Western Montana Elk Hunting

Likes

I have the privilege to live in the same general area that I hunt so most of my hunting trips locally are day trips where I am able to come home, or close to it, each night that I go out. I also tend to hunt primarily solo so I don't try to get too far back into the back country unless I have to. This is a great general gear list to build off of if you are looking for the basics. Add your own camping necessities, personalize it with your favorite pieces of gear and you are good to go. #Montana #Elk #Rifle #Western #DIY #EarlySeason #LateSeason #DayTrip

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Clothing

I grew up hunting in hand me downs that were always two sizes too big or mens clothing that never fit right and never kept me warm or comfortable in the field. After starting my career in the outdoor industry, I saved up for my first set of Sitka Gear and have never looked back. You never understand how much your clothing is actually your gear until you get into something that helps you instead of hinders your likeliness of a successful hunt.

Listed below are the pieces that I layer throughout my entire season which will take me from early archery 95ºF+ to late season rifle -20ºF-. The key is knowing your system and knowing what pieces you need to layer when to be able to maximize your heat retention and manage breathability to reduce your perspiration.

Baselayers

I not a huge fan of Merino products so I tend to lean towards a synthetic baselayer system.

Sitka Women's Core Lightweight Crew LS

No matter if I'm early season archery hunting or late season elk hunting, this is the first piece of gear I will put on. Its light enough to manage the 90º summer heat and is the perfect piece to wick away moisture and keep me dry when the temperature plummets later in the season.

Sitka Women's Core Midweight Crew LS

Sitka Women's Core Boy Short

Sitka Women's Core Midweight Bottom

I'm not a huge fan of baselayer bottoms to be honest, especially if I am covering a bunch of ground. For that reason, I typically pass on lightweight baselayes and only bring out the mid-weights when temps start to fall below 20ºF and we are planning on long glassing sits in the morning before the sun rises.

Tops

SITKA Women's Fanatic Hoody

Sitka Women's Kelvin Active Jacket

This is probably my favorite clothing item I own, in camo as well as in a casual solid color. I get extremely hot when I hike and am not able to wear a true "puffy" while I am moving without over heating quickly. This active insulation allows me to retain my warmth while maintaining enough breathability for me to do quick steep climbs to my glassing points without needing to unlayer and relayer every time I stop.

Sitka Women's Jetstream Jacket

Probably the most universal piece I own and on my body 80% of the time during my hunts. Pit- zips, a hood, windproof, water resistant, sold.

Sitka Women's Kelvin WS Hoody

"A Glassers Best Friend" - In my book at least. I bring this packed inside of a stuff sack for any hunt I got on where I am planning any long glassing sits in temps under 35ºF. I must have for anyone that runs cold.

Pants

Sitka Women's Equinox Pant

Go to early season pant when warmth retention is not needed but breathability is a must.

Sitka Women's Timberline Pant

My go-to mid- and late-season pant. Breathable enough to be able to travel multiple miles without needing to shed layers but warm enough to get you close to freezing before you need to add a base layer to it. The nylon ripstop reinforced seat and knees also allow me to use it in muddy or snowy conditions without soaking up unwanted moisture as well.

Rain Gear

I don't tend to use rain gear that often up here since the weather is usually sunny or snowing. For the off chance of rain in the forecast for that day though, I do pack my rain gear with me if needed.

Sitka Women's Cloudburst Jacket

Sitka Women's Cloudburst Pant

Footwear

I grew up running Danner Pronghorns but made the switch to Kenetreks a few years back. My biggest issue is having weak ankles and being extremely clumsy so the stiffer the support in the boot, the better.

WOMEN'S MOUNTAIN EXTREME 400

HUNTING GAITERS - SOLID LODEN GREEN

ALASKA SUPER HEAVYWEIGHT OVER-THE-CALF SOCK

GLACIER HEAVYWEIGHT BOOT HEIGHT SOCK

CANYON LIGHTWEIGHT BOOT HEIGHT SOCK

Gloves & Accessories

Sitka Women's Traverse Gloves

I know these look like they aren't worth a dime, but I would recommend these gloves over any other piece of gear to every hunter I meet. I struggle with poor circulation in my hands and feet and have always been miserable in the field when the temps dip. I bought the $150 insulated gloves just to feel like I got frostbite within the first hour of glassing. These things are so underrated. I wear them 24/7. Hiking? On. Glassing? On. They do it all.

Sitka Women's Mountain Windstopper Glove

I do like to layer on top of the Traverse Gloves though and treat them as a liner if I am planning on glassing for a longer period of time or if the wind is really starting to pick up. Being able to cut the cold from the wind will save your fingers in the long run.

Sitka Blizzard GTX Mitten

Sleeping bags for your hands- 'nuff said.

Sitka Trucker Cap

Sitka Women's Jetstream Beanie

Sitka Neck Gaiter

Second only to the Traverse Gloves, also an extremely underrated piece of gear. Do you ever wonder when you are still freezing when you are layered enough to chill with penguins in Antarctica? Throw on a neck gaiter and a beanie and you'll think you're in the tropics in no time.

Care

When you spend your hard earned money on top of the line, technical hunting gear, you have to take care of it as such. The number one reason why your gear doesn't hold up year after year is lack of care. Did you know that you are actually suppose to wash your rain gear? No? Might want to do that soon. I retreat all of my gear with a DWR wash before my season starts and then will do a deep clean on every piece as well at the end of the season before I pack it all up for the year.

Grangers Wash + Repel Clothing 2 in 1

Grangers Performance Repel Plus

Grangers Down Care Kit

Grangers Odor Eliminator

A must-have for when you forget about the blood in your pack until the start of the following season. Whoops.

Firearms & Ammunition

Two things I like to use to describe Montana.
1. Long distance shooting
2. Grizzlies

SAKO A7 Roughtech Pro 300 WSM Rifle

I personally have found great success using a 300WSM for about 75% of my hunts. It will take down a deer any day of the week, no problem, and is reliable for most of my closer-distance elk hunts as well. For the trips where we are hunting larger canyons, I will forgo the 300 WSM for a custom 300 RUM to make sure I can still have the desired impact even if I have to reach a bit further.

Leupold VX- Freedom 4-12x50 CDS Duplex Rifle Scope

Mounted on the Sako 300 WSM, covers about 75% of my hunts.

Harris Bipod 9-13"

This thing will be with me on every single trip I leave on, no matter which rifle I am taking with me. I struggle with upper body strength so being able to extend the bipods and have a stable shooting rest at any position is a must.

Glock 20 Gen 4 10mm Semi- Auto Pistol

Back to the Grizzly comment above. Solved. I have never encountered a grizzly while out hunting and I don't plan to any time soon. Call it a security blank if you would like.

Udap Bear Spray

For legality of my comment above. Use this first. Or don't. I'm not your mom. Just survive.

Buffalo Bore Dangerous Game 10MM Auto - Mono Metal

Security "pillows"? For the security blanket? I'm going with it.

Gunfighters INC Kenai Chest Holster for Glock

Perfect for having quick access to your handgun if you need it while being comfortable and low-profile enough that you can layer it with anything and still have your full range of motion.

Optics

I spend probably about 80-90% of my time hunting either glassing, or hiking to a glassing point. I grew up being taught, "Your eyes will walk 10x further than your legs ever could". My legs thank me for that one come the end of my trip. Once you start to slow down and really learn how to grid out an area and pick apart cover, you would be surprised at why you can find that other people walk right past. With that being said, my optics are by far my most prized possession as my choices will show below.

DIAMONDBACK® HD 10x42

Personally, I hate using binos unless I absolutely have to. I have bad eyes and get major headaches trying to get any bino to focus clearly for me. I resort to packing a pair of 10x42 with me everywhere I go for quick glassing stops or unexpected encounters. Super high-quality glass is not a factor here.

Sitka Mountain Optics Harness

Bulky but does the job.

Sig Sauer KILO2000 Rangefinder

I honestly bought this piece a few years back because it was on sale and I was in a pickle the day before the season started when my old ranger finder decided to bite the dust. I have honestly been super happy with it though, especially at longer distances. Good job Sig.

VIPER® HD 20-60X85 (STRAIGHT)

Up until this fall, I have primarily run the Viper 20-60x65 for my longer glassing distances. This works great, for about 60% of what I need. But that remaining 40% is what was really starting to eat at me. This year I started really pushing the limit on daylight hours while scouting and found that these came up lacking what I desired.

Leupold Gold Ring 12-40x60MM HD Spotting Scope

Due to the weight and size of the 85mm spotting scope, I tend to switch it out and pack my Leupold Gold Ring 12-40x60MM instead for any days where we are not planning on glass 2+ miles or are planning on putting in over 10 miles on foot.

Swarovski Optik ATX/BTX/STX Objective Module

Picked up the 85 this season to fill the 40% of my glassing needs that my Viper was not able to fulfill. I am able to clearly glass up animals 3+ miles away and get vivid definitions of elk while scouting even when the big bulls decide to come out well after sundown. Worth every penny.

Swarovski Optik ATX / STX / BTX Eyepiece Module

I picked up the STX option. I have never been a fan of angles scopes, come at me.

Vanguard VEO 2 PRO 263CV Carbon Fiber Tripod with Video Panhead

I am still looking for the perfect tripod, but this has done the trick so far.

S1 SPOTTING SCOPE ADAPTER-S1

I ran other adaptors for a number of years and loved the simplicity of them but was never able to get my phone positioned exactly how I wanted it on my scope and was always left with a blurry corner. With MagView, once you get over the learning curve about how to position your phone correctly on the scope magnet, it's worth its weight in gold.

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MAGVIEW PHONE PLATE

The only downside - you can't use the magnetic charger on the backside of your phone anymore.

Backpacks & Gear

As stated before, I hunt by myself most of the time and tend to stick to day trips where I can return home at night when hunting semi-locally (props of living in Montana). With that being said, I dont need a multi-day set up or camping equipment. Just enough to where if I did get stuck for the night, I would be okay until I was able to make my way out the next day or have help come in to get me if I was injured.

I am still learning the art of how not to pack EVERYTHING you own so my apologies as to the long list of stuff that is on my person at all times.

Sitka Women's Mountain 2700 Pack

I really like this pack due to the ability of me to be able to comfortably haul all of my desired gear in and can push 10-15 miles in a single day without becoming sore. The multiple pocks are also a must in organizing my gear in the field.

Sitka Gun Sling

Third most underrated piece of gear I own. I tend to have wider hips than most people and have run into issues numerous times in the past of walking with my rifle slug over my shoulder and stopping to find my turret moved drastically from my hip rubbing it to where it has been an entire rotation off in the past. This fixed that issue right up. Along with taking the extra weight of that firearm off my shoulder offering me some relief and putting it directly on the waist belt with the rest of the pack.

I know that it is a discontinued product, but it can find one still or find another one on a molly system that would be compatible with the pack, get it.

Sitka Belt Pouch

I like keeping my GSP within easy reach when in the field so this belt pouch is a must-have addition to my set up.

Kelty Cache Hauler Pack Frame

I do bring a pack frame with me as well which will stay in my truck or home base until it is needed. There is no way I can get a full quarter off of the mountain if we are caught a few miles back on top of all of my gear. So, I will typically bring back small cuts of meat such as the backstraps + tenderloin + the neck meat if I can fit it on this first initial pack out with my gear. Then I will drop all of it off, grab my pack frame, and my draw bag with any necessities, and head back in light to start bringing out quarters. Doesn't work for everyone but I like it.

Argali Game Bag Set for Hunting Large Game M.O.B. Pack

I never "reused" game bags until I purchased these last year. Game changer. I won't tell you what I put them through but if they held up for me, they will hold up for you. I promise.

HydraPak Shape-Shift Reservoir

I drink like a camel so a 2-3L shape shifter is a must.

Knives

Buck Knives BuckLite Max II Large 685 Guthook Knife

I actually have the RMEF limited edition Buck Knives but these are close enough. I love the fixed blade knives for easy and secure handling while working on an animal. I tend to use the larger knife for quartering and major cuts while I switch to the smaller option for skinning and more precise cutting of the tenderloins, etc.

Buck Knives 684 BuckLite Small Knife

Gerber Vital Pocket Knife

I do carry a replaceable blade pack as a backup if my fixed blades aren't doing the trick but I hardly find myself using it.

GUIDED FIELD SHARPENER

Lights

MH8

Must have for in the field. I feel like I'm walking in the dark more than in the light anymore and I don't wish to be surprised by what I walk up on. Especially needed when working on animals in the dark when you need a large flood of light but need both hands free to work.

P7R Core

I don't use this that often but I always carry it as a backup light source in case my headlamp goes on the blink while I'm packing out in the dark.

GPS & Safety Accessories

Garmin Montana 650 GPS

As a rule, I will not go hunting without my GPS on me with at least two sets of replacement batteries. We got a bull down in an unknown area before and only got out by trusting the trail we made on our way in on our GSP. Safe to say that I don't trust well after that trip but we made it home. Even the best hunter in their own backyard can become turned around and lost in an event of thick fog or heavy snow.

ZOLEO Satellite Communicator

This is the one product that I do not actually have that I wish I did and I hope everyone else does have. In a life-or-death situation, it will be worth its weight in gold.

Elite Hunt Membership

I do carry a chip in my GSP for whatever state I am hunting as well as have the offline maps downloaded on my phone as a second source of mapping. Especially needed when hunting late-season elk which are crowding private property lines.

Pyro Putty Elite Rechargeable Dual Arc Lighter W/ Compartment

Pyro Putty 2 Oz Can Waterproof Fire Starters

With as volatile as the weather is here in Montana, you don't want to be stuck somewhere without being able to build yourself a fire in any element to survive the night.

Reflective Marking Tape

Sometimes it may look like I'm decorating the woods for Christmas but that is what it's there for.

Night-N-Day Trail Markers

Just picked these up last year, I don't use them often but if I'm planning on hauling out quarters after dark, they are a life saver for trying to find trail markers.

Paracord

The number of times I wish I had an extra rope in the field for tying quarters, etc. This never leaves my pack now.

Mini Water Filtration System - Orange-old

Replacement AA/AAA Batteries

I always keep an abundance of replacement batteries on me for my GPS and flashlights.

Waterproof Hunting License Holder

Since we changed to paper licenses here in Montana....

MyFAK Mini

Whether you cut your finger or broke your leg, you'll be happy you had this.

GEAR AID Tenacious Tap

If there is a way to rip your clothing on a barbed wire fence, I have found it. Lifesaver for runaway insulation.

EXPED Fold Drybag BS

Must have for keeping my valuables protected. The last thing I want to do it lose my phone while grabbing my knife out of my pack to cut up an animal or have my wallet get drenched in a downpour.

Food, Nutrition & Fitness

Since I tend to only do day trips, I usually only pack snack foods with me and possibly a homemade breakfast burrito for glassing first thing in the morning. Every now and then though I will bring the jet boil and spoil myself to some warm food or coffee.

Wilderness Athlete Hydrate & Recover Packets

A must have to keep yourself hydrated on the mountain.

Wilderness Athlete Energy and Focus

Have you ever mixed up a "Superhero"? Do it, you won't be disappointed. You may want to hike 10 miles without stopping, but you won't be disappointed.

Honey Waffles 16ct Box

I swear there is a special ingredient in these that make them taste like heaven on the mountain. At home, not so much. Still, I never have less than two in my pack on any trip and they will be the first things gone every time.

Sweet Coconut Packaroons® (Eight Pack)

For the clean solution to a sweet tooth craving. Heather's charcoal season blend is do die for as well.

KIND Bars Dark Chocolate Nuts & Sea Salt

I've always liked having at least one type of granola/ breakfast bar in my pack. These are the current favorite.

Peak Refuel Homestyle Chicken & Rice

I'm game for any dehydrated meal but I really have a sweet spot for Chicken & Wild Rice recipes. Just please pick the mushrooms out first.

Camping Spork

I was fine eating with a stick but apparently that was frowned upon by the masses so we now have a spoon.

Jetboil Flash Stove

Jetboil Fuel

Jetboil JetGauge

Fitness

MTNTOUGH+

I feel like this is such an overlooked segment of a gear list that NO ONE talks about. It doesn't matter if you are 20 or 50, your physical and mental health should be just as important of a focus as the rifle is that you are bringing along that season. I personally train with MTNTOUGH and recommend it to anyone who is planning on spending any amount of time in the mountains. It will change the way you train, 100%.

Cheyenne Wallace Guide • Montana

Full-time elk enthusiast, part-time cookie dough snob. Guidefitter Community Marketing Manager & Guide/ Outfitter Relat... Read more

*NOTE: The links to purchase certain products I recommend in this gear list may result in me being paid a small commission. I appreciate your support!