Quote:
Originally Posted by zinn0
So next week I'm going on my first deer hunt. I live in Ohio and am going to be using my Ithaca model 51 featherlite.
What are the absolute necessities that I cannot enter the woods without next monday morning?
Whatever clothing you need to stay warm with enough hunter orange to keep you legal and from being shot by mistake.
Ammo
Licenses
Good, very sharp knife. Seriously sharp. I get mine sharp enough to take the air off my arm. This makes a huge difference when you are field dressing your deer. A good knife is worth a few extra dollars as well.
I use a little T handled saw to saw through the sternum and pelvis. You can field dress a deer without that but it makes life SO much simpler.
I take a "Drag Strap". This is a strap that goes over my shoulders, like a harness, and attaches to a rope that I can put around the neck of the deer and then drag the deer out using my legs and not needing to hang on to anything with my hands.
If you are going to be out for a while yu also want to have water and some sort of high energy food sort of stuff as well.
You may not have to depending on where you are hunting, but, I almost always have some emergency stuff with me. This consists of a space blanket and several ways to start a fire. I have waterproof matches, a bic lighter, a magnesium sparking thing and some very cool Tri-Ox tablets that will burn and start a fire in the snow. I also normally have a 2nd knife with me just in case the primary knife gets lost or dulls up or who knows what.