European Hunting Clothing

Red Leg said:

Another "American in Europe" photo. In this one, I am in Croatia. Vest is by Deer Hunter (UK), microfleece by SwedeTeam, trousers by New Forest (UK), and loden colored Dubarry boots (Irish).

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Charlie64 said:

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Coues106, What a great question / topic to throw out there !

I would say it very much depends on what type of shooting / stalking you are going to be doing & I am looking first at the UK ......

Formal Driven Game
Read partridge, pheasant, woodcock, grouse - for early season partridge & grouse typically you would see a tweed shooting vest over a shirt & tie (yes tie!!) with plus 4s or 2s, woolen socks & either boots or brougues (stubbles) and a flat tweed cap or ball cap. As it gets wetter & colder the wellingtons come out & the shooting vest will be swapped for an often colourful sweater & a tweed jacket. Barbour jackets are also good!

Wildfowling
Read duck & geese on the marshes & estuaries. Here practicality takes over & its often waders over long woolen underwear, longsleeved tops with a thick woolen pullover, a waterproof shooting jacket & a woolen beanie & gloves & maybe a scarf plus a huge bag full of decoys, hot drinks & snacks for the labrador!

Rough Shooting
Read a small group of friends going out to shoot the hedges & boundaries. Here you are pretty much allowed to look like a homeless tramp - old ripped wellies, probably tweeds but with torn wax leggings over the top, an open collar shirt with a sweater with holes in the elbows & at the neck, an old, old torn & battered Barbour & a flat cap. You will carry a large game bag & have 1 or 2 spaniels or labs in tow.

Pigeon Shooting
Here its more often than not the green or brown long trousers, comfortable boots or hiking shoes, a green or dark shirt, a ball cap & ear defenders & yellow shooting glasses! Camo is often seen nowadays worn by the pigeon shooter!

Stalking
Traditionally, it would be tweeds, boots (Meindls), shirt & tie plus a cap or deer stalker if you want to go the whole hog. Nowadays, you often still see tweed breeks & more & more you see camo jackets. Most of the stalkers on the older estates will still go to work in full tweeds & usually the estate kits them out in estate tweeds every year or two. One of the perks of the package.

Down south chasing roe, muntjac, fallow & so on, it often tends to be dark green / brown trousers, wellingtons, shirts / tops & a camo or dark waterproof jacket. Practicality mixed with a bit of tradition.

And then you have Europe! But I will let others comment on that other than I am a great fan of Meinl Douvre Extreme boots & Le Chameau wellingtons. I purchased a pair of Le Chameau boots back in 2001 for DM 240,- at the time, I am still hunting & shooting in them today, mainly rough shoots to be fair, I have a newer pair for driven days

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Red Leg said:

When I lived and hunted in Germany in the late seventies, traditional loden and leather hunting attire were were very much the norm. I still have a Loden cloak from those days that is still a lifesaver on a cold morning in a deer blind. Also, a set of lederstiefelhosen (leather boot pants made in Austria out of red stag hide) always accompany me to hunt in Europe. Sadly - or perhaps not, modern high tech material has largely taken over in Central Europe - to include camo. I have never ever seen the English style of tweed, baggy breeks, and tassels anywhere on the Continent

I do prefer the cut and styling of much of the modern selection to most American options. For instance, I am not at all a fan of Kuiu. New Forest out of the UK has an excellent selection and is more affordable than Harkila, which is considered top of the line by most. https://www.newforestclothing.com/collections/mens https://harkila.com/de-de

You can find some very good deals on Harkila products on eBay.

Bit of an international mix in Austria: Jacket by Harkila (Finland), trousers by New Forest (UK), microfleece by Swedeteam (Sweden), boots by Meindl (Germany), and hat by Duck Camp (US - probably China).
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And in Hungary - same jacket, trousers, and microfleece, but Dubarry boots (Ireland) that I find infinitely more comfortable than rubber boots, and some ersatz cap.
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MS 9x56 said:

Just a couple of thoughts from my time spent with German and Austrian hunters back in the mid 1970’s. First their attire started and finished with wool clothing in earth tone colors. Their hats shielded the eyes with a short brim so the wouldn’t blow off on windy mountains. Footwear consisted mostly of mountain hiking boots with treated leather. To my astonishment most of the hunters wore dark colored fingerless wool gloves even in below freezing temperatures. Just from what I recall. I don’t imagine it has changed much. I never saw anyone wearing camo clothing.

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MS 9x56 said:

Just a couple of thoughts from my time spent with German and Austrian hunters back in the mid 1970’s. First their attire started and finished with wool clothing in earth tone colors. Their hats shielded the eyes with a short brim so the wouldn’t blow off on windy mountains. Footwear consisted mostly of mountain hiking boots with treated leather. To my astonishment most of the hunters wore dark colored fingerless wool gloves even in below freezing temperatures. Just from what I recall. I don’t imagine it has changed much. I never saw anyone wearing camo clothing.

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318AE said:

You certainly have your hunting attire dialed in. In hunting, like so, so many things, having the right clothing lets you better enjoy the rest of the experience.

I actually like that little REI hat and the way it folds down the middle of the brim. It fits in my pocket more easily when I’m not wearing it, and stays on my head on a windy West Texas day or riding in a vehicle without a top. To this thread, there is nothing European about it.

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gcbailey said:

I made up a bastardization of American and European hunting attire. Harkila jacket, trabaldo pants, Dubarry Wexford boots, and an Orvis felt western style hunting fedora (the same one in my avatar). On the hunts I attended in Romania, some of the more well heeled wore British style coats and dress shirts and ties with pheasantsa on them. Some wore all green Beretta, Harkila, or Trabaldo, and I dressed like an expensive hobo. Ultimately, no one seemed to care what I was wearing. I shot reasonably well and tried to be good company, which I think took me farther in being accepted by the group than whatever clothes I wore.

Edit: I forgot I had pictures from my hunt report. As you can see the style of dress ran tha gamut.

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steve white said:

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