The Story Behind the Drawn West Pack List: Building the Ultimate Elk Hunting Checklist
Every hunter knows the feeling—gear scattered across the floor, coffee gone cold, and that creeping suspicion you’ve forgotten something critical. Did I pack my tags? Where’s the Jetboil fuel? Why do I have three headlamps and no gloves?
I’ve been there more times than I care to admit.
My first elk hunt in northwestern Montana was the definition of rookie chaos. I’d just graduated college, I was broke, and I was about to drive halfway across the country for a hunt I’d been dreaming about since high school. My brother had gone the year before, so naturally he and the guys became my lifeline of questionable advice: “Two pairs of pants should be fine… probably.”
After too many texts and not enough answers, I did what engineers and overthinkers do best—made a list.
From One Google Doc to a Decade of Hunts
That first list lived in a shared Google Drive folder titled Montana Elk 2016. After the hunt, I copied it, added the things I wished I’d packed (camp shoes, for one), deleted the things that never left the truck, and saved the new version.
Nine years and countless hunts later, that file turned into a ritual. Before every trip, I’d duplicate the previous list, tweak it for the hunt, and hit print. Each version told a little story—what worked, what didn’t, and how far I’d come as a hunter.
Somewhere along the way, friends started asking for my list. Then listeners. Then strangers. That’s when I realized it wasn’t just a spreadsheet anymore—it was a system.
Why I Built a Free Elk Hunting Checklist
When I launched the Drawn West Pack List, it wasn’t to sell anything. It was to save other hunters from that pre-trip panic I lived through for years.
Most gear lists online feel like they were written by a marketing intern who’s never carried a pack past the trailhead. Every state, every season, and every style of hunt demands a slightly different setup. September archery in the aspens isn’t the same as November rifle in the snow.
I wanted something simple, field-tested, and free.
So that’s what I built—hunt-specific lists, starting with Rifle Elk and expanding into Mule Deer, Whitetail, and everything in between. You can download them right from the Drawn West website, print a copy, or grab the mobile version that saves your progress as you pack.
The Three Buckets That Keep Me Organized
I learned early on that the only way to keep my sanity while packing was to divide everything into three categories:
Clothes – what keeps you alive and comfortable
Hunting Gear – what helps you find, shoot, and recover an elk
Camp Gear – what keeps you in the game for a week without hating life
That’s it. Three buckets.
If something doesn’t fit one of those, it probably doesn’t belong in the truck.
Building Smarter, Not Heavier
Let’s start with clothes. I keep the list brand-agnostic because everyone has their preferences—maybe you run Sitka, maybe First Lite, maybe it’s a mix of Cabela’s specials and hand-me-downs. The point isn’t the logo; it’s the system.
A good base layer, a reliable mid-layer, and a windproof shell handle 95 percent of what the mountains throw at you. Add a puffy for glassing, gaiters for snow, and camp shoes for sanity.
If you do want to fill a gap or upgrade a weak link, I included optional links to the gear I personally use inside the digital list—everything from my Sitka Jetstream Jacket to Kenetrek Gaiters. And because GoHunt sponsors the show and supports Drawn West, you’ll get 10 percent off most regular-priced items with code drawnwest.
The Tag I Forgot and the Lesson I Learned
Ask any veteran hunter what the most-forgotten item is, and they’ll probably say socks or batteries. Mine was a tag.
Years back, I drew a North Dakota whitetail tag and left it sitting in a pile of mail on my kitchen counter. I realized the mistake the night before opener—tent up, rifle cleaned, heart in my throat. After an hour of frantic phone calls and a questionable sprint across the prairie, a very kind woman at the Game & Fish office stayed late to reprint it.
By 10:30 the next morning, I was tagged out.
Now, every tag goes straight from the mailbox into a Ziploc inside my bino harness. I even keep a manila folder at home labeled Current Year Tags. It’s not fancy, but neither was forgetting the first one.
Tools That Quietly Save Hunts
Over the years, I’ve realized the best gear isn’t always the flashiest—it’s the stuff that silently prevents disasters.
A pack rain fly that weighs two ounces and keeps your $400 pack from soaking through.
A field sharpener the size of an eraser that brings a dull blade back to life mid-quarter.
A cheap rubber shooting yoke that turns any tripod into a steady rest.
And yes, I carry trekking poles now. Call me soft—I call it still having knees in ten years. Paired with a GoHunt rifle carrier, my gun rides under my arm, muzzle up, leaving both hands free. It’s faster, safer, and way less awkward than a sling sliding off your shoulder all day.
Camp: Where Comfort Becomes Strategy
If the mountain is where you earn success, camp is where you earn longevity. Rifle season means frozen boots, early alarms, and coffee that tastes like burnt optimism.
Whether your “tent” is a Team Lodge, a wall tent, or the back seat of your pickup, camp dictates how long you’ll last. My list includes everything from lighters and garbage bags to wet wipes (cowboy showers are real) and a five-gallon bucket with a snap-on toilet lid—not glamorous, but trust me, life-changing.
I also note cooler space because hunters forget how much meat a bull elk produces. You’ll need roughly 200–250 quarts of cooler volume—two 110-quart coolers are easier to manage than one massive coffin.
Why the Pack List Lives on Your Phone
I still love a paper checklist tacked to the garage wall, but the mobile version is what I actually use. It’s interactive—you can check boxes, type custom notes (“beer,” “extra batteries,” “don’t forget the tags”) and save your progress in the free Adobe Acrobat app.
Start packing Wednesday night, finish Thursday morning, and nothing disappears. The file even syncs to the Adobe cloud, so you can pick up right where you left off if your phone dies halfway through organizing camp gear.
The Drawn West Gear Checklist
Gear You Already Own — and Gear You Can Trust
Most hunters already have 80 percent of what they need for a successful elk hunt. The Drawn West Pack List helps you realize that. It’s not about buying new gear every year—it’s about packing smarter, not heavier.
But if you are filling gaps, I can confidently point you toward GoHunt’s Gear Shop. They’re our partners for a reason: reliable gear, solid people, and that 10 percent discount with code drawnwest. Every purchase through them also helps keep this podcast running and supports conservation across the West.
Why I Keep Doing This
At its core, the Drawn West Pack List isn’t about gear—it’s about removing excuses. Packing should never be the barrier between you and a hunt.
When I look back at those old Google Docs, they’re more than lists—they’re mile markers in a hunting journey that’s still unfolding. Each one reminds me how preparation builds confidence, and how confidence gets you out the door.
That’s all I want for other hunters. A simple, free system that gives you one less reason to stay home.
So go grab the list, double-check your tags, and hit the road. The elk won’t wait, and neither should you.
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