Leaving for Wyoming.

Well, I'll be leaving for Wyoming in about 5 or 6 hours. Actual driving time only shows to be 16 hours so if things go well that should take about 18 hours with Eli. This will be Eli's 4th road trip of over 2,000 miles in a car and so far he has done really well. We bought a little DVD player that goes on the back of the seat and he gets to watch Barney, Thomas the Train and Bob the Builder videos when he is awake. The benefit to driving through the night though is that he will be asleep for about 2/3rds of the trip. We listen to audio books and rotate drivers and it really isn't too bad.

We are going to hook up with Mike in Powell and then head out when he gets off work. I may even be able to get a nap in before we head out. We'll have to set up the trailer in the dark, but he said that it wouldn't be that bad. Saturday morning we should be off before dawn hoping to find some elk. I am pretty excited.

I've hunted a lot growing up, but it was generally unorganized and sometimes we had what we needed, but a lot of times we just made due with what we had. Now that I have to drive 1,000+ miles to go on an elk hunt I'm trying to be a little more organized.

I'm planning on using a fanny pack and a daypack with the shoulder straps that latch together and a waist strap. The daypack has a removable internal frame and will hopefully double as a meat pack on the first trip out and then Mike has some pack frames to haul the hindquarters out with.

Of course I will have my 7mm Rem Mag and will be shooting 160gr Accubond bullets. They are a premium bonded bullet and are designed to stay together even if they hit bone and continue to penetrate through the animal. Elk are well known for being very hard to kill and an often used phrase heard by hunters after putting a good shot on an Elk only to see it still standing is "Shoot it again"! I'll have 3 rounds in the clip and 4 rounds in the shoulder sling. I'll have my Nikon Monarch 10x42 Binoculars with a crooked horn strap system and I will have a bear spray canister holstered (this area is serious grizzly territory).

I like to use a fanny pack and day pack and put things in the fanny pack that I need to get to without having to take my pack off my back. In my fanny pack I'll have my Gerber knife and sharpener, range finder, gps, hoochie mama cow call, head lamp and a few snacks and I bought a new Canon Powershot 1100 IS camera to take on the trip. Packing the Nikon D70S DSLR is not an option due to the fact that it weighs about as much as my rifle! I'll carry my cell phone on flight mode in my fanny pack as well just to use for a watch if nothing else. I'll be about 20 miles away from cell phone coverage.

In my back pack I'll have my shooting sticks strapped to the side, my first aid kit with ibuprofen, antihistamne and decongestents, bandaids, antiseptic and some guaze and tape. I'll have some, duct tape, 50' of nylon rope, my leatherman, an extra folding knife, a gerber gator I collapsable saw with a wood blade and a bone blade, some zip ties, an extra pair of wool socks, a couple bungee cords, 2 AA batteries, an extra headlamp, small LED flashlight, a compass, an emergency blanket (the little silver ones), TP in a ziploc bag, matches and a lighter in a ziploc bag, and some baby wipes in a ziploc bag. I'll also have 2 heavy duty trash bags and a couple meat sacks. I'll have my 2 liter hydration bladder full of water and will carry my lunch in the backpack along with some emergency snacks (snickers bar & some granola).

I can't decide if I want to mess with a FRS 2 way radio on the trail or not and whether I need an extra sharpener in the pack as a backup.

Back at camp I'll have a rubbermaid tub with extra ammo, butcher knife set, a bunch of AA batteries, Walker Game earphones, decent spotting scope, tripod, and video camera.

For clothing I've got 7 pair of merino wool socks, a pair of GoreTex hunting boots that I've got broken in well and one big camo jacket, 2 pairs of jeans, 3 pair of twill camo pants, 4 long sleeve shirts, 2 long sleeve underarmor shirts, 5 T-shirts, camo rain gear (jacket and pants), flourescent orange vest, 2 baseball caps (one is orange) and 1 flourescent orange stocking cap and 2 pair of light gloves. The season opens on September 20th and I just can't see myself packing long johns and heavy winter stuff. I also have an extra pair of hiking boots but I only bought them a week ago and don't have them completely broken in so they are for emergency use only if I fall in a creek or something and my regular boots are completely wet.

I didn't list out the food, but with the travel trailer as base camp we plan on eating pretty well. I'm definetly not going to be staying on my low carb diet as I will be burning off plenty of calories hiking and hopefully packing out an elk!

Mike is bringing some scent killer spray and bunch of other stuff. This will be his 6th year in a row to hunt this particular spot and he knows it pretty well and has shot 4 elk out of this spot in the last 5 years. He will have the bugle and a cow call and will be packed pretty well from past experience with hiking with him but this will be the first time hunting with him.

That's about it. I posted my packing list on a hunting bulletin board and was reminded of a few useful items that I didn't have on there originally. Hopefully in a little over a week I will be back posting a picture of me posing wth an elk on the ground but at a minium I will be posting some pictures of some beautiful scenery and telling a story of a great hunting trip whether we are successful or not.

HOPEFULLY the stock market will come back a little bit while I'm away but the best thing is that I won't be worrying about it one way or the other!