The hunting season is coming to an end, and it’s time to define all equipment by their storage places! While the hunter is waiting for the next season, all equipment must be safely stored: weapons must be hidden in a safe, clothes washed and dried, and everything is waiting for a new season.
Every hunter must know and follow the rules for storing hunting weapons and ammunition. Only its owner should have access to firearms; it is unacceptable to keep weapons in places easily accessible to children. Moreover, with such storage, they can become easy prey for intruders.
What items should a hunter store carefully besides weapons and ammunition? In other words, what is a hunter’s equipment? A hunter’s outfit is a multitude of things, but a person should attentively look after every tool and purse of equipment. At different times of the year, in other places, additional equipment is required for different hunts. Any hunter can boast of many accessories and equipment. However, it is essential to know how to store hunting gear correctly so that all items remain in perfect condition.
The Importance of Storing Gear the Right Way
Real hunters know how much gear they accumulate over time for their hobby. Weapons, rubber boots, tents, gun safes, pistol cabinets, camouflage suits are just essentials. And if you diversify your hobbies with spearfishing and fishing, the list doubles.
It is essential to store this wealth of the hunter in appropriate places that are inaccessible to everyone he meets. The storage method also plays a significant role, so knowledge of this cannot be neglected.
The hunter’s health often depends on the condition in which his precious equipment is kept. Consequently, all the hunter’s kits should be as convenient as possible. Clothes and optics should be kept in the same perfect condition as the gun. Nevertheless, before each hunting trip, it is necessary to carefully check all the hunter’s equipment carefully and, noticing even a minor malfunction in it, immediately fix it.
Storing Firearms
Most often, guns are stored in unique safes. When choosing a weapon safe to install in your home, there are several parameters to consider:
- rifled or smooth-bore weapons will be stored in a special safe (cabinet);
- arsenal volume;
- intended mounting to a wall or floor;
- whether it will store ammunition and other essential aspects.
Even the plainest metal box with a lock excludes easy access to weapons by children and unauthorized persons. Keeping weapons in a safe allows the hunter to feel calm for his arsenal and the health of his loved ones; no one can use it without your knowledge. Owners of rifled weapons should especially worry about the safety of their equipment, as this is a delicious prey for intruders, and a simple metal box will not stop them.
At the moment, the choice of gun safes is enormous. They differ structurally. In size, they can have a different number of shelves and vertical partitions, several compartments with separate locks, and lockable secret lodgments of the most diverse design.
It is also worth remembering that when storing hunting rifles, the barrels of the rifles must point upwards. If the shotgun is stored sideways or downward with the barrels, it can deform the metal of these barrels. This will eventually ruin the weapon.
Storing and Caring for Your Hunting Clothes
Hunting clothes are an essential part of your outfit! The best way to preserve it during the off-season is with a prewash and baking soda to absorb all the odors. And if the hunter is a happy owner of camouflage gear, it is essential to store it inside out. This is the best method to keep your clothes from fading.
The storage conditions for hunting clothes depend on the materials used in the production of the outfit and the length of the shelf life. For example, until the next season within six months, or just a couple of days — until the next hunt.
There are some practical guidelines for how to store hunting clothes properly:
- Before long-term storage, the overalls should be cleaned, dried, checked for damage, and, if necessary, repaired.
- If damage is noticed during use, it must be repaired as soon as possible.
- The optimal storage mode for a hunting suit can be considered in a darkened place without access to direct sunlight and in moderate humidity. However, it is not recommended to place the suit on plastic covers.
- Storage is allowed in a neatly folded condition on a shelf.
By creating all the necessary conditions for the particular storage of overalls, organizing proper care for it, it will be possible to count on the extension of the service life with complete preservation of all protective qualities.
Storing Optics
The scope is another important part of hunting gear. Therefore, you should pay attention to its safekeeping. Suppose there is not enough space in your safe or you want to remove the optics. In that case, you can disassemble the sighting complex by dividing it with the weapon for storage in the winter. It is recommended that you store your scope inside a warm area of the house where the humidity and temperature are relatively stable.
Experts point out a few tips for storing hunting optics:
- Protect the sight from falling, sharp impacts, jolts, moisture, and dust penetration into it.
- Store optical scopes in dry, warm rooms with a temperature not lower than + 5-6°.
- Remove the cover and caps from the scope only before inspecting and cleaning the scope.
- Before putting on the caps and the cover, inspect the sight and wipe its lenses with a clean, well-washed rag, having previously shaken it off of dust.
- Keep the sight upright: remove dust and hard particles from the lenses with a soft and dry cloth or brush; wipe the lenses in a circular motion, starting from the middle of the lens; clean the fabric more often.
- Wipe wet sights thoroughly outside with a dry cloth. Dry the caps and cover.
Storing Hunting Accessories and Electronic Devices
It isn’t easy to imagine a full-fledged hunt without the use of auxiliary electronic means. They can make hunting more convenient and exciting. But their performance depends on how carefully the owner treats them. Thus, the storage of additional hunting accessories is worth paying attention to.
Most of the hunting equipment is well-kept between hunting seasons. However, it is worth following all storage rules. This way, they will fail less often and will generally perform better. From there, you can increase the operational life and eliminate unnecessary costs for equipment repairs.
Basic tips:
- It is worth keeping electric cameras, shooting accessories with other electronic devices in a dry, temperature-controlled place.
- It is essential to remove all batteries and chargers from cameras, flashlights, navigators, etc. This can prevent corrosion, which often degrades devices over time.
When you find yourself back in the forest, what a pleasure it will be to see that all items and accessories have remained in perfect condition thanks to careful storage!
Final Words
The end of the hunting and fishing season — it’s time to take care of the equipment. Correctly selected clothes and accessories are half the success and the guarantee of pleasure from outdoor activities in nature. The second half of success is how well it was kept during the off-season!
Experienced hunters and amateurs alike should value their equipment. They know the cost of their weapons, clothing, and optics, so the correct storage is in the first place. Yes, it takes effort, and you need to take the time to sort everything correctly and give each item the perfect storage space. But what is the result? After the off-season period, the ideal state of the uniform and all tools is a reward for all hunters who have spent their energy on proper safekeeping.
It is essential to store your hunting equipment so that you don’t buy new weapons or new clothes before starting the new season! Careful cleaning, storage, and maintenance of your hunting equipment can save you time and money. Thanks to the effort spent, the off-season will go unnoticed for the weapon.
You can often hear that it is essential for hunters to have a good time and close the hunting season. To make sure it closes well, take care of your weapons and equipment. You don’t want to see corroded optics, horrible odor from hunting suits, and bent guns early next season! Take the time and tidy things up, and the new season will start with delight.
