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Dressing for Late Season Cold Weather Deer Hunting

Description

Layering for freezing cold temperatures while bow hunting for deer.

Tags: My Self reliance,shawn james,winter camping,Bushcraft,Woodcraft,Survival,Primitive skills,Nature,Preparedness,Homesteading,Backpacking,Hiking,Camping,Fire,Self Reliance,Self Sufficiency,Living Off The Land,Off The Grid,Bushcraft Kit,Campfire,Fjallraven,Foraging,Hunting,outdoors,clothing

Video Transcription

[Music]

hey guys sean james here for my self-reliance and i'm just here in central Ontario hunting whitetail deer we just had a major storm come in it's about a foot foot and a half of snow on the ground two feet in some areas it is minus 13 right now Celsius vote minus 25 with the windchill you can hear the wind whistling through the trees here it's a up to 60 kilometer an hour wind gusts and still some squalls blowing in so with the hair so really cold dressing for this type of hunting is very difficult just hiking in here I was building up a sweat even though I was going slow and had my layers undone and mostly off but had backpack on I got my camera gear till because it's active because it's cold I'm not expecting a lot of movement I'm gonna just get in this little ground line that I crafted behind me it's very simple just a few branches I'm gonna sit still for two hours like perfectly still it's the most challenging conditions in my mind for staying warm at this time of year it's basically like sleeping completely stationary if you move at all then the deer are gonna pick you up so I'd know that fairly open here so I can get a shot and good thing with that is I can get a shot the bad thing about that is they can see me from further away so I have to stay perfectly still I'm not in snow camel everything around me is white so any movement even with this is gonna be picked up by the deer so I have to have super slow movement I can only move when they're faced the other way so stationary so I've got several layers on I actually do have long underwear on I've got two pair of wool socks have sir L felt pack boots have if y'all Raven pants over the long underwear I've got this insulated cover all hunting cover all reversible with orange on the other side

I have a synthetic top on underwear talk call fjällräven wool taught a wool sweater I actually have my Eddie Bauer 800 down jacket puff jacket in my bag and then I have a waterproof shell my water waterfowl hunting jacket over top of that got a liner hat liner then I've got a full acrylic Bella clavo facemask that I got to put it on over top of that and I actually have a buff that I can go around my neck and pull up underneath that balaclava as well so I've got everything I need to sit stationary I didn't bring a sit pad but the case for this is so bulky and thick I just like I just typically sit or lie on that and that insulates me a little bit from the ground

but he wants to know what I hunt with and what I prefer to hunt with and you know I'm not a snob I'm not a traditional snob not a modern snob not a gun snob I hunt with whatever makes sense for me at the time whatever makes sense for the game that I'm hunting earlier in the season you saw that I took a doll with my my hybrid longbow recurve of 52 pound longbow basically with wooden arrows and that's what I prefer to hunt with a love stocking gear on the ground I shot that doe at about 10 yards as I was stalking through the woods through fairly open wood hemlock forest canopy that was really cool but this time of year so I've got my tag left I was able to party hunt most of the early part of the season I still have she have a doe tag on me for this region for this area and it's good up until the end of the month in the end of the year so Jen January 1st is closed season so it is too cold for me to hunt effectively would have taken animals it's late in the season with the longbow still hunting I don't know if I've ever shot one this time of year with my longbow that's sitting Stan hunting or sitting in a ground blind I have with a compound bow but this time of year it's just so cold I've just and I haven't been practicing enough with bulkier clothes on so I really don't feel like I'm proficient enough to hunt with a longboat it's bottom line so I'm more than happy to use a crossbow I use whatever makes sense at the time so just gonna get it set up here and let's see let's have a sit and see if any deer come in everything this win might be sitting tight a couple of grouse just flew out of here it's only mid-afternoon and they're already roosted in the cedar tree so we're I guess in the spruce tree so I think game might be sitting tight so I'm gonna have a little quick walk around here and see what kind of movement there is and I'm gonna settle in for the evening it's dark get to an illegal shooting late is 5:10 4:40 is sunset half an hour of that after that is end of legal shooting light depends on the cloud cover and the snow weather I could hunt right till the end of the legal hour or not quite quit early and heading so see what happens

About the Author

My Self Reliance

My Self Reliance

Shawn James Canadian outdoorsman, photographer, guide and self-reliance educator. Writer for Ontario Tourism. myselfreliance.com Outdoor adventures, including survival, bushcraft, canoeing, kayaking, hiking, snowshoeing, fishing and camping.

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