Elk hunt in Sept. Pants?

[sheephunter]

Cabelas microtex in outfitter camo or Day One in ASAT fleece. Both work great through out the whole season, are light and last forever it seems.

[BSBD]

I killed last seasons elk on the last day while wearing $2.00 Goodwill BDU's and a $3.00 Walmart T-shirt. Weather that week was rain, snow and hail every day with temps in the mid 20's to about 65. Rain pants and a goretex shell are always in my pack but the cheap stuff has worked fine so far.

After 15 seasons elk hunting I might upgrade this year but it's hard to justify spending more on 1 pair of pants than I have in 5 sets of mix and match camo gear.

[Greg Clark]

Cabelas Micro Tex pants have served me well for the past 10 years or so.  Check them out.

[JockC]

For price:  Microtex in outfitter camo.  Great value when on the annual sale, and a great camo.
For performance in mountains: Kuiu
For good price/performance in colder weather in mountains: Core4Element
For good price/performance in warm weather in mountains: lightest Sitka (on sale)
For quiet when weight isn't a matter: wool. That Swedish surplus is excellent.
For good price when not in mountains or rain: BDU's

I have, use, and love them all.  When you've had thousands of feet of vertical gain and drop in changeable weather, the Kuiu seems like very good value.  There are some excellent OD and brown softshell pants available from REI, etc. that you can catch on sale if you bide your time, but the pockets aren't as good.  Just watch all the synthetic stuff around campfires...

There was an interesting experiment where a world class mountaineer went high with two sets of gear: trad stuff like the early climbers wore (wool, linen, and Egyptian cotton) and the latest and techiest.  Somewhat surprisingly, he liked the trad stuff best.  Of course, it was all tailored for him, as it was for the early climbers, and he thought the fit was a very large part of his impressions.  Also, he was in true alpine conditions, with no rain and low humidity.  I think the cut and fabrics play large parts in why I like my Kuiu and Core4Element pants so much, and am less impressed by my Sitka mountain pants (especially for the money, even on sale).

[bbell]

I use first lite Gila pants. Super light and I like the asat camo. They are Merino wool with some ripstop for durability.
Brandon

[zootown2007]

I hunt every year in west central Montana. Ive hunted every archery season in Montana with plain Jane, cotton BDU pants My base layer seems to be more important than my choice of pants. Merino wool under garments for the win in my opinion. Merino wool keeps you cool in the hot, and warm in the cold.
For late season or high country I wear Columbia woolies (Gallatin if I'm not mistaken). They have served me well from 60 degrees to -30. They are quite, inexpensive, warm and VERY durable.

Good luck on your Montana hunt!

[JockC]

One other point: it depends a lot on your camp.  If you are set up to carry extra clothes or dry out gear, then cotton or wool are different deals than they are on minimalist bivy hunts, where there's one set of clothes, period.  Sleeping in or putting on damp or frozen pants in the cold pre-dawn gets a little old, and carrying heavy wet wool around in the mountains is just a bummer.  Complete agreement with Riley and Shedrock on the merino underwear, though; that's the greatest technical advance in my hunting gear in decades.

[The Hawk]

YOU ARE A TRAD HUNTER NOW! TRAD HUNTERS DON'T WEAR PANTS! Loin cloth for cold weather and a nard strap for sage brush!!!!  :p

[screamin]

Originally posted by The Hawk:
YOU ARE A TRAD HUNTER NOW! TRAD HUNTERS DON'T WEAR PANTS! Loin cloth for cold weather and a nard strap for sage brush!!!!   :p  

       

[Chain2]

Is the nard strap leather ? What would one treat that leather with?