Trail Kreitzer’s 2019 Nevada early season archery antelope hunting gear list

This is my gear list for a weekend warrior/truck camping style archery antelope hunt in Nevada that I recently went on. I ended up splitting this hunt into two different weekends and finally took my buck from a ground blind at 27 yards on the second weekend.

Check out the gear list video below

A few areas worth mentioning

Optic setup

This is pretty much the same optic setup I run on the majority of my hunts. For a spotting scope, I really love the Swarovski ATM Angled 20-60x65 (I'm still rocking the non-HD version). Then for binoculars, I’ll be using Leica Noctivid 10x42s in an Outdoor Vision Bino Harness and I'll pack along the Swarovski SLC 15x56 for long-distance glassing off of a tripod. My rangefinder is an older Leica Rangemaster CRF 1000.

Bow setup

The past several years I've been hunting with a Mathews Halon X. When set up with a sight, rest, stabilizers (front and back), a five arrow quiver with arrows, it’s pushing roughly 10 lbs. That’s a lot, but I really like the way it holds and shoots. Truth be told: I like the weight; it slows my sight movement when my nerves are firing. I have always felt that shot opportunities with a bow and arrow are so rare that I want to shoot the most accurate bow I can even if I have to pack around a heavy bow.

I get questions about arrow/broadhead configurations. I’m shooting a finished arrow weight of about 433 to 435 grains and an FOC of about 12.655%. I know...according to the current trend it’s too lightweight and doesn’t have enough FOC. All I can say is that they fly accurately with the QAD Exodus broadheads I use and I’ve had great results hunting with them. I’m still shooting three 2” Blazer vanes mainly because I don't enjoy the thought of spending more time to run my arrows in a four fletch. For more information, you can check out a recent arrow straightness test where I compared .0025" arrows to .006" arrows here.

Extra items

A few extra items that helped pass the time in the ground blind were a couple of good books. On this hunt, I read Shoe Dog and A Beast the Color of Winter: The Mountain Goat Observed.

Feel free to ask any questions you might have with the gear I used or comment with suggestions. Just like you, I’m always looking for better gear or different ways to approach my hunts. All the best this fall!