What be in your kit ?
- Thread starter Lace1978
- Start date
deerstalker.308
Well-Known Member
Something to sit on (kneeling pad for gardening)
Warm clothing, more than you’d think you need, it gets cold sitting in stands for hours not moving.
Warm clothing, more than you’d think you need, it gets cold sitting in stands for hours not moving.
deerstalker.308
Well-Known Member
Snacks, Mars bars etc and a flask (thermos or hip.....)
deerstalker.308
Well-Known Member
Binos, whilst you may not need them as such for the driven hunt, hours sat in a forest, you’re bound to see other nice things, so worth having.
More money with you so if you go mad and shoot one off the list then the thumb screws will not go on 
A tripod stool - something similar to this - https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/wooden-tall-tripod-stool/_/R-p-304873 enables you to settle down & sit still without fidgeting. Hi viz vest & an extra layer of clothes over & above what you think as it gets very cold sitting still
Plastic bags, to put bits of meat in from the breakfast table, when you leave your digs take some loo paper with you just in case you need to drop the odd forest truffle.
Spare batterys for the items that may need one.
Im not into sitting down, you could miss a good chance.
Spare batterys for the items that may need one.
Im not into sitting down, you could miss a good chance.
deerstalker.308
Well-Known Member
I’ve never known of any driven hunt where you weren’t positioned in a high seat with a bench or seat in it. Really no need to carry extra clobber like this, you’ll just find it unnecessary. If you are in an open stand (very rare) I’d want to be on my feet and ready to shoot, not sitting. Some of the best shooting I’ve had from driven hunts has walked behind my seat (still within the safe shooting areas designated).
Some kind of stool is a great help. A thick piece of cardboard to stand on keeps your feet off the potentially freezing ground. Something to munch on whiles the time away. Where are you off to in February ? All driven hunting in Europe stops at the end of January as far as I am aware.
Much, to my mind, will depend on where in Europe you are going and how long you expect the drives to be. They may be as short as a quarter hour in some places like Poland with 12-20 drives in the day and very quick moves between each drive OR each drive may be half a day. Or you may be sat on a platform/box. ALL the above advice is good.
My kit list (part) used to read like this:-
Hat and Red Hatbands, Cammo Hi-vis vest,
Daysack- field dressing, spare ammo, pullthrough, saddle flask & s/steel beakers, dragrope, sanglier pullover, marker tape, camera, waterproof trousers, permis & insurance cert’., [I am not well upholstered so in the early days I used to take a very thin thermal (closed foam) cushion to sit or kneel on for long periods,
Shooting jacket, field dressings, pull through, scarf, gloves,
Trousers, socks and garters, knife, hankie, [ear defenders], loo paper in a re-sealable bag,
Thermals (1 set) and shooting shirts (2), tie, Cashmere v-neck [all the layering principles apply],
Rifle, ammo and muzzle cover, spare battery, rifle cover (legal req’ment in some countries),
(Tripod) Shooting stool, [more stable than a British monopod shooting stick and because it was taller I can stand instantly off it, [Edit - too bulky if you are flying there.]
Wellies and welly socks - or thermal boots if you are expecting really cold temperatures,
Thermos flask and sandwiches or sweeties depending on how you will lunch.
Go and enjoy and I shall confess to some envy. Weidmannsheil!
[Edit] I have just read your latest post whilst searching out my old list - I have been to Turkey several times but not for boar; the mountains are high and can be cold in the interior in winter. There are some huge boar there, usually stalked rather than driven. Locals hugely friendly. ]
My kit list (part) used to read like this:-
Hat and Red Hatbands, Cammo Hi-vis vest,
Daysack- field dressing, spare ammo, pullthrough, saddle flask & s/steel beakers, dragrope, sanglier pullover, marker tape, camera, waterproof trousers, permis & insurance cert’., [I am not well upholstered so in the early days I used to take a very thin thermal (closed foam) cushion to sit or kneel on for long periods,
Shooting jacket, field dressings, pull through, scarf, gloves,
Trousers, socks and garters, knife, hankie, [ear defenders], loo paper in a re-sealable bag,
Thermals (1 set) and shooting shirts (2), tie, Cashmere v-neck [all the layering principles apply],
Rifle, ammo and muzzle cover, spare battery, rifle cover (legal req’ment in some countries),
(Tripod) Shooting stool, [more stable than a British monopod shooting stick and because it was taller I can stand instantly off it, [Edit - too bulky if you are flying there.]
Wellies and welly socks - or thermal boots if you are expecting really cold temperatures,
Thermos flask and sandwiches or sweeties depending on how you will lunch.
Go and enjoy and I shall confess to some envy. Weidmannsheil!
[Edit] I have just read your latest post whilst searching out my old list - I have been to Turkey several times but not for boar; the mountains are high and can be cold in the interior in winter. There are some huge boar there, usually stalked rather than driven. Locals hugely friendly. ]
Uncle f
Well-Known Member
Ok I’ll list the obvious
Gun, ammo. Binos, knife, spare batteries for all equipment. First aid kit, high vis jacket/waistcoat etc. I cut up a cheap high vis tabard and adorn all around me bushes trees etc with the strips so every bugger knows where I am
a stool is really helpful and also zip lock type food bags so when you have breakfast at the digs fill up the bags with fruit, bread, cakes, whatever you can as you’ll get hungry. More so if it’s cold.
Enjoy it it’s a sodding great adventure and I can’t wait to get to Serbia this time next year
Gun, ammo. Binos, knife, spare batteries for all equipment. First aid kit, high vis jacket/waistcoat etc. I cut up a cheap high vis tabard and adorn all around me bushes trees etc with the strips so every bugger knows where I am
a stool is really helpful and also zip lock type food bags so when you have breakfast at the digs fill up the bags with fruit, bread, cakes, whatever you can as you’ll get hungry. More so if it’s cold.
Enjoy it it’s a sodding great adventure and I can’t wait to get to Serbia this time next year
Keep your equipment simple roe sack hi viz extra bullets knife some tape to mark blood or shot that might potentially be a miss, some first aid stuff [I take a roll of bandage tape and spray plaster and a small bandage ]this can be used for me or dog if needed or someone else .seat pad something to drink bottle of water.
don’t bother with binoculars you won’t use them if you looking at animals through binoculars there to far to shoot driven .warm boots
don’t bother with binoculars you won’t use them if you looking at animals through binoculars there to far to shoot driven .warm boots
For Croatia I used to take a small rucksack in which I kept:
I also took my telescopic stalking sticks - handy to rest the rifle on and twice I shot boar off the sticks which otherwise I wouldn’t have shot. Boar early in the drive seemed to have the habit of coming towards the guns and then standing, as though they had seen something unexpected. When I was put on my peg I would spend a few minutes to find the nearest suitable tree and clear the area around the base of noisy leaves. I’d then keep my back to it and rest the rifle on the sticks. If the boar are running just drop the sticks, but if a boar stopped then having the sticks was a great confidence booster. The best boar I saw I lost because it was 100 yards away and stopped in the middle of the ride - with sticks I’d have shot it. Once bitten......
- Spare rounds
- Fleece waistcoat/jumper
- Pocket binos (plenty of times when you will want to look at things)
- Chocolate bars
- Compact camera
- Piece cut from old pair of neoprene-lined wellies to sit/stand on
- Small thermos (Zojirushi) which I had filled with black coffee each morning (always needed)
- Fixed blade knife (never needed)
- Swiss Army knife (never needed, other than to cut sausage and fruit)
- Bore snake (to shift anything that might have become lodged in the barrel when coming a cropper - never used)
- Spare batteries (for driven boar scope)
- Power bank (for mobile phone)
- Spare fleece gloves (don’t underestimate how cold it can be)
- Snood/neck fleece (as above)
- The “press to activate” type of disposable hand warmers (as above)
- Spare socks
- Antiseptic wipes
- Tissue paper
- Small first aid kit (mostly plasters for blisters!)
I also took my telescopic stalking sticks - handy to rest the rifle on and twice I shot boar off the sticks which otherwise I wouldn’t have shot. Boar early in the drive seemed to have the habit of coming towards the guns and then standing, as though they had seen something unexpected. When I was put on my peg I would spend a few minutes to find the nearest suitable tree and clear the area around the base of noisy leaves. I’d then keep my back to it and rest the rifle on the sticks. If the boar are running just drop the sticks, but if a boar stopped then having the sticks was a great confidence booster. The best boar I saw I lost because it was 100 yards away and stopped in the middle of the ride - with sticks I’d have shot it. Once bitten......
Last edited:
Dorset Shakari
Well-Known Member
If you are going to Hungary, take far more warm clothes than you think you'll need. The damp cold drains the warmth out of you.
enfieldspares
Well-Known Member
A whistle. Of the Acme Thunderer metal or strong plastic similar referee's loud type. Cheap off eBay or at a Decathlon. Attached to you by a cord. Just in case anything goes wrong. And one of those tiny, tiny slimline pocket torches the size of a short thick biro pen. For the same reason. Seriously. Not a joke. All the rest others here can suggest.
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