New Hunting clothes?

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Gary O

Gary O

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I will be returning to deer hunting after a 20 year hiatus. I will need to think about some dedicated clothes for that. Since I am 62 years old and have never hunted the midwest before, what would you folks think I would need in late November (rifle season)? I will be generally hunting from a ground blind; so not not covering much real estate. What would you folks wear from the skin out? Thanks...
 
Good wool socks in uninsulated boots. Synthetic long underwear top and bottom under green Carhart or Dickies pants. For a top I may wear 2-4 layers of synthetic tops depending on the temperature under a fleece jacket. If windy I put a goretex shell over all of it. The warmest piece of equipment is the polypro facemask picked up at any military surplus store for around $10 with neck warmer inside a wool baseball cap. Once I figured out to keep my head and neck warm I have not needed insulated boots. Lightweight wool gloves. This will keep me warm down into the 20's. Any colder and I may substitute a lightweight goosedown jacket for the fleece.
 
For feet I get 20 Below sox from QVC. Bottoms I get cotton (or better if it's really cold, like 10 degrees or lower) long johns, maybe cotton pajama pants depending on weather, and regular bibs.

Top...underarmor, maybe a thin sweatshirt, fleece, and Gore-Tex jacket. I have a camo fleece hood, and a GOOD Thinsulate orange sock hat.

If it's cold, I double up with two sock hats, one over the other. Sounds goofy but it works.

Hands...thin gloves under mitten/gloves. This lets you flip up the finger part of the mitten/glove for shooting.
 
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pay particular attention to your feet, hands, and head. i don't know how cold you'll be hunting, but if you're going to be stuck in a blind, anything much under 30° will feel cold.

for your feet... start w/ some sort of liner sock - a real thin underarmour-type sock, then wool socks. 400+ gram thinsulate boot.

blue jeans, and keep a set of bibs handy.

underarmour cold gear compression fit shirt, underarmour cold gear sweatshirt (optional layer), nat gear zippered fleece (optional layer), arctic shield parka (probably the thinnest, warmest parka i have ever worn... incredible mobility).

thin, light gloves under a pair of heavier thinsulate gloves. go ahead and cut the trigger finger off the heavier pair.

for your head, on the coldest of cold days i'll wear an underarmour balaclava under a face mask knit hat. if it isn't that cold, i'll usually go sans the balaclava.

the biggest secret to keeping warm, especially for your feet, is to minimize sweating. so, never wear your hunting boots on the truck ride to your hunting area, and if you begin to sweat even a little, remove a layer of clothes. sweating, especially your feet, will make for an incredibly uncomfortable experience.
 
An additional tip if your feet 'sweat'---spraying them the nite before with unscented aerosol 'anti-perspirant'---not deodorant---will help your feet stay dry, and use a thin wicking sock-liner as mentioned, and make sure your boots have toe-wiggle room. You may even have to go to a half-larger or wide boot size.
Alcohol and tobacco use both restrict peripheral blood circulation, = cold feet & hands.
Eat some simple carbohydrates (carefully, diabetics!) throughout day to keep metabolism up for body warmth.
Use chemical-heatpaks on the back of neck, top of head under hat, and drop one down shirtback to rest in small-of-back--if you keep those areas warm, you'll feel warmer.

All that said, these tips work on really cold days after you're in your blind, and may be contraindicated on moderate temp days, as keeping dry/not perspiring initially is most important.
 
I hunt in TX and this winter I bought some lightweight uninsulated hunting boots for the comfort factor. I was told by the Cabela's guy that I would NOT need insulated boots in TX if I wore good quality thick wool socks. So, I wore two pairs of wool socks; one heavyweight and one midweight. Several times my feet were burning cold after only two hours in stand. Temps were rangeing from the low 20s to mid 30s. After Christmas I returned some gifts and bought an 800 gram thinsulate pair. I'll be wearing those with my wool socks next season thank you very much. All that to say if you are in the midwest, you better get insulated boots. Especially if you will be stationary whle hunting.
 
If your feet are getting cold you need a warmer hat, not boots. The body does not work that way. Your body will keep your internal organs and brain supplied with blood flow to keep them warm and functioning. As your core temperature begins to drop the body will reduce blood flow to the extremities in order to maintain the correct temperature in the core. This results in cold feet and hands.

Once the core temperature starts to drop your feet will get cold no matter what you are wearing on your feet. About 80% of your body heat is lost through the neck, shoulders, and head area. Keep this warm and your feet will stay warmer. I've worn uninsulated boots down into the single digits with no problems. A good thick pair of wool socks will provide as much insulation as most 200-400 gram insulated boots.

Also make sure your boots are not too tight, or are laced too tight. If they are they cut off circulation and blood cannot flow into them properly. Often people try on boots wearing thin cotton socks and then try to hunt in them wearing thick wool socks and they just fit too tight for blood to get in.

I often untie and loosen the laces while on stand to provide for better blood flow. Keeping your feet dry is vital. I take at least 1 spare pair of socks. Walking will result in your feet sweating no matter how cold it is. Changing back and forth between socks several times a day to keep a perfectly dry pair on your feet does wonders.
 
I stay away from Cotton, they absorb moisture.

Anyway, I use wool base layer (thermal underwear). And layer out from there. Cabela's has great gear for that purpose.
 
Synthetic long johns, wool socks, uninsulated boots most of the time (I'll wear insulated rubber when it gets down to single digits).

For an intermediate layer, look at the army field liner for their jackets and pants. These things are pretty warm and cheap (my favorite).

A good balaclava goes a long way, windstopper will keep you warmer, but costs more.

Gloves, get some wool gloves, the mittens the fold over to just fingers are my favorite, or the army trigger gloves are nice.

Then I usually through some camo outerlayer, not necessarily needed if you're well concealed in you're groundblind, but might be nice if you get up to stock, or see some unsuspecting turkeys.

Lastly, for the cold as snot stuff (0 or colder with wind, Oklahoma prairie wind that is) I'll but on goose down underlayer, you cannot walk far like this or you'll sweat, maybe keep off the top until you've been situated for a while, but it will help to keep you in your stand longer, and it will compress a lot more than the majority of synthetic stuff, which I prefer for bow hunting and shouldering a rifle.
 
Under Armour coldgear tops and bottoms, fleece pull over, wool socks, 400 gram insulated boots, BLACK fleece jacket, BLACK UA coldgear hood (balaclava), and BLACK UA coldgear liner gloves, Black beanie. The black jacket, gloves etc is nice form a ground blind as it "hides" you better. I have had deer as close as 8 ft from my ground blind.
 
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