What's In Our Kill Kit
WHAT'S IN OUR KILL KIT!
You just made your first kill. You cautiously approach the downed animal from its back and, with the tip of your arrow or the tip of your barrel, nudge at the rump or eye to see if there's any sign of life. Congratulations all around, or if you're by yourself, you're a happy hunter, silent or not; congratulations on a job well done. As this utopia wanes, you start thinking about the work ahead, and it doesn't matter if it's a small deer, yearling elk, or massive bull moose. Okay, the moose is a different story! However, the procedure is the same, with a few added tools to complete the job.
For the first-timer who has never gutted big game, the person who has done it once or twice before, and the seasoned hunter, the chore is either awkward, unsure or just a prideful, relaxed passing of time.
You begin by unloading the rifle chamber of a spent or live round, gently leaning your rifle against a tree, removing your daypack from your shoulder, and pulling out your tag and the following tools to process the animal.
Before we discuss what's in your kill kit, let's consider what makes a good kill kit.
What is a kill kit
A kill kit is an essential tool for hunters who need to gut and quarter an animal in the field. It contains all the necessary items conveniently stored in a single bag for easy access.
What items are typically included in a kill kit?
The contents of a kill kit can vary depending on the individual's gutting and quartering method, experience level, and personal preferences. However, common items found in a kill kit may include:
- Game Bag
- Writing pen
- Trail marking tape
- Electrical tape
- Gloves
- Paracord 50’
The point is that a kill kit is a personally assembled set of tools. You can buy a gimmicky set that contains a storage bag, a pair of gloves, a small piece of cheap trail tape, electrical tape, and a pen.
Making your custom kill kit begins with a good storage bag and a select set of tools.
You probably already have many of the items in the garage. Trail tape can be purchased at any major sporting goods store for a few dollars, and it will likely last you a lifetime of hunting. Suitable Nitrile Gloves can be bought for under $20.00 for 100 gloves.
Caribou Gear makes a water-resistant storage bag called the “Ditty Bags”. It has a durable YKK zipper, easy-to-locate tabs, signature light-reflective tabs & a reflective bar for labeling content.
Ditty Bags are available in three sizes and colors. They are convenient for organizing loose items in your pack, such as clothing, trail food, granola energy bars/drinks, jerky, and toiletry items. They are also excellent for isolating damp or dirty gear from your pack or suitcase.
Here’s what’s in our kill kit and why
- Camp meat bag
- Hunters Tarp
- Writing pen / with electrical tape
- Small knife sharpener
- Nitrile gloves to protect hands from blood and bacteria
- Small cotton washcloth (rag)
- Clean wipes
- 550 paracord 50’
- Big Game ID Tags
- Knife
Caribou Gear Camp Meat Bag— This small 12”x21” game bag is made to cleanly transport meat back to camp or isolate the tenderloins and blackstraps for your evening meal. The package contains a plastic bag and twist tie.
Hunters Tarp "Colorado"—For keeping meat clean and meat transport, and orange for safety when transporting meat and rack. If you must leave your game meat overnight, hang the tarp at two corners, allowing it to move in the breeze. This motion serves as a bear and coyote deterrent.
A writing pen for filling out your tag will also serve as your electrical tape dispenser.
Small Knife Sharpener - Sharpen your knife periodically; don't lose your sharp edge. It takes more work to get it back.
Nitrile Gloves—We usually have at least six pairs. This, too, depends on what you're hunting and the length of time. On remote hunts, thoroughly washing your hands is not always possible. Nitrile gloves help keep your hands blood-free, keeping minor cuts from getting infected. Blood will excessively dry out your hands, causing them to split. Also used for isolating a severely cut finger, one five-finger glove will keep a cut finger dry for five days while your finger heals.
Small cotton hand towel for cleanup.
Cleaning Wipe Packets - The Klean Freak brand is individually packaged for convenience.
550 Paracord by Caribou Gear is a 7-strand high-quality cord that is strong and durable for outdoor use. 50’ will do. 550 Paracord is great for making a shelter or strapping down your game meat while transporting and hanging quarters. For convenience, we also sell a pre-made lashing made of 550 Paracord.
ID Tags by Caribou Gear: With more hunters in your party, the ID Tags make it easy to identify your game bags and bag content. Worse yet, you donate the wrong meat bags because you need to identify the game bag content. It is also convenient for fish game officers or when sending your meat to public refrigerated storage.
Electrical Tape
A few feet of electrical tape will do. We usually carry a few feet of electrical tape. Take this and wrap it around your pen. You will need around 15” when attaching your tag to the antlers. Some States require that you keep your tag attached to the carcass or hide. (Read your State Hunting Regulations).
Trail Marker Fluorescent Tape - Trail tape used to mark your way to the kill site or a known trail out. If the area is heavily marked with trail tape from years past, use your pen and initial your tape. This is to make sure you’re following the correct marker. Please remove your tape when leaving the area, and, if possible, pull all the other forgotten tape.
The above content will easily fit in the small Ditty Bag. A more extensive list of items can be housed in the medium or large Ditty Bag.
What's not in our kill kit but in our possession
- Game Bags complete set
- Game Bag Meat Spray
- Knife(s)
- Pack Saw (small)
- Razor knife
Caribou Gear Game Bags: you can build your own custom set of game bags and house all the game bags necessary in your ditty bag kill kit. Or purchase our readymade complete game bags set for mule deer, elk, moose, high mountain sheep & much more. We have the largest selection of game bags for whatever it is you hunt around the world.
The Caribou Gear game bag meat spray is an antimicrobial food-grade formula, it’s made to kill bacteria and retard bacteria growth. Use after rinsing any intestinal fluids from game meat, and if hanging game meat for any length of time, spray the meat at the last hour of daylight and allow it to breathe overnight. Be sure to re-bag before sun up.
A good 5-inch fixed-blade knife is for all big game. A folding knife can accidentally close and is much harder to clean. We include the fixed-blade and moose knife set below for convenience and ease of use.
A good knife(s) set / for moose
We carry a two-blade knife set by Knives of Alaska. The set contains a stiff blade and a flexible deboning blade. The stiff blade is perfect for cutting thick meat parts, and the flexible blade is ideal for cutting around those tight inner joints and deboning. Yes, it's a fishing knife set, but it serves very well for cutting meat.
Saw - Packable wood and bone saw blade
Razor Knife
We carry one but hardly ever use it when gutting meat. Simply because it's too sharp, it is difficult to glide the knife between the membrane of the hide or cut around the bone. Using this type of knife can be dangerous when feeling and cutting inside the rib cage cavity. Go slow and be methodical when using such a knife. A small razor knife is excellent for delicate capping!
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THE ABOVE is what you will find in our kill kit. We judge the quality, sensible use, and need of everything we do or carry. It’s just like when you hunt. You assess the line of sight to the actual path of least resistance.
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What is in your kill kit?
We would like to hear your thoughts on this subject and learn more about what you would like to read more about. We don't profess knowledge of all that is hunting, but we genuinely use the many years of trial and error learning from others and our mistakes in life and afield.
Hunt safe - Hunt legally, and good things will happen.
