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How to Fine-Tune Your Upland Gear

Expert opinions on how to build the best upland gear kit.

How to Fine-Tune Your Upland Gear

Every upland hunter needs a gear kit that fits their needs and hunting style. (Photo courtesy of Josh Tatman)

Gear can make or break a hunt. Having the right tools for the job is a critical component of every successful bird hunting mission, whether a backyard pheasant walk or an epic ptarmigan backpack trip. It's easy to get overwhelmed by gear management. Fretting about too much stuff takes focus away from what matters: enjoying the field with dogs and friends.

Planning and gear organization can help us maximize the fun and minimize the stress. We asked five upland hunting pros about how they prepare for a hunt, what gear they consider essential, and what they would rather live without.



A woman holds a quail out proudly while her dogs lay on the tailgate next to her.
Stephanie Walton sitting with her dogs. (Photo courtesy of Stephanie Walton)

Stephanie Walton – Upland First Aid Kit

In addition to being a New Mexico Game and Fish biologist and hunter education coordinator, Stephanie is an avid upland hunter. She spends many days a year pursuing mountain grouse and desert quail, with a few prairie road trips thrown in for good measure.


Stephanie uses a Decked drawer system in her truck to keep gear organized throughout the season. Into those drawers she packs several essentials. “I’ve heard the hunting community beat the ‘best boot you can afford’ conversation to a pulp. But why aren’t we talking about socks? I could honestly buy the most expensive pair of boots on the market but paired with crummy socks—forget about it!” Good merino wool socks are essential to Stephanie, as are multiple jackets for layering options.

In her first aid kit, Stephanie makes sure to include, “Leukotape, moleskin, and—my good friend recently introduced me to—Hydroseal bandages.” She also carries a good pair of tweezers and hemostats to remove cactus and porcupine quills from herself and her dogs. Just as important as good footwear are good tires for your vehicle. Stephanie points out, “Investment in your tires can save you in the long run. This one hurts my bank account, but it’s totally worth it! Your vehicle is what gets you from home to your upland honey hole…good all terrain tires will save you some major headaches in the future.”

If Stephanie overpacks on anything, it’s food. She makes sure she has an ample supply in case she gets stranded, or if she is just extra hungry after a long hike. She also throws in a power bank so she can charge her phone and dog collars in a pinch.

Stephanie urges people to avoid overthinking things. “I feel as though gear, just like finding birds or training dogs, is a continual learning process. The more you learn about yourself and your dogs by getting out there, the more you will come to understand your particular gear setup.”




A hunter wearing an orange hat holds up a ruffed grouse, smiling with his Gordon setter under his arm.
Stephen Faust with a grouse and Gordon. (Photo courtesy of Stephen Faust)

Stephen Faust – An Upland Gear Checklist

If you’ve seen a captivating image of a beautiful Gordon setter on point in the grouse woods, chances are it’s one of Stephen Faust’s dogs. He’s the owner at Stoneybrook Gordon Setters in North Carolina, one of North America’s premiere field Gordon kennels. Not only is Stephen an experienced breeder, but he has guided many hunters over his dogs in southern Appalachia and the Northwoods of Minnesota.

Stephen errs toward the spartan end of the gear spectrum. “I’m a basics kind of guy. I just pack along the essentials. Everything you carry in the woods has weight to it, and that weight adds up over a long day.” Not only is his game vest setup simple, he tries to streamline any gear he has back at the truck. “I use breakdown boxes in the truck, everything has a place, extra shells, first aid kit, and essentials like that.”

Stephen goes over a checklist to make sure he has what he needs in his hunting rig, but he doesn’t modify his gear setup once it’s packed for the season, even for short trips. Stephen likes to trim away unnecessary gear in the food category. Rather than pack a lot of exotic options, he loads a small cooler with basic lunch makings and water. One thing he wouldn't be without? “An extra set of truck keys.”



A woman hunter points her dog in a direction for a retrieve with a gun over her shoulder.
Katie Willis directing her wirehair. (Photo courtesy of Josh Tatman)

Katie Willis – Keep Your Gear Simple

If there’s anyone who knows about hunting gear organization, it’s Katie Willis. She lives on the road much of the time, traversing the continent with her band of German “Wildhairs.” Because she lives out of her truck and camper, she doesn’t have to change her hunting kit much.

With a limited amount of space for both fun gear and necessities, Katie embraces the KISS attitude. “Keep. It. Simple. Stupid. We unnecessarily complicate our lives. The more we have, the more we need to keep track of. And the more we have to keep track of, the more likely we are to actually forget the one thing we need. Vest, collars, shotgun, and dog. I can count to four nice and quick, and that is as much as I want to keep track of.”

Katie’s medical and backcountry emergency experience makes her an expert on first aid supplies in particular. “The focus of my kit is evacuation. I don't need to be able to throw stitches or clean a wound perfectly in the field, I need to be able to get back to the truck and be quick about it. It's a numbers game.”

There are a few add-ons that you won’t catch Katie without. “A Wild Rag (cowboy kerchief) can be wetted down to cool the neck, or it can keep the neck warm when it is cold. It is also a key part of my first aid kit. When it gets cold out, a wool long john shirt WITH A HOOD is a must have.”

“Every ounce I carry contributes to my workload and eventual fatigue. Most backcountry issues that people have can be traced back to fatigue.” says Katie.

For newer hunters, she advises, “You don't have to have expensive stuff or buy the latest thing. Upland hunting is the least technical of all the hunting pursuits. Just get a nice dog, boots that fit, and go for a walk.”



A hunter wearing an orange jacket kneels next to his brown GSP.
Levi Day and his GSP with a Hun. (Photo courtesy of Levi Day)

Levi Day – Planning to Have the Right Upland Gear

An expert in outdoor and sports education, Levi is Pheasants Forever’s Conservation Leadership Program Manager. Levi is also a diehard wingshooter. He spends many days afield with his German shorthair and griffon, chasing huns and chukar in the wildest places.

Levi also prefers to keep gear to a minimum. He thinks careful planning is key. “I dig my gear out of its summer slumber weeks before the season. I think about how I can refine my kit to fill any voids, or gear that needs replacing.”

By planning ahead of time, Levi can focus on the fun at hand when it comes time to hunt. Levi has reduced clutter in his first aid gear. “At first, it felt like I needed to have a plethora of medical supplies, [but] those that give me the ability to stop bleeding and remove obstructions are paramount. Beyond that, better care can be given at the tailgate, or better yet, the vet.”

Levi wouldn't hit the field without his fine-tuned apparel kit. “My system is very adaptable from early to late season and can help with temperature regulation by adding or taking away one layer. This is critical in mitigating perspiration.” He also won't be caught without a good pair of athletic wool socks.

“I am definitely a minimalist by nature. I really appreciate reducing needs to the lowest form. This can even be said of my daily supply of shells, which has come back to bite me a time or two.”



A women hunter holds a bird with her black and white English setter sitting next to her.
Bailey Petersen with her setter. (Photo courtesy of Bailey Petersen)

Bailey Petersen – A Prepared Upland Gear Kit

Her passion for upland birds runs so deep that Bailey Petersen makes them both her pastime and her profession. As a wildlife manager for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, she works hard to make sure the birds have the healthy habitat necessary to thrive.

In her free time, she’s out in the woods almost every day of the season with three setters and a small munsterlander. When Bailey and her husband AJ aren’t exploring close to home, they are probably on an epic road trip, camping out of their truck in the prairies and mountains.

Bailey points out that gear management for a road trip is always more complex. “Organization is critical because you’ll likely have tons more gear along for the trip itself. Soft-sided cooler bags and tote bins are your friend for dog supplies. In my Decked truck bed drawers, I have 2/3 of one drawer designated for dog stuff and the other 1/3 is cooking essentials. The other drawer is for guns, shells, fly rods, and game cleaning items.”

Her hunting vest is a different story. She packs her Final Rise Sidekick hunting vest with all the essentials at the beginning of the season, then leaves it alone, other than refilling shells, snacks, and water. Her vest contains field first aid essentials including a conibear trap setter and wire cutters for snare extrication. She always has a roll of vet wrap, and like any good field scientist, she loves flagging tape for its multiple uses.

Dog vests are one item she no longer packs. “I’ve just had a lot of hassle and mud and ice issues with them, so I stopped using them.” In general, though, Bailey is OK with packing some extra supplies, even if she rarely uses them. Her ‘what if’ list includes power banks to charge dog collars, extra water, and first aid supplies like eyewash, hemostats, and a few buckshot shells for defensive emergencies.

Bailey advises novice hunters, “Be okay with packing more than you need and paring things down as you feel comfortable. At some point in your hunting career, you are going to have to drive all the way back home to grab something that you forgot. We all have to experience failure to become better. It’s also okay to go out on a hunt with just the absolute basics: a gun, a dog, and a pocketful of shells, you just have to accept the inherent risk. It always rains when you don’t pack a raincoat.”

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