Best Budget Clothing for Western Hunting?

[Red Man]

Camofire x2! You can get some heavy discounts on sitka, kryptic, and loads of other stuff. I just looked and they had hiking boots today. Also, I have bought a lot of gear off steap and cheap.

[Raleigh]

If hunting late season then wool is your friend. Hit up your local military surplus store and get some dirt cheap wool pants. I bought a pair about 20 years ago and I am still wearing them. Staying on the military theme you should look at the Gen III gear which today's military uses. It is a layer concept and from light weight rain proof shell all the way to parkas.

Last year I hunted in 6 degree weather with driving snow. My set up was under armor clod gear, wool pants, breathable long sleeve fishing shirt, and a Carthart jacket. I suggest a nice silk scar to wear around your neck.

As said before layers are your friend. Good luck

[flywise]

I have been hunting out there and up high for over 20 years and everything you need can be found at academy.
The key is hot hands

[DHOutdoorsman]

I have from Bass Pro stuff that doesnt work to well in temps below 50, SKRE was good when it got that low and they have great bundle deals. I'm trying ScentLok right now and it'll be interesting to see how well it does on my wisconsin hunt in 2 weeks.

[hopedale]

OP, thanks for starting this thread. Lots of great info.

[Felix40]

I would start by saying you don’t need two base layer tops and three different hats. Here’s some that I like and are pretty cheap.

Wooly long sleeve merino shirt
An amazon fleece jacket
A puffy jacket...I haven’t found a cheap one I like yet so I wear a FL

Prana Zion pants
Milsurp puffy pants

Literally any socks with a wool blend will work fine
Lined leather gloves from a hardware store and oiled
Or...rag wool gloves if it’s not that cold

I tried some gaiters from amazon last year and they are still holding up. I like them a lot. $20 if I remember correctly

[turkeyhunter1]

Clothing

I was in the same situation last year for my late season whitetail hunt in Kansas.

I chose Skre Gear.

About 1/2 the price of First Lite or Kuiu.

And it works. I had to wear just my base layer to the stand and dress after I got there.


https://www.skregear.com/

[glen1978]

I live in Colorado. Work in Colorado. Hunt in Colorado. Boy did I learn a thing or two when I moved up here. Sitka, Kuiu, etc are all great if you wana spend the money. The main rule is NO COTTON, and good boots. You dont need to spend a ton of cash to get geared out. You dont need camo base layers. You dont need stuff with Under Armor written on it. I have been thru a ton of gear to find what works and here is what I use.

Base Layer - whatever poly I can find cheap. Ive been wearing some Realtree stuff from Walmart for years up here, still works fine. Im starting to transition to Ice Breaker brand.

Mid Layer - not necessarily a Patagonia R1 but that style. Some kinda fleece with a grid pattern sewed in it. Walmart fleece is fine.

Outer - Been using the Cabelas Instinct camo up here. Works great, good quality, fairly cheap, pretty **** warm.

Socks - Darn Tough. All I will wear. Tried Smart Wool and they were great but the tops started stretching out and would fall in my boots. Darn Tough has a LIFETIME WARRANTY! They screw up you send them back. Yes Ive used it. No questions ask. They will have my business until they screw something up. Point 6 socks also seem to be of great quality....been told they are the original folks from Smart Wool.

Boots - Kenetrek Mountain Guide Extremes non insulated. SOLID boot!

Gloves - thats a hard one. Most locals up here wear Kinco solid leather gloves coated in Snow Seal for any cold weather activity. They are $20 bucks but you arent putting them thru a trigger guard.

Hat - Pick a nice fleece or wool beanie in hunter orange. If really cold a neck gaiter of the same material.

[brunner]

I live in Colorado. Work in Colorado. Hunt in Colorado. Boy did I learn a thing or two when I moved up here. Sitka, Kuiu, etc are all great if you wana spend the money. The main rule is NO COTTON, and good boots. You dont need to spend a ton of cash to get geared out. You dont need camo base layers. You dont need stuff with Under Armor written on it. I have been thru a ton of gear to find what works and here is what I use.

Base Layer - whatever poly I can find cheap. Ive been wearing some Realtree stuff from Walmart for years up here, still works fine. Im starting to transition to Ice Breaker brand.

Mid Layer - not necessarily a Patagonia R1 but that style. Some kinda fleece with a grid pattern sewed in it. Walmart fleece is fine.

Outer - Been using the Cabelas Instinct camo up here. Works great, good quality, fairly cheap, pretty **** warm.

Socks - Darn Tough. All I will wear. Tried Smart Wool and they were great but the tops started stretching out and would fall in my boots. Darn Tough has a LIFETIME WARRANTY! They screw up you send them back. Yes Ive used it. No questions ask. They will have my business until they screw something up. Point 6 socks also seem to be of great quality....been told they are the original folks from Smart Wool.

Boots - Kenetrek Mountain Guide Extremes non insulated. SOLID boot!

Gloves - thats a hard one. Most locals up here wear Kinco solid leather gloves coated in Snow Seal for any cold weather activity. They are $20 bucks but you arent putting them thru a trigger guard.

Hat - Pick a nice fleece or wool beanie in hunter orange. If really cold a neck gaiter of the same material.

Great info thx


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Breeves13]

This is super helpful. I've been wanting to get into western hunting but money is what kills me every time i get interested. So much information in one thread. Thanks OP!

[7sdad]

After doing it for 30ish year I've learned not to worry about camo, solid colors work great. First rule I have is NO cotton so start looking at sales for wool, fleece from your better brands of backpacking stores. When it comes to boots buy what fits your foot and search for hiking/back packing boots not hunting boots.

[Trumpkin]

Baselayer pants: army surplus ECWS gen 3 or costco merino wool

Pants: hunted for years in army surplus wool. Don't. It's heavy. Get a good DWR pant. Wrangler makes one, so does Eddie Bauer, and Prana (zions). Buy anextra set of heavier baselayers to double up if you're worried about being cold.

top Base: same as legs

Top midlayer: ECWS fleece or any good will fleece jackets. I usually have a couple fleeces that get doubled up as needed.

Puffy: Costco or Eddie Bauer

Raingear: A good hardshell is nice to throw on top of everything when it's cold and windy. Lots of stuff out there. Patagonia would be a good place to start.

Hats/Gloves: Personal choice, but you can never have too many cheap fleece gloves. You can also get Kinco mitts a size too large, and a liner glove. I just got a pair of Kinco deerskin gloves and they are hard to fit through the trigger guard.

[PlanoDano]

Camofire will have some good deals. I use the BlackOvis merino and am a huge fan. I also like the MidwayUSA camo. It's pretty good, and not too expensive.

+1 on Black Ovis merino. Also UB Star pants from costco.

[Trumpkin]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf3IWUTK6Lw&ab_channel=TraditionalBowhunti ngAndWildernessPodcast"]Why I Buy My Hunting Clothes At Walmart In The Normal Clothes Section - YouTube[/ame]

[quackadikt]

Don't forget buying 2nd hand on forums like here and Rokslide.

Some of Alaskan Hard Gear / Duluth stuff is the same material as the high dollar stuff too, and they run good sales.