Deer Hunting Checklist | Required Gear Checklist & Night Before The Hunt Planning List

By: Tyler Mieden with Okayest Hunter

When I hear the phrase, “Deer Hunting Checklist”, my mind goes in two separate directions and creates two distinct lists. First, there’s the Deer Hunting Gear Checklist. That’s essential.

The other list is my “Night (or Day) Before A Hunt Checklist.” These are the things I put in place to ensure I’m ready to go, arrive on time, and have all the necessary gear.

I put this list together after many failures to get out of the house on time, forgetting gear, and arriving at my stand much later than I’d prefer. 

• Check the weather and wind direction
• Decide where i’m hunting and the stand location
• Message the landowner if its private land I have permission to hunt
• Check the legal shooting hours
• Decide what time I want to be setup and be on stand
• Decide on the time I need to wake based on legal shooting hours, travel time to my location and the walk into the stand
• Pack my snacks
• Set out my coffee mug and water bottle/jug
• Load my camo, and clothing into my truck
• Load my boots into my truck
• Load my weapon into my truck
• Load my stand/blind into my truck
• Load any other gear into the truck
• Set my alarm & and then a 2nd alarm 10 minutes later

Having all the items on the list checked off allows me to be organized and efficient, especially  when it's early in the morning.

The last thing I want to be doing is trying to remember if I packed my boots in my truck at 4 AM with the fog of sleep still hanging over my head. That is a road I've traveled before where I've forgotten key pieces of gear and realized when I was 10 minutes down the road, pulling into my location, or worst of all, arriving at my stand location.

Additionally, being organized and prepared the night before, allows me to catch a few extra minutes of sleep. With two young kids in my household, I’ll take all the sleep I can get.

I keep my gear in plastic totes. Some hunters use bags. Whatever your method for gear storage, I do a check before the season and my first hunt and then never take it out of my totes.

My gear checklist is comprised of:

• Hunting license
• Weapon & ammo/arrows
• Boots
• Socks
• Camo
• Clothes for layering
• Gloves
• Hat
• Hand and foot warmers
• Rangefinder
• Binoculars
• Knife
• Field dressing gloves
• Rope
• Stand/Blind
• Treestand safety harness (if necessary)
• Drinks & snacks
• Headlamp and flashlight
• Cover scent

We are in the offseason now. For me, that means I pack my gear away in storage until we get much closer to the season opener. This is a great time to organize the gear on your checklist.

I usually add an item or two to my list or replace older gear.

Take the time now and prep your Deer Hunting Checklist to make it easier for yourself when August arrives and you start prepping for that first Fall hunt.

It is months away, but I get excited thinking about it.