Dressing for Pred Hunting

[OOSWLC]

Hey everyone, I'm extremely new to predator hunting and have recently moved to SW Idaho (only a couple days away from F&G considering me a resident!).

My main question is about clothing, but I guess I'd like to know about gear in general...

What do you find changes for your clothing needs? Do you wear more/different camo? Switch some layers out? Do you do more sitting than normal?

Also- Is there any gear you have/use that you feel like is indispensable for your winter pred hunting?

Finally- Any trappers in here? I moved out west specifically to try to live that out-west lifestyle as much as possible and will be taking my Idaho trapping course in two weeks! I can't wait!

 

[Stubborn_bowhunter]

Warm clothes for long stares at foxpros.
Gloves. I used merino liners and normal gloves. Then I can have my trigger hand free and still warm.

I always layer up before I start a stand. It sucks when you start calling and know you can't move around.

Any camo is fine if you have terrain to put behind you and you don't move a lot.

 

[WCB]

If you have to deal with snow and maybe have to walk a few hundred yards to say 1/2mile to a stand I recommend to have a good wind breaking layer. You can get away with less bulk if you can block wind...less bulk + more comfortable and easier to move around in. I also find wearing a top layer you can zip open to your base layer is nice for when you are traveling. I HATE carrying more than my gun and shooting sticks. Caller goes in a small back pack or carried if stand is close to road/vehicle.

I hate face masks so I use a silk wild rag for around my neck and pull up on my face if needed. If you don't have one carry a drag rope for when you are successful and in general practice you skinning skills. I like to skin in the field if there is a fence post or tree around...even more so if you shoot a double or triple.

Also if you use a gun mounted bipod get one that is longer than you think you need. Snow can be a bitch and make it difficult to get your gun high enough if you try to lay down or even sit sometimes.

 

[TheGDog]

You're going to need a tail-stripper for peeling the skin off their tail easily and quickly, if you try without one, you'll end up doing like I did and the last little bit of the tail fur stays on.. ruining how nicely you did the rest of the hide.

Don't know about your area, but I often have to deal with sitting on slopes in order to overlook the eCaller, so need sit solutions that can deal with that. Sitting on a slope comfortably. Being using the little flat Turkey seat thing from Hunterspec together with a Predator Seat Cushion, the kind with bracing so it gives you back support, and the small Thermarest Z-lite sit pad for additional padding and comfort.

To keep things light, since I have to do a lot of hiking while doing it, I use the Kwik Stix shooting sticks that are $20 bucks at Cabelas.

Leafy suits are the bomb when it comes to predators! Being newer I've mad misses at close distances since sometimes in the excitement you forget that the sight-plane axis is 1.5 higher above the bore-axis at least until about 50yds away, so when they're close if you don't remember to aim above what you want to hit, you'll miss under them. ... Well... with the leafy suit and mask on, I've been able to freeze. with them looking right at me very close to me.... and if I just wait.. twice now.. I've been able to close the bolt back up on that 2nd shot and seal the deal. Something I would NOT have been able to do without the leafy helping me. North Mountain Gear makes a great quality inexpensive one you can find on Amazon. Bought a few more so the boy would have one. And I'd have a replacement for when the first one finally wears out.

AllPredatorCalls sells these Mesh Ghillie Suits that are pretty feakin cool if you're out hunting in the hot months! Get the SAPR one, don't get the two-piece one. It's a waste because the pants will end up catching on lots of stuff as you travel to next sit. So the rip a bit and pickupa lot of burrs.

The only drawback with those mesh ones is that over time, the strips of fringes it has connected to the jacket start becoming unstiched here and there, and if the rifle doesn't have a normal smooth type of stock, such as an AR15 stock might not be smooth (especially since out here we have to walk around with these very "Bruno" Thorsden stocks, otherwise somehow these black rifles become too scary and evil for regular people to supposedly have (eyeroll). So sometimes when raising your weapon to bear... once the mesh suit jacket has the layer of fringe started to become unsewn... the buttstock on some weapons can "grab" the material in the underarm/latismuss area of the jacket. When it gets like that ya just have to remember to slightly hold it out away from your underarm area before raising it up to bear.


But yeah man... those Mesh suits are the real deal when it's hot, especially the Desert color one. That one blends in super well. Match their Desert one with a FirstLite cipher leafy facemask and you flat out disappear! Feels soo nice how they allow the breeze to flow thru!

If it's not like you're using the matching leafy facemask with a suit... You definitely want a Mesh facemask... the one I have from Natural Camo goes with everything and does well at NOT having my exhalations fog up my glasses! Unless it's a really cold and high humidity morning. Some of those there's just not much you can do for the fogging other than train yourself to purse your upper lip over your bottom lip to direct your exhale down away from your glasses when you find yourself running into fogging conditions badly.

And definitely consider getting some boot insulators like those Artic Shields for when you're at the sit. You slip them over your boots to keep the heat in. I learned about those from here, they work.

 

[Nealgl1985]

@TheGDog I checked out those suits and will be ordering one. Thanks for a thought out explanation. I have the asat 3d leafy suit that I use so we will see how they compare in the woods. Happy hunting!

 

[TheGDog]

BTW, it's a lil overpriced IMO, but a good option to add-in to your gear if you're trying to go lighter is the PocketPrey Digital hand-held eCaller. Just runs off 1 9V battery. Runs a long time too. It's just one call, a baby rabbit type of call. But it works, and works for several uses. Not only does it draw in predators, but it can draw-in rabbits and ground squirrels too! If playing for rabbits or squirrels, keep it playing pretty quietly.

Can be a great option, such as for starting a set, when you've just arrived from hiking into the area and maybe need to rest a bit before you start in with mouth calls.

And one time I literally had a young rabbit, while I was shoved deep into a brush line, come into the bush right next to me while the caller was going!

And then just the other day when going out for doves proved they were no longer at this one location, I did sets in among the Junipers and called in a yote to like 10yds, but either I missed the shot, or the Upland #6 Steel loads just couldn't quite seal the deal possibly?

 

[tpagel]

/\/\Cool Recommendation on the Pocket Prey call thanks GDog
! /\/\

 

[Alchemy]

-Gun
-Call (E or mouth)
-sticks or bipod (I like the 2 legged older bog pod, also have a tall trigger stick and a swagger, it needs to be tall to allow for sitting and seated shooting
-Binos

That’s the starter kit, customize from there….

 

[TheGDog]

ALWAYS bring mouth calls! You never know when crap inside your pack is gonna shift in such a way that something got turned/clicked on on the drive-in and now the damn thing is dead. So extra batteries for everything. and.. mouth calls that you feel you can work well and without too much effort in terms of your breath. When possible match call type to the types of smallgame critters you see the most around that area.

And remember that in general cats are thought to be uniquely curious about a bird in distress kind of call, but that doesn't mean a coyote won't come to it also. Something to try sometimes when trying most everything else seems a nogo.

And remember, they also make some calls intended specifically to be louder for longer-range for folks hunting in bigger more open kind of terrain. Dan Thompson Predator calls seem to always work and you can blow into em as foolishly hard as you want to and you won't "hit the wall" with the reed locking up. Something I have encountered in some of the other calls like the Primos Third Degree. The other solution is just don't blow into the thing so damn hard and be smart and let the design of the call be what makes it loud, not your lungs. Otherwise you'll be sorta lightheaded and likely won't quickly make that shot opportunity on a hard-charging in coyote since you're a little hyper-ventilated and might take that nTh of a second longer to get on target.

Better to blow a normal pressured breath and let the call do the work of being loud, not you. You just add the jazz/improvisation of mouthing the call a certain kind of way or cupping your fingers with a certain kind of action that makes it sound like some critter is being pinned to the ground and struggling to get free of whatever has him pinned down. Also the cupping throws the sound in different directions to make it seem like there must be motion going on with this small game animal in distress, to the predator that's listening, adding more perceived realism to it.

For a light-weight couple of things to always bring along in terms of mouth calls. To go cheap I'd probably do Primos Third Degree and then the Mouser/Squealer combo from 3DFOXCALLS.UK. For a better quality replace the Primos with a Dan Thompson call like the Weem's Replica and maybe the Coaxer one too to make your imaginary critter sound like it's now more feeble and barely hangin' on after you've been calling a bit with the regular volumed model. Like maybe you can visibly see they are closer now, so you switch over to the Coaxer to continue to draw them in.

When you stop your calling session at the current spot. Give it at least 10 more minutes of just sitting on the area to see if a cautious straggler finally comes in now that he believes the "critter" must have finally died, so maybe that other animal that killed it may have left some pieces behind!

So they'll try to circle downwind, sniffy-sniff, make sure they aren't walking in to an a$$-whoopin' by some other yote that's actually taken the animal down for themself and willing to fight to defend his kill. Your job is to try to pick a setup such that you'll be able to catch 'em trying to do that sneak around downwind thing and intercept them when they do. While also being ready for one that's so amped up he just comes right in fast because he's starving and his situation is serious.

 

[Rjsand70]

Hey everyone, I'm extremely new to predator hunting and have recently moved to SW Idaho (only a couple days away from F&G considering me a resident!).

My main question is about clothing, but I guess I'd like to know about gear in general...

What do you find changes for your clothing needs? Do you wear more/different camo? Switch some layers out? Do you do more sitting than normal?

Also- Is there any gear you have/use that you feel like is indispensable for your winter pred hunting?

Finally- Any trappers in here? I moved out west specifically to try to live that out-west lifestyle as much as possible and will be taking my Idaho trapping course in two weeks! I can't wait!

I’ve switched to a tripod with an anvil 30 head and it’s changed the game for me, coyotes are call shy here but if I get a shot at one I know I’ve got the best opportunity.

 

[324matt]

I wear carhartts or regular warm clothes.

Theyll hear you 3 times, and see you twice, but only smell you once.

 

[Rjsand70]

I wear carhartts or regular warm clothes.

Theyll hear you 3 times, and see you twice, but only smell you once.

“The best camo is the one down wind.”