Part 2 on hunting in the cold
Extremeties
To keep my head warm in 25 degrees and above temperatures ScentLoks Full Season headcovers with drop down facemasks are sufficient and for temperatures below that I wear a beanie over the headcover or wear ScentLok’s Fleece Radar Headcover with drop down facemask. I would never consider wearing any of ScentLoks headgear that didn’t have a drop down facemask.
A scent control regimen is not complete unless my entire face (not eyes), hair and neck are completely covered as any of those gaps will compromise my scent control regiment. I don’t hunt on TV and video fantasy land properties where mature bucks are far more tolerant of human odor and a plethora of other tolerable human related things and I doubt you do either.
To camouflage what little is left of my face, once on stand and cooled down I put on a Spand-O-Flage facemask with eye-holes cut out and then put the Scent Lok headcover over it. Even though this is stretch mesh, it keeps my face warm and they are washed in scent free detergent frequently.
I always wear my Scent Lok exterior suit to my stand so as not to leave human odor on any vegetation I may brush against. This is very critical when walking through tall weeds or marsh grasses which I do a lot of. I typically only have my bottom layer on under my jacket so as not to overheat with long entries and put on my layer garments once in my sling and cooled down.
Insulated boots display temperature ratings that are rather meaningless because they are walking ratings, not sitting still ratings. While I own many pairs of rubber and neoprene boots for differing temperatures, those 1,200 and 2,000 gram insulated rubber boots and Mucks Arctic Sport boots are OK when temperatures are in the 25 to 40 degree range, but they will not keep my feet warm when sitting long hours in temperatures below 25 degrees, no matter what the hang tag says.
I own 7 pairs of boots with removable insulated liners and 4 of them were purchased back in the 70’s and of course are no longer made. The current insulated pack boot of choice is made by Baffin and the model name is Titan. They are the only knee high rubber boot with removable insulated pack that’s still made that will keep my feet warm.
Due to the lack of breathability, on long entries and sits the sweat from your feet will dampen your socks, liners and inner boot. After every use with a pack boot, the liners need to be removed and both the liners and the interior of the boots need to be dried with an electric boot dryer so that you start each hunt with dry boots and liners.
In the 1980’s I came up with a solution to a major problem with long entries. On Federal land my morning entry was a little more than two miles from the parking area and by the time I was on stand my socks and liners were wet from sweat. After a couple hours of being on stand the single digit temperatures froze my feet and forced me to abort the planned all-day hunt.
The next day I put 2 pairs of wool socks in my backpack and did the following: Wore a pair of regular white socks, covered them with plastic grocery bags, and put on my pack boots for the long walk in. At the base of the tree I took off the bag and white socks and put on the dry socks, placing the wet sweaty socks and the grocery bags in a gallon Zip Lok bag. I then had dry boots, liners, socks, and feet, and was able to sit on stand all day as planned.
ScentLok has many socks offerings and my preference is their wool thermal or merino thermal socks. You definitely don’t want your socks to be so bulky that and once your boots are on they seem too tight. You want your socks to fit in your boots as if you’re wearing shoes and I’ll tell you why in a bit.
Wool is a unique natural fabric in that it will retain some heat even when damp or wet, no synthetic fabric does that. While I’m not concerned about foot odor because the non-breathable rubber boots contain it, ScentLok’s wool socks have silver and carbon technology that kills bacteria, adsorbs foot odor and they’re comfortable.
Heavy insulated gloves are a pain for bowhunting because you lose your sense of touch. Scent Lok’s Savanna gloves or Full Season gloves are my current choices. I hated Scent Lok’s gloves in the past but they have a new source and are much better made. These gloves contain Carbon Alloy so if you properly care for them and have to touch stuff during entries it will not be a factor. I use a quiet hand warmer muff with a waist strap (it’s frequently washed in scent free detergent) and inside it I put a Grabber air-activated Mega warmer (bigger than a hand warmer) to keep my hands warm. The waist strap will keep the muff in place during a shot opportunity.
The biggest secret in the Industry on keeping warm
Remember the name Grabber as I’ve been using their air-activated warmer products for years and have found them to be the most reliable warmers in the industry.
Grabber’s air-activated Peel-N-Stick Body warmers are what I call “The Love”. They were originally introduced into the medical marketplace for people with arthritis and unlike Hand, Toe, and Mega warmers that allow temperature fluctuations according to the amount of air they receive, these gems maintain temperatures between 130 and 145 degrees at all times. When strategically placed, they keep me toasty warm and extend my hunting time until I’m tired of sitting. There is absolutely no way in bitter cold weather, even with my layering system, that I could remain on stand as long as I do without Grabber’s Peel-N-Stick Body warmers.
For optimum heat, I wear a mid or lightweight base garment and once on stand and my body cools down from the entry, I typically stick one body warmer over each kidney or if I only use one, will place it over my sternum. These are stuck onto the base garment and then all my other layering garments and jacket are zipped up and the heat is sealed in.
The severity of the weather dictates how many I’ll use as on a hunt in minus 25 degree temperatures I had one over my sternum, one over each kidney and one on my headcover yet under my beanie and one on my back at the base of my neck.
Body warmers last for 12 hours so once a hunt is over, while still on stand, open your layers and peel them off, stick them together (perpendicular to each other) and put them in a quart size Zip Lok freezer bag and flatten it out and seal it. This cuts off the air supply (deactivates them) so they can be used again.
Warning: Do not use Grabber’s hand, toe, or mega warmers against your base layers as they can cause burns because they do not have controlled temperatures.
I also use Grabber’s air-activated hand and mega warmers and usually keep them in my pockets unless wearing a hand warmer muff. These too will be stored in the same Zip Lok bag as my body warmers if I think I can get another hunt out of them.
In extreme cold I put Grabber’s adhesive Toe warmers on top of my socks over my toes before putting on my boots. While these are designed for breathable work boots like leather and Cordura that allows air in and in turn odor to go out, in hunting boots that only allow air in from the throat of the boot, they don’t get very warm because they don’t get much air. That’s why you want an air pocket above your socks in the boot and with liner boots some air will get in when you move your feet, yet the foot odor will be adsorbed in the ScentLok pantlegs that are draped over the boots. Don’t wear leather or Cordura boots as they will destroy any scent free regiment as they let air in and out over the entire boot.
Hunt safe and stay warm
