Getting cold feet

[Idhunter777]

I hunt whitetails in IL, and especially as I get into the late season I have cold feet problems more and more. I currently hunt in lightly insulated boots and use foot warmers, but I'm looking to invest in a solution. Interested in hearing experience with heated socks, heavily insulated boots, insulated boot covers, etc. Thanks!

I’ve heard of people putting some cayenne pepper on their feet before putting on their socks to keep their feet warm

 

[Bigboone1988]

I’ve tried heavy insulated boots, boot blankets, and foot warmers but my feet would still get cold. Bought a couple pairs of heated socks this year and my feet never got cold. Now I can wear 400 gram boots below zero with heated socks. I bought two pairs so I can swap batteries if they happen to die.

 

[JasonT]

Lots of versions of Lenz socks, some getting really pricey

 

[Fresch]

I hunt pretty deep in the mountains for whitetail. Cold feet was always only thing that would get me out of the tree. I have tried everything and came up with this system. For the walk in: Uninsulated Solomon goretex boots with Kuiu Yukon gaiters and a lightweight, high quality merino wool sock. Unless I run up the mountain my feet won’t sweat and that is the KEY! Once I’m stationary in the tree in the saddle: I use Artic Shield boot covers. Before I put them on, I put adhesive chemical toe warmers inside the boot covers under where my toes will be.
This is a simple system but follow these important key tips to get the most out of it:

1. Start by giving yourself plenty of time to get in so you don’t rush and get sweaty.
2. Make sure your boot /sock combo is dialed. A little too tight and you will have good foot support for hiking steep terrain but will constrict blood flow. Too loose and you have poor support and blisters on steep terrain but good blood flow for warm feet. This takes trial and error.
3.One thing I have found is to find tune the fit with strategic lace tension. My boots have locking eye between the lower and upper. I will purposely leave the laces slightly looser down near my toes and pull slightly tighter above the lock for more ankle support.
4. If your body is hot your feet will sweat. Dress accordingly! Be bold/start cold is a great mentality for the hike in. I use the Kuiu merino zip off bottoms when needed. I rarely take them off/ put them on, but I will unzip them inside and open my hip zips on my outer pants to breathe. I have dialed the rest of my clothing system to the conditions and most of my layers ride in inside my frame pack and are put on at the tree to avoid sweating.
5. Simple thing but make absolutely positive your boots and boot covers are completely dry each day.
6. Make sure you use the adhesive warmers designed for in footwear not standard hand warmers. This style is designed to activate with less oxygen in the confined space of a boot. The standard hand warmers will not only not output heat but can shift around away from your toes.
7. Open your foot warmers (any hand warmers you know you will be using) at the truck to avoid the crinkle packing in woods. I sometimes do this before I leave the house and put them in a ziplock sandwich baggie (much quieter) If you seal the bag it will shut them back off due to lack of oxygen and save the heat until you need it. One note, open the toe warmers before you climb the tree, not only so they preheat but it will warm the adhesive so they stick in the place where you want them.
8. Don’t wait till you cool down to put on the boot covers. You want to retain the heat you just generated. (Also you don’t want to fooling around with them during prime time) As soon as I get up in the saddle, (before I even pull up my bow) I lower myself on my rappel rope to a “sitting” position put the warmers in, put them on and zip and cinch them.
9. I typically store one cover inside the other on the outside of my “tree pack” for easy access in the tree.

I really don’t want to be taking my boots and gaiters (Velcro ) off and on at the tree so this setup prevents that. If I need to move and relocate, heated covers come off and I’m in mobile mode. Depending on how long till I will be putting them back on I sometimes pull the warmers and rebaggie them to shut them down till I need them again so I get the whole day out of a pair. The only thing I will adjust is once I get down to 0deg. and below I will add a toe warmer inside my boot ON TOP of my toes but this is usually only in extreme late season conditions. Stay dry, stay warm!

Hope this helps you stay swinging in the tree!