Best Active Hunting Pants
There’s no shortage of gear debate among hunting enthusiasts. The important thing to keep in mind when reading opinions, is that an opinion is not wrong. It’s correct to the opinion-holder. And it may or may not be correct for you, considering where/when/how/what you hunt.
The following are the active hunting pants that work best for me. That doesn’t mean they’ll be perfect for you (or for Pappy O’Daniel, for that matter), but if you’re looking for new britches, some of the features I cover here may be of interest.
I’ve tried a lot of brands, but I haven’t tried them all. With these five pants, however, I’m not currently searching for new alternatives. Here they are in no specific order.
Kuiu Guide Pant: The King of Cold
This day was too warm for the Kuiu Guide Pant, but it’s all I had that wasn’t wet.
This Kuiu Guide Pant is a cold weather, active hunting pant. They have a microfleece lining, so don’t expect to get much use out of them unless it’s later in the season. Even then it depends where you’re at. When I need a warm pant, this is my go-to.
The Guide Pants stretch well (4-way stretch). They’re reasonably quiet, pretty resistant to puncture and abrasion, and have plenty of zippered pockets. I like zippered pockets because I know my trinkets are secure that way, and sealing off the pocket helps contain warmth.
These pants are just a touch baggy, by design. Not much, mind you, but enough that you can put a pair of thermals or puffy pants underneath them.
The reason the Guide Pant is my favorite late season option is the presence of hip/thigh zippers. Even in cold weather, I often find myself wishing I could easily shed heat and keep from sweating while heading uphill. Opening both hip zippers on a pair of Guide Pants quickly solves the problem.
There are plenty of decent cold weather pants on the market (like the First Lite Catalyst pants) that would be a great product if they simply had hip zippers.
Sitka Timberline: Quality and Knee Protection
The Sitka Timberline is a nice option for mid-season, especially where you may need to crawl in cactus or over rocks.
Right off the bat, the Sitka Timberline pants are good, but they’re not great. They’re very well made and they’re cut/sewn so that the pants move well with you no matter what position you’re in. The Timberline is also extremely flexible (4-way stretch) and comes with a set of suspenders (at least mine did when I got them).
They’re heavy, they’re not cheap, and they don’t have hip zippers. They can get clammy and hold moisture, too.
So why do I like them? The removable knee pads are great for pronghorn hunting (or any other desert game), where you might be crawling in cactus-strewn terrain or over rocks. I like the fact that the pads are removable, because the presence of kneepads while I’m hiking drives me nuts.
First Lite Corrugate: Jack of all Trades
The tight cuff and slimmer calf on the Corrugate is nice when putting on gaiters or walking through low brush.
The fabric that First Lite uses on the Corrugate pant is probably stretchier (stretchy-er, more stretchy? whatever…) than any other pant I own (4-way stretch). These pants offer real freedom of movement. Like the Timberline, the active cut is good, with knees being slightly bent instead of hanging straight down. They taper a little harder down the calf and toward the ankle than the Timberline does. That makes the lower cuff a bit snug on your boots, which I’ve grown to like. They are compatible with First Lite’s three-point suspenders, but I’ve never done so.
I have these pants in a solid color in addition to camo, so I wear them regularly as a casual pant. After two years of frequent use, they show a little pilling on the thighs, but I had to wreck my mountain bike in the desert to get them to tear. Even then, nothing like a pair of jeans would’ve torn. They are not immune to having threads pulled by briars or devil’s club.
The First Lite Corrugate pants are a good all-around option.
These pants aren’t too warm for your warmest hunts, and they’re not so cool that you can’t make do with them in moderate cold so long as you have a layer under them. They kind of do it all. If First Lite put a hip zipper on the Corrugate Guide Pant, it would probably by my all-time favorite active hunting pant. First Lite makes Corrugate shorts, too.
The Corrugate pants are extremely comfortable and do breathe better than the Sitka Timberline, but they don’t hold a candle to the breathability of the next pants on our list.
Kuiu Tiburon: May as Well Be Naked
If you’re looking for breathable pants, the Kuiu Tiburon is top of the heap.
The Kuiu Tiburon pants. The title says it all, and if you know where Tiburon Island is (and why it’s famous among hunters), the name of the pants will make a lot more sense.
When they designed the Tiburon, Kuiu went all out creating the most breathable, lightest pants the market has ever seen (or at least that I’ve seen). Designed for summer conditions, these are a desert hunter’s dream. Yes, they have hip zippers, no they do not have knee pads.
The material used to make the Tiburon almost looks like rip stop fabric, but at the intersection of the crossing threads, the material is perforated. So the pants have thousands of tiny little holes in them. You can feel the slightest breeze. As a matter of fact you can feel air movement within the pants simply by walking.
See the small, checkered look of the fabric? The breathability of the Kuiu Tiburon pant is provided by a tiny hole at each intersection of the visible threads in the fabric.
Downsides of the Tiburon? Use them as intended, because if you need warmth while wearing them, you’re up the proverbial creek. They don’t stretch (2-way stretch) as well as the Timberline or the Corrugate, or as well as the Kuiu Attack pant (which is also a good mid-weight option). There is zero stretch in the waist, so be sure to get the sizing right.
Side note on Kuiu’s waist sizing: Over the years and across models, it has been inconsistent. If they don’t fit, send them back.
In an effort to make these pants as light and breathable as possible, I think Kuiu took the concept a little too far when selecting the fabric for the pockets on the Tiburon. The left hand pocket on my pair developed a hole faster than I’d have expected. Don’t stash hard, edged items in the pockets if you’re hiking (folded knife, keys, etc.). Also, these pants don’t handle briars or dense underbrush well.
All that aside, if you’ll be hunting in hot weather, do not overlook this option. The Tiburon is also available as a pair of shorts, which are fantastic for casual wear!
Stone Glacier De Havilland: The Wild Card
Notice the giant side zipper and front-facing cargo pockets on the DeHavilland pant.
OK, props to Stone Glacier on the name, here. The De Havilland pants. If you know anything about bush planes, you know why this is a cool name for a pair of hunting pants. If you don’t know why that’s a cool name, click here.
Full disclosure: I just recently got these pants, and I’ve only worn them a few times for hiking, snowshoeing and riding bike. So I haven’t actually hunted in them yet. They are a mid-season pant like the Kuiu Attack pant or the First Lite Corrugate. The fit through the leg is more relaxed than the Corrugate, Tiburon or Attack pant.
First, what do I like about these pants? You can tell immediately that they’re built very well. I get the feeling that these pants will last a long time. Like the Timberline, they have a great articulated, athletic fit with plenty of stretch. They are kneepad compatible (sold separately, and I can’t find where to buy them, at least not proprietary ones made by Stone Glacier) and…. Drum roll please…. They have MASSIVE zippers on the legs.
Because the zipper covers about 2/3 of the length of the leg, the cargo pockets are placed on the front of the thigh, instead of the side of the thigh. I’ve really come to like this A) because they’re easier to access and B) if you have weight in the cargo pockets, your load doesn’t swing back and forth if you’re moving at a good pace. LOL.
So what’s the downside? There are only two colors to choose from, both of which are solid, but no big deal, really. They are not light, if you’re counting ounces. And they’re a touch noisy, but so are most of the other pants on this list. Now here’s where it gets interesting…
Stone Glacier is known for innovation, as seen in their packs, tents and sleeping bags, but they’ve done some special engineering on these pants that will help dial in the fit of the pants to the individual. They call this the Contour Waist System.
Lack of a button and a moveable fly gives major adjustability for waist size on the Stone Glacier De Havilland pant.
These pants do not have a button at the top of the fly. The have a sewn-in belt-type closure system. And one side if the fly is mounted on a patch of hook-and-loop material. Because of these design elements, a pair of De Havilland pants can be adjusted a full three inches on the waist measurement. It’s a hard feature to understand without seeing it. If you’re like me, this is a pretty nice feature, as I’ll lose at least an inch on my waist between September and December.
Just an FYI – if you order the “Tall” option on the De Havilland pants, you had better be TALL. I typically wear a 32x34 and had to get the Tall hemmed by 3 or 4 inches.
In conclusion, it might be cool to have matching camo at all times, but so far as hunting clothes are concerned, I don’t think any single company makes the best of everything.
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