It totally amazes me the number of hunters who head into the woods with the same clothes all year long. No matter if it’s 90 degrees during the first week of the bow season or 9 degrees the last day of season in December, you see them with the same outer clothes on. It’s like they never take that pair of clothes off. What gives? I can understand being frugal and not wanting to pay top dollar for the Ultra Hunter Designer label clothes, but geez, even Wal-Mart has some very reasonable price clothes for all seasons. If you only buy something like Arctic Shield Clothing, at least you’ll be somewhat comfortable in a wide range of cool to cold temperatures. This is when most of us have trouble keeping warm and staying still.
From what I gather from talking to deer hunters across the country, this is why many fail to take a deer. They take one pair of hunting clothes and try to make them work for all conditions. It just won’t happen! If you’re wearing a think cotton shirt and jeans during the bow season, those same clothes can become wet and possible lead to hypothermia during the regular deer season. The best tip I can give you is to get comfortable in your stand no matter what the conditions. For this you’ll need several sets of hunting clothes.
For deer hunters on a budget, there are many good alternatives to expensive hunting clothes. One of the best places that I get really good hunting clothes is my local Army Surplus store. I can find nearly anything I need for cold or wet deer hunting in these stores. The M65 field jacket is an old standard. It makes a great hunting jacket. If truth be known, probably better than most of the high dollar stuff on the market today. I bought one in a Woodland Camo pattern 25 years ago and that jacket is still going strong today. It has seen many deer hunting trips in its day. The surplus shirts are just as tough. I wish I could honestly say I was wearing both my old M65 jacket and surplus shirt that I wore when I was in my late teens into my twenties, but I’ve seemed to grow a little since then and they no longer fit!
Today, there is a lot of good camo clothing out there in the new digital pattern. I’m looking forward to trying it in the upcoming deer season. I can’t wait to try my new field jacket when the weather turns bitter. I just hope I don’t ‘grow’ out of this one any time soon!