Hunting in period gear....

[Stonedog]

I have been wondering who amongst us hunts in period clothing?

I have always been enamored with the Dark-Age of England and have been hunting as an Anglo-Saxon on the early 10th Century for sometime now.

I only carry what would have been available at the time......the only modern concession I make is a cell phone hidden away on my person (a rule that my wife enforces!).

I was wondering if any of my fellows share the same compulsion?

[Barrage]

Not yet, but Hawkbow showed some stuff one time that looked pretty cool.

And PS, good books (and name)

[boo]

Great topic, Ive been working on it for a few years now. i guess im around 50 % on day with good weather and above 40 deg. I think the most important part of you gear  is footwear (or at least for me). Hopefully ill have a pr of  good worm mocs made before this deer season. you have any pics?

[hawkbow]

Hey brother, i usally hunt elk in buckskins and mostly primitive equipment.. except for survival gear.. like matches and fishhooks,.. to me hunting alone in real wilderness sitations.. is my way of recharging after a year confined in this place we call civilization/and progress... geting back to the ancient ways for a month alone certainly lets me know where I stand in this great circle of life...and my wife makes me keep a cell phone in my war bag also... the only thing here is I may have to travel for miles to get a signal.... on top of some high peak... Hawk a/ho

[Stonedog]

I hear ya Hawk!

While I love being in period clothing (trust me wool and linen in the period cuts are MUCH more comfy than modern clothing ANYDAY!).....carrying period gear....I have no interest in dying a period death from exposure!

I always carry in a braintan bag:

Cell phone (wife's rule)
Modern ways to light a fire
A mylar space blanket
A small but comlete first aid kit which includes sutures; if I am cut deep enough, I have been known to sew myself up!
Water filter

You don't see them as they are hidden away in a bag...If just for a morning hunt or day trip they are in a wool blanket roll slung across my back....If longer then I take more in an Anglo-Saxon side bag.....

As a side note.....

I have some handforged hooks and hemp fishing line.....but I still keep a modern set in my mini-kit hidden away.

I just had a NICE wool tunic made last week!

[JW_Halverson]

I've hunted in 1770 era regalia for years with my flintlocks, adds a wonderful feel to the whole experience and freaks the crap outa the game wardens when they run across me.  I've not hunted much with the bow, but I have spent a few days in my muzzleloader gear packing the bow and doing some stump shooting.  Even that feels much more "right".

I start with a pair of center seam moccasins made by Mark Roster (Dakota Rooster) up in North Dakota, solid footgear!  Then I add woolen stockings up over the knees held in place with a pair of leather garters with brass buckles below the knees.  Over these I wear a pair of heavy linen kneebreeches with buffalo horn buttons.  A pair of thin buckskin leggings over the stockings and lower part of the kneebreeches takes care of the legs.  Then a mid-thigh length hunting shirt (or up to three, depending on the weather) and a woolen weskit (waistcoat or "vest") takes care of the upper body. Top it all off with a flat brim hat with the back side pinned up with a turkey wingbone call.  Add a neck knife, oilcloth snapsack, fingerwoven sash around the waist with a tomahawk tucked in the small of my back and I am ready to thrive.

[Cromm]

Less words and more photos of the gear you dress in people!!!!

[hawkbow]

Here are  a few pics....

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[hawkbow]

late fall... elk skin shirt, mountain lion quiver and bowcase..

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[david w.]

What if this gear is "no gear"

Still want a picture

Can't get any more primitive

[hedgeapple]

I used to do freelance writing for outdoor magazines.  I did several muzzleloading hunts in period outfits.  Pardon the poor quality of the picture.  It was scanned from the magazine.

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[hawkbow]

Great picture brother.. that is some fine looking bacon and ham you got there too... Hawk

[hedgeapple]

Hawk, thanks.  Yep, it was a yummy piece of pork.  I really like your buckskin hunting shirt.  I need one. 

[hawkbow]

I built that shirt out of huge elk hides about fifteen years ago... stained the top half with red earth pigments from the sacred black hills and since then with blood from elk, mountain lion , deer, bear and various other creatures fom the high country ...big medicine...... it even has a rip in the left sleeve from a really angry grizzly... so i guess it is broke in good what kind of rifle is that you are holding? Hawk

[hedgeapple]

Hawk, it was TC, Hakens style in a .58 caliber.  I still have the slug which was just under the hide on the opposite should.  Oh, the boar's head is staring at me while I type.