doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com What do you carry in you upland vest

Not yet. The last snow pretty well melted. Although they're predicting rain on opening day this weekend.

My vest starts out a lot heavier at the beginning......about 112 oz of water mainly for the dog and a box of 16 ga shells. Heat and lots of quail in the desert.

Small first aid kit, forceps for cactus,wet wipes,knife,small kit gun,compact water bowl,sun screen/lip cover,quail call,cell phone.....usually by the time I get back to the vehicle it's much lighter.....no water and very few shotgun shells

Anybody concerned about Conibear traps and their dogs should go buy a 330, the big size, and practice setting it until proficient. I set them for years, attempting to control beaver, and I can assure you that once you learn how you can release a dog faster with your two hands than you can with cord or rope or any other device. There is a hook on each spring that holds it depressed once it is put in place. This can be done in seconds with practice and, when your dog has one on him cutting off his air, seconds count. I'm not a particularly strong guy, but I set all my traps, including leg holds, up to and including no. 4 longsprings, with just my hands, not my feet.

Forget the gimmicks, practice 'til you get it down if you're serious about saving your dog's life.

SRH

Snares set for coyotes are the most common traps incurred here on the High Plains, Stan and is why I carry a cable cutter.

Your advise is well stated for those who hunt where fur is trapped.

I'm wondering where some of you put your birds with all the stuff you're carrying. I hope to get back to the truck with no shells and a much heavier vest

Good advice, Stan. Literally seconds for 330. Most of us are using snares for coyotes in my less-agricultural part of the province but in the Annapolis Valley of good pheasant country a good sidecutter and strong hands come in handy. My buddy lost his Lab to a 330.

Your post reminded me of the time I asked a Mountie in the High North how he manhandled those sinewy and strong Inuit. "You have to get them in the first 30 seconds or it's all over," he said. Same with big Connibears: give it all you've got in the first push, Bob's your uncle.

The difference between carrying a 7-1/2 pound gun (120 ounces) and a 5-1/2 pound gun (88 ounces) in my hand for eight hours of a walking hunt is very significant to me. If I sling the heavy gun and hang it on my shoulder it is a lot more tolerable.

Best,

Mike

The one essential thing I am carrying these days whether hunting, fishing, flying or whatever is my SPOT satellite tracker. If an emergency occurs and I am not in cell range or don't know exactly where I am then the SPOT can be a life saver. It has several nice features but most important to me is the "SOS" button. If I press it then a message is relayed to the SPOT control center giving my exact location and they will immediately contact the appropriate emergency responders and family giving them my exact location. Then I just wait--they will be there. And it's good anywhere in the world. If it is not an emergency I can also press another button that sends a message to contacts I've listed saying, "I'm O.K., send help". Or, I can simply press another button which allows my contacts to follow my progress on a map. Sure beats a cell phone, assuming you even have coverage, where you'd say something like, "well, I'm about 20 ish miles south of Podunk Junction with a broken hip laying in tall grass...."

Never have had to use it, thank God, but it is there just in case.

Here is a link to their site: http://www.findmespot.com/en/

RCC, a "priest" means to me a club for killing big fish when you boat them. What's it mean to you? (If it's a religious thing, just tell me to mind my own business....).

I kill wounded birds with my hands and wonder why anybody'd need a cosh for that, especially for quail or grouse or partridge.

On the other hand, I've been badly spurred by a phez cock and a turkey and maybe a conker wouldn't be such a bad idea if you're dealing with the bigger species of birds. Imagine a sandhill crane or a honker could give one a nasty little fray. I DO try to kill them with the shotgun, but sometimes....

Mike, a priest is just what you described and I use it to dispatch roosters not killed dead in the air. I hunt pheasants more than a hundred days a year and with quite a few folks, both friends from this and another board and with landowners. There is always a number of roosters retrieved by the dogs that are looking for a chance to spur me or anything else they could.

I use to carry a beautiful hardwood priest made for me by a friend in Texas. After I lost it crawling under a fence (I found it), I retired it so as not to loss it again.

Now I carry a lead weight "splat", a black jack that N.Y. detectives carried at one time and given to me by another friend.