Picture this: You’re getting ready to walk into your stand or blind in the quiet darkness of predawn. The property has some standing water so you’re wearing knee-length rubber muck boots and, since the mercury is just above freezing, two pairs of socks. You walk in for a half mile or so, occasionally sloshing through some ankle-deep mud along the way, being as quiet as possible. You get set up and everything looks good—time to wait patiently and see what happens.
A little while later, the cold starts creeping in, starting with your feet. In another 30 minutes, they’re starting to get really chilly now.
Pretty soon, you’re losing the feeling in your toes. You want to stand up and stomp around to get the blood flowing but that’s a sure way to spook anything in the vicinity, so you sit there quietly, slowly becoming more miserable as your feet seem to turn to blocks of ice. Sound familiar?
Cold feet are a common issue among hunters (and perhaps the most common of all). But there are ways to avoid this, starting with understanding why it happens in the first place.
The first reason is moisture. Your feet perspire, just like the rest of your body. That half-mile walk into the blind was enough to get them going. Combine that with rubber boots which are waterproof but don’t breathe and you’ve got the start of some chilliness going on. This is especially true if you’re wearing cotton or cotton-blend socks.
The second issue is boots which are too tight. We always think we need tight boots to keep them secure but that can reduce circulation to the feet, which makes it harder to keep them warm. You also need air voids for your body to heat up and trap warmer air next to your skin.
So how do we prevent this from happening? The first is to use a merino wool sock rather than anything made with cotton. Wool is among the best at wicking moisture away from the skin. And don’t think of those scratchy old wool blankets—today’s merino wool is just as soft and luxurious as any cotton or cotton blend on the market. And rather than overdoing it with two pairs, just pick a weight that’s suitable for the conditions at hand. This will allow you to reduce that moisture next to your skin while also creating those air voids for your body to heat naturally and improving circulation around your feet. If you’re wearing lace-up boots, you can also loosen the laces a bit once you arrive at your blind to allow for even more circulation.
Hunt Monkey is the only brand that makes socks specifically for the fishing and hunting enthusiast. There are three different weights—lightweight, mediumweight and a heavyweight—and different lengths, from a crew to an over-the-calf for tall boots or waders. They’re all made using the finest merino wool by one of the oldest sock mills in the United States. These are designed with all kinds of great features including compression fit and additional padding in the pressure points which add up to making Hunt Monkey the finest hunting sock on the market today. Check ‘em out for yourself and say goodbye to cold feet.
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