We seem to be in the minority, but YES!
I hunt
completely primitive! The only exception being that my best friend and I carry blaze orange during deer season. (I didn't say that we always wear it, just that we carry it! :winking
When we go completely primitve, we do our best to leave anything behind that wouldn't have been there prior to 1840, including my eye glasses. (I have genuine antique frames, dated to the late 1700's. - Cost me a bundle, but well worth it!) When we hunt on his ranch we even leave the blaze orange behind as we know that no one else hunts there. (OR ELSE!)
As to what we carry, well that depends on whether we are on foot or horseback. (Muleback, in my case!) Generally we have bedrolls consisting of a couple of Whitney blankets with a linen groundcloth. On top of that we'll generally have our billy cans, (or corn boilers if you prefer!) a little loose/caked black bohea tea, a small block of salt (easier to carry than loose salt, just scrape a little onto your eatin's with your knife blade then tuck it back into it's oilskin pouch til next time!) maybe a little ground corn for mush or ash cakes. Flint and steel are a given, as are knife and 'hawk. Something we almost never use but ALWAYS carry are small brass compasses of the type commonly found during 17 & early 1800's. A small file for sharpening tomahawks also goes into the kit as does a small sewing kit complete with awl and waxed linen thread as well as a plate or band of sinew which can be chewed and separated at one's leisure if more permanent repairs are needed. We also usually carry a small jug of "snake bite medicine" although after sipping a little around the evening fire we can almost never find any snakes to bite! If on horse/muleback we also carry a walnut dyed canvass diamond fly. On foot we make what shelter we need. It strikes me that most mountain men were very childlike it that respect; They didn't think too much about shelter untill the weather got bad.
I'm sure there's more that we carry - gourd canteens for one - but without going out and making an inventory of my gear, I don't know what the heck it could be. Anyway that's the basic stuff.
I will say that having done this for many years, I am actually
more comfortable camping and hunting this way than with modern gear!
...The Kansan...
