Cold fingers alert, north central SD weekend of 1/18-1/19

L

Limitless

Well-known member
For anyone venturing out this weekend, thought I would give a heads up on weather conditions. This is for NC, east river, so may vary depending on your location.

About -17 windchill on Saturday, with 20 mph wind, and 4 deg. Sunday starts at -7, 13 mph, with a -27 windchill. But it gets up to a balmy -24.5 windchill by noon.

Fingers crossed they adjust that before the weekend comes, because we might not be able to cross them after.
 
Limitless said:
For anyone venturing out this weekend, thought I would give a heads up on weather conditions. This is for NC, east river, so may vary depending on your location.

About -17 windchill on Saturday, with 20 mph wind, and 4 deg. Sunday starts at -7, 13 mph, with a -27 windchill. But it gets up to a balmy -24.5 windchill by noon.

Fingers crossed they adjust that before the weekend comes, because we might not be able to cross them after.
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do you hunt with dogs in this kind of weather, and if so, do they wear any gear to prtect them from the wind and bitter cold?

thanks.
 
I'm pretty tolerant of hunting in cold conditions, but that is too much for this guy. You'd have to be pretty desperate to venture out in that nastiness TBH
 
gps4 said:
do you hunt with dogs in this kind of weather, and if so, do they wear any gear to prtect them from the wind and bitter cold?

thanks.
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Dogs are usually luckier than us, regarding wind, unless they are on a lake or open field or up high. The cover usually shields them a bit against the windchill.

My dog has 1/4" to 1/3" length fur. And her coat may not be a true double coat. Regardless, she gets cold in colder weather. My lab would have been fine in the temps I listed. My newfoundland never encountered temps too cold, and I know he was out in temps below -20 actual temp.

Dogs like german shorthaired pointers don't have double coats and can be lean and lanky. My dog is lean and lanky too. More surface area vs volume, which means more heat loss. Dogs can get hypothermia, just like people. Cold temps, getting wet (water or melted snow), low energy (high energy expenditure), and exhaustion are risk factors.

All this is to say that cold tolerance is mainly breed specific, and could be dog specific. So then the question is, what to do about it? My take on that is to either not hunt the dog in temps below its tolerance or use some method to increase their cold tolerance.

What I've personally done for my current dog is to layer her up as it gets colder. Same concept that people use. I've watched for signs of discomfort and determined rough temperatures when I will go to the next layer. I use a non insulating layer for some brush protection and so I (and other hunters, although mostly when ruffed grouse hunting in the woods) can see her easier. At around 20 degrees, I put a waterproof fleece vest under that. (waterproof, meaning it doesn't absorb water) If she will be wet, then I may put that layer on above that temp. Once it gets down to somewhere between 5 and 10 degrees, or lower, I add a heated coat under the fleece and the outer cover. I have a fleece vest that is one size larger than the regular one, so it can fit over the coat. The outer cover has adjustable straps. The heated vest has 3 settings. I have only used the low setting so far. I might go to medium somewhere below 0 degrees.

My dog's signs of discomfort are whining/making other noises/body language/nesting, when we stop moving. She wants to keep moving to stay warm. Before I got the heated coat, I wouldn't hunt her below 0 degrees. Now I feel comfortable doing that, if needed.

Her sign of being too warm is panting. I don't want to overheat her anymore than overcool her.
 
Good luck Limitless. I hope to arrive later next week forecast a little better. As far as dogs go. As long as they're hunting they are fine gps4. No coat for warmth needed. Now if you are sleeping and traveling them in one of the crates in an open pick-up in negative wind chill that's a different story. I often wonder about warmth in those aluminum diamond plate kennels in sub zero.
 
Gobbler said:
Good luck Limitless. I hope to arrive later next week forecast a little better.
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Looks a little better next Wed and Thursday, along with some snow.

Gobbler said:
As far as dogs go. As long as they're hunting they are fine gps4. No coat for warmth needed. Now if you are sleeping and traveling them in one of the crates in an open pick-up in negative wind chill that's a different story. I often wonder about warmth in those aluminum diamond plate kennels in sub zero.
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Yeah, crates pickup beds really need something extra if guys are driving them around in those temps.
 
Fool's errand or not, I've made my plans and I'm still going this weekend. May have to limit myself and the dog to be smart, maybe focus more on hunting ditches than I would prefer. Can I keep my fingers warm enough?
 
Limitless said:
@gps4 - What type of dog(s) do you have?
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85lb lab from MS (very rarely gets in below 25deg here) that stays inside. We hunted 8"-12" of snow last year with no vest or boots and she didnt seem to mind going barefoot on the snow, but the ambient temps were in the low 20s to low 30s.

I am scheduled to arrive in SD Thursday to 40deg weather, but wind and temps Saturday and Sunday are forecast to be colder than anything we have hunted before.
 
BirdDoggin said:
Fool's errand or not, I've made my plans and I'm still going this weekend. May have to limit myself and the dog to be smart, maybe focus more on hunting ditches than I would prefer. Can I keep my fingers warm enough?
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Shake hand warmers in your gloves are your friend. The warmer you keep your core body (although I don't recommend sweating too much in the cold), the more blood your body will allow to go to your extremities too.

I'd watch your ears too, in that wind. I wear in ear hearing protection. I used to use over the ear devices. Sunday, I will be wearing the over the ear devices. Maybe even Saturday. They happen to insulate and keep my ears warm, even though that isn't their primary purpose. If you don't use hearing protection, some type of muff or hat that goes over your ears is a good idea. I use a baseball style cap, since that is what my camera mounts to. It doesn't provide much for heat retention of my head, but the hoody hood helps with that.

Heck, I have never worn a facemask when pheasant hunting, only deer hunting, but I might dig out one to bring for Sunday. It is a pain in the rear end for us eyeglass users. Can't have my mouth covered, because of the water vapor and condensation issues with my glasses too. I do have a warmer neck gaiter that has pockets for hand warmers too, along the sides, that stick up to warm cheeks and ears. Mine covers my mouth if I pull it up, so I can't get maximum benefit, but I will be using that too.

I wear a zip up fleece hoody over my tshirt. Down under 5 degrees, I also have a heated liner vest that I wear between the tshirt and hoody. However, the arms and hood on the hoody allow the wind to go through to bare skin. I will probably wear a hooded wind breaker on Saturday and Sunday over my hoody. If that is too warm, I will try it under the hoody. I'm pretty warm blooded, so it doesn't take much to get me too warm, and then I have to start untucking my shirt, unzipping my hoody/heated vest, exposing my stomach (call that my air conditioner), etc. I don't expect to run the air conditioner on Sunday!
 
gps4 said:
85lb lab from MS (very rarely gets in below 25deg here) that stays inside. We hunted 8"-12" of snow last year with no vest or boots and she didnt seem to mind going barefoot on the snow, but the ambient temps were in the low 20s to low 30s.
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Some labs have more of a double coat than others. Would you say she is super lean, or does she have a little bit of a fat layer? In general, most labs are going to be fine in those temps if they are moving. Their stocky build gives them an advantage too, with a lower surface area to volume ratio. The only downside in your case is she isn't acclimated to the cold yet. But I am guessing she will be fine.

As for their feet, as long as their body is warm enough, so they are getting blood sent to their feet, they should be fine. If she starts lifting paws, that is a sign you'd want to take seriously. Most dog breeds have a special type of heat exchanging circulation system in their feet, which is a big reason they are able to handle the cold surfaces. A wax product, like Mushers Secret, can help provide a little extra layer of protection. I use that once in a while too. Helps soften pads as well, so less risk of cracking.

gps4 said:
I am scheduled to arrive in SD Thursday to 40deg weather, but wind and temps Saturday and Sunday are forecast to be colder than anything we have hunted before.
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Saturday will be bad. Sunday will be very very bad.
 
I have never put any clothes on my dogs. I do live here in S.Dak. and my dogs are outside multiple times a day.

Always had weims and 1 gsp. 1 dog has gotten visibly cold in the 45 years. That was on a day like next Sunday is forecast to be. I won't be hunting that day either.

As for myself last Sunday in the -17 windchill wearing a full face stocking cap and my face and the back of my neck were the only cold spots. Still sweated up a little on my upper body. We do keep moving.
 
Weimdogman said:
As for myself last Sunday in the -17 windchill wearing a full face stocking cap and my face and the back of my neck were the only cold spots. Still sweated up a little on my upper body. We do keep moving.
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I expect this Saturday to be similar feeling to last Sunday, but a bit more wind. My ears facing the wind side, when walking on a lake and up on a hill got cold through the hoody.
 
How you hunt can have a big bearing on how you deal with cold weather days too. We (me and the dog) are often out for 4-5 hours at a time, depending on the spot and other variables. If you are hunting an hour per spot and warming up between spots, that's a completely different situation. It is also something people can do to minimize the effect of the weather -- hunt shorter periods. I may employ that a bit on Sunday.

Having said that, I don't know if it is just me, but I always feel colder after moving from the first spot to the second spot. Might be because I eat right before the first spot or just how my body acts after some exhaustion from the first hike. I warm up after hiking, but am always colder when I start the 2nd hike than when I start the 1st.
 
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