What does a poor guy wear to hunt the mountains?

[Felix1776]

Felix are going with the sjk bounty pack?

It's looking that way. It's got a lot of features for the money.

Sent from my SM-J700T using Tapatalk

 

[outdoor_matt]

Id go with cheap nylon hiking pants (you can often them cheap at hiking/sports stores) and a fleece top. I hunted last year with a $5 brown/grey fleece sweater from Value Village. My hiking pants I got on clearance for $30. That pretty much covers a lot of weather conditions. I would much rather sink my money into boots/optics/packs before into clothes. I might do some upgrading this year on clearance camo, but I don't feel like I'm missing out too much right now on what I have.

 

[Blockcaver]

If you can find wool dress pants in brown or gray (without cuffs) they make awesome elk hunting pants (plaids are even better but will get you some strange looks!). I'd buy them oversize and wash and dry hot, shrink to fit, as they are also tougher when shrunk down a bit, and you don't have to be careful washing them in the future. I'd make the rounds of the thrift stores in Denver every now and again and hope I would not meet anyone I knew there! The wool dress pants were great for hiking as they weren't cut tight in the legs like blue jeans, yet weren't real baggy if you got the right fit. Some even lasted for several years of hard hunting.

With a bit larger budget I graduated up to Cabelas Microtex pants and shirts and still use the shirts exclusively. They are tough as heck, quiet, work very well and available on sale for a decent price. The pants were baggy but decent.....heard they where redesigned as per the cut so they may fit better now. Good luck!

 

[jmez]

High end clothing is nice but not needed. A whole lot of guys came out of the mountains alive before they found out that you could only survive in a $1500 suit of high end polyester. Army surplus is cheap and works well. A lot of it is a poly/nylon blend. Dries fast,is pretty darn functional, and comes in a wide variety of patterns. It's also cheap. A lot of decent stuff can be found at Wal Mart, or on clearance racks at outdoor stores.

 

[robby denning]

SKRE has a good price point and seems to be doing well in our reviews

 

[ColoradoHunterHiker]

Prior to having higher end gear (Kuiu, First Lite, etc.) I backpacked and hunted with a pair of these: Columbia Silver Ridge for years. The added bonus of zip offs helps for hot days, although not the most "fashionable". But the price was right.

As for hunting, a pair of these: Carhartt Pants and a set of these: Kenetrek Gaiters served a great purpose for more than a decade. But I wasn't backpack hunting then...

Don't let clothing be the reason you don't get out. It's just a matter of comfort for the most part...

 

[dotman]

Just don't get anything cotton.

 

[Glendon Mullins]

If you have read my article on this forum, you know i have pretty much built my "western hunting" clothing ensemble from buying used right here on the rokslide classifieds. You can get some smoking deals occasionally. The people on this site are gearheads, and will sell last years version at a pretty nice discount so they just "try out" the new stuff.

From a guy with two young kids and payments as well, only making 30k a year, the rokslide classifieds are a godsend!!

 

[COlineman78]

Before I could afford to upgrade my clothing I hunted in USGI surplus BDUs and they worked great, especially if you hunt in sage, oak brush and aspen. I have an entire box of BDUs in medium tall that I'm looking to get rid of if that'll work for you. You can get most USGI surplus on ebay for very cheap.

There are some other good higher tech offerings from places like Game Gear Camo and SKRE that are relatively cheap. The problem there is that there is virtually no resale value, so anything budget that you buy for a stopgap is not going to help you out in a few years if you decide to invest in a few higher end pieces. My suggestion is to go as cheap as possible until you can splurge because it will help you get there a little bit faster.

 

[halg]

Buy a lot of stuff on clearance, or used. Figure out what you want, and buy it one piece at a time. Your friends include Sierra Trading Post, ebay, camofire, anything on clearance (check out mountainarchery.com & keep an eye on cabelas bargain cave for base layers, insulating layers & primaloft puffy - in solid), and ebay - but, be patient. Maybe you only buy a light jacket and pant with room for layering underneath with less expensive solid colors. Check out walmart - their russell exercise clothing makes a fine base layer. Buy a solid primaloft puffy to layer under your jacket. For rain gear, go to ebay and search for ecwcs rain gear (I think it's level 6, but Google ecwcs Gen iii to get full disunity on the ecwcs system used by our troops).

Maybe you decide to get a whole bunch of ecwcs stuff. Watch the auctions on ebay for good freaks, aND wait until the price is right. Be patient.

You don't need go to the sitka boutique (which I love) and throw a couple grand on the counter.

 

[ScottinPA]

Depending on the season/weather, I wear BDUs (marpat, woodland, multicam). Ripstop is good in hot weather and dries pretty quick. That said, I did pick up some Sitka used I plan to use this fall.

 

[topher89]

As a good example, I bought a pair of insulated Outdoor Research pants at an REI garage sale for $40 today. Normally they are $150 but I just needed to throw a goretex patch on to cover a rip.

I didn't need much at the garage sale today but I could have found every piece I needed for a mountain hunt (no camo though).

I think the trick to cheap clothing is....
1.Not being specific. You need an insulated jacket, not that insulated jacket. If you are willing to try other brands or items you have the flexibility to get the best deal
2. Giving yourself lots of time to look
3. Prioritize what you are actually wearing not what you will sometimes wear. By this I mean, put more $ into the base layers and pants that you will wear the whole hunt whether you are sitting and glassing or hiking. These items should be your highest quality pieces. The insulated jacket you wear a few times over the weekend should be less of a priority than the other important items.

 

[IdahoElk]

Ted Nugent wears just a loin cloth and he has no problem Whackin and stackin em.
Seriously,buy used.

 

[DenverCountryBoy]

As another person who is gearing up for my first elk hunt, I really appreciate all the great advice that has been shared.

I just ordered the parts for what I think should be a decent budget pack. MOLLE II gen IV frame, waist belt and shoulder straps, Kelty mesh back panel, and the Alps Commander bag. I plan on attaching the bag with 550. About $115 total. I'll make a post after I get it put together and tested.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

You can wear anything that'll keep you warm and dry and cover it with a lightweight 3D. Done & done.

 

[kpbrown31]

marking

 

[ssssnake529]

Military surplus on ebay.

 

[unchained]

For pants, check out a pair of these Wranglers 96nylon/4spandex. $24.99 on their website, may be able to find them cheaper elsewhere

Wrangler Performance Lightweight Outdoor Pant

 

[fngTony]

For pants, check out a pair of these Wranglers 96nylon/4spandex. $24.99 on their website, may be able to find them cheaper elsewhere

Wrangler Performance Lightweight Outdoor Pant

Bought some, we'll see this weekend. Only minor gripe is the cargo pockets are towards the back of my thighs.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

 

[muddydogs]

I'm 6'10" with 42" waist and 38" inseam. These fancy clothes companies don't make clothes for me plus I spent 20 years working in the woods in all weather conditions so I realize I don't need $1000 worth of clothes to hunt. I used to wear Cabela's trail hiker pants everyday when they made my size and now I wear 5.11 original and Tac lite pro as there about the only pant that fits well. I also wear them hunting along with a Carhartt tee shirt. I do have a set of Cabela's camo clothes and a pair of Cabela's insulated waterproof pants that I wear hunting along with a Cabela's waterproof jacket. I get along just fine in the heat or cold for far less then the fancy stuff. If its going to be wet I have a set of Frog Tog rain gear to keep me dry as well as a set of lightweight packable rain gear I carry on the maybe wet days.

If you got the money and just have to have the fancy stuff then go for it, if you can't afford the fancy stuff there are plenty of options out there. I can tear up a pair of Carhartt double front pants in a few months in the woods this fancy stuff would never make it a few week.