I save the high tech for my underwear. Under armour shirts and compression shorts are great for active hunts and work well as a base beneath quality polypropylene or thick fleece (for bitching cold) long underwear. I also believe in quality socks, because dry/warm feet are infinitely better than wet/cold feet. Good wool blend socks over a simple nylon base (dress socks) works well for me. I hate being uncomfortable in the woods and having good stuff next to your skin really helps.
I usually hunt pheasants in jeans, a flannel shirt (with blaze orange vest over it) and a 15 or so year old pair of Doc Martens. For waterfowl, I don't think it matters much what your pants look like. If I'm not in waders, I'm in a pit blind. My top half is always completely camo'd out, but the bottom half is usually got jeans or sweat pants on. For deer, you're already wearing blaze orange. Who cares if you're wearing polka dot coveralls as long as they're comfortable and keep you warm. The only other times I think camo really matters is for turkey hunting or bow hunting. As for effenshen's original question, I'd suggest going to Cabela's in person if there's one in your area. All of the outlet stores have a Bargain Cave with some really good stuff (usually returns) for 50% or more off the listed price. They usually have 3 or 4 aisles of camo bibs, jackets, etcc. It's amazing. The only bad thing is that the sizes are hit or miss. I found a Shimano Calcutta 400TE in the Bargain Cave for $199. The only thing it didn't have was the box and instructions. Less than 75 feet away, the exact same reel was sitting under glass with a $379 price tag on it.
This. I have a bunch of under armor cold gear and el cheapo bibs/parkas from WalMart. Hunting in the South does have it's advantages... not very many sub freezing days.
Funny this subject is up because I just found something seriously awesome in the warehouse at work... It fits me head to toe. Too bad I don't have any really good uses for it (unless I wanted to be on a woodline during a coyote hunt or start turkey hunting), but it's still fun to have a ghillie suit. I might have to do some surprise attacks on squirrels for the sake of it not collecting dust.
I'm a fucking savage, so I hunt naked. If I need concealment, I'll cover myself in a thin layer of mud and duckweed. But seriously, katokoch makes a good point. If you don't have a bunch of money to spend on high tech gear, invest in some good undergarments. A set of Underarmour and some good socks will make even a burlap sack comfortable.
So after a narrow escape from death I was excited to get out hunting for antelope, the first day I passed on 10 bucks, and took a 400 yard shot and missed but we found a good one the second morning and I had a 325 yard shot that hit him high on the shoulder so I had to finish him at 220 yards uphill, I will post some better pics tomorrow but if you are scoring at home this one is mid 70's.
Since someone asked me if I eat the stuff I kill, yes and this is the backstrap and it was some of the best game I have ever consumed. A preliminary score of the horns was 85.
Amazing. I was hoping he would pull a blade out and actually keep the fish! I saw this show for the first time this past weekend and absolutely love it. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.history.com/shows/swamp-people" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.history.com/shows/swamp-people</a> It's about a few small teams of guys in thick swamps in the south hunting alligators out of long jon boats. They snag them with fist-sized treble hooks or catch them like catfish with lines tied to trees or bank poles and pop them in the head with a .22 while the gators spin and thrash. It could be the most entertaining TV show I've seen in a long time. There's 45 minute long full episodes on the website too...
Sounds like how we used to "hunt" muskie in the North West Territories. My dad had a friend who kept a kennel of dogs and would feed them with the fish he caught. He'd throw out a line on the end of a winch with a rancid pot roast from the local grocer. End of the night, he'd winch in a muskie the size of a small log, and shoot it in the head.
Posted a few pics of my antelope hunt but here is a link to the report if you would like to read about it. http://www.bloodydecks.com/forums/hunting-reports/271324-antelope-report.html
Fished Lake Pleasant this morning, the top water was pretty good and we spooned a few up as well. Don't ask what I caught them on because I will never tell, and for those who need to know- of the 20 plus fish we caught today, all of them are still alive and back in the lake. Stripers, large mouth, and white bass all in one morning.
I was randomly chatting with a customer today (talking about why we should be out hunting instead of being at a damned Farmer's Market) and he mentioned how he had a bunch of coyotes around his place and was tired of them. I half jokingly said "Oh well I would try and kill all of the bastards!" and he raised an eyebrow and asked me if I actually could. Looks like I've got permission to call some coyotes on his property. About damn time I find some private land to hunt on around here! It's rather serendipitous that I recently got ahold of a ghille suit (which would be perfect) and a good .270. If I go hunting now, I'm not going to keep pelts... they're only worth your time after it's been cold for awhile so I will put them down for good. One of my employees gave me his parent's contact information... they own a resort in north-central MN and apparently have lots of deer running around. He speaks highly of me so I think hunting deer on their property this year would be feasible. I'll be giving them a call soon... it would be a perfect hunting trip for my brother and myself. Stay in cabins and hunt on private land in one of the top-3 highest producing zones last year? Tags are either sex and you can get a bonus tag too. Helllll yes!
Has anyone had any experience personally in hunting gators? I've been thinking of treating myself to a little trip soon and would like to figure out some logistics. A friend from FL told me the tags were tough to get and cost a boatload. Any truth to this and if so what about other states? EDIT: I really want some goddamn gator skin boots.
Dude... where the hell do you do that? The river? Nice JWP shirt. Are the bottom-feeders attracted to it?
That was on the St Croix. Haha. That's the 2nd comment I've had on my sweatshirt. Two guesses so far were UW-Platteville and JWP (Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton for those of you not in the 507 area code). It's actually my old college rugby sweatshirt seen here.
Here's another dinosaur from Friday night. The river was well beyond flood stage and is the highest I've ever seen it. The entire St Croix is NO WAKE. The high water combined with the rain storm that drenched us seemed to turn them off. We still managed to boat 2 fish, the biggest being this 41".