Written: by Blessed
First – Thanks Jody for having me be a guest blogger while you are out playing with worms and catching fish this week, I’m honored!
If you’ve been reading this blog for very long you know that in addition to telling us great stories Jody asks a bunch of questions so I thought what would be more appropriate than asking a question in my guest blog post for her? So here it is:
Anyone who hunts (or lives with a hunter) knows that you can and probably will accumulate a lot of gear very quickly – especially if you hunt a variety of things. There are clothes, hats, gloves, flashlights, GPS units, 2-way radios, decoys, trail markers, pouches, backpacks, cover scents, calls, safety harnesses, field dressing supplies and I think you get the point. We hunt deer, turkey, waterfowl, upland birds, rabbits, squirrels, doves and anything else we get the opportunity to hunt. Then there is all the fishing gear – catfish, trout, spoonbill, bass, crappie, bluegill, and … it gets overwhelming.
Jody has told me before that she is very organized person. I’m not. I try to be and in my work I am but when it comes to the house I want to be organized and I try to be organized but it didn’t start out organized and I’m still struggling to get it organized. Things are a lot better now than they were 8 years ago when I first got married! My solution for organizing our hunting and fishing gear – oops, almost forgot – the camping equipment too, is a large plastic shelf that I picked up at a local home improvement store a couple of years ago. I set it up in the garage then I bought 6 plastic totes that would just fit on 3 of the 4 shelves. The fourth shelf is home to all of our canvas, collapsible camping chairs. I wrote on the outside of the tote what was to go inside the tote and then went through the house and started putting things away.
It isn’t a perfect system and I’ve had to modify my original “contents” list but it works for us and my husband is able to find things without me now so that is good. By the way, our totes are labeled: Deer; Waterfowl; Hats & Gloves; Turkey; Extra Clothes; Totes, Bags & Pillows – we still have stuff in our closets but that is mostly the clothes we wear and our ammunition and it’s much more manageable.
What about you? I want to hear how you organize your gear.
Blessed – A Blessed Crazy Life
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
I use totes as well and we have a closet that is specifically for hunting and fishing gear. It works out well and keeps everything in one place. I keep all the camping stuff in totes out on a shelf in the garage. That keeps it all in one place as well.
That sounds like a pretty good system. I’ll have to ask my Dad how he organizes his stuff. He’s kind of a neat freak, and big on organization.
Well… first I don’t buy any ever. So I don’t have to worry about MY hunting gear. (Well, actually, back in the day, I had a pretty organized cosmetic bag. Does that count? Hee!) But, because I’m married to a hunter, I do have to deal with it.
This is how I deal with it:
HE keeps it organized or else! lolol
If I trip over the stuff to many times… I have been known to “murder” hunting gear!
What? Organization you say?!? I live in a mobile home with limited storage. So, I end up just trying to remember where I put my hunting stuff. We have been married 33 years, have 3 kids and 4 grandchildren, there is STUFF to contend with.
My gun sits either by the back door or in our closet. The deer slugs and bird shot sits on our shelf in the closet.
Fishing equipment doesn’t exist yet, but it will…
Synopsis of the story – Hunting supplies get put where they will fit.
I have two giant plastic bins on our porch, and that is where everything goes. One is for my dirty stuff, while the other is for my clean stuff. And my wife bought a bunch of hooks to hang on the porch as well, and that is where anything that doesn’t make it in to the bins goes…
However since she is out of town for a while, I can already see camo on my floor from yesterday’s hunt!
Some of my hunting clothes are hanging in the closet upstairs and some downstairs with my hunting shoes. Actually, we have a room just for hunting stuff but now also has a freezer in it, sleeping bags, rifle case, hunting bows, a tool box, hunting chairs, etc., and hunting bags. Oh, forgot about the Christmas Tree. It is all out of site – out of mind that’s the best part until hunting season starts again or Christmas rolls around.
As an organizing expert and a competitive shooter (but not a hunter) I can sort of relate. I don’t have NEAR the amount of gear that you folks have, but I do struggle a bit with my guns and related items. Range bag, ammunition, gun cases, holsters, ear and eye protection, and of course the guns themselves. I have to say on a side note that the gun safes double nicely as secure storage for my “real” jewelry, in addition to the guns.
~Monica
I’m sorry, but I have enough gear that it takes a full room and then some. I don’t have much trouble keeping track of it unless someone else in the family gets a hold of it. The problem for me is making sure I take everything I need – yes, I do have lists. And then I always hate cleaning it up and putting it away afterward. I was amuzed by the hunting gear “murderer”.
Mule Deer Fanatic
http://www.muledeerfanatic.com
Oh dear! My husband hunts deer, moose, elk, geese, and ducks, and holy hannah, he has a lot of stuff. I just spent a full day clearing out the ‘spare room’ so that I could have the carpet cleaned. Anyway, he hunts with both rifle and bow, and loves to camp and fish as well. Living in a region that reaches colder than -50, he has a lot of bulky winter stuff, too…. soooo…. I’m looking for creative storage solutions. Unfortunately we only have a shed outside and no garage, so I’m contemplating making a closet in the ‘spare room’ with ginormous shelves that will fit bins and tubs for all the yummy scents, etc. Any ideas? pictures?? HELP?!?!?
thanks!!
I stumbled here researching methods for addressing these needs for a client. Dear Lord! He and his two teenage boys hunt everything, so it’s year-round. They often have four more boys joining them. Mud room inside, cabinets in the garage he says lend to must and mildew. Give me some clues as to what needs to go inside, what are the challenges there and what can survive well-organized in the garage. (He has a gun safe in the house.) Also trying to accommodate the normal plethora of gear needed just for life with five children in Minnesota. It’s a great project!