huntingpal

I am preparing to leav soon for a Colorado elk hunt. With all the snow I am hearing about I was wondering how most Dress to deal with this. My main question is how do you keep the snow out of your boots ect.? Will the gortex leg gaiters work for this porpose? I do not want to stay low if the elk are still up higher and I run into snow.

Silver_Wolf

Make sure you have plenty of wood next to the stove in your tent. Thats how we deal with it usually. I have used the gaitors before, but I usually end up in my insulated coveralls and gortex insulated boots. This year I will be trying out my new gortex insulated bibs and matching parka. Main thing I found is layers. Have to have like 10 layers on, 8 or 9 which come off while your climbing the hill, and the rest to put on when you get to the top where we hunt.

hoghunter22-250

waterproof boota with gatorsshould work great

smokechaser

Wool, wool and more wool, ive been hunting in montana for nearly ten years now and have found myself trecking through at least three feet of the white stuff. A good wool coat and a wool pants will do really well to keep you warm and dry. And as for keepin snow outa your boots ive found just having your jeans and wool pants hanging over works fine ive never used gators though. Oh and make somebody in the tent drink a lot before you go to bed and tell them to stoke the fire when they get up to pee. And double bag it at night. Hope this helps.

Alsatian

Smokechaser:

How about some details on the wool clothing story. What weight wool? What maker?

I have looked at buying a heavy "Double Mackinaw" 24 oz/yard wool coat and wool bib overalls for mountain elk hunting, but fear this would be too hot or heavy when moving -- even in the snow when it gets cold. Is this the way to go -- heavy coat heavy weight wool pants -- or some other path?

smokechaser

i go with a really heavy wool coat but wear i hunt im sumtimes lookin at temps down to 20 below 0 but even on warmer days i dont have much of a problem. as far as the pants go i wear a lot lighter wool mostly just to keep the snow off of me and keep me dry. then under my wool pants i usually wear a pair long underwear and a pair of jeans seems to be sufficient. my uncle likes to wear a pair of sweats under his wool pants instead of jeans you might find that more comfortable.

Bigwapitijohnny

Alsatian,

I researched wool this pasthunting seasonfollowing a Wyoming elk hunt. I looked at the the wool lines from Sleeping Indian designs, King of the Mountain, Beagle outerwear, Filson, LL Bean, Weatherby and Woolrich. All have their advantages and drawbacks. I went with the Weatherby performance wool line. They offer bothlightweight (14oz.)and heavyweight (28 oz.) woolens. This wool is lined with a polar fleece material that wicks thus, keeping you dry. I will be trying out both in Wyoming this year. Hope this helps.

Regards,

GS

121553

Wool on the outside with fleece and layered level 4 underneath. It will wick the sweat away so you don't get cold when you slow down. Plan on putting clothes on and off throughout the day depending on your activity. My feet are always the first to get cold and when they do, it doesn't matter how much clothing you got on, your going to be cold and my boots are 800 gram thinsulates. Little bit on the heavy side but keeps me warmer than most. Good luck hunting.

Bobby

usa

bought the outfitters wool from cabela's, parka and colombia pant's for a caribou hunt 2 yrs ago, halfway thru the hunt I gave them to the outfitter, too heavy and bulky. Went back to layer's with fleece on the outside and goretex boot's 1000 grs of thinsulate. the fleece pants have a strap that hooks under my boots to keep the snow out, previous to that gaiters worked fine or in a pinch duct tape.nothing cotton anywhere on my body especially sock's.

racowboy

Start with a good pair of pac style boots. I suggest tall Schnee's with air bobs out of Montanna with thinsulite liners. You can wear gators if you want, but Schnees boots pretty much keep the moisture out. These boots fit great, don't pull your socks down, and fit a sturrip. Stay away from cotton clothes including socks and underware. Wool is great, but so are a lot of the water repellant goretex parkas with thinsulite liners and will do the same thing. Wool stays warm when wet, but wet is still wet. Poly underware and you can get the stuff that doesn't hold odor. Make sure that you layer clothing.....you can always take something off if you get too hot, but the only thing you can do wrong is not have enough clothes. I guided the Bitteroots and sometimes stayed in for a month at a time with gortex, polyfleece, and the schnees boots with out any problems. Throw in a couple wool shirts or sweaters and that windstopper stuff is great. In bad weather always leave camp like you might not make it back that night and you'll be in good shape, not like that guy from New York I found in 98.