Every successful turkey hunter knows that you can carry quite a bit into the woods.  To be successful and comfortable, you need a cushion, multiple calls, shells, camo gloves, camo netting, decoys, and much more.

Where can you store all this while carrying a shotgun?

After watching many turkey hunting shows, I noticed that all the pros were using vests such as this.  The two most appealing things to me were the foam seat cushion and the open sack in the back to carry decoys or your bagged turkey.

As the picture shows, there are numerous pockets.  From the top of the vest, there are mesh open pockets.  Below these pockets, there are large zipper pockets.  I store extra camo and my licenses on these pockets.

There are pockets for GPS devices, individual pockets for shotgun shells, multiple slate and box call pockets.

I settled on this vest after reviewing several at Cabelas.  This seemed like it offered the most features at a reasonable price.  The vest was immediately put to the test in Wisconsin and Michigan.

My major gripe with this vest was that while wearing it, I continually had problems re-hooking the cushion seat to the back of the vest.  It was pointed out to me that this problem could be solved by cutting the strap that hangs off the cushion.  I have no tried this yet, but it should solve the problem.

It is also important to understand that if you need to be stealth when approaching turkeys, take the vest off!  The vest can be bulky and is not fully camouflage with some green spots exposed.

YOOPER GEAR RATING:

Overall, this is a very useful vest that I will continue to carry with me on my future turkey hunting adventures.  It can be purchased at Cabelas.

Cabela's Dry-Plus® Super Slam® Elite™ Fleece Insulated Parka

It took me quite a bit to finally make this purchase.  The price had me hesitant, but I was not disappointed.

This parka is perfect in the 3 major categories:  warmth, quietness, and waterproofing effectiveness.

Trust me when I tell you that I’ve tried many different types of jackets and parkas and was never fully satisfied until I found this parka at Cabelas.

My specific parka is the Realtree AP HD with 60 grams of Thinsulate in the hood and sleeves, 100 grams of Thinsulate in the front, and 200 grams of Thinsulate in the back and sides.  It also has underarm zippers to let out heat, which I have found works great on those long walks.  It also has a removable hood, plenty of pockets, a draw-cord at the waist, and a storm flap by the zipper.  The Velcro on the sleeves locks in the warmth.

Inside the parka, the patented Scent-Lok technology keeps your scent in, making it hard for animals to pick you up.  This specific parka is not bulky and is very easy to move in.   The parka comes in a tall size, so it fits me perfectly.

One of my favorite little things with this parka is that it has rubber-gripped zippers, making it easy to zip up and unzip with gloves on.

My only wish would be that Cabelas would offer this same parka in snow-camo.  It would be great for winter predator hunting.  Either way, you can throw some white cover-up over this to be just as effective.  I am always surprised at the lack of snow-camo available, but that is a topic for another day!

With this parka, I found that you need to spend the money to get the best quality product.  If you make the decision to spend the extra money, you will not be disappointed.

OVERALL YOOPER RATING: 

This parka is only available at Cabelas.