Hunting Vest???

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aksportsman
Rank: Junior Hunter
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Location: Baton Rouge LA

Hunting Vest???

Post by aksportsman » Mon Mar 02, 2015 8:30 pm

I am looking to make a few duck hunts with my Brittany next year and will be traveling to ND in November for pheasant.. I hunt in south LA and only took her for woodcock this year but noticed that when it was in the low thirties and wet she was shivering any time she stopped, even if it was for a very short period of time. She was less than a year old however, and usually was only stopping for points so some of the quivering could be just excitement. My questions are..

1.) What thickness/type of vest should I purchase for duck hunting between 60-30 degree water retrieving for duck hunting (Brand, Style, 3mm vs 5mm)?

2.) Will that vest work for very cold ND weather or is there a better option?

and any other advice you think is relevant is appreciated, Thanks

fishvik
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Re: Hunting Vest???

Post by fishvik » Tue Mar 03, 2015 8:46 am

I would definitely go with the heaviest vest I could find, Cabela's has some good ones and they are what I use. That said I think you are setting your pup up for a real bad time if you don't take some extra precautions. I live and hunt in similar condition to what you described with a Lab x GWP with a thick coat, alot of body mass and a vest and he gets cold at times. Your pups first line of defense will be to develop a good coat. This takes long periods of being outside in cold weather and I'm not sure you can do that before the hunt, living in Louisiana. Depending on the type of duck hunting you're doing you need to prepare for keeping the dog warm between retrieves. Water retrieves and then sitting in a cold windy blind will be tough on the dog. Jump shooting will at least allow the dog to stay active. Before and during the hunt make sure your dog gets extra fat in it's diet. It'll be burning alot of calories on activity and staying warm. Make sure the dog can get warm and stay dry after hunting. Good luck on your hunt.

marysburg
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Re: Hunting Vest???

Post by marysburg » Tue Mar 03, 2015 12:11 pm

Very good advice there. We have used 3 Britts on waterfowl and we live in a cold area. They don't have the haircoat to support a waterfowl hunt in very cold weather, but they can do an upland hunt in cold conditions because they are not wet. We use ours on early season teal, but once there is ice on the water, they can only do one or two retrieves. Use a windproof blind and a thick neoprene vest, and that will help. All the neoprene vests have a different fit, so get the vest early and have alterations done ahead of time. We use the windproof fleece pointer vests (Rivers West) from Ugly Dog Hunting for upland work in very cold weather. Search this forum for hypothermia stories, very scary.

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aksportsman
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Location: Baton Rouge LA

Re: Hunting Vest???

Post by aksportsman » Tue Mar 03, 2015 12:50 pm

Thank you both for the excellent advice! I was a little scared this year with the temps being a little low and in such wet conditions, even for woodcock she is soaked in a half hour. I like the 5mm neoprene vest from "Banded" and from the measurements given it shouldn't be to hard to get it altered to be a good fit (thank you very much for that little bit of advice). Unfortunately we don't really have any waterfowl jump shooting opportunities here but I think I may limit her to a certain temp range say 45 degrees and up and just keep a close eye and dry towels. I was considering one of those dog blinds as well, obviously she is partially white and need to conceal her more than other breeds but would that help with her staying warm as well?

I'm sure there are some lab, chesapeake, and other breed owners laughing at all this right now..

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luvthemud
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Re: Hunting Vest???

Post by luvthemud » Fri Mar 06, 2015 2:47 am

aksportsman wrote:Thank you both for the excellent advice! I was a little scared this year with the temps being a little low and in such wet conditions, even for woodcock she is soaked in a half hour. I like the 5mm neoprene vest from "Banded" and from the measurements given it shouldn't be to hard to get it altered to be a good fit (thank you very much for that little bit of advice). Unfortunately we don't really have any waterfowl jump shooting opportunities here but I think I may limit her to a certain temp range say 45 degrees and up and just keep a close eye and dry towels. I was considering one of those dog blinds as well, obviously she is partially white and need to conceal her more than other breeds but would that help with her staying warm as well?

I'm sure there are some lab, chesapeake, and other breed owners laughing at all this right now..
I could never "alter" the vests that I bought from the store enough to make them work well. I found these guys:


http://surfnseacustomwetsuits.com/dogs/

Sent them some pics and the measurements and two weeks later it was at my door. They use thinner neoprene, but because of the custom fit I don't mind. Mine was for a male dog so the bottom was cut out, but if you have a female you should be able to have a lot of coverage on the underside. They can even put legs on them for even more protection. The price is good too!

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