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Traditional or Strap type upland hunting vest, What's your choice and why?
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For warmer weather I use a strap type, colder weather brings out the traditional type vest. I even use an upland vest for my deer hunting, lots of pockets and pouches for carrying stuff. -
I have a traditional style Walls vest I bought six years ago. Wish I had bought a couple as it appears they no longer make this model. I have tried on the strap affairs and don't like them. Too fiddly getting in and out of them. Imagine it's worse once they're full of ammo and birds. Not a problem with this vest as I routinely take it off to put roosters in the back (see below). I also actually appreciate the added warmth of a full vest when hunting birds late October through December. And it seems to me the weight is distributed much more evenly with a traditional vest. The Walls has water bottle pockets on both sides at the hip. I may cut them off. Top half of each is mesh, presumably to keep water bottles cooler? All they do is catch burs ... a lot! And I never carry water anyway. This vest is tan canvas (10 oz I'm guessing) with glo-orange yoke and piping trim. The new versions appear to be lighter synthetic blend fabric. Mine has a special pocket in front for e-collar transmitter with a nice cutaway for the antenna. I don't use e-collars but looks like the pocket would work okay. Pockets flaps are snapped which I GREATLY prefer over Velcro. It has a zipper front which is better than buttons or snaps. Too bad the zipper was so dinky. Very hard to deal with when hands are cold. I'm stripping it off this week and replacing it with something more substantial. The vest is front loading which is great for small birds like huns and grouse. It's a bit tougher shoving a big rooster through to the back so I usually use the bigger ports on the side (usually after I have removed the vest - not as limber as I used to be). The game bag unzips at the top for easy access to remove birds at the end of the day. I like the snap closure lanyard retaining straps on both sides of the front zipper. I usually put one string of lanyard through left strap so I can pull the whistle up to my mouth as needed but it still stays to the left side and not banging against my gun. The vest only has five shell loops inside the right cargo pocket. Wish it had more (though five shots was usually sufficient this year for a limit of three roosters). The game pouch is well-lined and only rarely has leaked a bit of blood through one corner of the outside seam. Never any leakage against my back. The vest has three zippered pockets inside. One in the back is long and easily holds a lunch. The game pouch is expandable and I like the option of being able to tighten it up. Perhaps the best feature of this vest was honest sizing! So many "large" jackets and coats these days are designed for extra large guts. This one fits me to a tee. And not having a lot of flapping duds to get in the way is important when fast shooting on the move.
Most vests I see on the market today have many of the above features. But most cost a lot more than the thirty bucks I paid for this one.Comment
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Okay, I don't shoot while moving. Yikes! Fast shooting and on the move.Comment
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I still have my old Bird Hunting Vest made of brown canvas with shell loops in side the pockets and game carry bag in the back and zipper front. I get to use it for two weeks once a year for grouse Hunt in N.C.The Brand name is(10-X).Comment
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I prefer the traditional style vest. Mine holds 10 shells in loops in each front pocket, no velcro as it uses magnets, only downside is the magnets don't always hold like snaps do in the thick stuff. Roomy in the back end, though I wish the front openings were a bit larger, tough to stick a fat sage hen through but other than that I am pleased with it.Comment
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Browning coat with zip off back for cooler weather, Safety Bak vest for hot weather and my original el cheepo American Sportsman(all red with zip off bag, after 55 years the vinyl lining on the bag has cracked)Comment
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Gee, Montana, you're actually still shooting sage hens? Looks like that may be coming to an end. I heard something is afoot back there about that. I haven't seen a sage hen in decades. Neither has my friend who lives in Havre and his daughters' in-laws own a large ranch north of town. One place I hunt has some but the owner won't tell anyone where they are for fear they will be shot. He takes his grandkids to watch the birds doing the courtship dance in the spring. It's very sad to see sage hens disappear. I remember watching them fly across Hwy 2 when I was a boy. And they were everywhere in the Missouri Breaks. Not any more. I met some dudes in the donut shop at Chinook a couple of years ago who were specifically looking for sage hens. They wanted them to complete their grand slam of uplands. Brother! We shot some when I was a kid but stopped that quickly. They are hit and miss for eating. Hit a young one and you can eat it. Barely. Older birds are tough enough to use for retreading tires and talk about gamey!Comment
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Ditto PAShooter.Comment
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Depends on how bulky my other clothes may be due to weather. I do not like binding while swinging my shotgun or jump shooting. So guess my answer is .....it depends on conditions.Comment
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Still have a fairly large population of them down on the BLM sage flats here. Typically only hunt for them one weekend a year, usually get about 8-10 birds over the two days for a group of 4 guys. Spend a good portion of the winter keeping the coyotes and bobcats thinned down around their winter grounds. Still fairly common to see several groups of 500 birds out there when we are calling the predators, quite a sight to see. Though they aren't my favorite gamebird to eat, we fillet the meat off the bones and usually throw it in the crockpot and then mix it with brown rice after its good and tender. Bones make for a good stock as well.Comment
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I like the freedom of movement and layering options for outer wear that my strap vest gives meComment
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