Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting One Jacket for the Rest of Your Life

Basically you’re asking about one jacket to hunt the lower 48. That’s a tall order, but it can be done.

When I was your age, I hunted in jeans, department-store boots, cotton waffle-weave long handles, cotton flannel shirts, and an old M-65 field jacket. That much cotton is a recipe for being miserable and I froze my ass off most of the time. Looking back, I’m amazed that I didn’t just give up on hunting entirely. Then I discovered mountaineering and skiing. People who spend time in the mountains are not afraid to put money into their sport, and they push technology like crazy because being comfortable can mean the difference between life and death.

One of the first things you learn is that layering is the best way to stay warm, which means a system, not just one jacket. Start with polypro long underwear, then add insulating layers as needed for the conditions. (Experience will teach you which layers you need and when you need them, but as smokepole pointed out, it varies widely based on what you hunt and how you hunt it.) Top all of that off with a wind-resistant GoreTex outer shell and you’re good.

A full system to cover the lower 48 will cost a lot more than $400, but you can pick up pieces here and there. The most versatile piece is the shell, so that's where I'd invest. For years, I used a black North Face Guide's Jacket over my insulating layers. It was rugged as hell and relatively quiet. I varied the insulating layers for deer hunts in warm autumn rain and elk hunts in wind-blown sleet or snow up to my ass. Also, since it was a solid color, I could wear it to work, so I got a lot of use out of it. Unfortunately, I tore one of the sleeves a while ago, so I had it repaired and now it’s in reserve.

I replaced it with a Sitka Cloudburst (https://www.sitkagear.com/products/big-game/jackets-vests/cloudburst-jacket), which I recently wore on an elk hunt (https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/11623852/Searchpage/1/Main/800021/Words/%2Broosevelt/Search/true/first-elk-first-roosevelt#Post11623852). It rained every day of that hunt, and this jacket was easily one of the best hunting-gear purchases I've made in the last 40 years. The outfitters on that hunt were wearing Kuiu (http://www.kuiu.com/hunting-rain-ge...olor=ViasCamo&cgid=rain-gear#start=4). I believe that Kuiu and Sitka are pretty much top of the heap these days. They borrow ideas about materials and construction from mountaineering, then combine that with camo technology that has come out of the recent wars. For that reason, I’d forget about this:
The technology in outdoor gear changes so fast that something more than five years old is practically pre-historic. This definitely applies to my old North Face jacket. It's similar to the Sitka, but the Sitka has a number of details that are far superior: the pocket designs, the zippers, the hood, even the Velcro is all way better than it was on my old North Face Guide's Jacket. So while the North Face is still a viable option, it's just not in the same class as the Sitka.

I can't give you too much advice on a pattern for everything. I'd be tempted to go with multicam or something like the Sitka pattern, as it seems pretty versatile. And that's another very recent advancement that you won't find on older garments. When the US government needed new camo uniforms for the military, they wanted ONE pattern for everything instead of several patterns. Hunters are benefitting from that, so you no longer need to have the same stuff in several different patterns unless you just want to. I don't have that kind of money...

Finally, get the largest size they make so you'll have room for plenty of insulating layers underneath, even if that means placing a special order and waiting a while for it to show up.


Okie John