Hunting in Colorado’s 4th rifle season this year, I learned a lot about planning, gear selection, and coping with weather. We had about 8 hunters in Colorado Unit 12 near Vaughan Lake and setup a basecamp there. I also was prepared to stay overnight in a tarp tent with stove, but ended up not doing so. Temperatures were usually low to mid 20s (degree F) dropping to 0-4 degrees for most of opening day. We had to bug out early due to the arctic blast dropping about 20 inches of snow on top of the 8 already there.
Here are some things that worked well, or not so well for us:
Kifaru Timberline II back pack was great for packing in, several day’s worth of gear, and also as a day pack. I really like this pack.
Trekking poles: I use Titanium Goat carbon fiber poles (no longer available). I love them, but if you hunt while on the move, you have to think about the process of ditching them to get your hands free for grabbing a rifle. I used them because we scouted before the opening day on snow shoes…
MSR Evo Ascent snowshoes: not that these were absolutely necessary, but compared to the average Costco snowshoes a friend had, these held well on side-slopes whereas his boots slipped off his snowshoe regularly and he had little traction on slopes.
Marmot 15-degree bag: worked well as a 20-degree bag, and down to 10-degrees or so by wearing base layers, and adding a jacket inside if needed. I felt this was a good rating to have on this trip, as I was able to compress it to fit in a pack if needed, and it is not too hard to make a much warmer bag with items at-hand if needed. In other words, a warmer rated bag with a little more bulk would not necessarily have been “better” for me on this trip.
Water bottles were kept inside the pack which prevented freezing in the 0-4 degree (F) weather. I did not search for ways to keep the hose to a hydration bladder from freezing (blow back or open the valve with the hose over your head after use to drain fluid back into the bladder).
Light-weight Kill Kit, home made kit with a few silnylon game bags from TAG and Kifaru. Small space and light weight! Everything in one bag keeps it handy when needed.
Bic lighter and storm matches both work at 9000-10,000 feet. Only natural thing I could get to burn as a fire starter was dead pine needles. Small branches from dead aspens were very difficult to light, probably due to the recent snow melts and rain.
Planning with Colorado’s Hunt Atlas, provides great information with game movement overlays, public land/SWAs, etc clearly shown.
Kifaru Gun Bearer holds the rifle in ready position without having to hold in your hands.
Cotton balls with Vaseline rubbed in for fire-starter. Worked great to get a small fire going in the snow (and after previous week’s rain) to thaw out the water hose of my hydration system.
Merino wool base layers: Lived in Icebreakers bottoms and top all week.
Jet Boil: boils water way faster than a coleman stove at 9400 feet.
Pre-made lunches: Peanut butter, bacon and honey on bagels (taste great, good calorie to ounce ratio, and package well for a pack.
Rail Rider VersaTac pants: water resistant and shed snow (at least the dry Colorado powder). Used the light weight pant with a baselayer most of the time. The Mid-weight pant with a base layer was too hot when moving around in 20-degree weather, but was perfect when on the move in 4-10 degrees.
Some things I would change:
Cabelas Dry Plus parka: generally too hot when on the move (20 degree temps). I used a thin merino wool base layer with this parka and was too hot when on the move except when the temperature was 5-10 defrees. I would have been better off with the base layer, a thin insulating layer, and a light weight shell. As it was, I had no way to de-layer when too hot. Note: this is the original parka from ~10 years ago.
What worked (or didn't) for you?
Here are some things that worked well, or not so well for us:
Kifaru Timberline II back pack was great for packing in, several day’s worth of gear, and also as a day pack. I really like this pack.
Trekking poles: I use Titanium Goat carbon fiber poles (no longer available). I love them, but if you hunt while on the move, you have to think about the process of ditching them to get your hands free for grabbing a rifle. I used them because we scouted before the opening day on snow shoes…
MSR Evo Ascent snowshoes: not that these were absolutely necessary, but compared to the average Costco snowshoes a friend had, these held well on side-slopes whereas his boots slipped off his snowshoe regularly and he had little traction on slopes.
Marmot 15-degree bag: worked well as a 20-degree bag, and down to 10-degrees or so by wearing base layers, and adding a jacket inside if needed. I felt this was a good rating to have on this trip, as I was able to compress it to fit in a pack if needed, and it is not too hard to make a much warmer bag with items at-hand if needed. In other words, a warmer rated bag with a little more bulk would not necessarily have been “better” for me on this trip.
Water bottles were kept inside the pack which prevented freezing in the 0-4 degree (F) weather. I did not search for ways to keep the hose to a hydration bladder from freezing (blow back or open the valve with the hose over your head after use to drain fluid back into the bladder).
Light-weight Kill Kit, home made kit with a few silnylon game bags from TAG and Kifaru. Small space and light weight! Everything in one bag keeps it handy when needed.
Bic lighter and storm matches both work at 9000-10,000 feet. Only natural thing I could get to burn as a fire starter was dead pine needles. Small branches from dead aspens were very difficult to light, probably due to the recent snow melts and rain.
Planning with Colorado’s Hunt Atlas, provides great information with game movement overlays, public land/SWAs, etc clearly shown.
Kifaru Gun Bearer holds the rifle in ready position without having to hold in your hands.
Cotton balls with Vaseline rubbed in for fire-starter. Worked great to get a small fire going in the snow (and after previous week’s rain) to thaw out the water hose of my hydration system.
Merino wool base layers: Lived in Icebreakers bottoms and top all week.
Jet Boil: boils water way faster than a coleman stove at 9400 feet.
Pre-made lunches: Peanut butter, bacon and honey on bagels (taste great, good calorie to ounce ratio, and package well for a pack.
Rail Rider VersaTac pants: water resistant and shed snow (at least the dry Colorado powder). Used the light weight pant with a baselayer most of the time. The Mid-weight pant with a base layer was too hot when moving around in 20-degree weather, but was perfect when on the move in 4-10 degrees.
Some things I would change:
Cabelas Dry Plus parka: generally too hot when on the move (20 degree temps). I used a thin merino wool base layer with this parka and was too hot when on the move except when the temperature was 5-10 defrees. I would have been better off with the base layer, a thin insulating layer, and a light weight shell. As it was, I had no way to de-layer when too hot. Note: this is the original parka from ~10 years ago.
What worked (or didn't) for you?
