Must have clothing?

[Desperatehills]

Even on early season hunts I always have my KUIU puffy hooded coat. It weighs so little that there in never a reason not to have it.

 

[Laelkhunter]

I would say yes, you must have clothing for an early season elk

I don't know- The Indians did very well with just a loin cloth, of course it was Sitka Opitifade Open Country camo, and their moccasins were made by Crispi. Still, they did very well getting within bow range.

 

[trophyhill]

Dont know about must haves but, i wouldnt head to the elkwoods without all the baselayers needed for a late September hunt. For the price that Sitka, Kuiu, First Lite and others cost, im really not sure why they aren't made in America. I mean there aren't any labor unions over in China to drive the cost up. No child labor laws either. I can understand those costs if your paying for American labor. But a nickel a day to a 10 year old spitting out 50 pairs of pants a day?

 

[Hoodie]

Hunting brand specific clothing isn't necessary. Some of it's great, other stuff is no better than comparable pieces from mountaineering brands aside from a significant price increase.

For early season elk, aside from hiking pants and some form of wicking base layer top you need:

1) Some form of mid-layer (light fleece, softshell, windshirt, mid-heavyweight merino, etc)
2) Puffy insulation layer (synthetic, down, doesn't need to be too beefy for September)
3) Rain gear (How serious and whether to bring top and bottoms, depends on location)
4) Beanie and some lightweight gloves

I like First Lite's wick base layers, Chamberlin puffy, and Catalyst softshell. The Chamberlin is overkill for September in many places and the softshell wouldn't get the nod on a backpack hunt. Kuiu Kenai is a good puffy layer for archery hunting and is warm enough for run and gun elk hunting during early season.

 

[Trap]

There is no must have clothing from Sitka or first lite. Not saying you shouldn’t buy those brands but if you have a good layering system and some light rain gear for the pack I’m pretty sure you could get by with wal mart camo I have arrowed plenty of elk with wal mart camo. I have had durability issues with some of the lightweight Sitka pants. Disclaimer I haven’t purchased any first lite as it looks really flimsy to me. I have a weird mix of cheap but effective clothing and some kuiu mixed in. I feel like kuiu is overpriced but I like some of it for longer backcountry hunting. I love kennetreck boots those are a must have for me but even that is individual. Most hunters I know that get kennetreck boots rarely switch brands but there are many other great boots already mentioned. You can go pretty cheap on hunting clothes and in some cases like late fall and winter be better off ( wool pants etc) but I never cheap out on boots .

 

[Dirtscoots]

First lite is nice. They have good customer service. I had a pair of obsidian pants that had more wear holes then tear holes they did replace them. I since decided I don’t need expensive clothing and shot my bull in blue jeans this year. Expensive stuff is nice. Check out all the youtubers for the real “good” stuff, it’s all a matter of opinion. As stated boots are a must everything else for me boils down to price. A wind indicator is more important then any camo pattern.

 

[dtrkyman]

Zip off base layer, I have the Kuiu.

 

[Olympics777]

Personally I wear a cotton t shirt and a wool hoodie, with some Sitka timberline pants during the early season. If it gets hot then obviously I take the hoodie off. The timberline pants are sweet but I wouldn’t say they are “must have”, I have friends that kill elk with a bow every single year in carhartt pants and a t shirt.

 

[Howdoyoulikemenow]

Here's not what to buy......First lite merino boxers. Not even kidding. Crocth blew out on three different pairs. And I'm slim and my nuts aren't that big. Pure junk and I have a closet full of FL clothing. Last pair blew out halfway through early elk archery. Always washed lightly and hang dry. And only wore them for hunting. Bought two pairs on sale last August from Black Ovis for wayyyyyy cheaper and so far, no holes.

 

[Marble]

Base layer, long sleeve everyday shirt, Mid- weight zip up mid layer, Puffy with hood and rain gear.

Extra base layer and shirt

Bottoms

Base layer
Uninsulated pants
Rain pants

Gators optional.

This has worked for me for two decades.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

 

[PaBone]

First Lite Obsidian Foundry are a great early season pant and really comfortable.

 

[Wingshooter]

Layers that aren't cotton. It really depends on your budget you can be well set up for a couple hundred or it could be over a thousand if you go with the some of the big names. I wore cabelas microtex pants everyday on our September hunt the 17th - the 28th. I had a wicking Tshirt a long sleeve t shirt under armor hooded sweatshirt and a Cabelas wool blended jacket. I was a little cold at the start of a few hunts but it didn't last long. We were spike camped under tarps about 3 miles in. Extra pairs of wool socks.

 

[CND_hunter]

High on my list would be a good set of rain gear, some sort of a good puffy, and some good merino base layers.

 

[DanimalW]

Good boots and socks are most important. Clean underwear and gold bond help too. All I wear is a FL aerowool SS. Kiln on top of that if it’s colder. Anything more than that and I’m a sweat monster.

 

[isocyanate]

Base layer, long sleeve everyday shirt, Mid- weight zip up mid layer, Puffy with hood and rain gear.

Extra base layer and shirt

Bottoms

Base layer
Uninsulated pants
Rain pants

Gators optional.

This has worked for me for two decades.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

This is me, shop the sales through the year (REI included……)

Will disagree on the gaiters. Walked two miles through wet grass after a light rain night before…gaiters would have been nice, I’ll have them next year.

 

[Marble]

This is me, shop the sales through the year (REI included……)

Will disagree on the gaiters. Walked two miles through wet grass after a light rain night before…gaiters would have been nice, I’ll have them next year.

I'll resist the gators until I have to. If it's super rainy then yeah, I'll do it. But the snow has to be more than ankle deep.

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[Sled]

Good boots and some sort of rain gear are a must for me in the early season. Monsoonal flow can turn a dry hunt bad quick. Aside from that there are wants and not needs. I like to be comfortable so a lite puffy is usually coming with me in case I need to stay overnight or if temps drop unexpectedly. I prefer a lite cargo style pant like the MTN pant or apex pant. Thin smartwool socks and thin long sleeve tops come with me. The spf of sleeves are appreciated in the sun. All things considered, comfortable and quiet performers are what I'm looking for but even then those are wants and not necessarily needs.

 

[Travis907]

Can’t go wrong with any of the big brands out here! Everyone has their own opinion on what brand is best. Key is to have good quality broken in boots and good non cotton socks, or at least that’s my opinion !

 

[Kentucky]

Hopefully I will be out there this year as well…I had planned on it, but according to this thread I can’t afford the pants for the job…… but seriously, I need new pants.. or I’ll just go in my grey dickies and plaid shirts and call it good, I’ve been killing whitetail with them, so…maybe I’m wrong…but it’s never happened before.. so I doubt it

 

[Kentucky]

But I do want fancy pants, but I need some new binos so….