Need an opinion: strap game carrier or vest in the winter?

[Labs]

When it's cold enough for a heavy jacket I usually switch to the Drake Strap Vest that I use primarily for waterfowl hunting. I have to give up much of the gear carrying capabilities of my Tenzing Upland Pack/Vest, but it is much less restrictive over a heavy jacket.

Put this in your For What It's Worth file. I have a short LOP (14" is my max comfortable length), so when I'm wearing a heavy jacket I use one of my shotguns with a 13-3/4" LOP. That would be my SX4 (13-3/4" from the factory with the recoil pad & no spacers), my Browning BPS (LOP shortened to 13-3/4") which is heavy but a type of shotgun that as a left hander I have decades of experience with, or my Franchi Instinct L (13-3/4") that I had professionally shortened by Ahlman's over in Minnesota. May not seem like much, but 1/4" shorter LOP makes a huge difference when wearing heavier clothing, as is often the case when digging late season roosters out of the cattails,,,

 

[jonnyB]

Labs:

Thanks for the input - most appreciated.

LOP on my guns is in the 12.5" range - as short as possible due to arm constraints. The gun doesn't lift straight up; it takes two moves, 45 degrees to my shoulder, hopefully hitting the right shoulder area, then lifting to the cheek. The gun has a rear grip below the trigger that helps guide the whole affair in position.

Left arm does most of the work - left hand has a grip (like an assault rifle) and helps move the gun to the shoulder.

Any excess clothes that get in the way spoil the gun mount...

Have been experimenting with the strap arrangement and it seems to work better; keeps the clothing flat on the chest.

I know I'm not as fast on the draw as I once was - at 82 I can still manage fairly well. Sporting clay's is a different matter as I can pre-mount - makes a big difference!

Kind of long winded but that's my story!