Cold weather weakness.

[Tennhunter3]

What part of your body bothers you most in the cold?

My weakness is my ears and hands if they get really cold it's hard for me to remain in the tree.

This year this area was where I invested in picking up a fanatic gloves and fanatic hat. I recognized that this area was where alot of my discomfort in tree happened. Weird ordering very cold weather gear in June.

Alot of hunters I talk too it's their feet getting cold that bothers them.

How well do you guys handle below 0 temps??
I have never spent much time in that sort of climate.

[moog5050]

I have the fanatics hat and it works well but if you want crazy warm, try a madbomber hat. That with a quality down hand muff and hand warmers will keep me fine in bitter cold. Cold feet were my enemy but a pair of Baffin boots cured that.

[elk yinzer]

Hands. Probably cause I work an office job and have pretty soft wuss hands. Light to midweight gloves and a muff works best for me. I always wear a little heavier glove on my left hand, bow vs. release hand. I feel I have a pretty good gear and a good system but my hands are usually the coldest part of me.

I find the coldest experiences to be in that 30-40 degree range, when the air is moist and the RH is high. We tend to get a lot of that in November, cold moist air. That cuts right through me. Temps in the 10's and 20's generally speaking I think are easier to deal with because the air dries up. I don't have much experience in below zero. We don't really see that in our regular archery season and come late season there are other things I'd rather being doing than sit out in that.

[Crazinamatese]

Not sure if its a sign of getting old but the last few seasons my feet have been getting really cold to the point its hard to sit still. I started using alpaca boot inserts and that seems to help maintain warmth.

[BorealBushMN]

Throw a disposable hand/foot warmer or 2 in your boots and that should hold ya for a few hours.

[ThePreBanMan]

My feet are always a problem. Muck Arctic boots, thick wool socks, toe warmers, and below 20 I still have issues on long sits. As soon as I move around again I'm fine.

Have a pair fo boot blankets but they do make some noise and require some effort (IE motion and noise) to get them on. So I don't really use them.

[ThePreBanMan]

Throw a disposable hand/foot warmer or 2 in your boots and that should hold ya for a few hours.

Not as well as you may think. Those hot hands warmers require oxygen to work. In your boot where they're sealed off from outside air they fail rather quickly. If you pre-heat them they'll buy you a little time. 30 to 45 minutes at most.

[BorealBushMN]

Throw a disposable hand/foot warmer or 2 in your boots and that should hold ya for a few hours.

Not as well as you may think. Those hot hands warmers require oxygen to work. In your boot where they're sealed off from outside air they fail rather quickly. If you pre-heat them they'll buy you a little time. 30 to 45 minutes at most.

I've experienced that with rubber boots, but not a boot that breathes a bit.

Overall, I've had pretty good luck with that.

[isitseasonyet?]

I am fine until it gets to be 15 or 20 below the donut. Then even with hand warmers, in a muff with gloves on my hands freeze. My feet get cold when they sweat. Extra socks below freezing are almost a must for me. Cold feet and hands that dont work anymore are about the only thing that gets me out of a tree.

[Dewey]

Since I bought a HBS and IWOM I don’t have any more cold weather weaknesses while on stand. When packing up once out of the suits my hands are probably the worst when well below zero but I can manage it sticking them back in a muff with an electric handwarmer pack for a minute or so.

Below zero is actually my favorite time to hunt. I dress very lightly walking to and from stand to avoid getting sweated up. Once on stand I get in my HBS or IWOM and hunt nice and cozy as long as I want. The worst part is the moment you get out and hit the cold. I tend to walk pretty fast on the way out to stay warm.

[Horizontal Hunter]

For me it’s my back too many aftermarket parts. A Thermacare back wrap helps and as a bonus it helps warm the blood as it passes through the kidneys.

Moving beyond wool helps too. Alpaca, Bison, and Yak wool are all warmer than sheep wool.i have a pair of bison wool socks and gloves and they are awesome. Spendy it awesome.

When it is “really cold” here I wear a polypropylene wicking sock, then a toe warmer, and then the bison wool sock and my feet stay warm.

Bob

[wolverinebuckman]

Toes, without a doubt. Then fingers. I have yet to find a solution. Hoping Kentucky late season is a little more forgiving than Michigan's

[tgreeno]

Toe's are the worse for me.

IMHO...How cold you get has alot to do with your mindset. Obviously you need some decent gear also. But for me alot of times it's mind over matter & will power!

Just think about it. How many times have you been freezing, then you see a buck. Then your not thinking about the cold, and just focusing on the buck. And you don't feel as cold anymore. If you go into the hunt, saying you'll only make it for an hour. Then you'll only make it for an hour.

[Uncle Lou]

Rather than elaborate on a weakness, I will bring up something I do. I try to go out with the mindset of how long can I torture myself. This year when the stupidly named polar vortex came. I said to myself, not only was season winding down (we had extended archery season in some SE MI counties) and I had a tag to fill. How long can I handle this. I went out two of the coldest days of the year. I made 2+ hour sits no problem.

If you are tired you can get cold easier. Cold is a mental preparation to me. I try to brave cold because I am a bit tired of people complaining how cold it is (turns out many around here that complain how cold it is in the winter, are the first to complain when it gets above 80 )

Mindset is a big part of dealing with it. Its cold so lets go, is a good mindset.

[roosterstraw]

For me it’s my feet. Last year was the first time I discovered a solution that works. It’s not perfect but it does keep my feet warm. Artic boot covers with a hand warmer or two stuffed in the sides. They are extremely hard to get on even when ordering a size up, but they work.