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When the weather turns wet and cold, the three most important clothing accessories are a hat, dry socks, and warm gloves. Missing any one of them quickly makes a bad situation worse. When it comes to hunting big game, your decision on what glove type to wear is mostly determined by the expected air temperature and your style of hunting. Here are a few variations of hunting glove types that should cover most big-game hunting situations.
For the ultimate in cold-weather protection, a mitten provides the most warmth but with the least dexterity. Keeping your fingers together inside mittens helps share body heat between digits, making this style of glove a great choice for long sits in a late-season blind or stand. Pro tip: wear a thin glove liner so that when you slip off the mitten to shoot or perform other dexterous tasks your fingers are still protected from bitter cold.
A full-fingered glove is great for still hunting or when hiking, where you may make occasional stops to tighten a pack, check a GPS, unshoulder your rifle, or grab a snack on the go. Some full-fingered gloves are light and sensitive enough for trigger work; just be sure to practice while wearing them before hitting the woods.
For a compromise between warmth and dexterity, a fingerless or half-finger glove offers an excellent middle ground. In most conditions where such gloves are appropriate, such as very mobile or mountaineering-style hunting, you probably won’t miss the added warmth of a couple of glove fingers and will enjoy the tactile benefits of going fingerless when it comes time to make the shot.