I don't normally consider myself a procrastinator, but for some unknown reason I find myself doing 90% of my pre-hunt packing the night before I leave on a hunt. I just can't seem to get into the "sort and pack" mood beforehand. After all, the weather might change, and I need to be prepared.

Here it is, 11 p.m. and I haven't even packed all my clothes yet! That doesn't mean I haven't done much since getting out of work at 4:30. So far I've had my hair cut, bought groceries, made stew for dinner, baked oatmeal cookies, washed dishes, sharpened broadheads, and sorted hunting equipment. Earlier in the week, much of my hunting equipment found it's way into the living room. I've been tripping over it all week. There is just too much mental preparation to rush into packing. I've made a list every day for a week (usually the same things are on each list), and they are strategically placed at work, home, in my camper and in my wallet. Even with so much cerebral conditioning, I'm bound to forget something! Oh sure, I read those "hunting lists" you can sometimes pick up at the sporting goods store. Those lists have everything but the kitchen sink, although they usually have a substitute. There are too many dispensable items on those lists for me to bother with. When I go hunting, I like to keep it simple. Some day I'm going to make my own list. Of course I've been telling myself that for over 30 years now. I managed to keep most of my hunting apparatus and clothing packed separately from the rest of my outdoor gear. It makes the job of "sort and pack" much easier. All I have to do is sort the "extras" that I don't need, depending on whether I'm going deer hunting or bear hunting. In this particular case, I'm going to do both. I must make sure that I don't pack too much, I have to leave room for myself in the camper!

If this sounds all too familiar, I've devised a system for people like me. Through the years, I have found that keeping two of certain items like gloves, hat and shooting tab, helps reliever the anxiety of forgetting them. If you are like me, I usually practice year-round and those items become a part of me. If they were lost or left at home, part of my self-confidence would be left with them. If I'm hunting in my home state of Michigan, I have a fanny pack loaded with everything I take with me into the woods. Items differ between deer and bear hunting, but the extras not needed are stored in that nifty invention called a zip-loc bag. If I go out of state, say to Colorado, I switch to a day-pack that contains a facsimile of my fanny pack plus extra clothes and survival items. All of these items are kept in their designated pack 365 days a year, unless they are in use. Each pack contains it's own knife, lighter, compass, flashlight, finger tab, extra string, broadhead replacement blades and first aid kit. Another item I now carry is a tin mirror. I had the unfortunate experience of falling out of a tree (actually, the screw-in tree step pulled out on the way up) and upon landing, I hit my chin on a log. I had band-aids with me, but I was unable to see the extent of the damage or where it was located. A mirror is also helpful in removing eyelashes and gnats that invariably end up in the eye of an unsuspecting hunter (a conspiracy I hope to crack someday).

Hunting clothes are also kept separate, depending on if it's bowhunting season or rifle season. In Michigan, you must wear hunter orange during the firearm season. All of my hunter orange clothing is packed neatly away in a trunk. When firearm season arrives, all I have to do is pull out that trunk and everything I could possibly need is in it. My bowhunting equipment is a little more complicated. I rarely go firearm hunting for deer for more than a couple of long weekends, and I only hunt whitetail, turkey, and small game with a gun. Bowhunting is a completely different story. I could be anywhere in the country from September to January, hunting deer, bear, turkey, or anything else in season, and in that 4-5 month period the weather and scenery changes dramatically. I have four sets of camouflage clothing, each in a different color. The trunk that holds by bowhunting clothes is much larger. In fact it has become a two-trunk-and-one-suitcase sport. Camo clothing goes into one trunk, long underwear, socks and assorted turtleneck sweaters are in the suitcase. The other trunk has my day-pack, fanny-pack, and other assorted archery equipment.

Keeping equipment in a designated spot in the spare room is essential in locating everything on short notice.

Another items I always have with me are a note pad and pen. Many a great idea was born out of boredom of waiting in a bear or deer blind. Some day, I'm going to sew a side pocket -right about the knee- to keep pen and pad handy.

So, as you can see, I'm not a procrastinator, I just wish I could decide what to wear!