Today, it is pretty easy for hunters to get loaded down with equipment. While we’re moving to a simpler lifestyle, sporting goods retailers, it seems, have built assembly lines and supply chains that can move the latest gadgets from field to checkout lines at magnum speeds. 

My favorite outfitter is now a big box store with thousands of items for every kind of outdoor excursion.  The photo to the left captures me checking out a pocket-sized weather meter I brought home from my last shopping trip. Couldn’t resist.  Local and real time wind direction and speed, temperature, and barometric pressure – a little edge to help me make the shot, or so I hoped. 

When you come to hunt Little Sage Ranch, however, the simple fact of the matter is that you can leave most of the cool stuff at home.   We believe that new hunters have better experiences when they focus on the hunt rather than on the gadgets.  We either have it here for your use, or you don’t need it.  Below, I have listed some items under the categories must have and nice to have.  The only problem is that the must have list is the longer list.

Must Have

• Desire for the pursuit and to succeed as an ethical hunter. We practice “Fair Chase” as defined by the Boone & Crockett club. Since 1887, the club has promoted ethics that respect the animal and our hunting traditions while promoting specific practices that conserve, protect and perpetuate wildlife populations. 
• Marksmanship ability.  Rifle and shooter must be able to consistently hit within a 3 inch circle at 100 yards.  This level of accuracy should translate to hits within a 6 inch circle at 200 yards, which is sufficient for deer hunting on the ranch.  And, hunters should be able to accomplish this marksmanship goal in the sitting, kneeling, prone and standing positions!  This means taking your training beyond the shooting bench!  If you would like more information on this topic, take a look at the linked article “Hunting Rifle Accuracy: Enough is Enough” by Chuck Hawks.   The rifle doesn’t need to be expensive or fancy, just accurate and reliable.  We recommend zeroing your rifle at 100 yards.  Most deer are taken here between 80 and 175 yards. If they are much farther away than that, I just wave.
• Comfortable, insulated water proof boots.  You already knew this, but I wanted to emphasize that you will be doing a lot of walking in variable warm, cold and/or wet conditions and over variable terrain.  Your boots should be broken in and constructed to keep you sure-footed on slippery or rocky terrain and comfortable in our fall climate.
• Comfortable Clothing. Because daily fall temperatures can fluctuate over 30 degrees F between morning and afternoon, we recommend choosing outfits that allow you to dress in layers.
• Gloves and/or mittens with open fingers. Cold morning temperatures make gloves or mittens with open fingers a necessity. I like gloves or mittens that are heavy enough to keep me warm, but not so bulky that I cannot grip the rifle properly or access the trigger.
• Ammunition.  While choice of caliber is up to you, we believe that calibers between .243 and .308 are effective for whitetail and mule deer and yield the best, low recoil experiences for hunters of all ages.  Whatever you’re shooting, we recommend bringing just enough ammunition to re-check zero and conduct the hunt.  A box of 20 cartridges is more than enough. Extra ammunition for popular calibers is available locally. 
• Small Day pack. Whether worn on your back or belt, a day pack is a useful item for carrying all of the small essentials listed below. With gear packed away, it is also easier to avoid making a racket as you walk through the woods.  
• Hearing protection. We recommend use of the best hearing protective devices, or HPDs, you can afford whenever you are on the shooting range or in the field hunting.  A big game rifle produces fast rising, damaging sound levels up to 170 decibels.  Given that foam protectors only give you about 33 decibels of sound reduction, it is clear that additional protection is needed even if you expect to hear very few shots.  Consider investing in custom made nonlinear or electronic HPDs for maximum protection.
• Sun glasses UV/shooting safety glasses. Sunglasses, which offer both ballistic protection and protection from damaging Ultra Violet radiation are definitely recommended.  They not only help protest your vision, but help prevent fatigue during bright sunny days or reduce the glare from snow-covered fields after a storm.  Glasses should fit well and offer comfort for all day wear.
• Binoculars (7 x 30 or 8 x 40) and Pro Harness for added comfort and accessibility.  Good glass, whether rifle scope or binocular, are indisputably useful tools in the field.  Binoculars have many purposes in the field and are essential for evaluating distant deer. Of the two sizes, we prefer the higher power 8x40s, but there are more things to consider.  For example, consider size and weight, field of view, available lens coatings, and whether the binocular is waterproof.  For the hunter, a binocular should be compact, waterproof, and offer the magnification and lens coatings needed to perform in low light conditions.  A binocular harness keeps your binoculars snug against your chest, out of the way and ready to use.  Here, again, you don’t need to spend a fortune.  You just need to be able to quickly find the deer in the glass and have sufficient resolution to evaluate its body and antler configuration during the dawn and twilight hours.
• Blaze orange cap and vest or coat (required). The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission requires hunters to wear a minimum of 400 square inches of blaze orange on their head, chest and back when hunting deer or turkey during firearm seasons. Blaze orange can be found in every hunting good store.  The challenge here is to find a garment that allows freedom of movement and silence in the field. 
• Game field dressing knife with sharpener.  When the hunt is over, the real work of processing the deer for the table begins! Key things to look for are a blade that retains its edge well, a small, sharp  hook, and a comfortable handle that helps you maintain a good grip.  Field dressing kits, such as Gerber’s field dress kit, will give you a good idea of what’s needed in the field.
• Field gun cleaning kit.  Although hunters are typically very careful with their firearms and gear, accidents happen.  When a firearm gets dropped on the ground, a field gun cleaning kit can help clean up most situations and get you back on the hunt fast.  We also recommend packing a multi-tool with a set of screw driver types and sizes needed to adjust action screws or scope mounts. 
• Pocket first aid/emergency field kit – For all emergencies, we recommend 911 as the first call you should make.  The most useful first aid items out here are a collection of band-aids of various sizes, tweezers for removing splinters, tick removal tool and a tube of antibiotic ointment.  Cut or pierced fingers can happen when climbing over barbed-wire fences or losing grip on your knife when field dressing. Ticks remain a concern well into the fall. Chem flares, flashlight, and a headlamp are handy for helping emergency responders find you. 
• Cellular phone.  Like anywhere else, cell phones keep you connected in most areas of the ranch.  The only places where you may lose service are in the ranch’s canyons. I consider cell phones to be essential part of the hunter’s kit because of the life-saving connectivity they can provide in the event of an emergency. Just don’t get distracted texting while waiting for the big one to walk by!

Nice to Have

• Range finder with capability out to 300 yards.  Ranch finders are useful because most of us are terrible at estimating distances.  Knowing the distance to the target can make the difference between a miss and venison.  While we encourage you to bring one if you have one, we will give you a topographical map of the ranch that provides a range scale.  This will allow you to estimate distances easily.
• Gun Pod/Bipod/Tripod. While monopods, bipods and tripods can help improve accuracy, they are usually not necessary.  In most cases, you will be in a sitting position and able to establish a stable shooting framework.
• Shooter’s Glasses.  Yellow and orange-tinted shooter’s glasses filter blues and are a popular choice for sharpening your vision during twilight hours. Here again, look for glasses that offer comfort and protection.
• Thermos. I was thinking about coffee as I wrote this and started to question my logic!   I consider it optional because we supply refreshments throughout the day.  We do recommend including a bottled water among you small backpack items, however.
• Game storage bag.  Game storage bags can protect your deer until you can get it to a game processor. Made of breathable cotton, game storage bags can keep out dust and flying insects.
• Camera /video camera.  Don’t forget to bring a camera to record your hunt.

Leave it Home

Well, you can start by leaving that pocket-sized weather station at home.  I would have included it as a “nice to have” item, but couldn’t remember a time when I actually checked it in the field before I was ready to shoot.  I just didn’t need it.  Over the relatively short ranges we are likely to encounter here, wind drift will not be much of a problem until you start taking shots beyond 200 yards, which we don’t recommend.  Other things you can leave at home are deer scents and lures, deer calls, and computerized scopes.  All can be useful in the right situations, but can also overwhelm the new hunter to the point of distraction and missed opportunity.