Construction orange

[bru]

It sure looks alot like blaze orange. Can you buy blazeorange die or spray paint? It'd be a lot cheaper to color clothes I already have.

[fabsroman]

Just buy a cheap plastic vest that goes over the clothes you already have. When I started deer hunting where a lot of people were present with rifles, I went out and bought a full length blaze orange outfit for about $50. Not the best in warmth, but back then I didn't have a lot of money. I still use it to this day, not that I have a lot of money now, but I use a couple of layers underneath it. I tend to wear an Underarmour Coldgear turtleneck and a Cabelas fleece on top of the Underarmour. For really cold days, I wear a sweatshirt on top of all that.

Like I told somebody at the beginning of the season, if you want good cold weather clothing at a decent price, buy the stuff on sale at the end of the season. If you buy cheap gear at the beginning of the season, it will not last long and it will not be very fun to hunt long hours in.

[bru]

Season just ended didn't it? Who do you recomend. I like Siera, Bass Pro, Discount Hunting @ SPG, Midway. I'd like some warm, waterproof gear. i'll throw a blaze vest and hat over that.

[fabsroman]

What kind of hunting are you mainly looking to do? When I was really young, my hunting consisted of mainly dove hunting in the warm weather and some pheasant hunting in the colder temperatures with a lot of walking to keep me warm. Pheasants became harder and harder to come by, especially after my aunt & uncle sold their 100+ acre farm in PA. So, I was stuck with dove hunting from age 12 to about 19. At age 19, I added deer hunting to the mix and that is when I experienced some really cold weather while sitting on stand. Back then (i.e., during undergrad), I was poor and could only afford two Carhart coveralls in camo and they didn't have the best insulation. I wore a bunch of clothes underneath to help, but it was still cold. Anyway, after starting to hunt deer, I also started some waterfowling, but that was mostly pass shooting geese at a farm I hunted doves and deer at. Eventually, I met a guy in law school that introduced me to real waterfowling with decoys, calls, and boats involved. That was awesome, even though I was soaked and cold the first time. Lucky for me, we were hunting in October or I would have probably died. I went out in the marsh without waders or a wader jacket. Essentially, I was wearing hip boots over my coveralls and I had a crappy pair of gloves. We made the smart decision of heading out into the marsh at 1:00 in the morning so we could make sure we got the best spot possible. Once there, it started raining on us, but I still had fun.

Once I got out of law school, I bought some Cabelas Icebuster waders, some Columbia bibs, and a Columbia wader jacket. I also bought several fleece sets of underwear and recently bought the underarmour cold gear. I thought the fleece was a miracle until I started wearing the under armour cold gear. That stuff is really warm.

First and foremost, you will need warm, water proof, comfortable boots and warm, waterproof gloves. After that, I would start with some warm, breathable undergarments and work my way outward. Build up a really warm underlayer and you can get by for several hours in the field using a cheap camo or blaze orange rain jacket and pants that stops the wind and the water. Last but not least, upgrade the outer shell to a nice set of bibs and a parka, or a set of waterproof coveralls.

In the end, it really depends on the kind of hunting you will do. Now, I have everything I could possibly need for hunting clothing with the exception of a new pair of waterfowl gloves (i.e., found out they leak the second to last day of the season) and some additional camo for bow hunting deer (i.e., I haven't had the time to bow hunt in a couple of years so there has been no need to buy any). I have light weight boots for dove hunting and early goose season in the fields. I have medium weight boots for upland hunting in November/December along with a Columbia upland blaze orange coat. I have pac boots for the cold days in the deer stand or the waterfowl blind where a lot of walking is not required.

Just like a gun collection, you have to build up your clothing collection slowly as you find things on sale and/or you have additional money. After a while, you will be done buying clothing except to replace the stuff that wears out. Same goes for everything else (e.g., decoys, guns, blinds). The initial cost for hunting is high, but it gets a lot less expensive over time unless you believe every advertisement about the new "thing a ma bob" that will have waterfowl landing at your feet and deer eating out of your hand. LOL

[skeeter@ccia.com]

you can buy blaze orange or pink spray paint. I use to do the handles of certain tools to keep track of them if someone borrowed them.....I wouldn't try to paint an outfit though..as fabs stated, best to get a good warm, dry outfit even in camo and when needed, just add the orange vest etc...is what I do although I do have the one pc orange from long ago I don't use anymore. Nothing like looking like a lightbulb walking in the woods..come to think of it, the closet is full of all those different outfits that were the newest thing out there but I only use 2 outfits...
.listening to you guys talking of what you wore when starting out hunting makes me chuckle...my first outfit was layers of who knows whose clothes with red rags pinned all over it...leafy camo isn't new lol...guess dad was just watching out for me back in the day...my feet were warm too since I wore about 5 pr of socks and his boots stuffed with paper at the toes...when I fell down, I just popped back up like one of those old punching bags filled with sand in the bottom...I even think I ran into a guy named LLBean that gave him an idea as how not to look in hunting gear...oh those were the days filled with more memories than anyone could want....thanks dad
searching the web for florescent dyes will bring up a few places to get it.

[fabsroman]

Skeeter,

That is hilarious. You definitely had it worse than me as far as hunting goes, but I can definitely remember some really cold days.