For us whitetail hunters, the most magical time of the year is quickly approaching. By the time you read this, the last week of October, the pre-rut should be kicking in, and within a couple of weeks, it should be the full-blown rut in many regions across the country. If you are prepared, you should have plenty of trail cam images or boots on the ground scouting complete that should have at least an area narrowed down where a nice whitetail buck is living.

Hopefully, this also means you have your treestands or ground blinds in some ideal locations if you are bowhunting whitetails or maybe a good spot picked out on a sidehill overlooking a drainage if you plan on hunting the rifle season. If you are more of the mobile treestand or saddle-hunting type, you likely also have some promising spots picked out. The point I am getting at is unless you are just planning on setting up on fresh deer sign to hang and hunt, much of the work for many successful deer hunters has already been completed, and now it’s just a matter of waiting for the right conditions to hunt.

The weather from now on can be very unpredictable, and while you are waiting for your hunt, right now can be a great time to make sure you have your late-season gear dialed in. Having the right equipment can keep you comfortable on the stand and capable of all-day sits through the rut and right on through the late season.