ND Archery Mule Deer Pack List

Joined
Aug 6, 2017
Messages
957
Location
West-central MN
I'll be going to the badlands in 2019 with my dad and put together a pack list that I'd love to get experienced eyes on. We'll probably be there for the opener because I get labor day off anyway and save a vacation day. I plan to do day hunts and camp by the vehicle for several reasons:
1. Not having to worry about finding water sources afield (and not having to drink from a stock tank)
2. Ease of packing up camp and moving if pressure is high or deer are not around
3. Keeping packs light (at least until we kill something), since my dad is 64.

We'll be in a floored tent on a nice big fat heavy air mattress. I have a tarp in my pack for emergencies and in case we want some shade while glassing.

The food is tentative, and would be different for my dad, since he's not on the low carb train, but we'll figure that part out.

Here's the list. Let me know what you think of the gear and the game plan. Dad will be similarly equipped, although there are some things we would not double up on like the tarp, coffee setup, etc.

Electrolyte replenishment of some sort is probably a good idea, so sugarless recommendations are welcome on that front.

https://lighterpack.com/r/bfld1r
 

BrentLaBere

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Oct 24, 2013
Messages
239
Location
Bismarck
Aquamira Drops - Dont think you need these... I would never fill my water out in the field. Just my opinion though. Like you said, bring stuff with and if you need something for an emergency, I would need a filter.
Maybe look into a game cart. Not sure if your dad is able to pack much? Could use one depending where you find yourself.
If you plan on staying away from towns for awhile, bring jerry cans of fuel.

Just a few thoughts
 
OP
Boxerboxer
Joined
Aug 6, 2017
Messages
957
Location
West-central MN
Aquamira Drops - Dont think you need these... I would never fill my water out in the field. Just my opinion though. Like you said, bring stuff with and if you need something for an emergency, I would need a filter.
Maybe look into a game cart. Not sure if your dad is able to pack much? Could use one depending where you find yourself.
If you plan on staying away from towns for awhile, bring jerry cans of fuel.

Just a few thoughts

Agreed that water in the field is super unlikely. I actually meant to replace drops with tablets - seems like a small qty of tablets is probably the lightest way to cover that emergency situation. Could go filter, just seemed like unnecessary weight for a contingency plan.

Game cart is not a bad idea, though it's already going to be tight in a Subaru Crosstrek with all our gear. I plan on packing out the lion's share. Dad's good for a front quarter, though. He's in pretty good shape, weighs about what he did in highschool when his nickname was "skinny", and was raised by the biggest workaholic/hardman I've ever known (grandpa heated his home with wood he split until he was 81), so I'm not too worried about it.

Edit: thanks for the thoughts, appreciated.
 

wrkn2hunt

FNG
Joined
Mar 13, 2017
Messages
52
Location
Cooperstown ND
I hunt the badlands yearly and water is not an issue. Usually you won't be more than 3 miles from a road or vehicle so day trips are the way to go. I have camped on a buck before but just took a few extra bottles of water with. I wouldn't do a game cart as I think its way easier to debone and pack out than to try find a way to pull a damn cart around. Are you a resident or how do you know you will be hunting in 19? Non res tags are extremely tough to get but if you do you are in for a hell of a hunt! I hunt all over and ND is managed tight and there are big deer to be found. My pack for ND is usually damn light because it is day trips. Only take what you need as you are always within reach of a road.
 
OP
Boxerboxer
Joined
Aug 6, 2017
Messages
957
Location
West-central MN
I hunt the badlands yearly and water is not an issue. Usually you won't be more than 3 miles from a road or vehicle so day trips are the way to go. I have camped on a buck before but just took a few extra bottles of water with. I wouldn't do a game cart as I think its way easier to debone and pack out than to try find a way to pull a damn cart around. Are you a resident or how do you know you will be hunting in 19? Non res tags are extremely tough to get but if you do you are in for a hell of a hunt! I hunt all over and ND is managed tight and there are big deer to be found. My pack for ND is usually damn light because it is day trips. Only take what you need as you are always within reach of a road.

Regarding the non-res tag: I'm certain my dad will be able to chase muleys, as he's a resident. That's the primary goal. I'm a Minnesota resident, but if the mule deer tags next year are similar to this year (~500) and applicants similar to last year (~750) I should have decent odds. If I don't draw, I will consider either not buying a ND tag but going with dad to help pack and share the experience or just getting a whitetail tag. Even if there's no time to fill it out west I live near enough to Fargo that I can hunt some spots just on that side of the river that I have permission on. In that case I would probably skip the MN deer tag unless hurting for freezer filler.
 

Muleys32

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Aug 31, 2016
Messages
121
Location
North Dakota
The only thing that I would add personally is a pair of thicker wool socks in my pack. That way I can take my boots off and slip them over my socks and stalk in like that. Slows me way down and makes me a lot more quiet. Watch out for cactus though!
 

OFFHNTN

WKR
Joined
Apr 10, 2015
Messages
472
I don't see rain gear on your list, I would take that. Check the forecast and leave it in camp in no rain is called for.
I would also have a GPS with.

I'm a little confused with your water listed at 100oz. Is that the amount you will carry each day? If you are camping at your vehicle everynight, you should be able to load it up with a lot of water, gatorade, powerade, etc and not worry about drops or treating it in any way. Just grab a few bottles before you head out each morning.
 
OP
Boxerboxer
Joined
Aug 6, 2017
Messages
957
Location
West-central MN
I don't see rain gear on your list, I would take that. Check the forecast and leave it in camp in no rain is called for.
I would also have a GPS with.

I'm a little confused with your water listed at 100oz. Is that the amount you will carry each day? If you are camping at your vehicle everynight, you should be able to load it up with a lot of water, gatorade, powerade, etc and not worry about drops or treating it in any way. Just grab a few bottles before you head out each morning.

100 oz is what I drink normally and September should get fairly hot some days. Talked to a co-worker yesterday who drinks a similar amount at similar time of year in the Badlands. I have a packable rain jacket that would go in the vehicle and will watch the forcast. Will use phone as GPS in airplane mode.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

kupper

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jul 21, 2016
Messages
108
Some good advice above. In my opinion you're a bit over packed but that's half the fun. I spend a lot of time hunting and camping in the badlands every year (normally at least 50 days). I typically get 2+ miles in and then camp just for ease of glassing but its all dependent on what buck im after that year. More often than not they aren't much over a mile from a road in that country and day hunting is just as effective. My pack looks about like this for September badlands minus a tent, pad, sleeping bag, stove, pot, and extra food.
On the body: Solid or camo colored cotton t-shirt, any sort of lightweight hiking/hunting pants, darn tough socks, merino boxers, lightweight hunting boots, bino harness of your choosing (swaro 10x42 inside and wind checker, tags and headlamp in outside pockets) and an iphone 7 with phoneskope.
In the pack: puffy jacket, extra thick wool socks, rain jacket, promaster tripod and sirui head with a bino adapter post, meopta meostar 82, game bags, knife, light glassing pad, food, water, batteries, power bank and cellphone charger. If there is one piece of advice as far as gear is concerned that I can give you its to bring real wind checker and use it often on stocks. Bring the best optics you can regardless of weight. Don't bring a game cart, you can pack an entire muledeer by yourself so if your dad can get a front quarter youre golden. Good call on using your phone with onx as a gps.
 

Jordan Budd

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Aug 8, 2012
Messages
2,743
Location
NW Nebraska
In regards to the Aquamira, I would definitely keep those in the pack. First off they weight 1 oz. Secondly they are part of a "survival" kit in my opinion and should be carried 100% of the time... I carry aquatabs instead of aquamira drops but they're the same thing. If you get into a spot where you need water and can find some, it would be much more efficient to fill a bladder and treat with aquamira than hiking back out to the truck to get more. Especially if your camped on a buck.. just my .02 but water treatment is part of my possibles kit that 100% is always in my pack, no matter the hunt.
 

rackcity24

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Oct 29, 2017
Messages
173
Location
north dakota
Pedialyte works well for electrolytes. Have a few different areas picked out in case there other hunters. Once you find an area that looks promising glass. You'd be surprised where you can find some nice bucks. I will say DEPENDING WHAT ROADS YOU TAKE be careful, some may be bad others not so much. The clay turns to gumbo if it rains.
 

JDZ

WKR
Joined
Jun 12, 2014
Messages
559
Location
Texas
I've car camped in western ND a lot for deer and antelope archery seasons. One thing we did was plan our food such that we didn't need a cooler. It saved the hassle of keeping ice and such. We ate tuna on a bagel and Mountain House. Go to town to buy ice when you kill something. This was before the days of Yeti coolers, so maybe not a big deal for you.

Not sure what the hell you'd do with a water filter, tabs, or drops in western ND.

Bring a propane powered hot shower. Open the front and rear passenger doors and shower on the side of the road in a field approach if you're modest. If you aren't, shower wherever the heck you want. Afternoon showers are nice, as it might be chilly in the evening or morning.
 
OP
Boxerboxer
Joined
Aug 6, 2017
Messages
957
Location
West-central MN
In regards to the Aquamira, I would definitely keep those in the pack. First off they weight 1 oz. Secondly they are part of a "survival" kit in my opinion and should be carried 100% of the time... I carry aquatabs instead of aquamira drops but they're the same thing. If you get into a spot where you need water and can find some, it would be much more efficient to fill a bladder and treat with aquamira than hiking back out to the truck to get more. Especially if your camped on a buck.. just my .02 but water treatment is part of my possibles kit that 100% is always in my pack, no matter the hunt.

That was my rationale too. It's staying in the pack (but maybe tabs so I don't have to mess with mixing or premixing).
 
OP
Boxerboxer
Joined
Aug 6, 2017
Messages
957
Location
West-central MN
I've car camped in western ND a lot for deer and antelope archery seasons. One thing we did was plan our food such that we didn't need a cooler. It saved the hassle of keeping ice and such. We ate tuna on a bagel and Mountain House. Go to town to buy ice when you kill something. This was before the days of Yeti coolers, so maybe not a big deal for you.

Not sure what the hell you'd do with a water filter, tabs, or drops in western ND.

Bring a propane powered hot shower. Open the front and rear passenger doors and shower on the side of the road in a field approach if you're modest. If you aren't, shower wherever the heck you want. Afternoon showers are nice, as it might be chilly in the evening or morning.

Since I need water anyway, I'll probably freeze a bunch of gallon jugs and throw them in the cooler (which by the way is not a yeti because I'm way too cheap for that business), and I may throw in some steak or bacon or whatever, but in general the food will be stuff that doesn't require cooking.

Water filter won't be coming, but tabs/drops will. Like Jordan said, I would rather drop some tabs in cattle trough water than waste time going back to the vehicle. That shouldn't even be an issue unless things get real western but I'd rather have them and not need them.

RE: the propane shower, see my earlier comment about being cheap. It's just me and dad, so we'll let 'em swing, but showers will be wet wipes unless we kill something with time left on the clock, and then we'll just make the 5hr drive home and shower there.
 

wrkn2hunt

FNG
Joined
Mar 13, 2017
Messages
52
Location
Cooperstown ND
This is a great post! I don't carry water purification items but did in the early years of hunting out there. I have a few times drank out of a tank filled by an aquafir. Water tasted like shit but I didn't die. In my years of hunting out there I have never had a shower but I can say it would be amazing to have one after a couple of days! I learned the hard way by going in too heavy early on and now Im all about being as light as possibly and use the badlands to test the gear for my out of state mountain hunts.
 
OP
Boxerboxer
Joined
Aug 6, 2017
Messages
957
Location
West-central MN
This is a great post! I don't carry water purification items but did in the early years of hunting out there. I have a few times drank out of a tank filled by an aquafir. Water tasted like shit but I didn't die. In my years of hunting out there I have never had a shower but I can say it would be amazing to have one after a couple of days! I learned the hard way by going in too heavy early on and now Im all about being as light as possibly and use the badlands to test the gear for my out of state mountain hunts.

Ha, Cooperstown, eh? Spent quite a bit of time at the camp as a lad, though I haven't been up there in decades.
 

BrentLaBere

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Oct 24, 2013
Messages
239
Location
Bismarck
Figured I would bring it up in this thread. Does anyone know of fire restrictions for the grasslands? Wondering about using a stove for my tent. November should be a non issue as far as bans go....just curious if someone knows off hand where to find it. Emailed a few people and waiting for responses.
 

Muleys32

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Aug 31, 2016
Messages
121
Location
North Dakota
Figured I would bring it up in this thread. Does anyone know of fire restrictions for the grasslands? Wondering about using a stove for my tent. November should be a non issue as far as bans go....just curious if someone knows off hand where to find it. Emailed a few people and waiting for responses.

Burn Ban Restrictions & Fire Danger Maps | ND Response. Counties in grey are in a fire restriction. It says that the burn ban is only in effect if the fire index is High, Very High, or Extreme. The color coded map shows what the fire danger is in each county and is supposed to be updated daily.
 

BrentLaBere

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Oct 24, 2013
Messages
239
Location
Bismarck
Burn Ban Restrictions & Fire Danger Maps | ND Response. Counties in grey are in a fire restriction. It says that the burn ban is only in effect if the fire index is High, Very High, or Extreme. The color coded map shows what the fire danger is in each county and is supposed to be updated daily.

Still have plenty of time to clarify, but I wonder if it would be considered a recreation fire or device controlled. Changes the allowable time to burn depending on the fire danger. But Seems like they stop updating it after October 31st.
 
Top