Exploring the hunting backpack

This is the first of a two-part series about exploring the hunting backpack.

A hunter should be careful, cautious and thorough about what they take into the field. A knife is a necessary item as is the various big game tags, such as deer, elk, bear and cougar. Most of the time the hunting season for deer and elk are not held at the same time, but a deer or elk hunter might happen upon a bear or cougar during the hunt. In fact, most cougar are taken while hunting other big game.

Other items are optional and depend upon the particular hunt area. If hunting moose around Colville, my backpack will be heavier with survival gear. If hunting near Davenport, an area I know well, my pack will be much lighter.

This red backpack is inexpensive in nature. The cost has been lost in time, but 20 some years ago it wasn't much more than $20 on the shelf. It was improved with a chest strap added by a local upholstery business.

The pack has not been opened since last hunting season, although it has been on most of my travels. When my wife, Garnet, and I travel to Seattle, so does the pack. When we drive to visit friends in Davenport for a daytrip, the pack is in the vehicle. Not everything in the pack will be needed on every trip, in fact I hope none of the items are needed, but just in case a knife or other item is wanted, such a tool will be available.

Working from the front or smaller pockets: The first mesh pock contains an empty bottle of mule deer scent. On the back label is a warning, "Do not apply to your body or clothing, you may be attacked."

Once I secretly placed a few drops on a hunting buddy's clothing and followed him at a distance, without him knowing, during an afternoon hunt. I was ready to rescue him in case he was attacked, but the event never happened.

What's more, I wasn't sure what might attack him; a gigantic mule deer buck, a cougar, a field mouse. This bottle is going into the trash.

The next item is a Wenger Swiss Army Knife. This is a small knife, with a knife blade, nail file, scissors and, of course, the tweezers and the toothpick. Although the knife blade doesn't find much use, the other tools, especially the scissors, has been used often.

Three rubber bands were also in this pocket. They will be replaced with fresh rubber bands, which can become useful in various situations.

Next pocket; smallest of the three larger ones

Two Buck knives, each with a gut hook and saw on one side and a knife blade on the other. They will be cleaned and sharpened, both the blade and gut hook. Two knives are not needed, but it is a handy place to store the knives.

There are two knife sharpening tools. Again, two are not needed, but they are stored in the pack. If I headed out on a moose hunting trip in the hills around Colville, one sharpener would be left at the vehicle.

Also in this pocket is a small, 3-inch long, flashlight and a headlamp. The batteries in each will be replaced. The headlamp enables the hunter to use both hands if working at night, without holding a flashlight in the mouth.

A stray battery will be tossed, but a ballpoint pen will be retained, it still works after 15 years. Two chocolate bars have seen many years in the pack. I figured no matter how they look, I could still eat them for energy. After opening the plastic container in which they have been held, it was found it was time they were replaces.

The last item is a Gerber flint-and-steel type fire starter. It throws a large amount of sparks when used. This is one of those Just-in-case items and will remain in the pack for the rest of my life.

Gerber doesn't make this fire starter any more. I called the company and asked why. A company representative said there wasn't enough sales to justify continue manufacture. Back east people shouldn't become lost because they can walk a half-mile and find a road or a house.

In the west, make it west of the Mississippi and in Alaska, we have some real mountains, where becoming lost for a few days is entirely possible.

Such a fire-starting tool may become a matter of life or death.

Next week: Opening the last two pockets of my hunting backpack.