Upland Hunting Pants

Hunting gear to me is a very personal thing and I would like to share what I've learned and what I use with others. I spend enough time hunting and outside that I feel if something works or doesn't, I can share that opinion and hopefully help someone out. Personally, I am a gear guy and I like my stuff to work well, look good and serve a desired purpose. I'm also kind of a cheap bastard (if you ask my wife, I'm sure she would argue otherwise). I enjoy quality but my budget usually requires that to find quality I need to acquire items on sale and at a discounted rate. I buy most of my gear online or on sales racks in the late winter or springtime when they are out of season. I also like outlet stores and hate to pay full-retail for anything. I've found my best bargains online at sierratradingpost.com and believe it or not on Cabelas.com in their bargain cave section. In the late winter and springtime you can find items that you thought were out of your price range for less than half and sometimes 70% off at these places. Also once you buy items from these sites and get on their email list you usually receive coupons and such via email that discount products even further. Hunting gear is expensive enough even discounted. Never pay retail if you don't need to. Today, I'm going to focus on my favorite hunting pants.

Cabelas Early Season Upland pants: (above photo taken from cabelas.com)

Out of all the hunting pants I own (and I own many) these are my favorite. They are light-weight but tough enough to handle the brush I wade through during the early grouse season here in Utah. I absolutely love these pants. I wear these nearly all season but I really appreciate them early and late season when its warmer. They are also perfect for Chukar hunting. Lightweight yet tough and durable. When your doing a lot of hiking you don't want heavy canvas pants dragging you down. I will even wear these hiking in the summer time if I plan on going off-trail. I like the cargo pockets with zippers and the zippers on the back pockets. I've worn these for 2 seasons and and they are still wearing great. These probably wouldn't hold up in the woods of the Northeast for more than a season but for what I do here in Utah they are perfect. If someone knows of a better chukar hunting pant please let me know.

$49.99 on Cabela's website. They've gone up recently. I got mine in their bargain cave for $19.99 2 years ago. Unfortunately, they haven't been discounted since I bought mine (I've been watching). If you want a nice pair of lightweight upland pants these are great.

Columbia Grouse II Upland pants

In colder weather I really like my Columbia Grouse II Upland pants (above photo taken from sierratradingpost.com). Heavy canvas with the protective heavy polyester overlays on the pant fronts and bottoms. Plenty of protection for what I deal with here in the west. I don't wear chaps although I've considered getting some for wet conditions (I hate walking around in wet pants). They are a little baggy but I kind of like them like that. If you happen to wear suspenders they have built in suspender buttons. These are nice heavy pants. I'm on my 4th season with mine and they are starting to fray some at the bottom and I have worn some holes in the bottom of the legs on the back side where there is no nylon but there is still plenty of life in these pants. I just need to patch them up. Sierra Trading Post always seems to have these on sale and I got my pair for $21. Recently I bought the Columbia Grouse III. They look and fit exactly like the Grouse II's but have the Omni-Shield protection and the fabric is more polyester. Much lighter pants than the Grouse II. We will see if that makes a difference. I also bought these at sierratradingpost.com. I believe I paid $26 for them with an online coupon. Once you get on Sierra Trading Post email list you can get some rocking deals if you have the patience to wait for the good sales.

NOTE: I wore my Columbia Grouse III pants for the first time yesterday and I really liked them. They were heavy enough to protect me from all the brush and briars and light enough that they weren't overly hot or heavy. Like I said above they are a little baggy but I didn't mind. I think overall these will be great pants.

NOTE 2: I've worn these throughout the 2011 season in all kinds of conditions and I love the Grouse III pants. I wouldn't call them water-proof but they have kept me dry in some wet rainy conditions. They fit me great and are wearing very well.