How to Choose the Best Upland Hunting Vest
OutdoorHub Reporters 08.14.18
What makes for the best upland hunting vests? For that matter, what defines an upland hunting vest? And why do you need one? Let’s work through those questions, and then take a look at some of the finest upland hunting vests on the market today.
As a general rule, an upland hunting vest is a vest designed specifically around the needs of upland bird hunters. As you can see, upland hunting is the grand sport of taking (usually) small game birds. Pheasant, grouse, and quail are just a few examples of popular (and tasty!) upland game birds. Sometimes hunted with dogs, but almost always with shotguns, or where legal .22 rimfire rifles or pistols, a vest for upland game hunting should be an all purpose article of clothing. Typically an upland game vest will have several large front pockets for ammo, and other handy items, a large back pocket for carrying harvested game, and sometimes a built in pocket for a hydration bladder.
So when considering the best upland vest, we want a comfortable, roomy vest with plenty of room for birds, ammo, maybe some dog treats, and whatever else you might want to carry on a hunting trip.
The vests we are looking at here incorporate these concepts – some even have added bonus features that make them stand out from the rest:
The Filson upland hunting vest is based off of the kind of experience designing outdoors gear that you can only get when you’ve been in business for over 120 years. Filson has built a rugged, and feature rich upland hunting vest that is sure to please. Made of their rugged “Tin Cloth”, this vest is designed to be comfortable to wear when shooting, and is carefully tailored to not interfere with taking a sudden snap shot. The large blaze orange panels offer added safety, while hidden shell loops, large pockets, and a zippered game pouch all tie together to make a classic, durable and high quality upland hunting vest.
Moving on, we find a non traditional design that is loaded with modern in demand features. The Badlands Upland Hunting Vest is almost more like a small backpack. As to be expected, it features lots of large pockets for ammo and other hunting gear. And of course there is a large game bag, which is also removable. What makes this upland hunting vest stand out though is the fact it can accept a two liter hydration bladder which makes it extra handy for a long hunting day. Badlands has really made a 21st century upland hunting vest, and they’ve managed to do it at a price below some other high end competitors.
On the no frills, no gimmicks budget end of the upland hunting vest spectrum, we have this offering from Gamehide. The most appealing feature of this vest is the low price. It has the traditional large, deep pockets one must have on an upland vest, and the highly visible blaze orange panels that are sometimes required by law when hunting. However, that’s about all it has. Lacking a back pocket for game, you’ll want a game bag of some sort (or you really could just use any sort of mesh pouch) it is pretty feature poor, but the ability to wear it over a jacket has some appeal. Bottom line, if you need a cheap, but reliable vest, this is it.
Choosing the Best Upland Hunting Vest
There are a lot of other upland hunting vests on the market, but they start getting really repetitive fairly quick, especially on the lower end. On the higher end, most of the competition focuses on brand loyalty and premium quality materials, but even then at some point your choices are most philosophical.
If price point is your sole consideration, you’ll wind up with some sort of vest that has some large pockets, and precious little else. This isn’t to say they won’t work well as upland hunting vests, but they really don’t offer much else beyond minimal utility. As soon as you start moving up, you switch from cheap gear, to long term investment. Because an upland hunting vest has to stand up to hard use, and the blood and bodily fluids of dead game, you really want a high quality vest. For that matter, you also want a vest that is more than just a simple vest, but it should be comfortable, and easy to wear.
We see that kind of human engineering in the first two vests we looked at. Both consider the equipment and comfort needs of the shooter. Both were built understanding that an ill fitting vest reduces your dexterity and can make taking a quick shot more difficult, but a properly designed upland hunting vest becomes a functional accessory that does not hinder your movements.
So, that’s how it goes. You can cheap out (I’ve done it before, there is nothing wrong with that approach) or if you are serious about your upland bird hunting, drop the cash and buy a really nice vest that you will likely enjoy for years and on many hunting trips to come.
