Don't get wet!

[>>>---WW---->]

Lckytylr posted this on another thread. (The last few days of the season this year . . . I got WET ! ! !

I don't mean a little wet, I mean Soaked all day every day for nearly 4 days.)

I love to hunt but getting soaked every day (or any day as far as that goes) is flurting with disaster. Hypothermia can set in even if the air temperature is still above the freezing mark. So be careful out there!

Some of my best and memorable hunts have been on the nastiest days. I had the whole forest to myself because all the other camps in the area were sitting in camp drinking whatever and playing cards.

It was one of those cold, rainy, drizzly, foggy days that ducks don't even like. But I didn't let myself get wet. I had on full raingear from head to toe. Also rubber boots and even waterproof gaiters. I've been successful on days like this a couple of times. Maybe I was just lucky but elk on the ground speaks for itself.

I'm real anal about staying dry! I packed an elk once on a nasty day and got a myself in the warning stages of hypothermia. It is no picnic! So I always try to do my very best at staying dry.

There was another time I made the mistake of getting wet. But that's another story. Maybe if this thread goes anywhere I'll tell that tale. LOL!

[JGH]

"Wet" sucks ...

I was remembering with a friend last weekend ... we were dragging a huge whitetail back across the Loup River in Nebraska ... at night ... in December. It was only knee-deep, so we just toughed it out ...

Until we hit "the hole" ...

Soaked, we crawled onto the far bank.

Friend went for the pickup. 20 minutes later I saw his flashlight coming through the trees. "I'm over here!" I said.

He replied "Who is that? My friend is down by the river with a dead deer and I'm trying to find my pickup!"

Damn ... he'd been walking in circles.

Ah ... memories.

[bnsafe]

im just keepin the thread alive so I can hear ww other story,

[mtnmutt]

My only time of having the early stages of hypothermia was at Hershey Park, PA. A cold front moved in and the sky opened up. I was drenched head to toe. Once at the car, the heat could not come on fast enough for me.

I know for many of us, rain gear causes us to overheat, so we may have a tendency to not wear it. This happened to me on a summer scouting trip this summer. It started to rain and then hailed for one hour. I was stubborn and felt I could hike down to my car before I felt cold. I made 3/4 way before the chill started. I finally stopped to put the rain gear on. Once the rain gear was on, I warmed up.

Quality rain gear is important as is the baselayer you use to wick moisture away from your skin. This season, I only had one morning that I was chilled from sweat. In the my first 2 season's, I used a synthetic baselayer and was chilled frequently from my sweat. Last year, I switched to merino wool for all clothing next to my skin except for the sock liners (silk) and only had that one morning of being chilled.

Here are the items that can save you if you start having hypothermia
Good Insulating hat. I use a thick wool hat and can cover it with my rain jacket's hood
Extra pair of dry warm socks
Quality Emergency space blanket
Those chemical Hand warmers as extra insurance

If you don't like carrying heavy rain gear, a quality rain poncho can do wonders and do not weigh much. You can improvise rain gear with those contractor or garbage bags you may be carrying.

If you are a solo hunter, the extras you put in your pack can safe you.

Keep in mind that once you reach a certain stage of hypothermia, you lose rational thought. You know you are in trouble if your teeth start to chatter.

[elkmtngear]

From a Customer:

"I used my slip this year as a trekking pole, umbrella from the rain and snow falling from the tree limbs, and decoy to take my bull. As IdyllwildArcher said, that thing saved my butt from the elements! Thanks for a great product"! ~William Shafar, 2013

...just sayin'