Hunting Clothes

[Gunplummer]

When I was a kid I suffered through deer season with the old long johns, sweaters, coats, and poor boots. I had stopped hunting for a while and when I got out of the military I bought a new Winchester Camo-Orange hunting out fit at K-Mart for around 100.00 bucks. That was a lot of money back then. What a difference! I would now rather spend all my budget on hunting clothes and boots and take an old rusty piece of crap rifle out hunting. What about you? I believe I hunt better with good clothes.

[Pahoo]

I believe I hunt better with good clothes.

If that is what you believe, then by all means, that is what you should support. ....

As for me, for the most part, I'm still wearing my 20yr. old hunting clothes. The Deer, and other game, really don't seem to mind it either. In the past the squirrels in my woods looked forward to seeing what was in fashion for that year. Seems that no matter what I wore, those little buggers always busted me.

Don't get me wrong, I think the new camo patterns and clothes look really nice. However, they cost more than my standard issue Woodland Camo. Just cheap I guess.


Be Safe !!!

[Jason_G]

When I was a kid I suffered through deer season with the old long johns, sweaters, coats, and poor boots.

LOL!!! Same here! Them scratchy Long Johns, sometimes worn double layered, with whatever you could find warm over them, and some old worn out milsurp BDUs over that. Long Johns would itch you, and you'd still freeze
I did have a pair of coveralls later that were better, but not great. I don't know if it's just that there wasn't anything better back then, or if it was because we were broke, but that's what we wore.

I'm glad that the clothing (or maybe just my clothing) has improved over the years. Being comfortable certainly helps you be still, which definitely helps you hunt better.

Don't get me wrong, I think the new camo patterns and clothes look really nice. However, they cost more than my standard issue Woodland Camo. Just cheap I guess.

What you have to do is catch stuff on clearance. I'd never be able to afford what they want for hunting clothes at full price. It is ridiculous. Buy during the "wrong" season, buy well, and buy once. For example I paid $150 for a nice camo hush-hide coat (very warm coat) during the spring, that was normally $400 during the fall and winter. I've had it for probably ten years now, so when you divide the cost by how long it has hunted, it's not that bad.

Jason

[JohnO]

If you don't move they can't see you. If you don't talk they can't hear you. If your down wind they can't smell you. Don't know of any type of clothing that will improve on that!

[Scorch]

I pretty much agree, wear the best boots and thermals you can buy, other than that just whatever clothes work.

[Old Grump]

I wear the same insulated coveralls and coats I wore to the barn or field and in the early fall denim jacket and bluejeans still fool squirrels into my cooking pot along with a little judicious application of 40 grains and some marksmanship.

When they made the blaze orange mandatory I bought the obligatory insulated orange jump suit and wore it for a few years. A sister borrowed it to ride motorcycle with and I haven't had it on since. Orange gloves, hat and vest over my old brown coveralls are legal, cheaper and have worked for over 20 years but I have to admit it is time for a new vest, mine has faded almost to yellow. Pac boots and lots of thick warm insoles are different than the old barn boots I used to wear and my feet are happier for it but still boots is boots. It's where and how you put them on the ground that counts, not what camo pattern or which brand they are.

Just dos centavos from an old dinosaur.

[FrankenMauser]

For cold weather hunts, I wear Under-Armor left over from my military days. On top of that, I layer.
Certain hunts might even see Gortex come out, for rain.

Otherwise... It's BDU pants (for the pockets, I don't care about the woodland camo), and a T-shirt. Sweaters may make an appearance, if it's cool, but not cold.

I do want a good pair of insulated boots, but I'm still wearing out my military issue boots. Steel toe boots and combat boots can be a little cold in the winter, but they were free. ...And I still have 4 brand new pairs, in their original boxes, on top of the 4-6 pair I rotate through. Cold toes will be the norm for a while...


For areas and/or seasons requiring hunter orange, I have ball caps, knit caps, and light weight vests. I mix and match, to meet the local conditions and requirements.

[Kreyzhorse]

I hunt best WARM. Good gear is often expensive these days but if I plan on sitting in the cold or rain, I need to be warm and dry.

While I buy good clothes and boots, I'm not really all that concerned about the latest camo patterns.

[Gunplummer]

I don't know where the latest camo patterns part came in. I meant warm and dry. It is obvious some of you have not hunted in a freezing rain with 6-8 inches of snow on the ground. That is the point I was trying to make.

[FrankenMauser]

It is obvious some of you have not hunted in a freezing rain with 6-8 inches of snow on the ground. That is the point I was trying to make.

Every Elk hunt and many Deer hunts I have been on, have been under those conditions.

I'd rather layer with thin garments, and retain mobility, than be swaddled in a bulky outer layer. (It's also easier to dry the thinner pieces of clothing, than a big, thick one.)

But, I'm from Mormonville, where we have to hunt for our prey; rather than sitting around, waiting to ambush it. (Not an attack on stand and blind hunters, just pointing out that we all hunt in different conditions.)

I would rather get the blood pumping, to stay warm, than fight the outer layer all day in bulky, insulated 'hunting clothes'.

It's just personal preference. We hunt in different places, under different conditions.

[AllenJ]

I'm with FrankenMauser on this one, layers is much more comfortable IMHO. I too have to hunt for my elk and have done it in some pretty bad weather conditions. Even when waterfowling I tend to layer clothing rather than wear one bulky thing.

[Buzzcook]

Staying dry is the big thing for me. Under that thrift store stuff does fine.
I do insist on good boots though.

[treg]

UnderArmor and GorTex are game changers.

[Desertfox]

Did anyone else used to put your feet in bread sacks between a couple pairs of sox?
I never would have had the opportunity to have quaity boots back then. I had tube socks and old shoes. We only got one new pair of shoes a year and that was the week before school started. If you wore your good shoes out hunting, you got your back side tanned.
I remember having one pair of wool socks (hand-me-downs) and they were huge.
The plastic bread sack between a tube sock and one of those big wool socks was just what the hunting doctor ordered for wet hunting in the winter.
When I was gearing up to go out, this made me feel like I was Grizzley Adams. Now, I just want to be Chuck Adams.
Yes, I do buy gortex now and have nice insulated, weather-proof clothing. Camo is plaid wool when possible.

[LSnSC]

The new waterfowl clothes have really made it alot easier to stay warm and dry.

I like something quiet and cool for bowhunting, our season is pretty warm.

For deer hunting with a rifle, I dont think it matters at all.

[BfloBill]

When I started hunting money was scarce for our family so we would layer up in as much of the cheap crap as possible, and nobody had goretex. Now that I know what it's like to hunt in good clothing I wonder how we managed to stay in the cold as long as we did. Now I wonder if we're just getting soft with age!

[JACK308]

this is how I beat the cold.I have a 100% wool sweater I bought a cabalas
and I put my artic bibs on and also my underarmor under the sweater and it works!.I put this to the test back in 09 at the job site and I was a stone throw from Lake Michigan and all thoughout the winter it kept me warm.

[kraigwy]

When I was a kid, I had a paper route. In the winter it was cold, blowing wind, snow............nasty.

I had this nice old lady on my route who would drag me in and feed me hot choc. and cake dern near every day. She thought I was going to freeze to death so she gave me one of her husbands (dead husband) wool over coat, from the 20-30s.

No way I was going to wear that thing. But she was a nice lady, I didn't want to hurt her feelings so figured I'd wear it a ways, then when out of sight dump it.

But the time I got out of sight of the house, I was toasty warm. Screw dumping the coat. I wore it all winter, every winter until I out grew it.

Every since, if its cold, I want wool.

[hooligan1]

If it's rainy and damp, wool is my friend, if it's sunny and cold I like fleece, because it's quiet. As for boots I sometimes wear a pair of "Bone-Dry" boots from BPS..But there are alot of days where I wear only tennis shoes,,,,, no kidding. It's all about comfort to me and walking around in big ole boots ain't necessarily what I call fun and comfortable,,,,, most days hunting do not allow me to wear tennis shoes,,therefore back to the Bone Dry's...... The most important thing I would like to mention is my hat,,,, most of the time it's a stocking cap or ski mask of some type to keep my head warm...

[Saltydog235]

Around my patch of woods, a Bug Tamer suit is key to being able to sit still in a stand. We started hunting this past week and mosquitos are thick in the woods, not to mention all the other biting insects. Crawled into a stand last night and stirred up some wasps, didn't worry too much about them in the BT and soon they settled down and left me alone.

[jimbob86]

When I was younger, I could "tough it out" better ...... now I have more disposable income and less tolerance for cold/wet/long periods of sitting or standing ..... I bought some good snow/raingear and wear it over layers of warm clothes..... gone are the days of wearing two pairs of pants (jeans over sweats-two whole layers of cotton! and 3 shirts and a coat ...... and to think that I sat in the woods for hours in that get-up, when it was 25 or 30 degrees and snowing...... I had the hunting bug pretty bad.....

[GeauxTide]

I got some merino wool long underwear, a wool watch cap, and GoreTex rain gear when they came out in the early 80s. Have hunted and fished in awful conditions, comfortably. Thing about wool - it still insulates when wet. Have graduated to Filson Wool underwear and head gear. Big thing other than wet for me is the wind. My typical attire over the wool undies is Chamois Cloth pants and shirt, topped with a wool sweater. Outerwear will be GoreTex parka and bibs. Wool sox and Wolverine insulated boots.

[rickyrick]

I used to wear my old army uniforms, till I "grew" out of them. now I have some camo stuff that I wear. luckily with the pigs, its perfectly legal to stay in the truck.

[603Country]

As a kid, I hunted in bluejeans and an old military field jacket that somebody gave me. Then I moved up to camo for a couple of decades. Finally I bought a waxed canvas hip length Drizabone (made in Australia) uninsulated coat and layer up the clothes under it as needed. That waxed canvas won't allow cold wind to penetrate and it's waterproof, and it seems to hold scent inside. Better than that, the dark waxed green color seems to absorb light and has no shine to it at all. If I hold still, deer just can't seem to see me. I just hope I don't wear it out.

[tynimiller]

Rifle hunting doesn't much matter what you're wearing. The deer are going to be far enough away you're scent isn't going to do more than make them uneasy or timid.

When you're talking "real hunting" (sorry just my opinion) and you're bow hunting or gunning it close ranges like 80 yards or less is when clothes, stand placement, scents, movement and everything else becomes pivotal! I am a bowhunter by blood, but I'll admit I sometimes look forward to the time of the season where I grab my muzzleloader and can relax some because I can reach out and touch them at 70-100yards (could beyond but my terrain typically doesn't allow that). Gun hunting isn't nearly as nerving or stressfull. Lot of times I'll just sit at the base of a tree with lesser than stellar cover and simply shoot them before they get close enough, but the experience of nature is more fun than that style of deer hunting to me.

Give me a bow and all the stressful things needed to get a buck within 30 yards anyday over dropping a Booner at 175yards that has no clue I'm even in the same county.