Summer is a contrary time in my hunting year. Long, warm days spent outside, the promise of harvest round the corner, and the challenge of chasing squirrels through full canopy woodlands are among my top reasons to love this time of year. That said, there are negatives as with every season, that can leave me frustrated with the summer months; field margin wildlands at full height that obscure rabbits; losing pigeons and squirrels into a thick tree canopy; even far more interest from the wider public is frustrating, as they venture on to land they shouldn’t be on, but feel it’s their divine right to wander because ‘I’ve walked here for ages’.
Yep, summer can be as frustrating as it can be promising, but that isn’t to say I’d rather be sitting in a bleak wood as the sun goes down at 4pm, with a mild frost setting in, as the wind finds its way between my layered tops and trousers, straight to my bum. I try to enjoy each season for what it offers.
When it comes to kit I carry, either in my game bag or just in the car, there are a few essentials that might at first not be obvious, but which I’ve come to rely on at this time of year.
1. Anti-Mozzie Clothing
The expression ‘game changer’ is bandied about more than vacuous stories about ex-Love Islanders in red-top news rags, but in this case it has been exactly that! If mozzies had a favourite delicacy, I’m pretty sure it would be a hefty cut of Chandler rump, coated in a sweat jus, then left to roast in a forest or field for a few hours, before being served as the sun goes down. Mosquitoes love me like my wife loves Dubarry boots or Mulberry handbags – they’re like moths around a lightbulb. If they had social media, the little buzzing flesh rippers would have my best body parts being flashed about on repeat memes.
A few years ago, I bought a couple of green summer shirts in a sale at Mountain Warehouse, only noticing that they had mosquito repellent in the fabric when I went to wash them. More than five years later, they are still going strong, and I simply recoat them with anti-mozzie clothes spray every 10 washes, or so. They really deter mozzies and there are plenty of different brands offering similar. If you are bothered by mozzies and don’t want to buy new clothes, then do what I do on my trousers and use anti-mozzie spray on your existing hunting clothes. You’ll thank me for it!
2. Loppers/Secateurs
I know some people carry these all year round, but honestly, a good pair of secateurs or branch loppers can be heavy in a game bag or pocket and in winter, I can normally find enough on the ground to build a makeshift hide.
In the summer, though, the leaves and branches I use to disguise my outline can obscure targets and I don't want to risk blunting my knife, so secateurs go into the game bag. Obviously, I would advise you all to check with your permission holder that you're not cutting down anything you shouldn't be, including their prize chrysanthemums!
3. Cool Bag
Fly-blown, wasp-riddled pigeons or squirrels and rabbits smelling off-putting are not a great starting point if you want to eat what you hunt. If you're serious about keeping your bagged game as safe for consumption as possible in the heat of summer, then speed to the fridge is essential. I could have bought a cool box that plugs in to the car, but instead I bought a used courier thermal bag from eBay for £10.00, then popped two ice-cold milk cartons of water in the bottom. This keeps the bag cool inside for about 7 hours. For extra hygiene, all quarry goes in a bag for life, that can be wiped down with anti-bac spray after!
4. Summer Gloves
If like me, your hands (or lack thereof) freeze in the winter, yet sweat like a shire horse in the summer, then you'll know as well as I do the frustration of having a fore end slipping off aim on the perfect shot, especially if that's your only shot for the day!
To counter this, like the Queen and the late Michael Jackson, I have a collection of ‘gloves’ to cover all seasons. I say ‘gloves’ because mittens brings up hideous memories of standing in Mothercare choosing my first pair of ‘ages 4 and up’ skiing mittens with my mum – I was 13!
I found some black, mountain bike gloves in Decathlon and with a snip from some scissors and my wife becoming a sewing-bee star, we converted them to perfect shooting gloves for me, but they'd be great ventilated summer hunting gloves for anyone, nay matter the number of digits you possess, just leave the number of glove fingers un-scissored!
5. Face Mask/Head Net
The confines of a tight-fitting buff, or similar, can be a very hot place to be if the heat gets up, unlike in the winter months. I have specific, loose-fitting, summer face masks that keep out the humid air and mozzies, whilst keeping me blended by reducing the glare from my incredibly sweaty, shiny face. I have to admit, I do feel a bit silly if I’m caught by Joe Public in a face mask, and whip it off quickly to not cause them alarm, although nine times out of 10, they shouldn’t have been near me in the first place!
6. Water And More Water
Cold drinks are great – hot ones also great – but water is an essential. I’ll have at least three or four litres between the car, cool bag and game bag. And it’s not just in case I get thirsty; it’s great to dump on my head if I feel I’m overheating, for removing blood from hands, knives or pigeon breasts, thus keeping flies at bay, or for just making a hot drink.
7. Tuck Yourself In
Finally, I always have at the very least, my hunting trousers tucked into my boots if I’m hunting. It might not be the sexiest or most coutured look on the hunting catwalk this season, but having been bitten by both a tick and a spider in one summer, I now just tuck it all in. Waiting to find out if I was one of the unlucky ones bitten by one of the circa 6% of ticks with Lyme disease was only slightly less painful than the massive swelling in my ankle, and the pain walking from the probable spider bite – we don’t know for sure because I never saw the thing, but doctors at the hospital treated it as such.
Whatever you’re hunting, and how you choose to do so, enjoy the warmth whilst it’s here and I hope this list gives you some ideas about adapting or upgrading your own kit to deal with the heat.