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Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Elk Hunting Gear-Part 1

This picture shows my normal outfit on an Arizona elk hunt.

Early Season Elk Hunting Gear by Jay Scott--I want to cover the gear I used on the elk hunts this year. I choose my gear very carefully and expect a lot out of myself as well as my gear/equipment. I will start with my head and move all the way to my feet. All of these items that I wear or use have been chosen by careful examination. I am always open to trying something new so if you think I am missing something I want to hear about it. Please send me an email.
I always wear a hat of some kind when in the field. I took after my mother’s side of the family which means I am hair folically challenged. A hat is a necessity to keep my bald head from getting sunburned. I wear several kinds of hats. One is a bucket style hat from Columbia; the other is a standard baseball style cap, and its either a Western Hunter Magazine hat or a Realtree Max 1 hat. I always carry chap stick with sunscreen. My lips face some serious challenges in the Arizona sun and it is no fun to have cracked lips while trying to call elk with a diaphram or bite and blow style call.

Most of the elk hunting I do is in Arizona where the temps range from 35 to 80 degrees. I try to always wear Cabelas Hunt tech series long sleeve shirt. It is made out of 100% polyester and seems to dry very quickly. The number one factor for choosing this shirt is the moisture-wicking feature. The shirt is super-soft and made out 100% polyester the fabric draws perspiration moisture away from the skin and transports it to the outside of the shirt for fast evaporation quick cooling. I love the feel of these shirts on my skin. I prefer a long sleeve shirt to keep the sun off of my arms and allow the camo pattern to give me more concealement. The other quality is superior breathability the highly breathable weave of Hunt Techs polyester fabric enables perspiration vapor to escape and lets cooling breezes penetrate for extraordinary comfort when the weather and the action start to heat up. My hunting partner, Darr Colburn, turned me on to these shirts a few years ago and I have never looked back. They retail at Cabelas for $29-$35 dollars depending on size. I have about eight of these shirts and they are all in Realtree Max 1 camo pattern which is my favorite pattern if I had to choose one for hunting out west.

On colder days, I usually will wear a vest of some sort for the first hour in the morning. This year I tried the Celsius vest from Sitka gear and really liked it. It seemed to be very warm for its size. It has a polyester outside with a high loft inside. It has three pockets including a laminated chest pocket. The one I have was in the Mimicry pattern. I was wearing it on the day Steve Whinnery harvested his bull (see video). This product retails for about $150.

If it is an exceptionally cold morning, which it was when my friend Daniel Franco killed his bull (see video), I will wear a Cabelas Legacy Fleece. This garment would usually be worn for the first hour then removed after high activity of chasing bulls. Here is what the Cabelas catalog says about the product, Stay warm, comfortable and silent with our Legacy Fleece Quarter-Zip Pullover with WindShear. The heavyweight double-sided fleece shell withstands the abuse of the roughest terrains, yet never makes a sound. And since it compresses tightly, it can be efficiently layered under heavier garments in cold conditions without worry of excess bulk. The pullover has two zippered slash pockets and a drawstring hem with cord lock adjustments. It also has elastic cuffs and a license loop. WindShear is a special laminate-backed high-performance fabric that blocks wind, yet breathes to let perspiration vapor escape, keeping you dry and comfortable. When used as a lining, WindShear increases the insulation value without significantly adding to the weight or affecting the fit of the garment. These pullovers also are impregnated with a Scent Eliminator treatment that kills the bacteria that causes odor, helping to keep garments totally scent-free. This unique formulation works without frequent washing or reactivation, and lasts for the life of the garment . I have found that when the wind is blowing the windshear product works great. I really like the chest pocket that zips on this fleece as well as the hand pockets that zip as well. The fleece I have is in the Realtree AP pattern. This product retails for about $75.00

In part two, I will be covering my gear from the waist down. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions/comments about my gear. All of the products can viewed and purchased at the following stores/websites: Cabelas, Sitka gear, Columbia and The Outdoorsmans.

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