If you’re like me, you don’t let any sort of weather conditions limit your hunting activities. Come rain, snow, sleet, or hail, few things prevent me from trekking out into the wilderness to get involved with yet another hunting expedition. Some folks may not be as dedicated to the hunting game, but a lot of people out there have proven their love of this act time and time again by hunting in all sorts of weather conditions.

Remain warm while hunting

While hunting during warmer weather certainly is a bit more enjoyable and less intensive, there’s something to be said about going out and hunting animals during the cold, winter months. Some of the best game is to be had during the colder weather, and we approach it closer and closer with every day that creeps by, the anticipation of these new hunting conditions becomes greater and greater.

Whether you’re a new or seasoned hunter, you might not be perfectly aware of the best gear to take with you when you go out hunting during the cold weather that is quickly creeping up on us. You might know about some of the bare essentials like gloves, coats, hats, etc., but these aren’t the only items you should be bringing with you to have the best experience possible when it comes to hunting while the temps are falling.

Today, I’m going to be going over some of the best tips and tricks to keep in mind while you go hunting throughout the cold months that will be here before you know it. These are the tips that I try to utilize every single winter, and they’ve proven to be some of the most effective ones out there.

So, without any further ado, here are my tried and true tips for how to stay warm while hunting in cold weather.

Don’t underestimate the power of cardboard

This might seem like a bit of an oddball tip if you don’t have that much experience with hunting in cold weather, but it’s something that’s proven to be one of the first things I do when I go out hunting when the air is a bit too frigid for my personal liking. Even when you go out to hunt with hunting boots that are rated to keep your feet warm through cold conditions, they still sometimes have a tendency to let cold air into them. This then causes your feet to get cold, and cold feet are never something you want to have to put up with while you’re waiting for that perfect target to come walking or flying by.

So, next time you go out hunting in the cold weather, make sure that you take a bit of cardboard with you that you can use to place underneath your boots. This will prevent any cold air from getting inside of then, and as a result, you’ll be met with as warm of feet as you can possibly have. Additionally, taking strips of cardboard and placing them in the cracks or holes of your box blind will also go a long way in helping to keep harsh, cold air away from you.

Take advantage of your hood

Pretty much every coat/jacket comes with a hood that’s attached to it, but if you’re like me, you sometimes have a tendency to completely ignore this feature and never mess with it at all. As easily as this might be able to do, you really do want to make sure that you’re taking advantage of your hood as much as possible. No matter what kind of coat you have, the hood that it comes equipped with can do wonders for keeping you warm during the winter hunting season.

Your hood is a wonderful tool for preventing things like rain and snow off of your neck and from going down your back, and in addition to this, they’re also excellent for keeping heat trapped inside of your coat. Plus, since it’s already attached to your coat, you don’t have to worry about losing it when packing up all of your gear!

Before you start hunting while wearing a hood though, you’ll want to take some practice shots to ensure that you’re comfortable with this. The last thing you want to have happen is for your hood to come sliding down over your eyes while you’re trying to take that perfect shot, but this can be avoided easily with some simple practice beforehand.

Heating up with heat packs

While coats, gloves, hats, and hoods all do a great job at trapping heat inside of your clothes that your body is already creating, sometimes you need a bit of a heat boost if the weather is proving to be particularly nasty. One of the best ways to go about doing this is by investing your money in heat packs.

When I say heat packs, I’m not talking about just those little, disposable hand-warmers. There are plenty of heat packs out there that are designed for larger body parts, and by placing just a couple of these things around the midsection of your body, your core will stay nice and tasty throughout the majority of your hunting duration. This will cost a bit of cash if you don’t already have some, but the investment in money is well worth the experience you’ll have while hunting with them.

Wear a wool shirt

Personally, I’ve never been the biggest fan of wool. I understand that it does a wonderful job at keeping you warm, but the itchiness of it has never been something that I’ve been a huge fan of. However, if you do some shopping around, you’ll find that there are a lot of long-sleeve wool shirts out there that are actually made up of a special sort of wool compound.

One of my favorite shirts that I use while hunting is made up from 69 percent wool, 29 percent polyester, and the remaining 2% is made up out of elastane blend. This combination of different ingredients keeps me warm without having to combat the itchy nature that wool generally brings, and it’s proven to be one of my favorite things to wear while going out on a cold hunting trip. Some owners of these kinds of shirts have said that they’re actually a bit too hot for their liking, but I personally think it’s a bit of a God-send for those long, cold, winter days while out on the stand or in your tent waiting for a beautiful target to meander by your way.

Also, you may want to check out our Best Hunting Shirts Guide for 2016.