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My hunting guns are for hunting, period. Safe queens are for bragging and investment. The difference is obvious. If you can't afford a few nicks or rubs on the gun, don't take it out to the game fields. Leave it in the safe. Tht's why it's called a safe. DUH!!! Laughing

Leather golf gloves belong on a golf course, not in hunting cover IMO. They are too thin for warmth, and useless against thorns and other tangles. Why bother. Save them for handling your safe queens if you must. Laughing

Knit hunting gloves work okay for cold dry weather, but they have their drawbacks. They are a pain in the butt when I'm weedling my way through cover. Anyone who has had to frequently pick their way through thorns or tangles of small branches will agree. Knit gloves all too frequentlyend up hanging on a branch or come away with twigs and thorns which work their way into my skin long after I'm through the junk. Once wet, they are worse than useless.

I've never found leather gloves to be useful for very cold or even worse, for cold, damp weather. Leather may protect my hide from thorns and tangles to some degree. Once leather gloves get wet, they are nothing but a burdon. They take forever to dry out too and shrink too much as well. Nice for driving. Not for hunting.

I own a pair of medium weight gore tex lined nylon shell gloves for damp, cold weather. They really work well to keep my hands from going numb when it's cold and damp. They also hang up far less than knitted hunting gloves. However, they are too thick for good shooting. So they are usually nested in my game pouch until my hands are too cold to shoot well anyway. They are most useful for trekking to and from the game fields when the path from the parking area is long, windy, and cold.

I prefer to keep my hands in my warm coat pockets as needed to warm them up during the hunt. Less trouble. Less bleeding too. Very Happy

Member Joined: 25 Jun 2008 Posts: 1863 Location: Wisconsin

I like a good cheap pair of all cotton Brown Mules if I need a glove. Reno

Sporting gloves for when and where they deliver the occasional advantages of protection and comfort is, apart from the wear issue of the OP, very individual in nature.
Some of us handle adversity in temps and stickers better than others....a lot better.

Golf or knit or Orvis leather or blaze orange Wisconsin Wonders(kudos, by the way) all work swell, and not.
It says most, to me, that some reckoned best or perfect, glove or whatever, appears the continual goal.
To bad that.
I have some of my best memories when my gloves(as but one piece of the wonderful puzzle) let me down....just the reality of birdhunting and the realization that true importance lies well beyond...equipment or fashion or a message board must-have.

Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 380 Location: Northeast Ohio

When it's cold I use the wool military glove liners inside of the common dot grip, dark brown, cotton jersy gloves you can find just about anywhere. The cotton snags a bit sometimes in the briars, but when they wear out I just replace them. They are cheap and won't harm a gun in any way. The wool glove liners are not expensive either, last a long time and are versatile in that they can be worn under a variety of outer gloves depending on what kind of cover you find yourself in, temperature, and moisture conditions. If you wear them slightly on the small side or sufficiently snug, the dexterity provided by the grip dots and warmth provided by the wool liners are both good.

I'm always on the lookout for just the right size leather outer pair too, as they protect the skin better than the cotton jersy in the real rough bunny and bird cover. I like to go gloveless whenever possible, but as I get older and softer, I don't tolerate the upland wounds as well as when I was younger! There are few to no gloves of any type that feel as natural to me as bare hands however.

I'm dealing with the after effects of past frostbite on my hands and a bit of neuropathy as well, but it only hinders on few occasions, especially when I'm ill prepared and wetness is combined with the cold.

As the beagle and bunny get closer or the pointer birdy, I may slip the glove off if the weather is not dangerously cold in anticipation of a shot. I missed a beautiful opportunity on a nice wild prairie cockbird once while fooling with trying to get a glove off my shooting hand when we got a slam point with not a lot of warning in bitterly cold and wind chill conditions. That one taught me a lesson!

The right glove at the right time for conditions and dexterity whether bare handed or not, is indeed important. Experience and trying different strategies will help.

grouse gunner wrote, "The right glove at the right time for conditions and dexterity whether bare handed or not, is indeed important. Experience and trying different strategies will help."

Words of Wisdom, I agree.

When it is below 20 deg.f. I often place a herbal hand warmer in the gloves and on the back of my hands.