[PODCAST] Backcountry Hunting Tips with Steve Speck

If you want to go in on a hunt as light and efficient as possible, listen to this podcast!

[PODCAST] Backcountry Hunting Tips with Steve Speck

Posted by Cory Glauner | Gear Lists, Hunting Articles, Podcasts, Tips and Preparation |

This is 99% of my hunting backpacking gear list. I like to stay light, taking nothing extra! The only thing that can vary slightly is maybe an extra base layer / long johns in very cold temps or if elk hunting I’ll have bugle tube, mouths reeds, etc with me.

STEVE SPECK

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Steve Speck is the owner of S and S Archery as well as the inventor of Solid Broadheads and Exo Mountain Gear packs. Steve is a brilliant backcountry hunting guru who’s ideas on weight saving on a backcountry hunt take DIY hunting to the next level. Listen in to hear the important how-to’s of backcountry nutrition, pack designs, weight saving strategies, hunting methodologies, tent designs, sleeping bags and dual purpose gear.

Here’s Steve Speck’s Backpacking Light Gear List:

Main Gear for a Backpack Hunt:

Pack: Exo Mountain Gear 3500 – 77oz
Tent: Hilleberg Enan – 35oz
Sleeping pad: Therma Rest Neo Air – 12oz
Sleeping Bag: Hammock Gear 30 Degree Quilt – 14oz
Stove: Jetboil SOL Ti – 9oz
Fuel Canister – 5oz
Utensil: Jetboil Fork – .5oz
Water Filter: Saywer Squeeze and Platypus 2l – 4oz
Headlamp: Princeton Tec Remix – 2.9oz
Camera: Sony RX100 III – 8oz
Extra Sony Batteries: – 1oz
Extra SD Cards

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Total Weight: 168.4oz 10.52lbs

Clothes in pack:

Socks: First Lite Cold Weather (1) extra pair – 2oz
Mid Layer: First Lite Chama Hoody – 10oz
Insulation layer: First Lite Uncompahgre Puffy – 19oz
Beanie: First Lite – 1.5oz
Gloves: First Lite Merino Wool – 1oz

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Total Weight: 33.5oz 2.09lbs

I don’t really use raingear because it seldom rains where I hunt, and when it does I hole up and wait it out. I do have the First Lite Boundary Stormtight jacket that I’ll use once in a blue moon but that’s pretty much it.

or most hunters, elk hunting is so much more than just meat in the freezer and antlers on the wall. It’s about the experience, the friendship, the challenge, the animals, the land, the despair…. and the excitement when it all comes together.

Elk Hunts

Mule deer are considered the “holy grail” of big game by many hunters.

Mule Deer Hunts

First Aid / Personal Gear:

Baby Wipes
TP
Spare Iodine tablets
Lighter
Waterproof matches
Fire Tender: Vaseline Cotton balls
Tylenol PM
Ibuprofen
Bandages
Gorilla Tape
Gauze
(4) AAA Spare batteries

——-
Total Weight of Kit: 5.8oz

Kill Kit:

Game Bags: Exo Mountain Gear
Knife: Kestrel Ultralite S30v
Parachute Cord: 25’ Ultralight Dyneema Cord
Zip Ties

——-
Total Kill Kit Weight: 6.9oz

Optics:

Spotting Scope: Varies (Vortex Razor 50 / Swaro ATX 65)
Bino Tripod adapter: Field Optics Research – 1oz
Tripod: Promaster XC525c and Vanguard PH-111v – 46oz
Extra QR Plate – .5oz

——-
Total Optics Weight: 47.5oz / 2.9lbs

TOTAL BASE WEIGHT: 262.1 oz / 16.38lbs

The only thing that varies my base weight is the amount of food, which is on the high end 1.5lbs per day, and the amount of water.

Food:

Consists of: Cliff Builders Bars, Costco Trail Mix, Mountain House meals, Belvita Crackers, Almond butter packets, Misc Granola Bars, GU Energy Chomps and Starbucks VIA packets!

1.5lbs per day on the high end. Roughly 3500 calories per day