First fall season hunting Turkey with a bow. I have zero clothing for hunting and mornings are getting down in the mid to low 30's, days in upper 50's lower 60's. I need to put together an inexpensive clothing set for more stagnant hunting in colder weather. What do you all recommend? I tried Sitka and kuiu, over $500 for warm weather clothing in camo. Alternatives?
Cabela's bargain cave.
Take a look at Midway USA. Their house brand hunting clothing is decent. They seem to run sales on a regular basis.
Redhead(Bass Pro Shops) has a insulated coverall that is waterproof, I use it for deer hunting. It is reasonably priced, great fall camo. I have worn it as low as 15 degrees with a sweater underneath and been warm. Just an option...
Go to Academy Store and buy you the Magellan camo brand, for the money it's good clothing ....you want be disappointed ... patience and being still and having turkeys to hunt is the most important and learning cadence of using your calls... my suggestion buy you some good custom calls...
If you have a good pair of insulated coveralls like carhart then wear them and just wear a camo jacket or broken eart tones on top. Camo is to satisfy hunters, not game animals. I hunted turkeys my first few years with zero camo and done just fine. Just keep it to natural colors and broken patterns. Brown and green plad will work even. A coat in a natural bark tone and carhart brown bottoms would be an example. I once took a guy with me that was big on muzzle loading and recreation of pioneer gear. He showed up in full buckskins and I was like, Oh boy this aiin't going to be a good day". He sat down by a dead tree and I went behind him to call. The Gobbler came in and passed him without any alarm (he just couldn't get a clean shot with his M.L.). The gobbler ended up spotting me and spooking (I was tagged out). I got up to get him and I couldn't pick him out, I thought he had moved. So I just said hey Jim out load and he stood up right where I was looking. I couldn't believe it. Of course he picked a dead tree with no bark because it was close color match. Again, all this fancy camo is to get hunters to buy, not because it's miraculous at concealing you. Movement will bust more turkeys than poor camo
Thanks everybody. So I guess besides camo, what's a non bulky but warm set for 35 to 50? I'm not great at layering. I'm either in shoes, shorts and a tee or Jana, hoody and boots year round. I guess I'm simple lol. But I get cold easily. The hoody doesn't always treat me well
I'd make sure to have some insulated gloves and some kind of cushion to keep you off the ground.
I would go with insulated bibs, they come up high front and back so you could go a bit lighter on top for easy bow draw. If new wash them a couple times to get the stiffness out. A short stool to slide off to shoot from one knee would also be helpful.
I've been trying a lot more solid colors this year on ducks, and while I'm killing ducks, it's not that great. I'm finding I'm having to cover myself a lot more than normal in vegetation to make up for it. I'm cutting the experiment this week, and going full camo again starting this weekend.
That's not to say you can't hunt turkeys without full camo, but it can help. The big one is your chest. You can get away with brown or tan pants. One trick is to mud them, meaning to literally rub some mud on them in an irregular manner to simulate camo. This can actually work really well. I'm unsure of a face covering. I don't use one. I have a long beard, and I like to wipe a little mud on my cheeks. My hat shade provides the rest.
My suggestion is to at least buy a camo long-sleeved T shirt. There's really no excuse not to hunt in camo. Forget buying fancy gear in camo, it's a waste of money. Actually most clothing specifically for hunters is a monumental rip off. I'm a big time Clarkfield outdoors fan. None of their stuff is fancy, but it is great quality, inexpensive, and made in the USA. I'd suggest you get a long sleeve T shirt, and an uninsulated bib from them in whatever camo you prefer. Probably their Superflage for turkeys. I'd buy 1 size larger than normal.
For warmth underneath, this is where you can get creative. If money was no object, then the choice would be easy for me. I'd buy 100% wool for everything. Since it is a factor, I personally like a thin 100% wool base layer, then fleece mid layer, and if it is really cold, I like a more wind blocking outer layer. You have to be careful of anything that say wind blocking or waterproof, they almost always make a ton of noise in the cold.
More specifically, a really inexpensive option that I use is the military surplus polypropylene underwear. Do not get the ECWCS style. Thicker does not mean warmer for a baselayer, I actually found the opposite true. I have both the normal, and the ECWCS stuff, and the normal wicks better, which means warmer. The downside to polypropylene is that it starts to smell quickly. After a full day of hunting, it's done until it is washed. It doesn't matter if you hunt close to home, but if you are away, you will need a set for every day you hunt.
When going on a trip, I much prefer 100% wool base layer. I have 1 set of the Duckworth Maverick top and bottom. They are very expensive, but work really well. Other than cost, there is no drawback to wool. The best part, you can wear them a long time if you air them out at night. I'm not so daring, but I've heard of more than one person wearing one set for a 2 week trip. Not around town mind you, but backcountry hunting. After a few days, I'd prefer to rinse and dry, but this way you could have 1 or 2 sets that you could hunt theoretically forever in. Polypropylene you could wash every day, but a quick rinse in cold water does not do it well enough for myself.
For mid layers, honestly a lot of the time I'm wearing nothing but cheap cotton sweat pants, and a cotton sweatshirt/hoodie. There's a lot of drawbacks to them, but if all you are doing is hunting around home, then they do work well enough. On multi-day trips, my biggest complaint with anything cotton is the moisture. You will never get cotton anything fully dry until you are back indoors, or warmer weather. I also have a set of 100% wool Duckworth Powder pants and full zip shirt. My only real complaint with these is the powder pants are kind of small in the legs. If you normally wear a L baselayer, buy a XL for these. I wear this set when it is really cold, and I have something else over them.
Socks, there's a millon choices, many great. I wear Foxriver Outdoor sox when it is really cold
Boots, again a million, not that many great though. It's a difficult balance between waterproof and warmth. You can't have both, no matter what anyone says. For this time of year, I do just fine with the uninsulated Thorogood Omni. For more warmth, I go for a Kamik Greenbay-4.
For an outerwear, I like something that blocks the wind somewhat. You have to be very careful of the material they use, as a lot of the synthetics in cold are very noisy. The right hoodie can do just fine here. Cheap sweatpants alone don't work that well. I like a soft shell jacket. I've got a few I use. One is a Hunter Supreme from Clarkfield Outdoors. For something a little less bulky, or an extra layer, I like the Challenger fleece jacket by King Louie. For lower outerwear, I almost always have some kind of bibs. Even basic Carhartt insulated bibs work really well, although bulky.
On top of anything that isn't already camo, I'd put a camo long sleeve shirt, and camo uninsulated bibs over the top. For turkey hunting, I wouldn't be super bundled myself. Those surplus polypropylene baselayer, with sweat pants and a hoodie, along with a light jacket, and camo bibs will work really well for fall.
One inexpensive way is to use whatever warm clothing you have in drab colors and buy a leafy cut jacket and pants to go over it. Probably get in under $100 for that suit that you wear over your clothes.
Well you did say "fall turkey bow hunting ". You ain't deer hunting where you sit for long periods. Then again, you may be a blind hunter but that should only help you stay warm. I wear the same thin camo I use in spring for most of deer season while stand hunting at the temps you described. Just wear appropriate thermal underwear underneath. Add a jacket, heavier socks and hat as needed and eat well to keep motor running. Good luck and be prepared to be humbled. Might want to get good at details if you want to be a successful turkey hunter.
I would look for a lightweight rainproof or at least windproof outerwear in camo or drab color. If you go with drab color you can always slip on a fleece vest if you feel the need for more camo. As the weather changes go can add or take off baselayers to be comfortable.
You can get a good base layer from a farm store or wally world. Insulated bib overalls/ warm pull over hoody, and then an xtra large pair of camo pants and shirt to go over top. Black or camo beanie cap/some brown jersey gloves and your set for about $200. Go get'em.
You don't have to spend a lot of money on camo. Any big box store carries insulated camo. Army surplus works too. If you layer correctly regular non insulated camo is fine down to a certain temp. If your in a blind wear black on top to blend into the background of the blind and hide your draw.
Army surplus isn't what it used to be. It wasn't that many years ago surplus stores practically gave away jackets, backpacks, and ammo cans. Now everyone seems to think that's primo stuff. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with those assault packs as hunting day packs, and Molle is an interesting feature if you are into that sort of thing. Surplus steel ammo cans are still the gold standard, that I'm not aware of a better commercial option. I swear 15 years ago you could get an assault pack for $10, and ammo cans were less than that, I recall most places would give you a deal like $5 each if you bought 10 of them. Now you can't hardly find an ammo can under $15, and $20 is more realistic. I used to wear one of those army field jackets, and it was decent for what it was, and only $10. Now those same places are asking $75, $100 for a surplus jacket. It's really not that great of a jacket. Assault packs seem to be $100, I can think of better packs for $100. Mickey mouse boots are being asked as much as a lot of brand new boots, although some still seem to like the waterproof inside. Bunny boots are crazy expensive if you can even find them. I like my fur backed mittens, but not at the $50 they ask now. About the only good deals in military surplus anymore I can find are the duffel bags, tanker bags, and tool bags. All the real good stuff like 100% wool blankets seem to be gone, or priced as much as new. I still buy the steel ammo cans, they are worth the higher price. Not that long ago you could get polypropylene thermal underwear for dirt cheap, and it's actually decent, but now it seems like you can't even find the stuff at any price for some reason.
wow scattergun, I didn't realize army surplus had went off the rails. I have a field coat that is from the 1970s and I still wear it for cold weather fishing and some hunting trips. They were made tough back then
Quote from: eggshell on November 09, 2021, 08:27:32 AM
wow scattergun, I didn't realize army surplus had went off the rails. I have a field coat that is from the 1970s and I still wear it for cold weather fishing and some hunting trips. They were made tough back then
Once the whole prepping thing got popular Army Surplus became very expensive. It increased a little under the Obama administration as well.