LAST UPDATED: December 7th, 2023
The annual opener to bowhunting season is a long awaited return to some of the best days of the year. But it’s also a reminder of how brutal early season hunting can be.
Regardless of where you’re hunting across the country, the earliest days of the season often bring scorching temperatures and long, sweaty sits in the tree.
So how do you handle these hot weather days in the deer stand?
Below you’ll find a look at the best gear for hot weather hunting to help you make the most of the early days of bow season.
ScentLok Featherweight 1/4 Zip
Inspired by athletic gear, the Featherweight 1/4 Zip is ScentLok’s lightest weight shirt option yet. This shirt features durable, lightweight, and moisture-wicking material that keeps you cool during the early season grind, and will help maintain your hunting apparel’s durability through the years. Treated with their Fusix technology and Silver Alloy™ technology for scent control.
Price – $59.99
ScentLok Savanna Aero Crosshair Jacket & Pant
Scent control is a struggle in the early season. Regardless of what you wear, you’ll be sweating by the time you hike to your stand and climb in.
If you want an apparel system to help you contain your stink, be sure to check out the Savanna series from Scentlok. The Savanna Aero Crosshair jacket and pant were designed to deliver comfort, concealment and scent control.
They are built with with lightweight moisture-wicking fabric designed to prevent overheating. The garments’ proven-deadly Carbon Alloy Technology delivers maximum odor adsorption with additional antimicrobial treatment for odor prevention.
Price – $97.49 (jacket) / $97.49 (pant)
Mossy Oak Tibbee Flex Vented Hoodie
The Men’s Tibbee Flex Vented Hoodie from Mossy Oak is a super lightweight hoodie built with a 4-way stretch material that features Hydroplex all-natural cooling technology. It’s designed to deliver hyper-evaporation through advanced moisture wicking to keep you cool and dry on your warm weather hunts.
The hoody’s mesh panels provide ventilation for maximum heat release to keep you comfortable. Best yet, it’s priced well bellow comparable garments from other brands.
Price – $44.99.
SITKA Equinox Guard Hoody & Pant
The Equinox Guard Hoody helps prevent contact with insects in three distinct ways: limited skin exposure, bite-reduction fabric, and built-in Insect Shield®.
Comfortable and moisture-wicking—especially in hot, humid conditions—it’s made from a SITKA-developed ultra-lightweight, breathable, tightly knit stretch fabric that helps prevent mosquito bites.
It features a breathable mesh facemask and a long tail that tucks into your pants for maximum chigger/tick protection.
Price – $149 / $249.00
First Lite Trace Shirt and Pant
The Trace system is First Lite’s answer to the demand by southern hunter for lightweight apparel for hunting in hot weather. The Quarter Zip top and pant were designed for the days when humidity and temperatures both climb above 90 degrees.
They’re built with a durable KineticGrid fabric and treated with HeiQ Pure Odor Control Technology to offer maximum breathability and odor control in a silent, ultralight, package.
Price – $100 (shirt) / $150 (pant)
NOMAD Pursuit Shirt & Pants
The Nomad Pursuit Long Sleeve is a lightweight crew neck shirt that’s the perfect layer on cooler days, or worn by itself when the temperatures are scorchin’. It’s designed with +UPF 30 to block UVA and UVB rays for all-day sun protection, stain-resistant and anti-microbial treatments and superior breathability.
Like the shirt, the Pursuit Pants are a super comfy option for your warm weather hunts. They were designed to be a lightweight, quick-drying, 4-way stretch pant for warm weather hunting situations.
Price – $50 (Shirt) / $95 (Pant)
Forloh SolAir Lightweight Shirt & Pant
Forloh is a fairly new player in the technical clothing game for hunters, but they have quickly established a reputation for designing some great garments to keep you comfortable on your hunts. And it’s particularly true with their early season hunting apparel.
The Forloh SolAir Lightweight shirt and pant were designed for your warm weather outdoor adventures with a 50+ UPF rating that provides the ultimate UV sun protection during prolonged sun exposure. It’s built to help you stay cooler, dryer, odor free, and protected from the sun and warm weather.
The lightweight pants are built with Insect Shield, a long-lasting, effective and convenient insect protection you’ll be glad you have on your body in the early season. They repel mosquitoes, ticks, ants, flies, chiggers and midges.
Price – $99 (shirt) / $179.99 (pant)
North Mountain Leafy Jacket
When it’s hot out, sometimes the best answer may be to hit the woods in a t-shirt (or go shirtless) with the North Mountain lightweight leafy jacket on top.
This setup pulls double duty with killer concealment in its 3D design, plus a breathable, lightweight build to keep you cool and comfortable in the early season. You can easily stash it in your pack for the walk in, then get dressed once your arrive at your stand or blind.
Price – $99
First Lite Wick Boxer Brief
Early season swamp butt can make for a long day in the woods or field. Quality gear for your goods should not be overlooked! Don’t skimp here.
The Men’s Wick Short Boxer Brief is First Lite’s baselayer bottom for high output hunts in hot weather. The Short Boxer Brief utilizes a 4″ inseam for a minimalist approach to keeping cool and maximum temperature regulation and ventilation.
Price – $40
Water Bottle
A water bottle should be considered standard equipment for your hot weather hunts. Ignore the need for H2O, and you might find yourself in serious trouble. Whether it’s a disposable water bottle, or a beefy bottle you use over and over, make sure you have water along on every hot weather hunt.
Price – $28
Thermacell
The death of many early season hunts often comes down to hunters calling it quits early due to mosquitoes. You can only take so much when it comes to these little devils. Whether it’s the buzzing in your ear or the actual bites they administer, mosquitoes will quickly send you back to the truck.
Fortunately, the Thermacell unit truly works at keeping mosquitoes at bay. Better yet, they’re new formula even works to fight no-see-ums, an equally annoying biter of the skin.
Price – $29.99
Cooler With Ice
A YETI cooler full of ice (and cold drinks, too) should be standard equipment in the truck during your early season hunts. You can store all your cold drinks to keep you hydrated and refreshed after the hunt, or scouting run, but it’ll also be ready and cold when you need a place to stash meat in the early season.
A lot of deer meat goes to wasted in the early season simply because of a lack of preparedness on the hunter’s part. Don’t let this be you! Keep a cooler and ice handy.
Price – $375 YETI 65
MTN OPS Electrolyte STM (Straight to Mouth)
When you can’t keep cold drinks on hand during your hot weather hunt, you might consider a straight to mouth option. MTN OPS meets the need here with their new Electrolyte STM (Straight to Mouth) product to refuel and hydrate when your body needs it most.
It’s loaded with the optimal levels of essential minerals including sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. It’s a super convenient way to give your body the boost it needs.
Price – $20.97
Scent-A-Way Wash Towels
Chances are, by the time you climb into your stand or blind in the early season, you’ll be dripping with sweat. You’ve probably said it before, “I need a towel!” Scent-A-Way has you covered with their Wash Towels designed to help you control odors in the field.
They cleanse and deodorize when soap and water are not available. Each pack includes twelve 10” x 12” towels in a re-sealable bag.
Price – $4.99
Sunglasses
Some would say that sunglasses don’t necessarily help with the heat, but if you can shade your eyes, you’ll feel cooler overall, even if it’s just a mental crutch. Seriously, the sun can hurt you far beyond the heat itself.
The glare you experience can take its toll on your eyes and quickly lead to headaches. Make sure you have a quality pair of sunglasses handy when the sun is beating down. The Costa Permit is a great option to keep you protected, whether you’re hunting, scouting, fishing, or just hanging out.
Price – $279
Deer Blind Fan
Some might say, the use of a fan in the deer blind will cost you your man card. But when it’s 95 degrees in the shade, and the interior of your deer blind is 115 degrees, a fan isn’t a bad idea at all.
You can buy a rechargeable fan off Amazon for pretty cheap. And when the temperatures are scorching, you’ll find it to be worth the investment.
Price $29.99
Wasp Spray
Wasps and hornets love to build nests in treestands and deer blinds. Climbing into either without first inspecting for wasps is a bad move. Wasp spray should be standard equipment in your pack when making the first trip of the season to the woods.
It happens every year; hunters fall from both elevated deer blinds and treestands when swarmed by wasps or hornets. Be prepared. Carry the spray.
Price – $7
Stay cool this season on your hot weather hunts by adding the gear mentioned above to your gear list. Also, be sure to comment below, and let us know what gear we need to add to our list as well.
