Home » General Conversation » General Conversation » Do your toes / feet ever get cold while hunting?
| Do your toes / feet ever get cold while hunting? [message #25819] |
Sun, 24 November 2013 21:43  |
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cajuntec
Messages: 1251
Registered: November 2009
Location: Williamsburg, VA
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Top Contributor
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I've gone though this for many years. Wintertime hunting is miserable for me, as my toes get cold way too quick and then I'm miserable in the stand or ground blind. I asked around, and got plenty of advice. Liner socks, no cotton, merino lambs wool, heated socks, heated footbeds, certain types and brands of boots, etc.... Throughout the years, some worked ok, some not at all, and then I found the method I used today.
Granted, it's only 36 degrees here and I'm in a ground blind, but I'm sure it would be good for lower temps as well, as my feet were nice and toasty today. Probably best if you are in a blind of some type, as a treestand or out in the open doesn't lend itself well to this technique. Anyway... I have a pair of "Arctic Shield" boot covers from a few years back. They worked "ok" over my boots, but nothing to brag about. Someone told me a different way to use them, and here is what I did.
1) Walk in with only a liner sock on inside my rubber snake proof boots. Arctic Shields and Wool socks in my pack.
2) Get to blind and get settled in.
3) Put two foot warmer packs (the kind you remove from the foil pouch, shake and use) in each Arctic Shield.
4) Remove boots completely and set them aside.
5) Put on wool socks and slip feet directly into the Arctic Shields.
6) Toes are nice and warm the whole time.
My feet got so warm today, I even contemplated removing a foot warmer pack, but instead I just shifted them around so it wasn't directly touching my foot inside.
All the best,
Glenn
If at first you don't succeed... buy newer / better equipment!
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| Re: Do your toes / feet ever get cold while hunting? [message #25824 is a reply to message #25819] |
Mon, 25 November 2013 09:42  |
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I have sweatie feet. It does not matter if it below zero, my feet will sweat while walking into a stand or blind. Once they get sweatie then they get cold. I can be setting in my living room with just my socks on and my feet will get hot and sweat. Like you I have tried many different methods of keeping my feet warm. But as of late I have never found that magic bullet. I don't own any arctic shields and I guess I don't really know what they are. I might have to look into that.
Mr. Murl
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
Molan Labe
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty." - Benjamin Franklin
“Quemadmoeum gladuis neminem occidit, occidentis telum est.” (A sword is never a killer, it is a tool in the killer’s hands.) – Lucius Annaeus Seneca, circa 4 BC – 65 AD
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If we falter and lose our freedom, it will be because
we destroyed ourselves."
~ ~ Abraham Lincoln ~ ~
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| Re: Do your toes / feet ever get cold while hunting? [message #25832 is a reply to message #25829] |
Mon, 25 November 2013 11:29 |
jamesgammel
Messages: 1708
Registered: August 2012
Location: Lovell, Wyoming
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dang, at 36 degrees even at my age (66) I can make all day with just my normal cotton socks and light shoes/boots. Like Murl, my feet get pretty sweaty (and then cold) in the house with hard-soled leather moccasins with fake lamb's wool lining. Take em off and socks are soaked.
I could write a whole "article" on my secrets for keeping warm, and here it dips down to -22 and may last a week or so each "round" and maybe a couple/few rounds each winter.
However, this topic was about keeping feet "warm". Of course it depends on the hunting you are engaged in; bird hunting (pheasants/grouse, etc.) is a lot of walking and takes a different approach to something more sedintery like goose hunting in a blind, or deer/turkey blinds and the temps it may be down to. 1. Need "loose boots", cramped feet/toes get cold quick, especially if you're not moving much, so I alwys get about a 1/2 size bigger than normal shoes/boots. a light pair of cotton socks with a pair of those light cheap "hunting socks" and still have a loose fit works perfect. I don't have just "one pair" of hunting boots, I have three, and the lighter insulated ones are the older ones. Currently my "stable" is a pair of 1000gram insulated, a pair of 1500 gram, and a pair of 2000 gram, all "guide gear" from sportsman's guide, which I usually got when on sale for approx. 80.00/pr. Insulated and waterproof. at -22 I'd grab the 2000's, when it gets down that cold, the only hunting that's in is goose, so not gonna be walking around much.
keep warm, enjoy the hunting
Jim
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| Re: Do your toes / feet ever get cold while hunting? [message #25982 is a reply to message #25873] |
Thu, 28 November 2013 22:56 |
Wilyote
Messages: 45
Registered: September 2012
Location: new york
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Novice Contributor |
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I live in Upstate NY... I just put in a couple of days of hunting in single digit temps.... I can tell you there is no sure fire bullet. My experience working in cold weather has told me one thing. Give your feet some room in the cold weather. Do not restrict the blood flow at the ankles with long johns, multiple pairs of socks and tight boots. I wear a pair of Schnee's pacs (wool felt liners) with Bridgedale socks and I can sit on watch for a long time. For my hands in extreme cold weather, I wear mittens and use heater packs. I also have an insulated shirt that fits snugly with pockets in the back for more heater packs. My base layers are military grade long johns with a zip T neck. I use a neck gator and wind proof knit cap. My second layer is thinsulate jacket and my outer layer is wind proof camo with scent control. I see a lot of deer in the colder weather since they have to eat.. Hunt the food sources.
[Updated on: Thu, 28 November 2013 22:58] Report message to a moderator |
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