Shaking up my gear

Foreman05

FNG
Joined
Jan 16, 2021
Messages
39
Location
Southern IL
Hey all

I’m new to the forum here but not to lurking. I’m an avid whitetail hunter and have put together quite a collection of Sitka gear listed below. My brother and I started our western pursuit after many years of saying how awesome it would be so here is my conundrum.

I’ve been searching across all brands to find a do it all system both whitetail and western hunting (nothing above the tree line...yet). I’m wondering your take on using a waterproof hard shell as a do all coat and if needed I will have appropriate layers under like a puffy. I do not currently have any rain gear but have read it’s very important out west.

Here is my current gear layout

elevated II pattern
equinox pant
fanatic hoody
celsius midi jacket
stratus coat
stratus bibs
status beanie

Sub-alpine
apex pant
traverse pant
light weight tee
light weight hoody
Traverse cold weather hoody

I think I am willing to sell all my elevated pattern, I think the sub alpine looks great in a tree as well and I find myself hunting from the ground about 40% of my whitetail hunts anyway and the elevated pattern just don’t work on the ground.
One thing I don’t like is being windproof but not waterproof, I love the stratus set but wish it was waterproof too.

Let me know if my dream of having one complete setup for mountain ground and Midwest ground and tree is an unrealistic dream.

I will be chasing Kansas white tails September-December and planning for Colorado elk in September. whatever I buy I don’t want it noisy. Sorry in advance for the long post
 
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Foreman05

FNG
Joined
Jan 16, 2021
Messages
39
Location
Southern IL
After reading my post I think all I need is a good set of rain gear, a mid layer and a nice puffy to be complete.
I’ve been eyeballing the Stone Glacier M5 and the Kuiu chugach for rain gear and the Sitka kelvin lite down puffy
 

shbush09

FNG
Joined
May 31, 2021
Messages
9
Kuiu’s Yukon rain gear is awesome for waterproofing and wind proofing and when a puffy is underneath it is money. I’m also a Midwest whitetail and out west hunter.
 
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Foreman05

FNG
Joined
Jan 16, 2021
Messages
39
Location
Southern IL
I ended up with an outdoor research rain jacket and a Sitka kelvin lite. Will report back on how that works out, I will say the shell is loud and will most likely just be a storm shell for western hunts
 

Jimss

WKR
Joined
Mar 6, 2015
Messages
2,074
I have around 5 or 6 different plastic tubs full of hunting gear. It's nice having a large selection but obviously is expensive when you first start out. I hunt Colo, Wyo, Alaska, and Nebraska on a fairly regular basis. Depending upon the type, time of year, and elevation I'm hunting I switch off what I bring.

On all of my Western scouting and hunting trips I always bring at least 1 set of raingear. Sometimes I may have it with me in my pack and other times not. It definitely pays to have the best rain gear available if you intend on hunting the West much! It's pretty tough to beat Kuiu or Sitka raingear. If you are budget minded and don't want to spend a fortune I've also had good luck with Marmot Precip. Make sure what ever rain jacket you buy has pitzips or you will get wet from the inside out!

There are so many different scenarios for so many conditions that I usually prepare for the worse and bring with me in the truck a bunch of layers. One of the layers a lot of guys don't take advantage of that I use a lot is a quiet cloth vest. I can use it with a shirt as an outer or for insulation layer under a coat when it's super cold or I'm sitting for long periods of times glassing.

One other suggestion that a lot of hunters don't realize is that I NEVER wear the same camo color and pattern on tops and bottoms. If you think about it, it makes sense to break up the human profile with different colors and/or patterns. I also use snow camo in snow. Any regular camo against snow is pretty evident that you are a human and pretty easy to see by game! I often lay out my camo in the area I'll be hunting a grab the ones that blend in the best. Obviously this can change at the same location in July vs Sept vs December!
 
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