Cutting Weight from the Hunting Pack

So the pack nearly killed me the other day. I'm not sure what it weighed, but it was probably somewhere close the 30 pound mark. By the end of the day, it felt like 100lbs. Maybe I didn't get enough sleep and was just sore. Or maybe I should have dropped most of the weight at a base camp and then went about hunting from there. Or maybe I'm just getting old. Whatever the reason, it convinced me that I need to cut some weight off the pack. Otherwise, it will eventually cut down on my mobility, and in terms of bear hunting that's about the only thing I have going for me.

Here's the revised list, with commentary: 

GEAR

• Matches 
• 3-4 small pieces of pitchwood (I'll demonstrate later)
• Esbid Stove  It doesn't weigh much, but I'm desperate.
• 3-4 esbid fire pellets
• 2 cup cooking pot  Will have to take along if I'm staying overnight.
• Water pills (in case it comes to that)
• 50' of small diameter parachute cord  25' should suffice.
• Map  It's a regional map of the entire Catskills, and it's laminated. So as far as maps go, it's heavy. But is it worth cutting up your map to save a few ounces.
• Compass
• GPS
• Aspirin/Pain Killers
• Felco Saw (to procure wood. Trust me, can't beat it)  Due to the limited understory and therefore lack of firewood, it was necessary to carry this where I hunted in Washington so that I could cut larger pieces of wood. This is not the case in the Catskills. I can find enough 1" thick sticks where I hunt to make a 100 campfires.
• Headlamp
• Flagging tape (to mark blood trail and my own trail if I get lost) I'll find another weigh to mark the trail.

HUNTING EQUIPMENT

• 12 gauge (easily the heaviest item in the pack) This thing is an anvil, but nothing I can do about it.
• 6 sabot slugs
• Pocket Knife
• Fillet Knife (The most useful and multi-purpose knife I have ever owned)
• Trail Camera
• 5 Game Bags
• Bag of Pepper (to keep the flies off the meat while quartering it) Only weighs a couple ounces, but the smell is impossible to contain. I have it wrapped in two heavy freezer bags and the smell still permeates. 
• Predator calls
• Hunting License

FOOD:

• Sweet & sour pork freeze dried meal Only if staying overnight.
• Omelet freeze dried meal Ditto
• 4 packages of instant oatmeal Ditto
• Chunk of trail sausage
• 2 peaches Dried fruit.
• 1 powerbar
• About a pound of trail mix 
• Lots of water 1 large nalgene, and one small nalgene.
• Powerbar

CLOTHING

• Cotton camo pants The cotton ones are heavy, might go with my synthetics.
• 2 pairs of wool socks Only if staying overnight.
• 2 pairs of silk liner socks Ditto
• Camo rain/all-purpose jacket
• Blaze orange vest Will be wearing my lighter one.
• Fleece
• Wool flannel (I take it everywhere, no matter what the temperature) Love it but don't need it in this weather.
• Hiking boots
• Camo facemask
• 1 stocking cap Ditto
• 1 baseball cap
• 1 boonie hat
• 2 wool/silk liner shirts Never wore a one of them
• 1 tee shirt

Well, after revising the list, I'm a bit disappointed that I couldn't cross off more items. I suppose I'm already a bit thin on the gear and all. It would be interesting to weigh my pack, as well as the items I deleted to see just how much weight I cut. I'm guessing it's the weight of that shotgun that ultimately got the best of me. That thing is not built for backcountry hunting.