I have hunted in Montana and Wyoming with a rifle. I have worn carhart or when it was very cold heavy wool pants. The carhart pants will probably be too noisy. What are you elk hunters wearing to crawl around the bush in? Thank you

I just wear a pair of asat cotton pants.  I wear longjohn if its cold in the mornin/night and take off during heat of the day.  I also have a light pair of rain paints to pull off if the weather gets wet.  Good luck.

Do yourself a huge favor and get a pair of the Kuiu attack pants.  This fall's elk hunt in Sept temps ranged from 70-25 degrees, sunny to snow, and never once was I uncomfortable.  Only guy in Kuiu and the other three were wet/cold/too hot, whatever.  I hunted hard for a week at 10000ft. and it was like you took the wind, temperature and precipitation right out of the equation.

Depends entirely on where and how you hunt. I hunt in extremely rugged country and camp high. I prefer Sitka Ascent pants or even their 90% line if the temperature really drops. I cannot speak to wool pants for the high mountain hunting situations I generally find myself in, although I would have to imagine they are quite hot. If you are hunting lower elevations during September or are sitting at water holes, I am sure the wool pants are fabulous. I cannot speak to Kuiu, although they should perform similarly to the Sitka which lends them my vote.

Kom bunlight handle any weather from hot to snowy,you breath too.If it is too much cold add some long johnS!

Cotton pants for hot with thermals and a light rain pant for  cold and wet days.   If I was hunting out of a back pack Kuiu or Sitka would be more of a priority.

Sitka Ascent pants are perfect for any early season hunting where climbing is involved.  They wick moisture,  dry incredibly fast, and stretch with you as you climb.

WOW !

"and it was like you took the wind, temperature and precipitation right out of the equation."

If only they had a guarantee to match that...

When are the wool guys going realize there is a huge demand for light weight wool shirts and pants?  Lots of early season hunters out "West".

Bob

I wear carharts early season and also late season. Merino wool longjohns underneath. If I get warm, I can take them off and put them in my pack. Right now hunting bulls in January, I am wearing 2 pair longjohns with some lightweight cotton snow camo pants. Dang, yes I am wearing whites for this late season hunt. (I don't have any white plaids, yet) (I hate camo)

Spending a couple hundred bucks for a designer pair of pants make no sense to me personally.

QuoteOriginally posted by NBK:
Do yourself a huge favor and get a pair of the Kuiu attack pants.  

x 2.

That's what I wore pretty much all of Sept. this year and they were great.

I wear Sitka mountain pants they work great

You might consider German wool knickers and knee high knitted wool socks!

I've used it several times when getting sheeps down from the mountain in the autumn.

It is easy to get wet on the lower part of the legs and instead of walking around in wet pants you just change the socks!

It's lighter to carry a extra pair of socks than pants. And wool will keep you warm even when wet!

If weight is not an issue, old army wool pants work well:  cheap,tough, warm and quiet.  

The Sitka and Kuiu that I have handled is too noisy for bow hunting unless you have windy conditons to muffle the rustle IMO.  I think these materials are a tradeoff  in quiet qualities to get lightweight and water/wind repellant features.  

The problem with cotton is that it is no good if wet and cool, much less cold temps.  If you are going to be near camp, then this is not an issue as you can go back and change.

I not a big fan of cotton unless I'm close to the truck and it's warm and dry. I like something that will wick moisture away from the skin. I like a poly synthetics or wool depending on how cold it is. Most of the time I'm going pretty lite but keep layers handy because you can get temps from 20 to 90 that time of year. I have had good luck with cabela's micro fiber on warm days and a good fleece/wool when wet and cold.

I don't mind cotton outerwear when I have merino wool longjohns. I have been quite comfy with my clothes set-up hunting in some -23 degree mornings up to +30. When the snow is that cold, you don't get wet. If you want to spend $200 plus on a pair of pants, go ahead. They won't help you kill an elk.

Microtex and 200 wt.merino on/off as needed mostly. Heavy wool pants(24-27 oz.)are usually too hot in Sept. when hiking until you wished you had them when the mid Sept. snow hits every year...

I appreciate Shedrocks input- I have yet to be able to justify even $100 for a pair of pants.  With that said- though my elk experience is limited with three CO elk hunts and a few mule deer hunts in WY;  all had me wearing fleece with back up long johns when necessary.  I found them to work really good. The fleece stretches, dry fast, and keep you warm.  Though they may be a little warm when it gets hot- but I am not usually moving around much in the heat and I use my top as my thermostat anyway.  

Good hunting
Dan in KS

kuiu or first lite gilas

QuoteOriginally posted by Smithhammer:

QuoteOriginally posted by NBK:
[qb] Do yourself a huge favor and get a pair of the Kuiu attack pants.  
[/b]

x 2.

x 3 and I own both kuiu and sitka ascents. The kuiu are superior in every regard.

For real active hunting between say 25-65 degrees I wear a pair of mesh BDU pants made by Columbia, I shopped around and paid 20 or 30 bucks for them 5 or 6 years ago.  They are extremely light, breezy, and tough.  I've worn the heck out of them over rocks, crawling around, etc, and still no holes, just popped a button once.  When its wet they dry real quick.  If its windy or on the cooler end of things I put my rain pants over or put a light pair of capilene long undies underneath or both.  Much cooler than above though and I switch to light fleece or wool pants.