Whats the coldest weather you have hunted in or encountered?

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I've bird hunted in -4 degrees F and deer hunted a little colder than that. The wind seems to be the big issue. If I can stay out of it and move around a bit, then it's OK. Staying in one spot for a long time or being exposed to a strong wind can be pretty crappy.

I can only think of one time when I got cold enough that I thought "That wasn't even fun."
 
SouthEastNew Mexico Near Roswell -1/0deg quail hunting. What I learned nothing moves when its that cold. As soon as it warmed up we had the best day.;)
 
I lived in Minnesota for a few years about a 25 minute drive from the canadian border. When I was living there I worked for a local phone company, it was mostly outdoor work. From November to March the weather does not get above 0 degrees. The coldest day I remember (and the only day I knocked of work early) it got down to around -55. I had to stop working because my tools were breaking :eek: . I would regularly hunt and fish when it was around -20 or so. As far as clothing goes silk thermal underware, jeans, t-shirt, sweatshirt, big wool socks, carhart artic bibs/jacket, a balcava, and some good sorel boots kept me warm outside all day.
 
Went up above Gunnison, Colorado, back in October of 1984. Storm blew in. Second morning, I turned on the radio and got the hunter's broadcast out of Gunnison. "And this morning, in Gunnison, Colorado, it's four degrees." We were 3,000 feet above Gunnison.

There ain't any air in the air, up there. :)

Since then, life has been better. Last Friday AM, up at hunt camp, it was 14.

Art
 
Well, Im from the New Orleans area, so as you can imagine, my coldest hunting trip pales in comparison to most of the responses. If I remember correctly I was in my mid teens and it was a January deer hunt. The temps were right around 20. It was my first time on a tree stand and not in a shoothouse(perfect timing:rolleyes: ). I did go to Minnesota once in February on business. You Northerners can have my share of that crap:what: . It was like 10 or 15 below, I couldnt stand outside for more than a minute without my toes hurting. This Cajun needs it a little warmer than that.
 
Hunted the opening day of deer season in Northern WI back aroun 1993, I think. Temp. was -18F, wind chill probably about -50F. Coldest I was ever in was the same place one winter snow shoe hunting and one morning it was -45F. It was too cold to snow or for the wind to blow. We didin't hunt that morning.
 
Sub zero F, but I don't really know, I usually don't carry a thermometer. I've never hunted in real winter weather, though, just late autumn. In any case cold, dry air isn't a big deal if you know how to cope with it. It's the dubyas that will kill you - wet and windy, especially in combination.

My coldest hunting experince wasn't caused by air temperature, it was probably no colder than -10 C or so, that's what, 12-14 F? Barely enough to zip up the jacket :) . I got cold because I crossed a bog where the ice wasn't quite thick enough to carry my weight. I went through into waist deep bogwater. I walked myself dry long before we were back at the car several hours later, but the first few minutes were kinda chilly...

Oh, and I voluntarily swam to retrieve a duck once. Late September or early October I think. I remember the water temperature was 9 C (48 F), I measured it. Chilly but bearable. The cold part was getting out of the water into an air temperature that was several degrees below freezing. But I was no more than 10-15 minutes away from a hot shower.

I have been outdoors in temperatures below -45, maybe -50 F. But I can't really see why I would want to go hunting in such weather. Not that I can't survive it, it's just not my idea of fun. I'm Norwegian, not stupid. :)

The biggest instant temperature difference I have experienced, was just over 240 degrees Fahrenheit. Stark, buck, birthday-suit naked. From a 240 F sauna to a sub-zero snowball fight.
 
coldest

coldest temp i've hunted in: -65 in south dakota

coldest temp i've ever been out in : - 80 again in south dakota

i was alot younger then and could take it. - Eric
 
I've hunted Elk in the mountains at -10F or so. It was cold enough to freeze the balls off of brass monkey. And no damn elk...
 
-8 a couple of years ago here in WI for a special doe season. I don't think the squirrels even came out that morning...
 
-5 hunting coyotes in Nebraska with a 25-30 mph wind. Reeds freeze, and coyotes don't respond too well. Coyotes were smarter than me that day..
 
As far as actually hunting, Nov. 1991 on Webb Peak, near Eagle, Co. (it's all condos now), had a little snow and cold snap. Got down to -15 for about 3 days while we were in hunting camp - wall tents with gas heaters;) . Not a bad experience, but kinda rough before dawn.

That was a piece of cake compared to winter in Wyoming while on the ranch. Had a couple of days where it got down to -40 F. Cows have to be fed, so do what you have to, but it was a fight to get anything to start and run. Everything wanted to gel up, or not start at all.

Pack boots, wool RR caps, leather mittens with wool liners, wool Pendleton shirts, down vests under Carhart overalls. Put it on and wear it until you worked enough to sweat, then take it off for a bit, then put it back on.

Makes for bad days, but good memories! ;)
 
Well I can't recall the coldest - it was damn cold, I assure you - but Sunday I was out in -10F, with 20MPH winds from the NW. I don't know what the "feels like" temperature is for that kind of cold, but let me assure you, it wasn't pleasant.

No, the deer weren't enjoying the temperature either.:mad: Last chance to get a buck, too...

In honesty, it wasn't all that bad; I was actually too warm and sweating - except for my face. And, even while sitting still, my sweat didn't cool me off that quickly/freeze, intestingly enough. Though I do think I need to get some cold-weather underarmor.

I wore:
- Two sets of thermal underwear/long johns (one k-mart waffle, one milspec)
- BDUs
- Carhart cool weather coveralls (insulated, but not much)
- two sets of thermal underwear tops (waffle)
- a tshirt
- a fleece
- a down vest
- a windbreaker
- wool folsen jacket
- fleece scarf
- cap
- facemask
- flip-to-expose-fingers wool mittens w/ textured gloves underneath
- Danner 8" Strikers w/ $3 wool/polypropolene/polyester socks

The worst of it was a combination of the wind, and the fact that I wear glasses and had to wear the facemask in order to avoid frostbite. My glasses kept fogging up due to how the facemask is built.

Upon reflection, the coldest I've probably been out in was -50F with undeterminate winds. In all honesty, when it gets that cold, you don't notice it as being all that cold until you can no longer feel your extremeties, as the temperature is so low there is probably close to 0 humidity.
 
dakotasin:

i've hunted down to about -25 to -30. as long as the wind isn't blowing, i can handle it.

Hah! Buddy, if your handle is any indication, I have to ask: when is the wind not blowing?! :D I'd say that you're lucky in the Dakotas (or, at least, SD) if, after Thanksgiving, you've got a temperature over 10F and a wind under 20mph. Seems like there's almost a perpetual wind from the NW out here.

This year has been a little odd; the temperatures seem to be a little warmer than normal, and we've had some winds out of the SW as well (heck it was above freezing last week!)
 
This year was a pretty nice year for deer in Wisconsin as far as I'm concerned, because it remained above freezing most of the time, at least before wind chill. Last year was pretty bad though.

I got upgraded this year, family got me some cold weather gifts, so I had long fleece underwear top and bottom, insulated boots (can't remember how man grams, maybe 800?), I throw on wool-blend sweater over the underwear, then a cotton-blend shirt, then sometimes another layer but usually just the coat-pant set I have. Two pairs of heavy socks, too. The only thing I think I might do is put a base layer of Underarmor on in the future, I've started running with that and it really does keep you warmer it seems like. I was running in falling slow yesterday, wind chill in the low teens, and warmup pants, underarmor long-sleeve shirt and a cotton t-shirt over top of it was plenty to keep me warm "enough."

If you can do some home-tailoring to sleeping bags such that you can get around in them but still use them as a wind-break, it may've been here that I read you'll stay warm as ever for long periods of time. I'm of the mind that if you're in a stand exposed to the wind or on the ground with frozen turf sucking out your heat, you're gonna be cold if you don't move for a few hours no matter what you've got on. Maybe I'm wrong, but I've tried a lot of stuff and it just doesn't seem like you can stay warm when you're staying still indefinitely. Shivers always catch up to me eventually.
 
Ice fished on mille lacs one night it was -32 when we got in, sitting still in a windbreak tent it was fine.


Hunted up north of Eveleth one year, after the monster snowstorm, I was in a tree stand that was about 14 feet up, I had to pee and there was no way i was going to risk contact with anything like a pee jug, (I had visions of something tender sticking to the jug, like Ralphies tongue to the flagpole) so i just peed off the stand. My pee was freezing before it hit the ground. little balls of frozen pee bouncing off the tree stump...that was cold. That night we slept in a hunt shack that was a old truck body. we had a very good wood stove at the one end, but in the corner where I had my bunk, my pop was froze solid. What made that year nice was that was the year I shot a 340 pound field dressed deer. He dropped dead on the plowed road, no dragging, just rolled him on the trailer and started driving home.

Secret to staying warm is you wear nothing that has cotton content. UNLESS it is the out layer of Carharts. No Jeans, No cotton socks, No flannel shirts, Everything synthetic, Fleece, LJ's, I really prefer that even over wool, if you are at 98 degrees on the inside and it is -anything on the outside, somewhere in your clothes layer it is 32 degrees, and any moisture absorbed by cotton will freeze up. I have worked on jobsites comfortable to -20 in open ground, -35 if you are out of the wind, even a 10 mph breeze at -35 drops the temp to the dangerous.
 
James bay in December

I was caribou hunting up in the Kree Indian Reservation on James Bay in Canada. I believe the temp was -43F. We left the next day and came home to central new york and there was a freak warm spell of 52 F. That was (c'mon quick math test fellas...) 95 degree swing! Never, ever do I want to do that again!

Got a few nice bulls though!
 
"...clothing to keep a person warm..." Yep. CF issue winter combat clothing. Kept me warm at -40C. (At that temperature, the two scales come together.) There's an extreme cold weather parka, mukluks and mitts. For some reason they stopped issuing the pants. Went to nylon wind pants over regular combat pants.
The complete CF sleeping bag will keep you toasty warm all night in a CF issue tent too.
The downside is you're not likely to find any of it Stateside.
 
I worked on a horse farm in Alaska one winter - often minus 60F or alittle lower in January-February. Most important, as always, is head, hands and feet - and layers. Old East german army "furflap" hat or wool knit hat with pull down face mask - and hat. Silk and or polypropylene knit glove liners and ski gloves or Dachstein wool mitts with cotton overmitts. Sorel Caribou felt lined boots with two to three pairs of socks. In between varied down to (with little or no wind); cotton long johns under cotton slacks, T-shirt and long john top, sweatshirt and cheap quilted ski jacket (sometimes unzipped or OFF when loading/unloading haybales, shovelling, cleaning corrals etc).

I have noticed a threshold at about minus 30 to 35 degrees, where with no wind the face must be covered or nosetip and ear frostbite begins. With a windchill factor the actual air temperature does not have to be very low for this to happen. Years of winter mountaineering, hunting and camping have taught me that a moderately low temperature with damp and wind are the most uncomfortable conditions to be in. Dry cold - well below 32 degrees fahrenheit - is better than "around 32" and damp.

I am currently in Texas, so about the coldest I've experienced here is around 20F. My current choices are silk long johns - or cotton long johns can be worn over the silk. Intermediate layer of light wool pants or 100% cotton flannel and similar fabric shirt with soft wool sweater. I've also invested in some new surplus russian army hats similar to my old and well worn east german one - which although is still a good hat, starting to wear thin in the lining.

Outer layers; pure wool jacket and pants. I have a pair of wool aussie army pants and british army inuslated Goretex overpants if needed. I have a few jackets depending on conditions - cotton field jacket, wax cotton and wool/Harris tweed. If I do not need a pants belt to carry gear I use suspenders - more comfortable and do not restrict blood flow in the lower body.

Light silk sock liners, cotton nylon mix socks, then soft wool or Thorlo brand - may be two pairs if sitting in a stand is going to be the order of the day. I have recently aquired a new pair of insulated Irish Setter boots which I am looking forward to wearing; for severe cold though I would go with Sorel felt lined boots or similar from one of the other makers. Some surplus outer pac boots are another option. The only other thing I would add in sub-zero climes for hunting would be down coat and pants, both of which I still have from my winter climbing days - still servicable after thirty years(!).

Additional cheats are those little hot pocket handwarmers which can be stuffed in pockets, even in oversize boots. Very inportant to avoid sweating - you get damp, you get cold. Layered clothing allows you to regulate this.

Food and hydration; the right food - plenty of meat even if it is beef jerky. You need that fat burning to keep warm. Salmon is pretty good too as fish goes and if it can be kept available fresh/frozen. Water intake is critical - if you get dehydrated your whole system slows down and you are going to get cold. In extremely dry cold weather, even without exertion, you lose moisture very fast just through respiration.

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I was watching some show on Antartica the other night and they were saying the temps down there were the coldest on earth. One place was -130f below zero
 
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