Thread: hunting gear clothes

This year and most previous I have shot up to half a dozen deer a month, sometimes more, none have given two shits about what I'm wearing, most of them have been stalked in open country, or on clearings, and most while wearing my favourite work wear...blue levi or RMW jeans.

It does not matter what you wear to hunt in, deer have relatively poor eyesight. They respond to movement or shapes that do not blend into the surrounding environment, hence why you use bushes or rocks etc to break your silhouette and never skyline yourself in a hunting situation. The amount of deer stalked and shot while the hunter wears a blue or red checked swannie would top the thousands. A lot of my mates are hunters but also farmers, they often wear shorts and a check shirt hunting and most shoot dozens of deer, pigs, tahr, chamois each year.

If you're going to invest in gear, invest in quality. Gear takes a hammering in the scrub, mediocre garments fall to bits quickly. Why spend half the money on a cheaper similar product, only to have to replace that garment 3 times in the life of a higher quality more expensive item. Sure some companies will replace their garments if they fall to bits, but that sh*t pisses me off. Its time and effort wasted, and is unnecessary.

For me when spending a full day out hunting I'll generally wear normal long johns under huntech or swazi shorts. A thermal tee as a base layer, with a Sitka, Swazi or Huntech fleece top. I virtually live in my Swazi Severn, wear it most days at work in the office, truck, on the farm, in the scrub, etc. It is still in great condition after 6 years! Huge variety of jackets out there, I personally own Swazi gear because it is not THAT much more expensive than other hunting gear, lasts well, and its made here in NZ. For evening/morning hunts I'll throw on a pair of jeans or moleskins, any old jersey and go for a walk. Drybum fleece pants are pretty good for cold morning hunts too.

I do recommend a blaze item if you're hunting popular country, a vest is sufficient, or even a hat, although this hasn't seemed to stop the idiots failing to identify their targets and shooting their mates in the past. If I was to highly recommend one thing, that would be to invest in DECENT socks for hunting in, especially of you plan on doing plenty of walking. You won't go anywhere if your feet are buggered on a hunting trip. Bridgedales are a great investment.