Hunting & Fishing Predator Hunting: SUPPRESSED®

[skinney_7]

It would be a whole different thread.

 

[carbonbased]

Yes sir, how detailed you want?

It would be a whole different thread.

Hey! Cool! If you make a new thread, post a note on this thread so I won’t miss it.

Deeeep breath…

What follows is a stream of consciousness. It’s going to be a bit overwhelming; it’s just to get your mind spinning.

You’ve been doing this for so long I’m sure you take a lot of this cold-weather hunting stuff for granted, so maybe my lame questions will spark some “beginner’s mindset” moments in your past. Like, where you learned an important cold-weather technique or lesson.

Or, pretend I’m nine and you’re taking me out coyote hunting at -15°F for the first time lol.

Now, I’m from North Dakota, and as you know, it’s a little nuttier up there as far as winter goes. Even worse than SD, where I believe you’re based. (I live in Minnesota now)

Got into hunting in 2018 as a late forty yr old.

Most discussions about hunting revolve around calibers, powder, bullets, distance shot, ballistics, fundamentals, mindsets, how big the game was, how many X animals shot, what to wear in mild climes, etc.

Very little text is spilled on cold-weather nitty-gritty techniques, like for (a poor) example: don’t use a goddamn metal chassis rifle when it’s -15°F because you’ll feel that metal right through most gloves. You know that, I know that, we both know one would be wise to wrap the shit outta that thing with cloth or something so you don’t stick to it and loose flesh, etc.

Way smarter to use a fiberglass, plastic, or wood stock.

But see, I haven’t hunted in frigid weather, just lived in it for most of my life. Learned the “don’t fucking touch anything metal with bare hands when it’s -40°F” lesson when handling a big Cresent wrench.

Or was it a tire iron? Regardless, easier to translate that lesson to metal rifles.

Where I’m lacking is like something like how a soldier in the arctic learns how to deal with his hands, his feet, his face, especially when needing dexterity to deal with optics, the rifle, waiting for game to show, and carrying it all. And what about the constant leaking nose.

I know about “the farmer blow”, but with a beard that quickly turns you into Mr. Frozen Mustache Man . Plus it’s loud. Is the back of a glove all we got?

I get layering, I’ve backpacked and skied, I’ve walked around in -78°F windchills in fucking Fargo in the 1980s. I understand breathing out the nose and not on the lenses.

But I always had a warm car or house to retreat to. Even driving purposefully out in a literal killer blizzard for adventure, I had tow ropes, snowmobile suits, shovels, goggles, and friends. Lots of friends.

I wasn’t out on the middle of literal nowhere. Alone.

Usually. lol ah the stupidity and luck of youth.

In the really cold I get you don’t want to work up a sweat, you want sort of a thermal stasis, pit zips are your friend, etc. But I’m curious about things like; UV optical brighteners, camo, and coyotes. Keeping balaclavas not soaking wet around the mouth/nose when it’s windy. What balaclavas you use?

Does someone make a white neoprene face mask that directs your exhalation downwards so your glasses don’t fog the fuck up lol. You guys don’t have glasses, it seems. How about with sunglasses?

If you go out alone, how do you let loved ones know where you are? Especially without cell service.

How far do you stray from your truck when it’s 20° vs -15°? Do you ever keep it running? Do you go with two trucks so one can pull the other guy out? Do you ever hunt alone in the deep of winter?

Snowshoes? If yes, type and brand?

And of course gloves and/or liners that work with long guns and pistols but don’t freeze your hands off, pistols with big enough trigger guards to accommodate said gloves (CZ P-01 seems ok), do you even pack a pistol when out? If so, how do you carry it? currently using a Hill People Gear chest kit bag.

I will be hunting often alone, in the daylight until I get a thermal.

Hand muff around the waist? Chemical heat packs? Battery-powered shit? Overmitts? Type and brand.

Headlamps & batteries in the very cold. Radios for comms, or cell? (when cell works). Recommended power to charge devices when away from truck? Probably dumb questions…

I’ve noticed your winter camo overwhites. Some wag online said you were using Torraka/Taiga in some of your vids.

Pac boots like Baffin…heavy but warm, or do you use lighter insulated hunting boots? Outer pants stuffed into pac boot or stretch over the outside of boot. Or gaiters?

Thermos full of warm stuff in the pack? Food. Emergency gear for the cold. Weight vs. safety/comfort. How to keep water for drinking unfrozen but accessible?

Sitting on the frozen tundra…foam sleeping pad under butt, or something else?

Stories of when shit went south below zero. People (and readers) learn the most from mistakes.

Etc etc.

Whew.

Take your time. If you’re game, don’t need to answer it all at once. Just spewing out ideas, maybe ideas for your YT vids, something, anything.

I’m way ahead of someone that’s from south Florida but stuff like this might be valuable to those cold-weather wussies as well lol.

Personally I think the written word is more efficient to teach people vs a typical rambling podcast (not picking on you; most all podcasts are rambling). Or, a very tightly edited video might work, but writing it out first would help tremendously and sharpen one’s focus.

And feel free to point us towards books. Fiction, non-fiction, or how-to. Maybe even documentaries?

Love your vids; nice editing, camerawork, sound, pacing, and blow-by-blows. You make quality stuff that isn’t just overdubbed by music (those can be good, but viewers don’t learn much with those types of vids).

Cya!




P.S. Arrugh I’m up way too fucking late! Holy shit!