Turkey Vests are Overrated and To Expensive

[gob09]

I love my super elite 3 vest carries all my craps and I know exactly what pocket things are in....but last Christmas I received a funny pack in old tree bark im likely gonna try that and my gobbled lounger
Hopefully it works out well good luck to everyone hunting this spring



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[ThicketThrasher]

Ok, I'll play.   

I love my vest and I couldn't live without it. Everything I need for a hunt is in it.  It will stay in it.  Forever.  When I am done with a hunt, I take my vest off.  When I go on my next hunt, I put my vest on.  I never forget my tags.  Zip ties.  Poop tickets. Calls.  Conditioning tools.  Face mask.  Extra shell or 2.  Limb saw.  Pen.  Bug dope. Or anything else.  It is always all in one place.  Doesn't matter if I get up 5 hours early or 30 minutes late.  Grab and go.  Of course, if I forget the vest entirely I am hosed, but it ain't happened yet and I've been a little "wobbly" a few times.

I'm gonna hunt 4 states this year.  I don't have to think about what to take each time.  It's packed.

Hooray for vests.  Buy the best one ya can - it will last you 10 or more years.

I agree!

[catdaddy]

I wear a vest and have owned many kinds. I have to say though--I have never had one I  was 100% in love with. 

[Muzzy61]

My vest is my best hunting partner, We have been through alot togeather.
i just wouldn't feel right leaving my "buddy" home while i was out chasing turkeys.   

[WildTigerTrout]

The best part of a vest is sliding a big bird in the back pocket and packing him out. 


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I agree 100%. My vest is an old HS Strut that I bought about ten years ago. It has a big game bag in the back that clips open and shut. I lay my birds across the game bag and clip it shut so they don't fall out and away I go. What a great feeling to have that extra weight on your back as you hike out of the woods. I love my vest! 

[budtripp]

I have one of the original mossy oak super elite style vests. Bought it from a friend when I was 14, maybe 2001 ish. Its slightly faded, has several holes torn in it from barb wire, thorns etc. The seat has long since disappeared. Yet it is still like an old friend to me. That vest has been with me on many a fine spring morning and several not so fine ones. I tried the vestless approach in 2011. Man what a pain in my a**. Having calls and shells and tags etc stuffed in my cargo pockets, not being able to find something when I needed it, forgetting things in the truck I can go on and on. After a week or so I dug out my old friend and loaded it back up and have no plans to change anytime soon

[Ded Goblr]

Love my vest. Can't imagine going back to the days when I didn't use one..

[runngun]

Well here goes!!! You would think I was nuts then. You see I have 3 vests. A Buck Lick creek, Cabelas tactical tat'r with the kickstand and an Ol tom. I even have the "worlds best hunting chair". Each vest has a purpose and the area I am hunting dictates what vest I use. Also I have back trouble and the vests with the back rest helps me alot.  Go get'em!!!

[redleg06]

I got one of the smaller vest that you can buy but I agree with the others that I wouldnt leave the truck without it because its easy to keep everything organized.

Facemask, mouthcalls, one box call, chalk, a few extra shells, topo map if I'm on a new place, thermacell (yep mosquitoes can be drastic down here in the south), cell phone and a water bottle... and of course the seat that's attached to it.  All things that i'd probably lose or leave beside a random tree or in the truck if I didnt have a vest to keep up with it all. When the hunt's over, I just take it off and leave the vest by the door and I always know that I got just about everything I need (the gun is all that's really missing) to go chase turkey.

[paboxcall]

Gave up the vest with 20+ pockets for a fanny pack with shoulder straps.  With the straps that pack feels like it weighs nothing.  And I give that up when I ride the mountain bike in, and instead ride with a trumpet, box call in a belt holster, scratch box in the shirt pocket, and a mouth call.  Water bottle goes on the bike, which is one less thing I'm toting on the shoulders.   

I agree about the simplicity of grabbing a vest out of the back of the truck and going -- that is spot on.  With my vest I wasn't disciplined enough to manage the things I was carrying -- just be cause I could carry them.  I just got tired of carrying 80 pounds of stuff I might use once during the season.

[heathwesley]

Wow glad to see so many opinions on this subject.  To be perfectly honest a lot of the points for vests got me thinking.  I really like what many said about the bests being ready to rock and roll at any time.  Its true that most mornings I have to reorganize my things back into pockets.  I don't hunt several states like some of you who posted but I hunt well over 30 days in my home state of Illinois.  I may have been swayed a bit here.  I like the idea of everything ready to go and organized.  I think I don't like the idea of spending the money......okay I'm gonna post something new.  Now I need a recommendation on a best....just in case I decide to break down.  I will end by saying a vest is nice but not necessary. 

[cahaba]

If I'm going to carry a gobbler lounger and have a specific plan I like to use  a fanny pack. It's a great alternative to a vest at times. 90% of the time I have my vest on. Got to have a place for my thermacell and lot's of water. The latter part of Alabama turkey season can be hot and humid.
I also like a variety of friction calls and strikers. Sometimes a different sound or pitch is all it takes to break him loose.

[bushwhacker]

I use a vest and always have. The night before opening day I tromp 57 lbs of junk into it. But every few days as the days get hotter and the walks get longer I unload something that I haven't used all season. So this year I'm starting out with what is in it from the last day last season. I'm through with feeling like a packmule.

[natman]

Feel free to do what you want, but I'm not giving up MY vest, thanks. It's got a nice cushy seat, just the right number of pockets to carry calls, gloves, knife, water, ammo, hat, etc. I've had it twenty years now (it's in Realtree Xtra Brown), and I expect to get another 20 out of it.

[Ruger M77]

I have a vest for the seat and so I dont leave my calls and other stuff in the woods. I lost alot of calls before I had a vest