Cold Weather Hunting Clothing

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Adamhoward

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I am going to purchase a cold weather bowhunting outfit. I am tired of bulky bibs and heavy coats. I know wool is great but my hunting buddy said when he wore his wool he was winded by deer even though he went to great lengths to stay scent free. What about Artic shield and some of the other high tech clothing? I plan on spending around $250-$400. I need something that is extremely quiet, warm and stops the wind when the mercury dips to about 20 degrees.
 
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Adamhoward said:
I am going to purchase a cold weather bowhunting outfit. I am tired of bulky bibs and heavy coats. I know wool is great but my hunting buddy said when he wore his wool he was winded by deer even though he went to great lengths to stay scent free. What about Artic shield and some of the other high tech clothing? I plan on spending around $250-$400. I need something that is extremely quiet, warm and stops the wind when the mercury dips to about 20 degrees.
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This is an OPINION!!

Wool IS best..... GOOD wool like Filson......, but you couldn't get it in that budget. Not near.

I've found satisfaction in Cabela's Guide Gear.

Spray yourself down with vanilla as cover scent

This oughtta' at least get an argument going.... :)
 
There are three ways not to be winded by a deer - 1) stay downwind at all times, 2) get far enough up a tree that the wind is above the deer, or 3) stop breathing. No matter what you have on (or don't) your breath carries your scent. I like fleece because it is warm, light and quiet. It doesn't cost much either. I use light, breathable rain gear for wind and water protection when necessary. Add a light down jacket or "sweater" when it's cold.

My home area gets hunted pretty heavy starting in bow season. My game camera tells me there are plenty of bucks around, but all but the small ones are mostly nocturnal. I had a big 11 pointer show up last year, but only at night and only a week after the season ended. He was still chasing does. I imagine he's back up on the mountain again until late in the season, or afterward.

Bowhunting is fine, but I like still hunting through a deery area with a rifle. Even in broad daylight, using the shadows and observing carefully, you can get close enough to deer for a shot undetected. This is a lot more fun than sitting up a tree freezing. Don't ignore the mid-day either. Bucks may be moving between doe concentrations while everyone is at lunch. That's when I want to be sneaking around.
 
Adamhoward said:
I am going to purchase a cold weather bowhunting outfit. I am tired of bulky bibs and heavy coats. I know wool is great but my hunting buddy said when he wore his wool he was winded by deer even though he went to great lengths to stay scent free. What about Artic shield and some of the other high tech clothing? I plan on spending around $250-$400. I need something that is extremely quiet, warm and stops the wind when the mercury dips to about 20 degrees.
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Short of having oneself hermetically sealed in a bag of some sort, there is absolutely no way of getting "scent free". And it's hard to draw a bow from the inside of a bag...

All of the supposed "scent free" clothing advertised may help minimize the human odor, but will not eliminate it. I don't care how much charcoal lining it has, or how much Fart-B-Gone you spray on it.

I hunt exclusively with bows. Longbows, no less. And from many a year bowhunting, I've narrowed it down to 3 Golden Rules:

1. Stay downwind of the animal.
2. Stay downwind of the animal.
3. Stay downwind of the animal.

You can fool their eyes, you can fool their ears. You AIN'T gonna fool their nose.

For absolutely top-shelf hunting clothing, take a look at KUIU.

https://www.kuiu.com

It is not cheap, but it is worth every penny. When I started buying it, I thought I had for sure lost my mind to be paying that much for camouflage clothing. But then I remembered bowhunting at 10,000 feet in the Sierra Nevada mountains in unsuitable clothing, 7 miles from any sort of civilization, freezing my narrow, Irish arse off, wishing I had taken up a bit more sedate pastime. Mother Nature can make you feel very small and insignificant. Since then, I've been back to the Sierras several times, all kitted-out in my KUIU stuff, and never been cold. If it keeps you alive and comfortable, cost should be a secondary consideration. I try not to trifle with Mother Nature. KUIU is good stuff.

Speaking of KUIU, we tragically lost Jason Hairston, founder of KUIU and co-founder of Sitka Gear, a couple of weeks ago to suicide. A very sad story...and what a shame (see link below for further). A very talented and driven man...the embodiment of the American spirit. We are diminished...

https://www.sacbee.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/hometown-report/article218294860.html

Justin
 
Justin what part of the Sierra's we used to pack into the Hoover Wilderness area
and Anna Lake is a bit over 10,000. If memory serves me right about a five Mile trek to get to camp. This was before it became a draw area, game was plentiful and other than the six in our group other hunters we're scarce and at times none existent. At times it was brutally cold especially my first year there not being properly prepared. My uncle and his friends hunted that same area for twenty seven consecutive years and I for about six and then the draw killed it off. My first year I had a cheap fart sack and the horse blankets thrown on top saved my bacon. Next year I bought a real nice sub zero fart sack not cheap but money well spent thats been over forty years ago now and I still have it. We had a nice little hole in the rocks we keep our grill, hammer, shovel, canned goods and other related camping items we used every year. It was impossible for others to find and bears to get into when covered with rocks and I imagine it's all still there.

JLouis
 
Louis.J said:
Justin what part of the Sierra's we used to pack into the Hoover Wilderness area
and Anna Lake is a bit over 10,000. If memory serves me right about a five Mile trek to get to camp. This was before it became a draw area, game was plentiful and other than the six in our group other hunters we're scarce and at times none existent. At times it was brutally cold especially my first year there not being properly prepared. My uncle and his friends hunted that same area for twenty seven consecutive years and I for about six and then the draw killed it off. My first year I had a cheap fart sack and the horse blankets thrown on top saved my bacon. Next year I bought a real nice sub zero fart sack not cheap but money well spent thats been over forty years ago now and I still have it. We had a nice little hole in the rocks we keep our grill, hammer, shovel, canned goods and other related camping items we used every year. It was impossible for others to find and bears to get into when covered with rocks and I imagine it's all still there.

JLouis
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Louis,

The hunt where I froze, starved, and was wholly unprepared for was in the Golden Trout Wilderness area, south of Mineral King. I've been there a couple times since...just a whole lot better prepared. My most recent trip was into the Emigrant Wilderness area, which is not far from the Hoover Wilderness, IIRC. I love packing into and hunting the high country wilderness areas...don't have to deal with a whole lot of other hunters. For a lot of them, if they can't get there via truck or quad, they ain't getting there, and that's fine by me. I go in on foot, as well. One year I got talked into going in on horseback. Never again. I had parts of my body hurting that I didn't even know existed, and I'm still peeing blood. I told the packer not to bother bringing back a horse for me for the ride out, as I was walking out.

There are some things in life that you don't go cheap on. If you're hunting the high country, quality optics, backpacking gear, and clothing is money well spent.

Justin
 
Beautiful country where you packed into Justin. We typically took in two horses they did the packing and we did the walking. Group was always six and that's quite a few animals to pack out along with the tent and other misc. items thus the horses. A couple of the older folks would ride them to the top each morning and the rest of was walked up. They would be tied up and able to graze once on top and then everyone would hike to their favorite spots. And then used to pack game back down to camp as needed. The scenery was absolutely magnificent and wide open being mostly above the timberline and it could get bone chilling cold lacking very little protection from the wind. One could also look down into the canyon on the Leavitt Meadows side having several lower lakes and on a good day you could see the little specks of cars coming down the grade on 108 now getting close to the Levitt Meadows store. Having hunted out of state nothing matched the magnificance and beauty of where we hunted in Sierra's.
 
alinwa said:
This is an OPINION!!

Wool IS best..... GOOD wool like Filson......, but you couldn't get it in that budget. Not near.

I've found satisfaction in Cabela's Guide Gear.

Spray yourself down with vanilla as cover scent

This oughtta' at least get an argument going.... :)
Click to expand...

Anise flavored candy would work.
 
antelopedundee said:
Anise flavored candy would work.
Click to expand...
You could be right..... all's I know is what 'Cover-Up' came out as "the pleasant smelling alternative" the explanation was that vanillin is the base flavor of many of the items that compose deer mast in whitetail areas, especially the nutty stuff like hazelnut and acorn

And that IT WORKED!

Now I just use vanilla
 
BTW and TOTALLY off-topic...... I wish more people would go out in the woods and suffer a liddle. What I MEAN is.... I teach Hunter Ed and while I'm not currently teaching the Survival portion I do still cut out sections every year from the glossy outdoor rags and keep a file of ""Survival Tips" THAT WILL KILL YOU!!"

I've got a whole folder of stuff ranging from "bring plastic garbage bags to sleep in after using as a trusty poncho" to "lash your knife to a stick for an impromptu hunting spear" to "how to dig a snow shelter" and all parts in between....... pages and pages of complete trash from folks who've obviously never spent a night in the woods. The firestarting stuff is quadrupally ridiculous....one that comes to mind from Outdoor Life, 3 pages of "editor's contribution" krapp ....... on one page the author had obviously read Service' "To Build A Fire" and warned "never shelter or build a fire under a snow-covered tree" going on the construct a small log cabin "shelter" complete with foyer and guest-room "out in a clear space...... whereas his co-worker showed a cutaway view of a two-layered bungalow he's dreamed up by "digging the snow out from under a snow-bound evergreen." Seriously his vision looked like a traditional Finnish Sauna complete with benches for "raised sleeping area"

I can always tell the guys who've really done it :) The answers are the same......"longest night I ever spent" ....... "I've never been so miserable" ....... "when my buddy went quiet and started nodding I noticed his eyelids were blue" ......


"I thought I was gonna' die"



LOL




BTDTGTTS too many times to count.....
 
alinwa said:
You could be right..... all's I know is what 'Cover-Up' came out as "the pleasant smelling alternative" the explanation was that vanillin is the base flavor of many of the items that compose deer mast in whitetail areas, especially the nutty stuff like hazelnut and acorn

And that IT WORKED!

Now I just use vanilla
Click to expand...

My dad used to talk about using aftershave products to cover up scent or attract deer. Don't recall if it ever worked.
 
Camo and scent products are big business so it begs one to ask how any game was ever taken before they came into the market. I never seemed to have the need for such things but warm clothing and how to survive were indeed the higher priority.

JLouis
 
Back in 1978 I worked briefly for a motorcycle magazine as a reporter and editor. I learned real quick that sponsors rule and just where I could store my "journalistic integrity". Same thing with hunting magazines. They exist primarily to sell product. Charcoal impregnated clothing, scent-blocker sprays and the like are no substitute for good hunting technique in my opinion. I've killed a lot less deer than some, but way more than most. As someone once said, "ninety percent of success is showing up". As my father said, "anyone who says he knows what a deer is going to do is full of it", and "never think there can't be a deer here". Moral - be in the woods and be alert. Deer show up at the damndest times and in the damndest places.
 
Had a real close elderly friend now gone who was an avid long bow Hunter and so much so when he finished packing his gear and now ready to leave on one of his trips. His wife said if you go I won't be here when you get back he did and she wasn't. A bit side tracked but I enjoyed hearing his stories and how he came accross the multitude of deer he had shot by as you say just showing up and in some of the most unusual circumstances / places. All by gained skills and knowledge minus any store bought scent blockers, camo or tree stands and he was quite the character. When he left on a trip he wouldn't return until he had his deer or the season closed and he had the means to do so. And he new how to survive and navigate the high back country alone a truly dedicated hunter / outdoorsman, fine gentleman who also took great pride in making his own arrows.

JLouis
 
When I started Whitetail Hunting

Some 60 odd years ago, in Maine most wore Wool coats and woll pants, Green wool pants and Red & Black checked coats. Red, back then was considered a or THE safety color. Wool breathes even when wet and once wet doesn't seem as cold as other materials. Back then, 99 % of all who hunted Whitetails walked them up, no spending hours in tree stands or sitting for hours on end, very few sat.

Deaths from "Hunting Accidents" were common. Once International Orange came fourth, the death toll came down. No question it has saved lives.I suppose one can buy Orange Wool clothing but I'm no longer interested in shooting deer. If I were and were to back to walking, I'd be looking for wool. Shooting deer off the pickup seat came to be the preferred method up here when Maine was clear-cut by the paper companies, just before most of them turned their lights off and left. Now a day, the roads they left are mostly serviceable. Covering more ground seems to trump walking them up.

Pete
 
Colorado's law was and still maybe simply so many square inches of hunter orange be worn and a cheap vest over your clothing and a ball cap was more than enough to cover it when I was still going there.
 
Color isn't what spooks deer, movement and scent are. I've never seen deer to be affected by me wearing orange as long as I'm still and down wind. I'd rather be safe than dead.

I have, however, heard that deer see blue really well. Another good reason not to hunt them while wearing blue jeans.
 
Something about Whitetail deer y'all need to know. My grandmother had a pet buck that we fed plantain leaves picked from the yard. He would come every day or so but we never saw him again after hunting season opened. There's a bunch of Whitetails that hang out at the nuclear plant...folks hand feed them as well. They're pets! These deer I speak of were born in the wild but chose to make friends with people. I'm writing this to tell deer hunters what to wear and that is to simply wear what you want to...the deer don't care. Stay safe and stay legal!
 
Two does came out in the front yard today. They ate grass for a while and then lay down. They guy down the road I call "Double Tap Man" was carrying on with his target practice as he often does for hours. It was extremely loud, but the deer didn't mind a bit. When My wife and I went out for a walk, we tried to stay out of sight as we left, but they saw us. One got up but we were soon down the road. When we came back, they were still laying there. We went inside and looked out. They were joined by a third and two were licking each other.

We have a bobcat that frequents the area and one very large bear and some coyotes. Maybe that's why the deer prefer to sleep on the lawn in front of the house. A guy up the road says the bear sleeps in his flower bed.
 
Don't know what I would do if I had a bear sleeping in my flower bed...if I had a flower bed.
 
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