Sept elk hunt

Tcatt

FNG
Joined
Dec 27, 2022
Messages
52
Would it be necessary to carry insulated underwear and puff layer on a CO elk hunt Sept 16-25? Trying to lighten my pack a little but don’t want to leave necessary things behind!
 

Gerbdog

WKR
Joined
Jun 8, 2020
Messages
907
Location
CO Springs
I bring the puffy and a lightweight rain jacket. If you take a break it will get chilly at high altitudes in September if your sitting on the ground. That, and, if the weather changes fast and your left hunkering down under a tree for a few hours you'll be glad for the extra layers also. This is probably also just paranoia on my part, but i hunt alone, and if i break a leg and need to survive a night or two out there alone i dont wanna have exposure be the thing that does me in.

September blizzards do happen from time to time in CO at elevation and they come up out of nowhere.
 

5MilesBack

"DADDY"
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
16,162
Location
Colorado Springs
I've never used insulated underwear for elk hunting even in the winter unless you consider lightweight base layers as "insulated". But I only wear those for sweat control.....keeping the sweat off my skin. And I always keep my lightweight packable down puffy in my pack in September.
 
Joined
Oct 17, 2017
Messages
619
Location
Missouri
I would take a light weight pair of zip off bottoms and a lightweight puffy, especially if you are hunting high. For me that means something like the Kuiu Peloton zip offs and FL brooks down.


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Joined
Jan 28, 2022
Messages
17
Insulated underwear? That sounds awful even if you get some weather. Definitely no on the insulated underwear, definitely yes on the puffy.
 

bozeman

WKR
Joined
Dec 5, 2016
Messages
2,879
Location
Alabama
light pair of synthetic 'long johns' should suffice in that time window and I always have a puffy in my pack.....temp can change at elevation with little notice.
 
Joined
Mar 2, 2022
Messages
907
Depends on where you’re going exactly and how far from the road.

I don’t go anywhere in the mountains in Sept without a rain shell and a puffy

Find something that’s actually unnecessary in your kit and leave that out.
 
Joined
Oct 8, 2019
Messages
2,956
I'd find other places to lighten the load.

This is for demonstration purposes only:
Kuiu ULTRA down jacket: 6.4 ounces
Kuiu ULTRA down pants: 8 ounces <OR>
Kuiu Peloton 97 bottoms: 4.5 ounces
 

Hnthrdr

WKR
Joined
Jan 29, 2022
Messages
3,549
Location
The West
I bring the puffy and a lightweight rain jacket. If you take a break it will get chilly at high altitudes in September if your sitting on the ground. That, and, if the weather changes fast and your left hunkering down under a tree for a few hours you'll be glad for the extra layers also. This is probably also just paranoia on my part, but i hunt alone, and if i break a leg and need to survive a night or two out there alone i dont wanna have exposure be the thing that does me in.

September blizzards do happen from time to time in CO at elevation and they come up out of nowhere.
3 years ago it dumped 11” or so on Labor Day, it was heavy wet and gone in a few days but man that was a chilly night
 

Marble

WKR
Joined
May 29, 2019
Messages
3,578
Base layer, top and bottom
Non-insulated pants
Long sleeve thin shirt
Mid layer jacket
Puffy
Rain gear top and bottom
Light and heavy gloves.

That is my standard clothing for every elk hunt. It will vary slightly depending upon known weather or the time of year.

Even in September in CO you can get down into the teens in a storm. I've had it in the 20s on Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon, CO and CA in September. Be prepared.

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Joined
Apr 1, 2013
Messages
2,889
Would it be necessary to carry insulated underwear and puff layer on a CO elk hunt Sept 16-25? Trying to lighten my pack a little but don’t want to leave necessary things behind!
no. but…

If you want an emergency puffy look at a MH ghost whisper or like weighted jacket. 6-9oz but they are delicate outer fabrics.

base-merino shirt-the later in the month the heavier I go.
mid -fleece or active insulation
outter-rainshell

i dont normally carry the MH ghost light in early sept, but may in later.
 
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