If I am not hunting from a tent, or bivouac, the first two to four hours of my (mountain) hunt will always be climbing, and climbing means sweating. Always, regardless how cold it is, I will always sweat if I am hiking long enough and steep enough.
In this conditions I will only wear a sinthetic top, either a Sitka Core Lightweight Crew or a Midweight Zip-T, depending on temperatures. For me, sintetics wick moisture out better than wool and dries faster. If it is raining or snowing I wear Sitka´s Stormfront jacket with the armpit zips open and will walk more gently, trying to produce less steam.
When I pass the tree line and start glassing, and/or when I start hunting the tops, I always change it to wear a dry Kuiu Ultra 145 Merino with or without a cashmere jersey over it, depending on how cold it is. In dry weather I will hang the used sintetic from a loop in my back pack and it will dry quickly. Otherwise it goes inside the pack and dry it when I get back to the cabin, or put it inside my sleeping bag to dry during the night if I am sleeping in the mountain. I always carry a spare sintetic but use the same one merino during the hunt.
Over my Ultra Merino and cashmere I use KUIU`s Super Down as an insultation layer, either the Ultra or the Pro, depending on how much insutation I think I will need, and either Sitka's Jetstream soft shell plus their Stormfront jackets, if I only expect the occassional rain or snow, or KUIU's Yukon Jacket if I expect it to be humid althroughout the hunt.
This is what works for me.
