BigGameHoundsmen.com

Guys and Gals,

Hunting cats in deep snow is very hard work and you need the best equipement available. We don't often get deep snow here in the sunny southwest but we have it this year. It's time to leave the horses home and get out therte on those ridges and find those cats crossing. That takes leg work, and when it is below zero as it was this morning and I had been in deep snow all day the day before following the hounds after the longtails you want gear you can depend upon.

Many of today's fabric are great but time has proven good woolen products are very hard to beat in situations where you will be getting wet or snow covered and have to keep warm and moving. I wearCodet or Woolrich 100% woolen pants and shirst over layuered Underarmour, Browning or Shnee treated combo boots with Smart Wool underneath. My Gators are expensive but worth every penney Kevlar. Filson Wool vest and my back pack that is supported by fleable suspenders and a waistband. Top this with good cold weather thinsulate gloves and an extra pair dry in the pack along with survival items , firestarters, lights etc. A good hat to keep the snow off your head, I wear a western hat that helps but any good full brim hat is best, but I keep a stocking cap face mask cobo in the pack as well.Don't forget the sunglasses please. In the bright snow you can go snow blind.

Nearly as important is your trekking or walking stick. Beleive me this is such a grreat aid in deep snow on hills and such you will thank me if you get one. Beleive me you see the ruler of evil Benlodin himself who is at home as any in steep rocking country and can move thru it swiftly and easily while strangers falter and stumble along. Bad movie I know bu the know a few things they have been traveling that for thousands of years.

Lastly quality shoulder holster rig for your weapon. Keep it under that vest I spoke about warm and dry. As the most successful Jaguar hunter of all times Tony De Almieda said in bad conditions and beleive me the swaps of the Patinal and Matto Groos must be horrible the number one jaguar weapon is the Smith and Wesson Model 66 357 Magnum with a 4" barrel. Submerged in water , mud and rinsed off it has proven itself as reliable in dangerous situations time and again. There are others as good but this one is hard to beat. I dropped mine the other day on deep snow it was coated. I wasn near the truck I just wiped it off a bit and put it up near the de-froster and in a few minutes all I had to do was wipe it off with a paper towel and go on no worry of rust.


All these little things will help because they were learned by trial and error. As I was stumbling along the trail this morning to two hounds that had stayed out all night on a lion in temps up to 12 deg. below I thought how lucky we human are to have all these fine things to help us along. But then I thought how remarkable a houndog is who will stay out in the freezing cold all night with a mean old nasty lion and still wag his tail when he sees you coming to the tree. That's why most of my best friends have 4 legs. LOL!

Mike, thanks for always shooting it straight on here it is a breath of fresh air in todays internet b.s. world.

Alot of good info Mike. I hunt alot on my own as well. in a lot of roadless area. Being prepared is of the utmost inportance.

As I wrote to others on here , thanks to guys like you who are willing to share with all of us..I agree about the wool, even wet it's insulating powers are amazing and life saving. Also the cold weather will dehydrate you and the dogs without your realizing it so try to pack plenty of liquids.

Do any of you all ever wear anything over your wool to prevent from getting so wet? I seem to be soaked to the hilt all the time and get a little chilly when a guy is out in the middle of the night and froze stiff after a long chase. I wondered if some sort of lite rain suite over your wool would help. Im a rookie so maybe this has been tried and not worked well. Any input boys?

I've learned that the dryer I keep my wool, the warmer I will be when the sun goes down. I always wear gators in snow. I also have a pair of bibs/jacket that I put on to bust through the wet stuff. They are light weight and can be taken on and off fast - without taking off the boots. If I keep my wool fairly dry, I can put on the suit and lay right down in the snow and take a little nap.

I absolutely love Filson wool products. With Filson you get what you pay for...I have lots of wool pants, socks and sme of their "tin cloth" coats, pants etc....you cant go wrong with wool...especially Filson wool

i agree. gore-tex has some good stuff, but it dont hold up busting through thick brush and scratching trees, my gore-tex OR gators have a hole in them already, but i have a pair of gators made from a wool type material and i always wear them huntin, ad had them far longer then my gore-tex gators. good info mike,

another thing i learned the hard way and im sure yall already know is HAVE MULTIPLE SHOVELS IN YOUR PICKUP!! being burried in 4 ft of snow with no shovel is not fun, and something i will never re live. now i have a smow machine, so the minute i slip a tire its time to drop the tailgate and unload the sled

Filson products are the best I agree they are built for hard use. I wear the Tin Cloth material coat and chaps over the wool when I know it is going to be super wet and falling out of the trees on you all the time. If the snow is dry and powdery like our is now not too much of a problem but Filson can't be beat. I started wearing their stuff years ago birdhunting and then liked it so well I used it for hound hunting too. I was wearing those Filson chaps up on a bird hunt in Idaho. I had to help a freind for a day on the ranch process some yearlings and I wore those becasue I didn't have my regular leggings with me. Well those buckaroos laughed at my funny looking chaps, but by the end of the day they started asking questions, and my friend told me that shortly there after a bunch of them bought them and wear them exclusively when it is wet and nasty doctoring or processing cattle. LOL!

Mike, I like the story! Turns out as soon as somebody sees/wears Filson they are beleivers! That tin cloth would be good for working cattle...the stuff s like a sheild...that way when a big mean momma cow decides to freight train a guy, the Filsn tin cloth will save your bacon! haha

i go with wool,for this reason,its nots slick,if you fall on a slope, you don't take off like a sled! i had a set ski bids on one day,running tom in a steep canyon,fell and took off like a rocket over one rim,the next was a big rim,came by a small pine turned in mid air and grabbed the top.looked like a fly rod doubled over,randy my huntin buddy said i thought you were a goner schoonie,sittin there with that little pine lookin over that rim,i realized that warm,dry,slick shit about took me over the edge,make mind wool,i carry some pull overs in my day pack in case i got the stay out the night.

Know what you mean Schoonie!

Listen' you ain't recreating the wilderness experience. You may get to enjoy it but many have gone before and if you don't learn from their wisdom , you will remain unchanged by the experience, and WHO will care.aka Russell Annabel

Is that quote from Trails of a Wilderness Wanderer?

ADVENTURE IS MY BUSINESS was the book.

Trails of a Wilderness Wanderer by Andy Russell is a classic. Andy describes how he learned from the Canadian Indians how to trail down and tree cougar in deep snow without the aid of hounds. Some of the country they hunted was so cold and covered with so much snow hounds were a burdon. Theyese guys were in awesome shape and could run for our on snowshoes. It is rather a hard book to find but if you find one from a used book source it is excellent reading and well documented.

I have a bunch of filson duds,really like their stuff.Recently I bought a new packer hat from thme and the hatband came UNGLUED,not unstitched.I'm afraid their quality is starting to fall off a bit. I know the tin pants I bought last year are not as good as the ones I bought 5 years ago.I hope I am wrong,but don't think so. The filson people are great to deal with though,every problem (all 3 of them) that I have had with fison products have been solved quickly with them just sending me new gear,no questions asked.