Turkey Trip Packing List - Early Spring

Plus, Alaska Guide Creations Bino Pack Review & Wild Turkey Street Taco Recipe

Author

Emmy Wadsworth
April 09, 2025

I get a lot of questions about hunting gear, especially when it comes to women’s clothing. Before I get started, I should preface with this: Each person is unique in what system works for them.

Personally, I’m not someone who’s married to one brand for everything. I think that different brands have their own specifically great pieces. I’ve never met a turkey who cared what logo I was wearing or whether my camo patterns were matching. I love the $30 pair of fleece lined pants from Menards better than any expensive brand of midlayer pants I’ve ever tried. I’ve used the same gloves I’ve had since I was 13 because I haven’t found a better fitting pair. I also love some of the higher end stuff, like both the Filson and First Lite base layer pieces and the lightweight Sitka Ascent pants.

My setup is designed for moving around quite a bit, but also has me ready to sit against a tree for a couple of hours in 20 degree temps if I need to. No blind, no decoys, no seat cushion. That’s the way both Chance and I have been rolling these days!

Here’s a general list of what I pack for an early spring bowhunting turkey trip.

Base Layers

Midlayer

Outer Layer

Footwear

Accessories

Bow setup

Calls

Other gear

Gear Review - Bino Pack: Alaska Guide Creations Hybrid Max - Gen L

Score: 10/10

My husband, Chance, and I don’t do well with sitting still for long - which makes us great turkey hunting partners! We move around quite a bit and often end up covering a lot of ground, depending on how things play out. It looks something like this: walk to a valley, call, listen, call to another valley, listen, etc. Then if we hear (or see) anything, we hunker down.

So why is this important for a bino pack review?

Because I have made the mistake too many times of carrying a backpack full of who-knows-what, lugging it up and down the steep valleys, sneaking through brush, barely able to keep up and fighting for my life. Once I ditched the backpack, heavy boots, and unnecessary gear, my life became a whole lot easier.

I fit everything I need in this pack for our style of hunting: binos, calls, phone, knife, headlamp, wipes, & snacks. And I’ve been living by this rule: if it doesn’t it in my pockets or this bino pack, I don’t need it.

As far as the integrity of this pack, it couldn’t get better. It’s durable, even with its many pockets and details. You can tell these were designed to hunt with how quiet the mechanisms are to open and close. Having everything so easily accessible right at your chest is perfect for the fast-moving style of hunting we do. This pack has been through a lot and it’s still in tip top shape.

Wild Turkey Street Taco Recipe

If you’re like me, the first thing you want do after harvesting a turkey is to eat it, but the last thing you want to do is cook a complicated meal. So on the way home from a successful morning, I’ll swing by Walmart where you can find all the ingredients. This recipe can easily be doubled if you have more than a couple people or want a lot of leftovers. I barely consider this a recipe, but this is our go-to when one of us harvests a morning bird and we want a super simple lunch!

Ingredients:

Steps:

  1. Chop turkey breasts into 1 inch cubes and marinate in 1 bottle of Japanese BBQ sauce for at least 30 minutes in the fridge*

  2. Once you’re done marinating, heat large skillet on medium heat and cook marinated turkey cubes until they are cooked all the way through.

  3. Mix up the salad kit**

  4. Assemble tortilla + turkey + salad. Enjoy!

* you’ll have the best flavor if you marinate 4+ hours.

**personally, I don’t like using the tortilla strips that are included.