I love Oklahoma for a few reasons: the endless oak trees, the crispness of the fall mornings, and the mass amounts of whitetail all over the state. I spent some time hunting whitetail outside of Ada, OK last year and came home with biggest buck I have ever harvested. Needless to say I will be going back to OK this year in the second week of November in hopes of catching some bucks heading into the rut.
Gear plays a vital role in any hunt and I have been giving careful consideration to my gear for this hunt for a long time. When it comes to clothing, Oklahoma gets decently cold, but also has the potential to be pretty warm. Last year it was in the 70’s one week and dropped into the low 30’s for a high the following week. I will need to have a combo of apparel that will work for low temps without sweating me out of the stand when the temps go up. All apparel will be merino wool as I will be hunting for 5 days so I don’t want to risk having odor build in my clothing. For archery, a balance of speed and accuracy is the name of the game. Whitetail are small bodied animals so a light, fast arrow will still penetrate well. Also, I am a fixed broadhead kind of guy – they never fail to deploy and they blow through bone very well.
Here is a list of the key items I will be using on my hunt
Clothing
Base Layer
Outer Layer
First Lite Chama Hoodie – Fusion Camo
First Lite Kanab 2.0 Pants – Fusion Camo
First Lite Brimmed Beanie – Fusion Camo
First Lite Neck Gaiter – Fusion Camo
First Lite Merino Gloves – Fusion Camo
First Lite Mountain Athlete Crew Sock
Merrill Moab Mid-Height Boots
Scent Control
Scent Kapture Odor Eliminating System
Archery
NAP HellRazor Fixed Blade Broadheads
Calls
Flextone Grunt and Battle Bones Calls
Scent
After the Shot
Havalon Piranta Replaceable Blade Knife
Essentail to any whitetail hunt is a safety harness. I will always have my tree stand safety harness on when in the woods and you should too!
While gear does not guarantee a successful hunt, it can help you to be successful when your preparation meets opportunity.
What gear do you plan on using in the whitetail woods this year?