Summer is here and hopefully that means it's time to put all those of hours of e-scouting to the test with some bootson the ground scouting trips.

Another fall is here, and as always, that means another one of my gear lists. This article is all about my upcominglate-season backcountry-style mule deer hunts. There are just a few small tweaks here and there that I made for 2022,but nothing major has changed.

I want to start off by saying that the gear I use is just what works well for me. I will never say you "need to usethe gear I use to be successful." I get a lot of comments each year about my list that people enjoy them. And myentire goal for sharing my gear lists for each hunt is to help people. I've made a lot of mistakes backpacking in themountains early on in my life, and so I don't want people to experience those. My struggles in the past, are a way tohelp people going forward. And so these gear lists are a way to show what has worked for me. Because if I don't trustsomething, I will not use it. Yes, you don't need a super heavy weapon, you don't need a ton of weight in optics, butfor me, it's just something that works well. This gear list is based around a full backpack-style hunt, so this iseverything I'm carrying in my pack. And my late season, I hope to experience snow and lots of cold temperatures. Whichis why there is a need for some extra gear.

If You're a Visual Person, You Can Watch My Gear List Video and the Reasons I Use Each Piece of Gear Below:

Why a gear list?

The reason I personally do gear lists for every hunt is simple... I want to know that I don't leave anything behindand to see if there is anything I need to add or even subtract from my gear. As most know, when I'm getting ready fora hunt, I create a personalized gear list well in advance. I why always tell people to take all their gear and placeit on the floor and look through it several times to ensure you have everything and to see what you could livewithout. I always keep my gear lists in both a Google Sheet that I can access from my phone and I also have a customExcel spreadsheet I built several years ago that I linked in some previous articles for people to download and workoff of that I also create for every hunt.

NOTE: If you want to access my downloadable Excel file, you can jump over to the Insider only gear list article linked below:

Download his gear list file in this article

My Gear List Breakdown for a "Lightweight" Summer Scouting Trip

There's a few items I brought with, that I just left in my truck, that I talked about in the gear list video that Ididn't need due to the weather. The SITKA Ambiant Hoody, Kelvin Lite Down 3/4 Pant, PEAX Gaiters, swapped out theHanwag Alverstone II GTX for my old trail running shoes.

That right there is another reason why keeping a "gear list" is important. I was able to write down what I used,based on the weather and can now use that to plan other trips.

A few notable items that have always been in my gear list have been removed for this year. I decided to leave myAquamira water purification drops at home, and I elected not to take a pillow this year. The pillow... it just seemsto never stay put in my sleeping back since I'm already at the max height of the bag. So the pillow usually ends upnot under my head at night, and thus, it is a wasted item.

In Conclusion

As always, I'm an open book. If anyone has any questions about the gear I'm using on my upcoming late-season muledeer hunts, I'd be more than willing to dive in and explain a few things. If you have an upcoming mule deer huntplanned or are looking at one down the road in the future, have fun and enjoy the time on the mountain.

See all your gear options in the Gear Shop here