I dreaded it, but couldn't deny it was starting. As if controlled by a giant dimmer switch, the weak winter sun began to wane. Minute-by-minute, dusk, and the end of legal shooting time for deer season, was approaching.
Three months prior, my deer season should have come to an end, three times. I'd missed a nice buck because of an equipment malfunction. The jaws for my release had failed to open cleanly, and my arrow had cart-wheeled harmlessly through the woods. I'd missed by such a wide margin that the buck hadn't spooked, three arrows, three misses.
If only I'd kept my release dry! And it's not as if the technology to do so doesn't exist, and not as if I don't know better.
Up in a comfortable two-person Big Game stand, I wriggled my toes and fingers. Although missing that buck was a huge regret for the season, I was enjoying sitting in a tree, feeling warm and comfortable head to toe.
I realized a common ingredient in my outerwear -- neoprene. What did we do without it?
It was in 1930 that Dupont first marketed a version of it, called DuPrene. It was used in orthopedic braces, electrical insulation and even fan belts. But although it was widely used in a variety of applications, the material wasn't a hit in the hunting world because it had a bad odor.
By 1937, Dupont had revamped the process of making the material, which eliminated the odor problem. The company gave the material a new name, Neoprene. With the materials' capabilities of water-proofing and insulating against cold, and its flexibility in cold temperatures, it was a big hit.
One of the earliest and most commonly used applications of Neoprene was in waders. Now, the material can be found everywhere -- knee pads, boots, seat covers, gloves, gun stock covers, face masks, and dog vests, to name a few.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, I began to pack up my gear to make the trek back to my house. I donned my neoprene gloves, which I use when climbing up and down ladders or ladder steps. Not only do the gloves insulate against the metal's cold, they keep me from slathering human scent just where I don't want it -- nose level with a whitetail.
My comfy toes were also surrounded by neoprene, my boots. I'd fought the "cold feet" battle for years before selecting a neoprene boot, purchased one size larger than normal, which included enhanced insulation. On an extremely cold day, I might put a chemical warmer in each boot, but for the majority of times (temperatures 20 or above), I don't need one.
As I walked home, I reflected that hunting season wasn't over for me, not yet. There were still opportunities to add to the game in the freezer with small game and ducks, because I had the outerwear to face the winter's cold.
For a fine selection of Hunting Clothing, including many designed to handle cold weather, click here.