How to stay warm ~15

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cooeyguy

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Question for those experienced hunter out there.

My least favorite part of deer hunting is the cold. I don't normally get cold in general life, However there is something about sitting still in a treestand for hours that has defeated any system I have tried to put together. I have no issue sledding, skiing or otherwise so long as I am moving around, the treestand on the other hand is frustrating.

I have tried under layers, bibs, toques balaclavas hot pockets you name it.

What do you you recommend as a system for -15 degree weather?
 
i assume you already do;
stay dry
isolate points of contact with any body part that touches objects (feet, butt, back)
get out of he wind
i use nothing special and have no problems staying comfortable, good boots, as little as possible exposed skin, and some warm liquids
 
Throw a wool blanket around yourself like a cloak? I have seen a few ways to wear a blanket as a coat.

I don't have much experience in tree stands but I know in the outdoors the rule is layer down when active and up when not moving as fast. I do like to have a couple hot pockets just in case.
 
Getting out of the wind and sitting in the sun is an obvious suggestion. Keeping your bum warm is another great idea. Worked construction years ago and had to sit on a steel beam working a couple of come-alongs. I was working up a sweat wresting with the come-alongs, but my bum got cold from sitting on that steel beam for too long. For the life of me I couldn't get warm for the rest of the day no matter how much I worked.

I'm not too bad if my hands get cold, but if my feet get cold, them I'm in for a miserable hunt. So my suggestions are to insulate yourself from the ground with "heat seats" or "hot pockets" or whatever system you have to keep the cold at bay.
 
Good boots that keep you dry, merino wool under layers. Hell I pretty much wear wool for most my under layers, warm and windproof outers. These always keep me warm if I’m not moving around too much and it’s cold out, the wool blanket is a good idea as well.
 
Wear proper cold weather gear. Decent. Felt pac style boots, a quality outer layer of clean an dry, and mitts, over a set of wool gloves.
At fifteen below, you are in cold enough that keeping your boots from wetting out from melted snow, is not such a concern. Just gotta remember to dry out the felt liners daily, swapping around between two sets is better. Two days on a single set of sweated in felt pacs makes for bad times and misery.

Take a long look at then military extreme cold weather goretex available surplus. Get whatever color you can that fits, throw a extra big set of camo coveralls over the top. That stops the air leaks from wind too.
A seat cushion inside the ass of the pants is handy if you are sitting.

Make sure you can open zippers to keep from sweating inside the clothes if you need to exert yourself.

Spent lots of time out hunting at -25 South of Moose Jaw, and sitting around at similar temps fishing in Cold Lake.
 
The biggest improvement I saw while hunting in the cold was switching from pants to overalls and going up a size in all my underlayers so I didn't have any spots where my clothing was tight when I was sitting (ie knees).
 
I can sleep in -26 outside if I am properly dressed. Thermal Baclava is a must. Next up is a good quality base layer. Then a layer of wool acrylic blend. To that I add Carhartt insulated bib overalls, a light sweater, and a flock lined Carhartt jacket with hood.

Footwear is a synthetic sock, followed by alpaca outer sock, then bama's and into the dunlop rig boots they go.

Hands are a blend of light wool finger mittens stuffed into gauntlet style mitts. Or my Milwaukee heated hand warmer. The hand warmer comes anyway. So nice to fire it up for a few minutes to get out of the gloves. It's cheating but when you are warm..
 
Rodder said:
The biggest improvement I saw while hunting in the cold was switching from pants to overalls and going up a size in all my underlayers so I didn't have any spots where my clothing was tight when I was sitting (ie knees).
Click to expand...

Agreed. I switched to overalls as well, and now find myself with zippers open to keep a balance between warm and too warm.
 
Down is about as warm as it gets. Get yourself some down pants and a down jacket and compress them under a proper shell and you should be good.

Patrick
 
If you get cold at -15 you might wanna find yourself a new hobby! Lol! Jk. I find I have to acclimatiz myself to the weather. I work outside so I intentionally dress lighter so I only break out the long johns at -15 or colder. Now if I’m hunting and waiting anything at -15 it won’t feel as bad as I’m already conditioned to the temps. Once it hits -25 or colder I bring out several hand warmers like the ones you add lighter fluid and they stay lit for 12 hours. In cold weather several of them stacked together can help keep your hands warm.
 
Are you on the ground or in a treestand? Guys at my camp start small fires to keep them warm. The smoke doesn't seem to keep the deer away and in the decades they've been doing it, not a single forest fire!
 
if you walk in, keep your warm clothes packed until you get to the tree stand. Wear a waterproof outer layer and your base layer and let the walking keep you warm on the way in. I like to put spray-on antiperspirant on my feet to keep them from sweating. The drier you can keep yourself, the better. If you feel warm in the stand, you are too warm and should strip a layer. You should only be "not uncomfortably cold" in order to avoid sweating
 
A lot of folks fail from the get go because of sweat on the walk in. You need to walk very slowly when bundled up or carry some layers and dress when you get to the stand. This is especially true with one's feet. I put baby powder on my feet in the morning which seems to keep them dry on the walk in.

I wear a light moisture wicking sock followed by a medium weight Merino wool inside of Cabelas Trans Alaska pack boots. You can get these on sale for cheap and the Sask Hunter model is the same boot. They have a very thick sole and I size them loose for good circulation.

I wear a moisture wicking base layer, Merino wool long under wear and shirt followed by good old fashioned wool pant and a sweater. My outer layer is Raven Wear parka and bib. An insulated neck gator is an absolute must and a good wool hat. If I get cold, I know I shouldn't be out there.
 
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