Best Wool Outerwear For Hunting
Whitetail Deer
Who makes the best wool outer layers for whitetails? I love running wool base layers and would like to wear some outer layers of it as well. Thanks.
Jeff , I wear a pathfinder from Teresa Asbell who makes some light weight and heavy weight woolens . One of her best sellers is the Pathfinder with a kangaroo pouch and a zippered compartment to keep a cell phone in or whatever you like. All are plaid colors but many blend right in with your surroundings . Sometimes some are in stock and you have to wait for her to make one . Here I am with two different colors and I pretty much hunt on ground usually using down trees and brush in if need be.
Not sure if you can still get wool, but Grey Wolf is amazing and a lot of options.
Here’s a different color called Buffalo trace olive drab in color I have. If you search Asbell Wool you can see many patterns and woolens she makes.
Love my King of the Mountain wool… Unreal what it costs now though.
Have some Asbell wool shirts that I actually wear more often than my KOM.
It's not made anymore but I really like my Columbia Gallatin Range wool
Sleeping Indian, but don’t overlook the old 40’s, 50’s and 60’s Woolrich Buffalo plaid “Mackinaw’s”. They can be found at a very reasonable price.
I have some sleeping indian and silent predator . The silent predator has been great so far , I probably have 6 or 7 seasons right now and its held up really well. It is a heavyweight wool so i just use it for stand hunting .
I run wool pants from the us military and Cabela’s. They are both good. Cabela’s are thick and the surplus is about right.
Asbell on tops.
Filson makes some nice wool items, a little pricey but well made.
I also like the Asbell wool tops but they are not a super tight weave. I have a light and a heavy weight. For pants I like military surplus, US and German.
For pants, I love Big Bills from Gostwear. 2 different weights.. I generally search the big online auction sites for wool shirts in my size and frequently can find a bargain or two. I like plaid and don't worry much anymore about camo.
I borrowed a King of the mountain jacket for a hunt to see if I wanted to buy one. It was incredibly warm. I didn't buy any though, was out of my budget but man it was nice.
Ask the guys on the leatherwall.
Wool is my favourite and I layer it as necessary. I've hunted whitetails from moderate temperate Virginia weather (but I used mostly 100% fleece there) to Saskatchewan in -30º F weather.
I've had some King of the Mountain since the 1990's, some Big Bill, one garment from Asbel, two Icelandic wool sweaters that my Mother knit for me (also in the 1990's), one First Lite, one Woolrich, one Filson, an old pullover from Ecuador a friend found at a "goodwill", "no name" pants, two Kuiu mixed synthetic and wool... and I might be forgetting something.
I can only speak about the items I have since the same company usually makes garments of different thicknesses - but generally speaking, the lightest I have is the Asbell (made "loose" so great as a final layer), and the heaviest is one of the sweaters my mother knit for me (made oversize and then shrunk on purpose). I also purposely shrunk the Big Bill pants to make them more wind proof. The most windproof without shrinking is my Filson vest. When I know that there's going to be a really cold wind I wear something wind proof between layers to keep it as quite as possible.
Some is camo, some is plaid, some is solid - I don't mind hunting with "either or" as an outer layer. I have to admit though that I like the K.O.M. blow down grey camo pattern for hunting whitetails from a tree stand (but I've never hunted early seasons).
I don't really travel to hunt deer anymore and mostly hunt in cold wet conditions from the ground here in northern Quebec. I guided (now retired) in northern Canada for about 25 years.
I don't know what conditions you hunt in so I think it would be best if you looked at different wool garments from different manufactures and then maybe tried a piece at a time.
I could go on but if it's too long few people will read it, LOL!
Swandri from New Zealand.
Ll bean have had their wool camo set for many yrs good stuff
I prefer wool 'mid' layers, especially when the weather is damp.
Codet stuff is well made.
