How to Stay Warm While Winter Hunting?

Cold weather and good hunting always seem to go hand in hand. But staying warm is not always a simple task. So how do you stay warm while hunting during the winter, even when conditions are at their worst?

While keeping things like your feet, hands, and head warm may seem pretty obvious while hunting, it is not always as simple as it sounds. Whether you are hiking through the mountains after bull elk or sitting in a treestand waiting for a whitetail, here are some basic tips in order to help you stay warm while winter hunting!

1. Keeping Your Feet Warm

Being able to keep your feet warm while hunting is probably the number one priority in the cold. When it comes to your feet, dry socks can be a lifesaver. A simple trick is to wear a pair of lightweight socks on the hike into your treestand or glassing ridge, and then changing to a warmer, dry pair once you get there. This will give your feet the ability to stay away from the chill of damp socks throughout the day. 

For extra warmth in your feet, you can also try adding a heat pack into the bottom of each boot. I personally like to carry a few extra heat packs to toss into my boots after a few hours of sitting in the stand once my feet are just starting to feel a little cold. 

Of course, one of the best things that you can do in order to keep your feet warm is to buy the best cold weather boots that you can afford. These should not only help to keep your feet warm throughout the day, but they should also keep them dry and comfortable. 

2. Keeping Your Hands Warm

Luckily keeping your hands warm while hunting is usually a lot easier than keeping your feet warm. A good pair of gloves and some hand warmers are all most hunters will need to keep their hands plenty warm in order to be able to function and use them. Gloves can come in all shapes and sizes, and you should pick your gloves depending on the expected weather and how you intend to use them. After all, if you can’t properly hunt in your gloves then they might not be worth wearing!

Because gloves can limit your ability, always try to have a free hand when walking in or out of your hunting area. You can rotate both hands as needed. This will allow you to access your gun or bow if needed while keeping your hands as warm as possible. When in the treestand, I like to have a smaller, lightweight pair of gloves under my warmer, heavier gloves. When I spot a deer coming in, I quickly and silently slide off the outer gloves to be able to have the mobility of my lightweight gloves underneath. 

3. Keeping Your Core Warm

Your hands and feet are usually the first things to get cold, but if you allow your core to get cold you will not be hunting for very long. In extremely cold weather, simple pants and a jacket just aren’t going to cut it. If you want to stay warm in the cold, a layering system consisting of warm clothes is a must. This warm layering system will help to manage the temperature of your core, which is the lifeblood of your entire body. 

For a layering system, start with the lightest and least warm clothes that you have. With each layer, ensure that you add a thicker and warmer piece of clothing over the top of it. Start with a quality base layer of something like fleece or high tech fabrics from any of the popular camo companies. These quality base layers will help to wick away moisture from your skin throughout the day, ensuring you stay as warm as possible. 

Do not forget about those heat packs as well! While using them on your hands or feet is the most common use, you can also throw them in your pockets or under some layers in order to keep your core warm. 

If you want an even faster solution to keeping your entire body warm without the hassle or wait of heat packs or a ton of extra layers, you can pick up something like the GohHuntVest. This heated hunting vest is a heated piece of clothing that is battery operated and can last up to 12 hours on a single charge. It has three heat settings depending on the weather and your comfort level. Suitable for hunting in even the coldest conditions, the GoHuntVest is the perfect companion to winter hunts. 

What makes this heated hunting vest so great is your ability to wear it to stay warm without wearing a ton of different layers of clothing. The more layers of clothing that you have on, the more difficult it becomes to efficiently use your bow or gun. If you can’t use your weapon of choice or are inaccurate with it, you will have endured the cold for nothing! The GoHuntVest is great for those long, cold sits in the stand and you can even keep it fully charged and running with a simple phone battery charger that most hunters are already carrying.

You can pick up your own heated hunting vest at:

https://heatedhunter.co/ 

We just launched our new collection where you will find our new heated hunting jacket (GoHuntShell), our new heated hunting vest and our hunting boots for winter!

Final Thoughts

Hunting during the winter can be one of the most exciting and rewarding times to be in the woods. The problem, however, is usually trying to stay as warm and comfortable as possible. With a few simple tricks and some quality pieces of clothing, you can not only stay warm on your next hunting trip, but you can be as comfortable as possible and kill that buck that you have been after!