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Arm guard and hunting in cold weather gear

gcr0003

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2018
Messages
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I hadn't had a need for an arm gaurd nor a desire to wear one until it started getting cold and I found out that depending on how I was twisted the string could catch my sleeve when shooting. I haven't noticed it throwing the trajectory off but it can sometimes create louder string noise as it slaps the jacket sleeve. The arm guards I've seen have hard plastic in them which would probably be even louder than hitting my jacket. I was thinking maybe a compression sleeve or to diy something similar to make the sleeve more slender and less likely to get caught up with the string? I was thinking of an loop of half inch elastic that could be doubled over in an endless loop to compress the sleeve. I think a baseball compression sleeve would maybe work too. Does anyone use an arm guard or compression sleeve or something similar for this purpose? I hate to bring more junk with me but I may want to in order to avoid that string to jacket noise. The amount of noise does vary depending on what jacket I am wearing.
 
I wear an arm guard. Started when I was young and have never changed. Forgot it one time on a cold morning hunt. Was barely up the tree and had a nice 8 come in and stick his ribs out. Coat sleeve caught the bow string and arrow was a foot low.
 
I use one of these over my leafy suit. It was an xmas gift.
But yeah long oversized socks or similar are good ideas.
 
I hadn't had a need for an arm gaurd nor a desire to wear one until it started getting cold and I found out that depending on how I was twisted the string could catch my sleeve when shooting. I haven't noticed it throwing the trajectory off but it can sometimes create louder string noise as it slaps the jacket sleeve. The arm guards I've seen have hard plastic in them which would probably be even louder than hitting my jacket. I was thinking maybe a compression sleeve or to diy something similar to make the sleeve more slender and less likely to get caught up with the string? I was thinking of an loop of half inch elastic that could be doubled over in an endless loop to compress the sleeve. I think a baseball compression sleeve would maybe work too. Does anyone use an arm guard or compression sleeve or something similar for this purpose? I hate to bring more junk with me but I may want to in order to avoid that string to jacket noise. The amount of noise does vary depending on what jacket I am wearing.

I use one when I layer up as insurance against string hitting. I use the full length one made by NEET in camo. There is a velcro attachment one and one that uses plastic tabs. I modded the plastic tab one because velcro is loud and I thought the plastic tabs looked flimsy.

If you go that route and want to see the mod, then let me know and I'l shoot you some pics.

It works well and sometimes I forget I have it on and climb down with it. It has a bendy spot at the elbow and smooth area where string is most likely to hit.
 
Not sure who carries them, but those tattoo arm sleeves, or tattoo arm cover sleeves, should work as well.
 
Renamed this thread and am asking more questions dealing with effects of jackets and other cold weather gear on hunting with a traditional bow. What other effects does layering clothing or being cold have on you shooting and form? I haven't been able to shoot much with heavy layers on but I need to before hitting the woods again. It is going to get really cold for my area this weekend and I worry if I need to be even hunting haha. Do any of you still hunt when it gets cold for your area and you have significant layers on to stay warm? How are you keeping your hands warm? What other issues have you come across trying to hunt with traditional gear in the later months. I have been bringing hot hands and leaving them in my pockets until ready to use my hands to shoot. I will need gloves this weekend at least on my bow hand as I think it will be cold even with hot hands. I use a shooting glove, but I can shoot with most any gloves functionally. It is not ideal but I think I could if I got in a pinch.
 
Not specific to trad gear, but applies to compound as well: heavy head gear can mess up your form. Anchor point. String to nose contact. Kisser button. All of that changes when you are wearing two or three layers on your head. Practice with the gear on ahead of time.

To keep my bow-hand wrist warm, I take an old wristwatch and remove the bands, leaving the metal pins in place, and thread the watch into my arm guard. Having my watch mounted onto my arm guard makes it much easier to check the time on stand instead of digging arm out of pockets or muff, peeling back a bunch of layers, and checking watch on the wrist. It makes a huge difference in brutally cold weather.

if you are using a permanent stand or platform, I bring a ziploc bag full of table salt with me and sprinkle it on the platform after wiping all the snow and ice off. Makes a huge difference. Packed down snow turns into ice, which can be dangerous when you are standing on that platform at height. Very important to me in the late season. Again, not specific to trad bow, just passing along something I’ve developed over the years.
 
Practice how you plan to hunt for sure. I have had success in full winter gear and a leafy suit.
For hands, its bow hand gets glove/mitten as appropriate with a hand warmer and draw hand is bare on the tab but lives in the pocket with hand warmer(s).
I think a heated vest would be a low bulk way to add warmth but can’t speak from experience yet.
 
Not specific to trad gear, but applies to compound as well: heavy head gear can mess up your form. Anchor point. String to nose contact. Kisser button. All of that changes when you are wearing two or three layers on your head. Practice with the gear on ahead of time.

To keep my bow-hand wrist warm, I take an old wristwatch and remove the bands, leaving the metal pins in place, and thread the watch into my arm guard. Having my watch mounted onto my arm guard makes it much easier to check the time on stand instead of digging arm out of pockets or muff, peeling back a bunch of layers, and checking watch on the wrist. It makes a huge difference in brutally cold weather.

if you are using a permanent stand or platform, I bring a ziploc bag full of table salt with me and sprinkle it on the platform after wiping all the snow and ice off. Makes a huge difference. Packed down snow turns into ice, which can be dangerous when you are standing on that platform at height. Very important to me in the late season. Again, not specific to trad bow, just passing along something I’ve developed over the years.
I don't have to deal with snow and ice but I need to put my watch on the outside of my forearm layers. I am constantly have to fight to see the time when I am layered up. Simple but handy.
 
I don't have to deal with snow and ice but I need to put my watch on the outside of my forearm layers. I am constantly have to fight to see the time when I am layered up. Simple but handy.
Yup. Did that one about 20 years ago with an inexpensive Casio digital watch. A good $15 purchase.
 
My first season I used an old brown dress sock over my Carhartt to reduce bulk on the sleeve. Spent many a hour shivering in the woods with that setup, worked great in practice but my hunting ignorance kept me from testing it onna deer that year. I've moved on to other clothing but the sock method works. Dress socks seemed to have less stretch which translated to more compression than the worn out wool socks I tried first, and gotta give you an extra half timberpimp point or something.

Edited to add: didn't realize I was in Trad though I should have. In that case I vote for a sweet leather one like the one @GCTerpfan (I think) picked up within the last year or so. And I'll retreat to my wheelbow corner for now...
 
Definitely agree with taking some shots with full gear on from a hunting position. I wear a midweight glove on my bow hand and no glove w/ tab on shooting hand. In real cold weather I use a muff with hand warmers. Otherwise I just put a single in a pocket for shooting hand. One of them ballofclavas or whatever they are called with a wool beanie over it would be good for your noggin cause you can pull the front down when it's time to shoot and avoid anchor issues. I just wear a beanie cause I havent found a beanie big enough for me to wear anything under it without giving me a pounding headache.
 
I don't know if it's still being made. Once I saw an ad for a mitten, with another mitten sewn to the back of it. Basically a hand warmer that stays on your left hand (for a right-handed shooter), so you could pull your right hand out for a quick shot. I bet you could do something similar with an arm guard, or put a spandex gauntlet cuff on one, to get a combination bow hand mitten / arm guard/ sleeve compressor/ draw hand warmer.
 
Definitely agree with taking some shots with full gear on from a hunting position. I wear a midweight glove on my bow hand and no glove w/ tab on shooting hand. In real cold weather I use a muff with hand warmers. Otherwise I just put a single in a pocket for shooting hand. One of them ballofclavas or whatever they are called with a wool beanie over it would be good for your noggin cause you can pull the front down when it's time to shoot and avoid anchor issues. I just wear a beanie cause I havent found a beanie big enough for me to wear anything under it without giving me a pounding headache.
yea i rock a balaclava but it in conjunction with a beanie does get tight after a while, my ears start to hurt fast. I will use the hood on my down jacket on really windy days and it is a life saver. Of course it reduces field of view and hearing but if its 15 mph winds and 30 mph gusts its already gonna be loud.
 
I don't know if it's still being made. Once I saw an ad for a mitten, with another mitten sewn to the back of it. Basically a hand warmer that stays on your left hand (for a right-handed shooter), so you could pull your right hand out for a quick shot. I bet you could do something similar with an arm guard, or put a spandex gauntlet cuff on one, to get a combination bow hand mitten / arm guard/ sleeve compressor/ draw hand warmer.
Quick Draw gloves. Found it.
 
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