At first for Binos, either 8x or 10x, (PS, make sure at least 42mm!!) cause ya figure you're going to be using them hand-held. I usually use 8x's because they are easier to hand-hold and easier to get on target with for checking something that you *think* might be an animal. Normally though... just wait and keep watching, and if no movement at all.. more than likely it's just vegetation... yet again... messing with your mind and making itself look like something you're wishing was there.
Get in the habit of putting the lense covers back on after each use. Not as important of the objective ends since they hang off your bino harness and point downward, but on the eyepiece ends its definitely helpful, cause sweat will drip onto em otherwise.
Water: Platypus Big Zip 3 liter is most economical while still having all the features you need. I also use Vapur water-bag-bottles as well. to Carry a liter or two of either water or amino recovery stuff already mixed up. They are nice to have once already at your sit. They are easier to drink from quietly, and as they empty, you get back space in your pack! DO NOT hang one of those on your hip if you're working thru nasty buck-brush! It WILL pierce them. ALSO... another benefit of having the extra water-bags with me is that if you have a main bag fail on you and develop a leak. You're not completely screwed. You at least have some other water to get you back outta there. Running out of water is terribly freightening business. You DO NOT wanna go there!
Goto REI and buy those Eagle Creek super thin nylon zippered bags they have for organizing the stuff you're going to take in your pack.
In one I do medicines. Allergy eye drops, Imodium (ALWAYS TAKE THIS!) I get Acid Reflux easy so I always take Zantac's. I take breath-right strips and Zrytec pills as well. Helps me to not sniff out there where I go because at times there can be a sh1t-ton of irritants in the air. Pollen, Bark, I dunno. Lip Balm. And a small tube of Preparation-H. Don't laugh, with all that sitting, you couple that with having a bad day in terms of going #2 (remember the Imodium?) . Some sports cushioned blister tape. Using a small one of those bags I keep that on my hip belt. In another one I keep in the pack I have Quick-Clot and self-adhering Gauze roll, and several of the largest sized waterproof adhesive bandages. ALWAYS bring AT LEAST two different forms of lights source! And make sure to bring extra batteries for both of them! I also have hats and beanies that have LED lights built into them. They are very cool for when you're in the tent looking for something, or when you get back to the truck and are putting stuff away. Make sure your headlamp has a low a high and a red beam. A low beam of like around 40 lumens is usually all I ever use because I'm paranoid about running out of light when out there and they usually can run like 8 or 9 hrs on that low setting. If you can... its better to find a backup flashlight with a clip that can clasp to your caps visor if possible. They are not as common to find though.
In another larger zippered bag I have my kill-kit. The envelope with your hunting license and the tags in it, a pen. a ziploc with a healthy number of 14" zip-ties in it. A small ziploc with 3 or 4 pairs of Nitrile gloves in it.
You need a Havalon replaceable scalpel blade type knife for processing the animal. They don't weigh anything and ya can bring a few more blades along. Look on YouTube and watch how to do "Gutless Method" for removing the meat from the deer. Watch this video MANY times at first. Pay special attention to how to get at the Tenderloins! You don't want to mess up and leave this behind because you didn't know any better! You're also going to need another traditional knife to backup this one. I use a more traditional knife for making those cuts where the knife blade will be scraping across bone, such as separating the foreleg at the knee joint, and when making that backstrap cut where you're sliding your knife along the rib cage. The initial cut beside the vertebrae I do that with the Havalon. Also I use the more traditional knife for separating the skull from the spine at the Atlas joint. Watch videos about doing that too! You're going to need a multi-tool so you can have Pliers and a Screwdriver with you as well. I've had to tighten-up the screws in my Tripod stool more than a few times. The pliers with wire cutters can be helpful for cutting snapping-off a bunch of annoying branches that are poking into you where you're backed up into a tree for your sit. Also the pliers are a neat way to snap off a Rabbits feet and head when cleaning them! (Just did that last night actually!). These days in my pocket I carry a Leatherman Skeletool CX. Gives me pliers, screw driver and a knife to backup the Havalon, and only weighs 5oz.
Also in the kill-kit you're going to need game bags. People will tell you you can just bring pillow cases. It'll work, but that's dumb. They are "heavy" and bulky. What I now bring that works phenomenal? Kifaru (a company that makes high-end hunting packs and other hunting gear) has these meat bags that are crazy light and tuff! I put the meat in one of those... (it holds it into a nice tall cylindrical shape that easy to fit in your pack) and I use an Alaskan game bag for the hide and skull. I zip-tie the game bag onto the antlers to close it and ensure it won't come off in transit.
Always throw-in at least one microfiber wash-cloth into your hunting pack. When clean, they can wipe your optics. And... give you something to help wipe your hands and knives clean with when you get lucky. BTW, re cleaning your hands or stuff in the field. Learn how to put water into your mouth... then spit out a thin stream of it to efficiently allow you to rinse stuff off without wasting much water at all.
Buy a Klymit Kush inflatable sit pad. Even though you'll probably get a Tripod stool that you'll bring with you for your sit... you can get real sore from the long hours on the darn thing and being able to introduce that inflatale pad you can move around every so often is really helpful.
At some point... you will likely encounter a scenario where a tree has fallen over onto a trail you're wanting to proceed on... and it happens at a place where there might not be safe options in terms of going around it. So having at least a small slim folding pocket bone saw and a super lightweight pack hatchet can prove helpful. I have an 11oz Elk Ridge pack hatchet. I wrapped Hockey Stick/Tennis Racket grip tape around its handle. Works great. (You just have to understand how to use one properly. And understand that if its something sizeable, it could take a bit to chop at it enough to where you can break it off.) I recently had to bore a whole thru 3 trees that fell onto the trail at a point where the detour is very cliff-like. So on one of my trips out there I decided to leave a little early in the pm and spent some time hacking thru it just enough so that I could crawl thru it with my pack still on and didn't have to expose myself to the huge risk of going around on that cliff-like side anymore (and on the other side is a very sheer rock face so going that route would require back-tracking down the trail and finding some spot where I could get up there and all kindsa bad noise so I said to myself bump that.
You'll want a separate zippered bag also for storing your hard plastic cathole digger on some pouch on the outside of your pack. Besides doing the polite thing of burying your waste, they can be helpful for flattening out the spot where you're going to pitch your tent at. Digging out rocks and weeds, etc so the surface can be flat.
I always wear camo'd liner gloves. Keep your hands from getting sun-burnt. ALWAYS bring a pair of colder weather gloves too! I always bring an extra pair of liner socks and Merino wool socks. At hot days, it gives you some non-sweatied up socks to change over into so your feet don't get as hurt. When your socks get wet the fibers can be rough/murder on your skin. On cold days... if your sokcs happen to manage to get wet (like stepping into an area that you didn't know was like quick-sand...yeah... that actually happened!) you have another dry pair to swap into.
Also... they have these paracord bracelet things with click closures. Get one of those also. they are a great way to ensure that something you're tying onto the outside of your pack doesn't get lost if the tying straps should come undone. You have that paracord thing running thru something of the item and clicked throw some kind of loop on your bag. This works really good when sending your kids away on a campout with scouts too. Teaching them to secure the whatever to their bag with those paracord bracelets. And..ya know.. if you ever get in a jam, it's alos more paracord at your disposal.
RE: Snack foods - Honey Stinger Waffles!!! Squeezable Applesauces are a bit of a luxury but quick and easy and very refreshing. The rest I'll leave up to you. I get acid reflux easy so I have to spend a lot of time finding what works decently for me.
Also... lil side note. I store my GPS inside a thin tube of microfiber cloth so screen doesn't get scratched in the pack. When I transport trailcams I put em into thick knee high Moto/Soccer socks also for same reason so they don't get scratched.
You'll also need to get yourself an Ammo wallet so you can store more rounds in your pack.
When you get your BearSpray, make sure the holster it has for it has some kind of retention strap, otherwise what happens is when you sit down on a rock for a second out on the trail... or plop down on the ground in the shade of a tree because you're dying from heat... the damn BearSpray canister will silently slip right out of a holster with no retention strap on it. No bueno.
