3darcher2
Lil-Rokslider
I recently got back from CO on a mid season archery hunt. I figure I'd throw my 2 cents in answering some questions that I had prior to leaving.
I was in SW CO and the weather was spectacular. Low 60s for highs and high 20s low 30s at night. I did see some frost a couple mornings and managed to dodge every mid-afternoon thunderstorm. I hunted mostly in the 10500-113000' range.
I'm gonna start at the toes and work my way up.
I never really had decent boots before. Last spring I grabbed a pair of Crispi Idaho GTX off Camofire at a great deal and splurged on a couple pairs of Darn Tough Full Cushion Hikers. I ran the Crispis totally stock with the Crispi insoles. I broke them in all summer and this combination was fantastic. I know boots are a personal thing, but I could not have done any better on this combination. The Crispis make me feel like I am a mountain goat. They had great support (I'm 6'5" and 260#) and were so stable, I can't remember losing my footing in them at all.
For baselayers, I had Meriwool boxers I got off of Amazon and wore a merino layer from Mountain Warehouse. Altogether I had $60 in the whole layer and it worked fine. I swapped out boxers one day and used some unscented baby wipes to try to clean up. Overall, the MW stuff wasn't super soft but it worked.
For pants, I am the king of ghetto fabulous when it comes to pants. I have WM Wranglers, Prana Zions, Eddie Bauer Guide Pros and Costco latest pant. I wound up wearing my WM Wranglers every day. They were fine, and I like the zip pockets on the leg as well as the phone pocket. I took a fall or two and switched out pairs halfway through the 9 days but I never went to the bench. No holes, held up good. I wore the green and then went to the dark brown.
On the top it was a little more jumbled. I actually wore an UnderArmor heat gear SS tshirt under the merino because I just felt better in it. It wicks pretty well, and I like the feel better on my skin. I switched it out to a similar Nike Pro halfway. I then wore a couple different UA Coldgear shirt or Rocky fleece 1/4 zip over the merino and for the outer layer I went with a Rocky Storm Hoodie in their Venator camo that I got for under $30 straight from Rocky. It was quiet, pretty form fitting and really worked well. I was super happy with it especially for the price. In the morning or evening if it was cold or a little breezy, I put on my subalpine Sitka Mountain Jacket. I really didn't get a lot of use out of it, but the windstopper was a good thing.
I just wore a WM baseball cap and I had a Hunt of the Day Sitka beanie I got for $13 for the colder days, no issues there. Not getting out of my pack was my olive green Costco puffy for $30 and my Mountain Warehouse rain gear in olive ($40 total).
I'll try to run a similar gear thread at some point as I went on the cheap this year and was pretty satisfied with most everything, especially as a truck camper.
Disclaimer. I did not get an elk - maybe I picked the wrong camo or clothing after all
I was in SW CO and the weather was spectacular. Low 60s for highs and high 20s low 30s at night. I did see some frost a couple mornings and managed to dodge every mid-afternoon thunderstorm. I hunted mostly in the 10500-113000' range.
I'm gonna start at the toes and work my way up.
I never really had decent boots before. Last spring I grabbed a pair of Crispi Idaho GTX off Camofire at a great deal and splurged on a couple pairs of Darn Tough Full Cushion Hikers. I ran the Crispis totally stock with the Crispi insoles. I broke them in all summer and this combination was fantastic. I know boots are a personal thing, but I could not have done any better on this combination. The Crispis make me feel like I am a mountain goat. They had great support (I'm 6'5" and 260#) and were so stable, I can't remember losing my footing in them at all.
For baselayers, I had Meriwool boxers I got off of Amazon and wore a merino layer from Mountain Warehouse. Altogether I had $60 in the whole layer and it worked fine. I swapped out boxers one day and used some unscented baby wipes to try to clean up. Overall, the MW stuff wasn't super soft but it worked.
For pants, I am the king of ghetto fabulous when it comes to pants. I have WM Wranglers, Prana Zions, Eddie Bauer Guide Pros and Costco latest pant. I wound up wearing my WM Wranglers every day. They were fine, and I like the zip pockets on the leg as well as the phone pocket. I took a fall or two and switched out pairs halfway through the 9 days but I never went to the bench. No holes, held up good. I wore the green and then went to the dark brown.
On the top it was a little more jumbled. I actually wore an UnderArmor heat gear SS tshirt under the merino because I just felt better in it. It wicks pretty well, and I like the feel better on my skin. I switched it out to a similar Nike Pro halfway. I then wore a couple different UA Coldgear shirt or Rocky fleece 1/4 zip over the merino and for the outer layer I went with a Rocky Storm Hoodie in their Venator camo that I got for under $30 straight from Rocky. It was quiet, pretty form fitting and really worked well. I was super happy with it especially for the price. In the morning or evening if it was cold or a little breezy, I put on my subalpine Sitka Mountain Jacket. I really didn't get a lot of use out of it, but the windstopper was a good thing.
I just wore a WM baseball cap and I had a Hunt of the Day Sitka beanie I got for $13 for the colder days, no issues there. Not getting out of my pack was my olive green Costco puffy for $30 and my Mountain Warehouse rain gear in olive ($40 total).
I'll try to run a similar gear thread at some point as I went on the cheap this year and was pretty satisfied with most everything, especially as a truck camper.
Disclaimer. I did not get an elk - maybe I picked the wrong camo or clothing after all
