Even though hunting is no research cruise, it involves a certain volume of preparations. Since you are leaving the comfortable world of civilization and entering the realm of the primal and pristine, you will need all the help you can get. If you are hunting alone, you have nothing to rely on except your gear. A timely worn blaze orange vest can save your life from a fellow carefree hunter. Properly chosen rain gear can keep all colds at bay while not letting drizzling rain spoil your experience. Without further ado, let’s get to the list of must-have hunting equipment prepared for you by one outdoor equipment store

Apparel

We begin with something that you put on yourself and will slowly move on to something you can carry. The role of hunting apparel is hard to overestimate. An astronaut can’t do without a spacesuit, and a diver won’t get far when not wearing scuba equipment. Hunting apparel is not obligatory for any trip to a forest you make, but if it is game shooting you are after, appropriate clothing becomes a necessity. Don’t forget who’s on the other side of your rifle’s muzzle. Animals’ senses are incredibly sharper than ours – some woodland inhibitors can smell you even before you manage to notice that there is an animal in the vicinity. And if you get close enough to take a look, be sure that they have the same opportunity. Staying hidden and unnoticed for as long as possible is one of the key elements of shooting the game. This is where hunting clothing can give you a hand.

Even though hunting camo won’t make you invisible (nothing can), it will significantly increase your chances to conceal your presence. If you happen to have some military apparel and want to wear it for your forest getaway, you certainly can. But it will hardly be helpful against animal sight. The thing is, military camo isn’t designed to challenge animal eyes but to deceive human perception. That’s why military apparel won’t give you anything but comfort. Hunting camouflage designs have gone a long way since they were first established. Our understanding of animal vision improved, so the camouflage patterns became more elaborate. 

It is vital to choose appropriate camo for your chosen game since deer and birds perceive the world differently. If it is the waterfowl you are after, you need hunting camo whose color will blend in with the environment since these birds have excellent color vision. If you are chasing deer, choose camo that breaks up your silhouette. Deer have duo chromatic vision and thus have only two color receptors: blue and green.

For the same reason, wearing a blaze orange jacket, as ridiculous as it may seem to non-initiated people, doesn’t expose you, at least not to your whitetail prey. They perceive blaze orange as another shade of gray or green, so it doesn’t stand out. But blaze orange is very noticeable to hunters, and it helps prevent one of the most unfortunate causes of death while hunting – being shot by another hunter. In many states wearing an element or a whole item of blaze orange color is an obligatory hunting rule.

With all that concealment thing, it’s easy to forget about comfort. You are to walk in these clothes for several hours, after all, so comfort is a big priority. The rules here are the same as when choosing regular clothing so we won’t pay extra attention to it. Hunting jackets, pants, and vests listings contain all the information you need about size charts and the type of game the camo is designed for.

Boots

While hunting apparel protects your body, boots ensure the safety of your feet. Forest terrain varies from region to region, but it is often difficult to traverse. Your boots should not only withstand the challenge of harsh terrain but also ensure a safe environment for your feet. You are likely to spend most of your time walking (unless you prefer hunting with blinds), and a poor pair of shoes is likely to put an end to your hunting trip much sooner than you’d want, especially if you choose to hunt in flooded timber. Sturdiness and reliability are as important as comfort. Combine those three – and you’ll get the perfect pair of hunting boots.

Rain Gear

No rain can scare off a seasoned hunter, especially if it has been long since your last hunting trip. The cover of rain can actually prove useful with certain challenging aspects of hunting: it washes away your scent (if you haven’t done it in advance), mutes the sounds of your movement, and obscures vision, allowing you to sneak in closer. There is a downside, though: you are also subject to all those factors. But the odds are still the same, so why not try your luck? When choosing rain gear for hunting, look for materials that are not only waterproof but also sound-damping. The sound of water droplets falling against the fabric might attract unwanted attention to your person, but some materials can make it quieter.

Backpack

Unless you plan on entering the forest or any other hunting ground with nothing but a gun over your shoulder, you’ll need a place to store things. The backpack is an obvious choice since you’d want your hands (or at least one of them) to be free. Some backpacks even have straps for gun holding, so there is a chance to walk with both hands free. Other than that, backpacks should not be too heavy themselves (since you’ll stuff them with other items) and have good padding and extra straps for reliability. The abundance of external pockets is another useful feature in case you don’t want to stop and take your backpack off to get some small item. But items can sometimes fall out of such pockets, so seek those with some retention means.

Now to those items you can store inside a backpack.

Optics

An extra pair of eyes never hurt anyone, especially if it is endowed with the power of magnification. Binoculars and spotting scopes can significantly facilitate the detection process. The distance is no longer an obstacle when there are optical devices on your side. Binoculars can be worn around your neck if you prefer to keep them close, but a spotting scope should be kept in a backpack.

Multi Tools and Knives

You are never wrong when taking a multi-tool simply because there are hundreds of possible applications to it. You are never wrong when taking a knife because the applications are still numerous though not as abundant. Cleaning game, cutting ropes, notching hunting tags – you name it. Neither of them occupies much space and having one is definitely better than having none. The quality hunting knives are really helpful when you have to chop vegetables or other food items while in the wilderness. If you value size, choose knives with fixed blades. If you need compactness, take a look at folding knives.

Game Calls

Why follow your prey for miles when you can simply attract it to come to you? It works only as far as the sound travels (which is still far) and requires a certain skill to masterfully imitate the call of a certain animal. There are hundreds of videos on game calls, so you have plenty of material to learn from. Game calls are very helpful and deserve a place in your backpack.

Flashlights

Staying in a forest till dark is not a good idea, but nobody ever got lost on purpose. And even if you simply overstayed and are confidently making your way home, a flashlight is obligatory to illuminate the path in front of you. The last thing you need is to overlook some pit because it’s too dark. Flashlights vary from relatively compact to big tactical ones that could probably even serve as a weapon if the situation calls for it. The choice is yours.

Is this list exhaustive? Not at all. Those are just must-have items. Some would call a scent killer an obligatory attribute of every hunt, while others never leave without a first-aid kit in their backpack. The options are as varied as they could be. Just be sure to dress properly and take something to carry items in. And choose only quality hunting gear.