You must have thought about the proper clothing for hunting in the winter as the season arrived. During the preparation, don’t forget to get the right pair of boots and socks to keep your feet warm while hunting, or else cold feet will stop you from hunting a spotted animal, giving it a chance to run away as you will be unable to move efficiently and quietly. For sure, you don’t like the sound of that.
So are you concerned about how to keep your feet warm while hunting? Will the right boots and socks be enough to provide you with warmth? Is there something else that can help, some tips and items discovered? Yes, there are!
Besides wearing insulated boots and socks, several techniques and items are available to keep your feet warm and comfortable. Your first successful hunt in this season relies significantly on these techniques and items as they are going to help a lot to keep your feet warm. So pack your backpack and make the following considerations for your feet.
Best Tips To Keep Your Feet Warm While Hunting
1- Shoes – Wear Warm & Comfortable Shoes
Wearing the right shoes is important for keeping your feet warm and comfortable. Make sure you have the right size of shoes, not too loose and not too tight. There are various options of winter boots and snow boots available for hunting in winter.
Besides being warm and comfy, your boots should be waterproof, and the material used should be durable, as hunting in the winter and snow requires a solid pair of boots. Therefore, look for boots with durable soles and sufficient grip.
2- Socks – Choose the Right Material for Socks
The material of socks determines how much warmth they can provide. You obviously need the best pair of socks that can make hunting in winter comfortable for you by keeping your feet warm. One of the best materials used for making socks is merino wool. Merino wool is a soft, comfortable, and long-lasting material.
Moreover, it has the ability to wick moisture away, which is beneficial for keeping your feet dry. Polypropylene works the same as merino wool and thus is also a great option.
On the other hand, cotton absorbs moisture making your feet feel all sweaty. Therefore, don’t wear cotton socks while going hunting. For more insulation, you can wear more than one pair of socks.
An alternative to wearing more than one pair of socks is Electric socks and insoles. But these keep your feet warm till the battery is charged, which means that you will need to charge them again and again.
3- Wearing Loose Shoes for Proper Circulation of Blood
You can wear more than one pair of socks, but you will need larger-sized boots than the ones you usually wear. If you wear tight shoes, it will affect the blood flow to your feet as well as hurt your feet.
The proper circulation of blood will prevent your feet from getting cold, so depending on the number of socks you wear while hunting, get loose-sized boots.
4- Sweat – Deodorant or Foot Powder for Sweat
Have you heard about this before? What’s with rubbing using deodorant on your feet when going for a hunt? Deodorant will keep the sweat away from your feet by blocking the sweat glands of your feet. Rub the deodorant 5 to 6 hours before going for the hunt to make it most effective.
If not the deodorant, you can also use foot powder for the same purpose. Just make sure whatever you use is odorless, whether it is a deodorant, foot powder, or any antiperspirant lotion.
5- Keep your Head Covered.
Proper blood flow to the whole body is necessary, but it can be affected by the cold. If your head is not getting sufficient warmth, blood from your extremities (hands and feet) will start to flow toward the brain.
Eventually, there will be no proper blood circulation in these parts of your body. The simplest solution to this is to keep your head with a cap or anything else just like you will cover your whole body with warm clothes.
Accessories For Keeping Your Feet Warm While Hunting
Besides some techniques, there are various things that are easy to use for hunting in winter and keep you comfortable. You can select the one that is accessible and suitable for you. Some of these items have some additional features that make them more reliable. The list of these items is given below:
1- Toe warmers or foot warmers
Using toe warmers or foot warmers will make a huge difference for your feet. You can place them on your feet whenever you are hunting in a freezing place and need more warmth than that offered by your boots.
Besides, There are electric, disposable as well as self-heating foot warmers. You can use any of these as per your choice. These can provide warmth for up to 8 hours and let you hunt without worrying about getting your feets cold.
2- Use a blanket
Blankets for boots are also very useful for protecting your feet from cold. They will prove to be great for sitting, standing, and moving for hunting. When you cover your feet with these blankets, you will feel warmth for the whole body. Make sure to wash these blankets from time to time with scent-free detergent so that they don’t attract any wild animals.
3- Carpet and mat for your metal stand
You might have felt cold while standing on snow or the metal stand for too long. But you don’t need to worry about it anymore with an insulated mat. Even while wearing boots, an insulated mat can reduce the coldness overall for you and not just for your feet. It can make it relatively easier for you to stand and wait for your prey. These mats are also waterproof, so you don’t need to worry about them getting wet.
4- Try Boot covers
Boot covers on the outside of your boot can decrease cold for you by adding an extra layer on your feet. They are mostly windproof and water-resistant. The material of boot covers makes them reliable to retain heat for your feet even in freezing temperatures.
Boot covers are adjustable for all kinds and sizes of boots, but as they are not for walking, too much keeps them removed while moving around. However, for standing in a spot for a long time, these covers will come in handy. Since they are foldable and can be packed in your bag, taking minimum space, they are easy to carry around.
5- Duct tape for boots
Another way to stop too much cold from entering your feet is to use duct tape to cover your boots. But using duct tape depends on what kind of material your boots are made of. If it is usable on your boots, don’t put the tape too tightly, or it will make it uncomfortable to wear the boots.
People May Ask
You can keep your feet warm while hunting by wearing wool or synthetic socks, investing in good hunting boots, using foot warmers, dressing in layers, avoiding tight-fitting footwear, staying dry, and keeping moving.
A good pair of socks made of material that can wick moisture, such as merino wool socks, or absorb sweat, such as cotton socks, will be enough to provide warmth to your feet while deer hunting.
Wear insulated boots for duck hunting in winter. Besides, for proper insulation and blood circulation, avoid wearing tight boots.
Wool socks and proper insulation can keep your feet warm while sitting. Also, keeping your feet up from the ground if you are sitting on a chair can keep them warm as floors are usually cold and the coldest in winter.
Conclusion – How To Keep Your Feet Warm While Hunting
As winters are a great time for hunting, make sure you don’t mess it up by being careless about the preparations of your hunt. Choose any of the above techniques or items specially made for hunting during the winter. You can adopt two or more techniques or use different items at the same time if you feel the need to.
Additional Common Questions
How do you keep your legs warm when hunting?
In my experience as an avid hunter, ensuring comfortable warmth in the harshest of winter conditions can make or break your hunting trip. One handy trick I’ve found effective in keeping my legs warm is always having extra heat packs on hand. These are incredibly compact and light, yet they do a brilliant job. I typically wait until a few hours into my expedition, when the cold starts to bite, before adding these lifesavers. The change is instant and very satisfying, restoring warmth and comfort. Heat packs are especially useful when sitting in a stand or blind for extended periods. Another tactical approach I’ve found useful, particularly in emergency situations, is using an extra pair of insulated pants. Interestingly, I don’t wear them the conventional way, instead, I pull them up to my knees, fold the remaining lower part under my feet and sit on them. The insulation provides a warming buffer from the icy cold ground beneath.
How do you layer socks to keep your feet warm?
From my numerous ventures into the great outdoors in winter, I have come to appreciate the value of layered clothing, especially when it comes to my feet. Layering socks might seem like an obvious solution, but there’s a science to it. Simply wearing two pairs of socks does not instantly promise toasted toes. The effectiveness of this method lies in the materials of the socks and how they are layered. The thin synthetic sock should form the first layer directly on your foot. The ‘synthetic’ part is vital, as materials like Coolmax are excellent at wicking away moisture. This is paramount because dry feet equate to warm feet. You see, water, or in this case perspiration, has an uncanny ability to transfer heat away from the body way faster than air ever could, hence keeping your feet dry goes a long way in maintaining the desired warmth. Layering like this has consistently kept my feet warm on countless hunts, making the experience more endurable.