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The $1500 Deer Hunt Gear List

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The $1500 Deer Hunt Gear List

We here at Western Hunter always strive to give our readers the information they desire. Recently, we have noticed a good portion of our readers want to see more budget-friendly options when it comes to gear. We also noticed that most of our readers prefer the DIY self-guided adventure stories to the fully guided ones. Now, this isn’t a knock on guys who can afford nice things. Believe me, we are still going to cover high-end gear in stride, and we aren’t going to stop running stories of guided hunts in the adventure stories section. High-end gear has its place, and it’s mostly what I like to focus on, but if our readers are asking for something, who are we not to give it to them?

This will be a demonstration of how far you can stretch your dime. We are starting with a completely blank slate. When I envision this, I see a dude standing in a suit and tie with a baseball hat on. He has absolutely nothing that can be used on a hunt… except for maybe the hat. Now, most folks have a lot of things they can already use. Almost everyone has a fleece from Patagonia or some other hiking brand, a pair of gloves they use to scrape their windshield in the morning, and a rain jacket they throw on a few times a year. All of those would bring the price down even more.

Note that all items were available/accordingly priced at the time of writing this. Prices and inventory may have changed, but the principle is the same. You can have good enough gear to go hunting on the cheap. We may not recommend it with certain items, but it's possible!

Priorities

As I created this list, I tried to spend the least amount on the items that I feel are the least important and the greatest amount on the items I felt were the most important. Some notable items that I felt the need to spend more money on were a backpack, boots, and bullets.

Backpack

For the pack, I went with a Mystery Ranch Sawtooth 45. This is a great pack that has been around for a long time. It’s a proven design that can handle plenty of weight and still be comfortable. I believe they are discontinuing the current model year in favor of the 2025s, so they were on sale at Blackovis for a steal of a price ($299.99).

Boots

Boots can be the most important thing in the backcountry. They can make or break a hunt, I have personally seen guys miss whole days of hunting because their feet were so destroyed by a bad pair of boots.

Bullets

The last thing I spent more than I could’ve gotten away with was ammunition. I added Hornady Precision Hunters because they’re tried and true bullets that rarely fail. There’s plenty of ammunition on the market at a lower price point, but bullets are not something I think you should skimp on. After all, they can be the deciding factor in whether you are successful or not.

Limitations

If you used this exact gear list, there are a few things that you could get uncomfortable with. One of those could be the sleeping pad. Cheaper pads tend not to be as comfortable and have very low R-values, but because this would be used on a coues deer hunt in Arizona, that may not be a huge issue. Another thing is that these clothes will most likely not fit like high end hunting or hiking clothing. Another item that may be a hindrance would be the lower-end binoculars. Binoculars in this price range tend not to be very clear and cause eye fatigue quickly.

For this reason, I may elect to still hunt rather than do the normal “get up high and glass for miles” that I normally would for coues deer.

The last big thing on this list is the lack of a rangefinder. Almost all rangefinders are around a few hundred dollars, so I elected to save the money. This would mean you would have to become very proficient with guessing ranges and most likely would lead to only being about to shoot out to 200 or so yards.

This is an extreme example of how cheap you can go on gear and still be able to get into the mountains. Everything on here would keep you safe and give you an opportunity to be successful. In future ramblings, I’ll touch more on things you probably already have at your house and the best way you can spend that extra dough.

Clothing

Base Layer TopAugusta Sportswear Wicking Long Sleeve Sun Protection Athletic Shirt$11.15
Base Layer BottomFruit of the Loom Men's Breathable Boxer Briefs, Moisture Wicking Underwear$16.39
Mid Layer TopCondor Men's Cargo$28.75
PantsCycorld Men's Hiking Pants$25.99
Rain Gear Top33,000ft Packable Rain Jacket Men's Lightweight Waterproof Rain Shell Jacket$29.99
Puffy JacketPackable Puffer Jacket Men$19.99

Accessory Clothing

Socks x2You have socks0
Baseball CapYou have one0
BeanieZOORON Beanie for Men$4.99
GlovesWinter Magic Gloves Women & Men$4.99

Gear

BackpackMystery Ranch Sawtooth 45$299.99
BootsCRISPI SNIPER GTX BOOT$175.00
BinocularsBushnell 10 x 42 Powerview Roof Prism Binocular$79.52
TripodAmazon Basics 50-inch Lightweight Portable Camera Mount Tripod$18.42
Binocular adapterBinocular Tripod Adapter Quick Release 1/4-20Inch Threading Detachable Mount$12.99

Weapon

Gun/Scope Savage Arms Axis 2 XP Compact 308 Winchester Rifle Combo$499.99
BulletsHornady Precision Hunter$41.99

Camping System

Tent1 Person Tent$29.44
Sleeping PadWaterproof Sleeping Pad for Camping$19.95
Sleeping BagAmazon Basics 20°F Cold Weather Mummy Sleeping Bag$49.15

Cooking System

Stove/Pot/UtensilPeidesi Camping Cookware Mess Kit$19.95
IsobutaneIso-Butane Camping Fuel Gas Canister All Season Mix$12.95

Possibles Pouch

Water PurificationAquatabs Water Purification Tablets $10.99
First Aid KitMini First Aid Kit - 150 Piece Small$9.99
Game bagsPillow case from closet$0.00
Knife3.46" Sharp Blade Wood Handle Pocket Folding Knives with Clip$9.99
Wind IndicatorHunters Specialties Scent-A-Way Windicator Portable Pocket Size$3.99
Paracord7 Strand Type III Paracord Rope 50ft 4mm, High Strength Nylon$5.99
Charging Pack2 Pack 15000mAh Dual USB Power Bank Output 5V3.1A$24.99
Head LampCOSOOS Mini LED Headlamp Flashlight with Carrying Case$7.99
Water StorageGas Station Water Bottle$0.99

Author

Brody Layher

Brody is not your typical Midwest transplant. He’s one of the most meticulous and well-researched backpack hunters on our staff. After a childhood consumed by whitetail and turkey hunting, Brody moved out west in pursuit of big game hunting opportunities and joined our team in 2019. Since then, he’s taken mule deer, coues deer, and elk with a bow, and he’s always planning his next adventure with a fervor that’s rare, even among our team. It’s no surprise that, given his last name, he’s obsessed with high-performance clothing systems. Brody was also a competitive bass fisherman and now lives in Scottsdale with his wife and his dog, Rocky.

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