Montana Big Game Gear List

The layering of quality textiles ensures comfort and dryness in any and all western hunting climates. We recommend layering systems complete with quality base layers, mid layers, insulation, and outer shell. We recommend products from Stone Glacier.

Quality boots can be the difference between an enjoyable hunt or a painfully awful experience. We recommend a premier mountain hunting boot that is waterproof, insulated, and stiff. All of these attributes are beneficial on our hunts. We recommend products from Schnee. 

Good optics make hunting a lot more fun. 8x binoculars are a great start. Spotting scopes are not mandatory but encouraged for your maximum enjoyment. The sky is the limit to what you can spend on optics, and you truly get what you pay for. We recommend Swarovski. 

Elk a big durable animals and almost impossible to kill with the wrong weapon or mediocre shots. We recommend a straight and heavy arrow for our bow hunters and a .300 caliber, or larger, for our rifle hunters. No matter your weapon, your proficiency with it is paramount. 

A quality daypack is a vital for western hunting. Hunters must be able to haul 20-30 pounds of gear and a comfortable pack makes that task a breeze. Packs should have a a thick belt, a stiff frame, and ideally a load-hauling feature for the final pack-out. 

Every hunter should have their own pocket knife. We highly recommend the replaceable blade knife options from OutDoor Edge. These top-shelf everyday carry tools are handy to have around camp and a lifesaver when butchering large game. 

Don't get left in the dark without a good headlamp! The days continually get shorter throughout hunting season and with that, headlamps become more and more important. You will need your headlamp in camp each night as well as on early morning hikes and late night pack outs.

Important for bringing your own snacks and cold beer to camp, and vital to transporting your valuable elk meat to your home freezer. The last thing you want is for your venison to spoil halfway home from Montana. YETI coolers are the obvious recommendation.