the prototype on some early season hunts already this year. Best of luck to him. Packages [00:20:00] include a window sticker to warn thieves, a portable streetlight, and enough cell service to call a loved one back home. For more info, go to Sportsman's empire slash network slash Oklahoma Outdoors Sooner.

Truck sirens you needed. New camo. Anyway. Now back to the show. Vore is not liable for the outcome of the product or its existence. Any claims or false advertising will be ignored. Attempt to a purchase or return will sadly denied. Also, any hard feelings can be sent to vore@gmail.com, where it would read, laughed at and Trapped.

There you go, John Hudspeth of the Oklahoma Outdoors Podcast. Enjoy your dream season. Like I mentioned, seasons we're opening up and for John, he's already out there chasing after white tails, so yeah. There's a little little treat for him if he happens to tune in when in the field, accuracy and precision count.

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So still sticking with the idea of equipment. I wanted to talk a little bit about a recovery bag or a kill kit that when you bring it into the woods, that is gonna be the necessary items you're gonna need when you make the harvest. [00:23:00] I talked a little bit about this to a friend of mine. I was just asking what does he bring?

What are things that he wants in his pack, and what are some good ideas? And he did bring up the idea like aren't you putting the cart ahead of the horse here? You're already. Bringing something in that's gonna prepare you, that's going to ba basically make your success, your hunt successful.

You are already planning ahead on a successful hunt. And yes, that is the exact idea, but at the same time, I don't want to be caught with a dead horse and no cart. I want to be able to, when I put the animal down, have the means and methods to be able to harvest that meat quickly, efficiently, and effectively.

These items aren't necessarily hefty or heavy, but they are helpful when it comes to just like I mentioned, being able to bring that meat in. A lot of you, you already have, you already use, but then at the same [00:24:00] time, like having them at the ready, so mine as a white tail hunter. It can fit inside a quart bag, quart zip top freezer bag, Ziploc bag that just gets stuck in the bottom of my pack.

Or now it's gonna be one of those batwings, but I'm able to put all the necessary items that I need in there, have them sealed up in the bottom. I'm not going back in and having to reorganize and you'll get it. But then at the same time, when I make a good shot, when I see the animal go down, I'm able to then, Use that and get on the animal.

With that recovery though, even before I get to that animal, there might be a time where I need to either back out or then come back and then and track blood. That's all part of the deal that a perfect shot is what we go for. And there's sometimes where things are outside of our control we have a we hit a branch with a, with it or it does hit bone and doesn't get the exact hit that we are looking for.

So we gotta be [00:25:00] able to be ready for that. Most often than that, a lot of times you are backing back out, but I've got a nice l e d flashlight that I bring with me. It really lights up. The space it uses, right now it uses alkaline batteries, like big alkaline batteries, but at the same time, pop those out at the end of the season, pop 'em in at the beginning of the season.

Works out great. It's pretty heavy, but at the same time, I don't mind carrying out That tool because once my headlamp is, the headlamp is what I walk out with. But then to have a spotlight have something that I can really light up the ground it's really helpful to find find the blood.

I. And be able to follow that. The next trick is that, that I also carry in there is a roll of teepee that is actually twofold. I keep that sometimes at the ready if you're unprepared for morning with coffee and then you walk out there and you all of a sudden have extra business to take care of, don't.

Don't rely on your sock or one other piece. Don't go ill-equipped. I throw a roll of [00:26:00] teepee again now with the bat wings again, it's gonna fit down, snug in there, and it's just gonna be almost like this added cushion. But that roll of teepee is so helpful when it comes to recovery. And I learned this from my hunting partner.

My neighbor. He he carried whenever we were recovering a deer. He brings out a roll of teepee and two squares goes on the site of blood. So if it's hanging in a tree, he lays it up there. If it's on the ground, he, lays it over a leaf or a stick next to it, and we then begin to see the picture.

If the blood trailing starts to get thin, we at least have a direction in which we're going and we're not walking over our stuff. And so that has been a eureka idea, a definitely old school idea to the whole thing. Yeah, we take squares of teepee and drop that along and hopefully it it's a short track, but at the same time after it rain and if you come back that way, you can pick up all your teepee.

We've had times where we haven't gone back and the stuff just dissolves there into the ground and we don't need to [00:27:00] worry about it. But anyway, teepee, the role of that is essential. In recovery. I've not personally used an ultraviolet light, but I'm sure that would be something that would be really good.

And now with more and more hounds, men getting onto the blood tracking that's also a great thing to have on. That's not necessarily something you put in the pack. That's a number you got in your phone. I've got a good friend who's got a dog who he's working with, and I got him on speed dial.

So when the deer takes off and I'm not able to recover it, we give Ray a call and he he does an awesome job. But back to the kill kit. As I refer to it getting into my nitty gritties, mine all fits in a quar sized Ziploc bag. I like to keep it nice and compact so it's not in the way I can stick it down in there.

There's not necessarily anything most of it's all pliable anyway. And it's just things that are going to prepare me to field dr, to field dress, and be able to[00:28:00] get the extra. Fifth quarter pieces that I'm looking for if I want really to harvest the organs. This is gonna help you be able to prepare yourself to do that.

And again, quart size sealable bag first is I have either a contractor's I. Trash bag or a three by three, three foot by three foot folded piece of plastic. When we had contractors come through and do a work on a portion of our house, put in a pantry they plasticed off the section of the house when they were taken down and demoing a bunch of the drywall and they just left the roll.

And so that's been an awesome thing to be able to use is I just cut off a three by three section and that just gives me a place to be able to lay down. Pieces that I want to keep. The heart goes onto that piece of plastic. The the liver goes onto there. It lets me take the gut pile out if I haven't spoiled it, or yeah, if I haven't opened it up and spoiled it, the call fat from nicking a.

A piece of the [00:29:00] intestine or the gut, I can pull all that out, lay that on there. Now it's not getting all dirty and rolled around into leaf duff and everything else. It keeps things nice and clean and that way I can take time to be able to take off the call fat. So having just an absolute clean spot that I can lay things down that I know it's not gonna get dirty, that plastic or that contractor's bag.

With the contractor's bag, that'll actually come into play again here in a little bit. That's a two-fold. I can lay it flat, closed, and then put things on top. And then later, if you do choose to quarter your animal, you can open that up to protect your pack. But I'll also throw in there a gallon sealable freezer bag.

That thing gets folded up inside the court bag. Because that's gonna be the vessel that takes everything out. I can get a heart, I can get cough fat, I can get kidneys, I can get liver. You can get all the white tail stuff inside of a gallon Ziploc. I. That is able to then keep from spilling around if, if I'm gonna be throwing it [00:30:00] on the meat hauling pack, it's gonna keep things from leaking out all over the place.

What I've also done is just if I've feel dressed it, I take that Ziploc and I just throw it inside the chest cavity and we'll deal with it when we get back. And it seems to do a good job at holding it in there and not falling out. Gloves. I know it's twofold. Some guys are saying like, don't bring gloves back and forth.

It's it's whether you got 'em handy or not, essentially, I like to do it because if I do get my hands into some. Some bile I get into, I nick something and now I got, shit on the gloves. I'll take two pairs out and then what you do is you put a pair on and then you put the other pair over the top.

So now if I have dirty gloves, I got shit gloves, rip those top ones off. Throw those next to where your pickup pile is, that's gonna go in the court bag, that's gonna take care of all the trash that you're be gonna be making on this. So I take those off and then I got fresh gloves. Or at the same time, if I've got [00:31:00] now one pair on again, I've got poop all over 'em, I got B all over them.

Slide those off. Go to your bare hands and then your bare hands are your like last line of resort. So again, it's just on that whole idea of cleanliness, not on you, but on the items that you are bringing back. Another item that I really like out there is going to be shop towels. Those blue, I don't even wanna say cotton, I'm not even sure what they are, but they are just, I love shop towels for.

Field dressing and cleaning up blood. They are pricey per roll. It's amazing, like when you do a job in your shop and you're using these shop towels on grease and oil, which do a great job on, small engine stuff and you cleaning up gas and things like that. Like you use one sheet and you're like, okay, maybe I can wipe things down and then, and use it again because it is Highly sought after I keep paper towel out there for the boys to use because they're not gonna get into my nice shop towels, at least for their [00:32:00] adventures right now.

So anyway, we use or I use the blue shop towels. I think they do a better job at absorbing and cleaning things up. But I'll take. Two sheets of those possibly three depending on how it's gonna fit in there. But I fold those up and slide those and having the ability to yeah, wipe your hands down.

Having the ability to wipe off your blade, having the ability to just get something clean and again, wait for value that they bring is super. They don't weigh nothing. They fit right there inside that Ziploc bag and you're way to go. This one sits out. I could stick it in the p I keep it, or it could go in the Ziploc.

I keep it on the outside. A folding, replaceable blade knife. I've got one of the old Avalons that I enjoy using. That has really become my field dressing specialty knife. For when I'm working with the gut, when I'm working with the anus, being able to pull that out, that replaceable blade knife has done.

A, an [00:33:00] awesome job. Notoriously they have not been my favorite because of the thin profile of the steel, that model that I have, it, if you torque on it or you try to pop a joint it's gonna break. It's not gonna hold up to that. And that's just the fact of, how thin the steel is.

But at the same time, for working on a small game. It can pop small game joints. Very nice. It works very meticulously. It's just, it's like a scalpel, Uber sharp. When I'm done with that blade, click it off, wrap it up in piece of cardboard, tape it, so now know someone's not sticking themselves.

And then you can throw that in the recycle bin or even in the trash. But That's what I really like that knife for. It's lightweight, but at the same time I get very sharp, accurate cuts to be able to open up that deer. I have put it inside the Ziploc bag before. I've also kept it out just in case a a small game critter comes out at the same time that I'm getting bored.

And so be able to have that ready to clean a squirrel or [00:34:00] rabbit. It's always been nice to have, but having that there and then a length of paraquat having. Six feet of paracord that you're able to wrap up in your little recovery bag is going to help out immensely. Way I've used it is if I'm out there by myself and need to get a leg out of the way, I can put a clove hitch on the hoof.

Handover knot onto a sapling, and that's gonna hold that leg out of the way. So now I only have to worry about blocking with my hip, the other leg. It's just that little extra effort that you think, oh, this is, I don't need to take the time to do this. I don't need to take the time to. Let's just quick do it and be on your way that just quick do it ends up becoming, you end up cutting yourself 'cause you don't have a good angle or you make a bad cut and then you cut into the intestine.

Or if you just don't set yourself up right, it's uncomfortable. It doesn't end up being, not to say that it can, it's not that enjoyable experience to feel dressed, but at the same time, it can [00:35:00] be a more enjoyable field process if you've got someone holding a leg or if you don't have someone to be able to tie that off.

I've also done where I, if I need a quick drag, I'm able to, yeah, clove hitch on two of the hooves, prop the neck up so that I can get get the antlers up For me, that's usually not a big deal because big antlers aren't usually on my deer. I'm able to then use that paracord along with a stick, a wind stick in there, and then I'm able to just move the deer, use that as a drag bar to help out.

So that's another piece that I can use that paracord for. I'm a dragger when it comes to getting the deer out. That hair, if I pull head first and I have the back end going away from me as I pull the hair, does a great job at keeping the ground at the ground and, yeah, keeping the. The deer up off the ground.

Just a tiny little bit. It sickens it up. If I pull [00:36:00] with the grain of the hair versus against I've seen guys that have done several different things bring in a sled, having your. The, the Otter Sleds from ice fishing. Those are a great thing to do if you've got got the means if that you take that along, that's a great idea.

I've seen smaller thinner plastic sleds that have also been worked very well, where essentially they strapped the deer to the sled, but still pull the deer and the sled just rides along the bottom. That just gives you ano less resistance as you go over some terrain that works out really well.

I've even seen where it's just a real thin piece of plastic, that three by three piece of plastic, if you're able to strap that on the under underside of the deer just less less friction that's gonna be able to pull that along. I. So that's the last thing tossed in the pack that I do use is I do bring a fixed blade knife.

I've got a, oh, I believe it's a wild edge. It's got an orange handle, nice grip to it. It's got a bull nose as in the nose, curves up, and then it's got a [00:37:00] gut hook on it. I'm not really a big lover of the gut hook, just because I haven't figured that out. I haven't been able to really get the zip that I've been looking for in.

In the gut hood aspect, but having a fixed blade, oh five inch or four inch, four and a half inch knife with a bull nose on it, if I've gotta get up into the chest cavity a little more, that is a stout knife that I'm able to pop that sternum, or at least a couple ribs to be able to get up in there if I finally want to take off the knee joint or the knuckle and leave the hooves out there.

'cause it's gonna be a long drag and I want those outta the way. I can crack that off or, pull that off it. It's a beefy knife that can handle. A lot of those jobs right there in the field. So keeping one of those where the replaceable knife would not be able to handle it, just having a fixed blade.

That also ends up becoming the utility knife too. If I have a branch that's in my way as I'm climbing up and I need to take that off, a small sap [00:38:00] or a little twig or something, I'm able to use that and take it off clean as opposed to, reefing on the tree. Going down my list here.

Oh, my shackles. So using the paracord before to, to pull my wife got me one of those like sportsman's bag or sportsman's boxes in the mail and you would get a few items each month just to play with and tinker with. And the one that I got is actually a leg shackle that I open it up and it a piece of rope winds through it.

I take those two shackles and I clamp them together on the deer legs. I can, attune the head. So it's picked up and then I put the hooves behind, shackle it up, pull that thing tight, and now I've got a handle, a plastic handle that's there, and those legs get held secure. And so I just have to keep on pulling that rope and the deer's gonna follow behind.

That's been a great little throw thing to throw in the pack to be able to recover the deer as well. Again, I'm a. I'm a dragger. We've got a lot of trail [00:39:00] systems where I am at least on the family farm side of it. If I go up to state land there's dirt roads that run that intersect along the one side, and then there's also a couple other little trails that access is to, that can get nicer.

You might be in a hell hole exactly where you're at. But you're not too far off of some little access point where you can get either a side-by-side, a quad, or even a buddy to be able to help you out. So I've always just kind of drug things to where I can get easy access to them. And then either from that point, make it an easier drag on myself with a sled or at that point, throw it into the back of whatever's waiting for me.

If you are deeper, having the ability to then be able to break that animal down is gonna be super helpful. To be able to gut it and to be able to quarter it and then throw it onto a pax for easy hiking. You're gonna be able to do that. Our fellows right now that are [00:40:00] out in Out west, either in Colorado or Montana, and some of those places where they're chasing elk, the only way that you can get there is with the feet that are underneath you.

And so being able to quarter out that animal my whitetail kit, my whitetail kill kit can adapt pretty easy to that. You got a three by three folded. Piece of plastic in a contractor's bag. It could be as easy as turn that into two contractors bags, one that you're gonna actually cut the side seam and open flat.

Or at that same time, just make it a five by five piece of plastic. Both of those weigh nothing other than a couple ounces and they stuff into wherever you need them to go. You won't even notice 'em, but that would be super helpful for that. I would probably say two or three pairs of gloves. The more pairs that you can put on over the top, you get messy, pull them off and you got a fresh set.

That's a good thing to do. Maybe five shop towels, adapting that to the five shop towels. You're gonna [00:41:00] wanna bring something to add an edge to your knife again for that fixed blade. If it's gonna be doing work on a lot of bone popping joints and you're scraping a little bit, you're gonna wanna be able to put a honed edge back on that.

So bring out a steel a little section of steel, a two or three inch piece. I've got, oh, it's like a little folded sharpener. I forget the, it's not. It's not a name brand that I think people think of. But anyway, I take that and it can fold out. I can do a couple swipes on the blade, fold it back up, throw it my pocket, and it helps bring life back to that blade as I'm taking apart something in the field.

So that's gonna be something that you wanna be able to do. Very possibly another fixed blade knife. If that one is dull or you break one, having a backup is always good. I never was a boy scout. Growing up on the farm, we lived by same of the same code that the Boy Scouts did as far as if you've got one, then you got none because it's gonna end up getting broken.

So that's where bringing a [00:42:00] bonus one in the bottom of the pack or just tucked away that's what you're gonna want to have. Foldable bone saw again here in the Michigan Whitetail Woods. A saw isn't something that I necessarily am going to be bringing out. Should I possibly be bringing one for a mult whole multitude of reasons.

Yeah. But I save a lot of my bone work for when I get it back and hung up. Bone saw though, if you're out in the woods and you wanna be able to get through those ribs you're not necessarily gonna be, you're gonna be taking apart. Long bones or thick bones at the joints, you're not necessarily gonna be cutting those in half, but getting through ribs, getting through and around spine, that's gonna be something where the bone saw is gonna be a good thing to do.

And then game bags, there's a whole sorts of game bags that you get out there, some cheap, some expensive. I never got a chance to use the ones I took out west that I borrowed. But. Seeing some of the cheaper ones, it's like a, yeah, just a cheesecloth sack. It's a really great idea if you're trying to keep meat [00:43:00] clean and you're trying to keep meat.

If it's utmost I import or like just bringing it back in its ultimate state game bags is gonna be useful. If I've taken apart an animal here in Michigan, I've used yeah, the contractor bag. And when I've taken it apart, I've left the hide on, I'm a. I'm a hide on believer in the fact that epidermis, that hair is gonna do wonders at keeping things from getting onto the meat and it's already, there's connective tissue that keeps it on there.

It's not going to allow anything to get up in between it very easily. Not until my knife does. So keeping that on, I try not to disturb that. Inside of wherever the joint is at. Say it be one of the back court, the, the rear quarters or the front quarters, being able to peel that off. Keeping that area off the ground, laying that on the plastic, hanging it from a tree, you've got your paracord looping up.

Both front quarters, over [00:44:00] a branch, that's gonna be helpful as you're trying to prepare yourself to get out. But again, sticking those quarters into that contractor bag keeps your pack clean. But if you do expose them, yeah, then you've got the game bags that just basically provide a little bit of that extra safety net there.

And other than that, maybe another little bit of paracord and you're all set. It's a pretty. Primal thing that when you're field dressing and recovering an animal, it's just a lot of hard work. You're gonna have to use what you've got on you, and at the same time, you don't want to take a lot out there with you.

So I, yeah, all it needs to be is a quart size Ziploc bag. All it needs to be is a A cinch down or a cinch bag, little like little Diddy bag with your game bags with all your implements that you're gonna want to have to use in there. It, but at the same time I say it's real primal process.

These little things make that process [00:45:00] easier. It makes that process more enjoyable. I could even shout out to the guys that even have better setups than I do. They might be they might be using a game cart at that point. They might. Take apart their deer. They might gut it out, hang it up, put their tag on it, and then go back to the truck where their game cart weights, wheel that sucker out, and then bring it back in with a buddy to be able to pull.

That's a great way to save on your back if that's been a thing. If you're getting a little on the The gray side there and the next morning after recovery your body doesn't bounce back as well. Getting a cart can be helpful. Shoot, I just did a quick look for electric bike saddlebags to see if they've got those.

Yes, they do have saddlebag on the back of an electric bike or even a mountain bike that you could take your quarters, slide those things in and just ride your way back to where your truck's at. They've even got trailers now for some of the electric bikes. And yeah, it's, if you're gonna [00:46:00] make the investment on that, you might as well just get a trailer to go along with it.

So there's another add-on. You could go with it. But yeah, the feet that you got, the rope that you're gonna be able to pull it with, whether it be paraquat or something a little thicker and just dragging that deer, that just seems to be my go-to. Keep the skin on, keep the hide on, and that'll keep the dirt out.

At least that's what you hope. And if it's snowing well, hey, good on you. You've got even more slickness to help you out. So that's our talk today. Brief overview of what I'm taking into the archery woods this year on how I'm jumping to a meat hauler pack with my F one mainframe and using that to also carry my gear out, but at the same time, yeah, maybe I go through the steps and actually quarter the deer and bring it back to the house rather than than drag it.

We'll see what we'll see what develops there. But yeah, I hope you enjoyed my, oh little talk into that. I hope you glean a little bit both from. [00:47:00] The equipment, checking that. Yeah. If we're hard on our equipment, this is stuff that we wanna feel like when we go out into the wilderness that it's gonna hold up.

Let's check that before we get out there. Let's check that when we get back so that we don't have any mishaps, because yeah, we've got responsibilities to come home to and we don't want to be one that is fall victim to just not paying attention to what's out there, but at the same time, Prepping ourselves with the success, not putting the cart before the horse, but at least not.

Forgetting the cart, not forgetting the way that we're going to get that animal back is good for us. So folks, as you go on and continue to get your reps with archery equipment or even beginning to cite in for your firearms as you begin to prepare yourselves for the next month, at least here in a good portion of the country here in October where we will be chasing.

After our beloved white tails, make [00:48:00] sure you're ready for a full recovery. Make sure that you've got the pieces that you need to make that process enjoyable, and that replaceable blade knife, or even that fixed blade knife is in there, is prepped and always sharp.

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