The Sitka Mountain Pants are Sitka’s do-it-all big game hunting pant. They’re light enough that you can wear them on many elk hunting days in September and heavy enough to get you into November — and sometimes longer if you wear a base layer underneath.
I’ve worn the Sitka Mountain Pants archery elk hunting as well as rifle elk and deer hunting in Idaho for several years. They’ve held up remarkably well over many miles — often through lots of brush. But are the Sitka Mountain Pants right for you? Are Sitka pants worth the cost? How do they fit?
Let’s take closer look at the key buying considerations:
Sitka Mountain Pant Review: Excellent Fit
The Sitka Mountain Pants deliver an excellent, agile fit that makes scrambling over rugged terrain a bit easier.The best feature of the Sitka Mountain Pants are the excellent fit and the many size options available. Sitka offers 14 different size options, including tall options. The Mountain Pant falls into Sitka’s ‘Performance Fit’ which means it has a slight athletic cut that’s not meant for bulky layering. I recommend that you order your usual everyday pant size to get the right Mountain Pant size.
Once you pick the right size, you get outstanding range of motion from the Mountain Pant. Sitka sews the pant with articulated knees and a gusseted crotch. The fabric is a 4-way stetch-woven polyester. The result is that the pants move with you when you need to climb over deadfalls or scramble up and down steep banks.
The thighs are roomy and the legs have a slight taper down to your ankles — which I appreciate when I’m navigating brushy hillsides.
Overall, the fit of the Sika Mountain Pants for me is so comfortable that I’m surprised every time I put them on.
Great Pockets
The roomy cargo pockets have large closure flaps and an extra zippered pocket.Pockets are very important to me when it comes to hunting pants. I like big and roomy hand pockets as well as roomy, well-placed cargo pockets on the thighs. Sitka’s Mountain Pant pockets are outstanding.
The hand pockets are roomy and zippered for security. The slightly brushed micro-fleece interior feels warm when your hands are cold.
The cargo thigh pockets are extra large. Better yet, the cargo pockets have a primary large pocket with a flap closure over the top as well as a second smaller zippered tuck pocket on the outside. I’m a big fan of this pocket design because it lets me separate items in the pocket — and keep items from making noise against each other.
I used to place my license and tags in one of the zippered pockets, but I’ve since gone to keeping my license and tags in the rear pocket of my bino chest case. No matter what you use the pockets for, after years of use, the zippers haven’t slid down or opened up — even after crawling through brush.
As for the main cargo pocket flap, you only get two snaps to close it, but I’ve never lost anything out of the cargo pockets. The base appears to be some sort of metal while the top is a polymer. The snaps are silent to use . . . and they haven’t worn out after years of use.
Sitka also includes a single rear zippered pocket, but frankly I never use it and pretty much forget it’s even there.
Shop the Mountain Pants direct from Sitka to see all size options!
Removable Knee Pads
The knee pads give you cushion for rugged terrain — and the ability to remove them if you want to go lighter.One of my favorite hunting pant features is removable knee pads. I used to think knee pads were a gimmick, but it turns out they’re fantastic. I eventually learned that dropping to one knee while archery elk hunting is usually a mistake (if you stand and remain still you’ll have far better shooting lanes) but the knee pads come in handy in all sorts of situations.
For instance, I’ve occasionally fallen on rough terrain and I appreciate the knee pads. More often, it’s scrambling underneath some sort of log or brushy mess. And every year it seems as if need to mess with a trailer hitch on a gravel road.
After a couple hundred miles of rugged, brushy hunting, my Sitka Mountain Pants are still going strong.
Of course, sometimes I need to drop to a knee while hunting — bow or rifle — and I can stay put longer because of the knee pads.
The only drawback to knee pads is that they can sometimes get a little warm during hot September hunts. You could remove them during a hunt, but let’s face it, I’ve never bothered and you probably won’t either.
I do think Sitka could make the knee pads a bit thinner and they’d still be great — or even offer an ultra-thin knee pad accessory option. I’d buy those.
Noise
Sitka ranks its Mountain Pants as a 2-out-of-5 for noise but I actually think they’re a bit better than that implies (you can see Sitka’s ranking on its product pages for each pant). They’re not silent like wool or fleece, but for most hunting situations, they’re surprisingly good. However, if you’re interested in a spot-and-stalk sort of pant, you might want to try the Sitka Apex Pant.
Rugged Build Quality
Sitka includes lots of rugged belt loops to fight sag and improve fit.The Sitka Mountain Pants have lasted multiple hunting seasons — and I don’t baby them. I plow through brush, burrs, and the occasional brambles and thorns. They get dusty, muddy, sweaty and I throw them in the washing machine and dryer — with the knee pads left in.
Every season I do refresh the DWR coating, which is easy. Just get some Gear Aid Revivex Durable Water Repellent Spray. All you have to do is spray it on and let it air dry if you have time. If you don’t have time, spray it on, let it sit for a few minutes, then turn your pants inside out and dry them in the clothes dryer on low. Easy peasy.
Back to the build quality. The stitching throughout is excellent. The belt loops are wildly overbuilt. You get lots of belt loops so you don’t have any gaps in coverage. Sitka also includes a rubbery silicone strip through its logo on the inside of the waist band — it helps keep your shirt tucked in and/or your waist from sliding down.
Shop the Mountain Pants direct from Sitka to see all the size options!
Key Sitka Mountain Pant Specs:
Weight: 26.2 oz.
Fabric: 4-way stretch-woven polyester
Waterproofing: DWR finish
Knee Pads: Removable, included
Hip Vents: None
Any Drawbacks?
The only drawback to the Sitka Mountain Pants is the lack of hip vents. If you consider the placement of the front hand pockets and the roomy cargo pockets, however, hip vent placement would likely result in smaller cargo pockets — pros and cons!The only drawback to the Sitka Mountain Pant is the lack of hip vents. Some competitive hunting pants have zippered hip vents that let you dump heat fast. Sitka doesn’t have these, likely because Sitka is erring toward bigger, better cargo pockets. For the most part, Sitka fabrics are breathable, so it’s not awful, but the fact remains: When I have to climb a 1,000 feet in elevation gain on a warm September afternoon, I appreciate hip vents.
You could say that if you need hip vents you chose the wrong pant for the weather that day, but I don’t buy into that. It’s partially true, but I like investments in gear that are supremely versatile. A do-it-all hunting pant should have hip vents. The lack is not enough of a con to make me ditch my Sitka Mountain Pants, but at least one day out of every September, I find myself irritated at the lack of hip vents.
While Sitka makes a handful of women’s pants, Sitka doesn’t offer a specific Mountain Pant for women with the same design features; however, Sitka does make the excellent Timberline Pant for women. The key difference is that the Timberline is slightly heavier with rugged knee and seat panels.
Competitive Options & Alternatives
There are several great hunting pant brands available these days — and they all have multiple purpose-built options. For instance, Sitka alone makes 20+ pant styles for specific kinds of hunting or hunting environments. For a comparison look at Sitka’s best big game hunting pants, check out our guide to Sitka hunting pants. Meanwhile, here are a few more hunting pant options that are similar the Sitka Mountain Pant:
KUIU Attack Pant — The Attack Pant is KUIU’s do-it-all hunting pant, making it one of the most competitively similar options. The KUIU Attack Pant has 4-way stretch, a gusseted crotch, and articulated knees, which makes it comfortable and agile. Unlike the Sitka Mountain Pant, the KUIU Attack Pant does not have knee pads — but it does have mesh hip vents, which are great for dumping heat.
First Lite Corrugate Guide Pant — The First Lite Corrugate Guide Pant is one of First Lite’s most popular do-it-all hunting pants. One key benefit is that the Corrugate Guide Pants are relatively lightweight — 17 ounces — but they’re also very durable.
Under Armour Storm Ridge Reaper Raider HD Pants — The UA Storm Ridge Reaper Raider HD Pants surprised us last year during archery elk hunts with their outstanding comfort (full UA Raider HD review here). Instead of knee pads, UA uses a series of pleats in the knees that effectively increases the amount of fabric over the knees while retaining great mobility. It makes for a reasonable compromise. The hip vents are excellent, and the UA Ridge Reaper camo pattern is surprisingly good.
The Bottom Line
All-in-all, the Sitka Mountain Pants are outstanding rugged, do-it-all hunting pants. They’re particularly great for big game hunting, and the removable knee pads make crawling, stalking, and hiding easier on your knees. Overall comfort and agility are fantastic. Very highly recommended.
Check shipping/availability at:
Bass Pro Shops | BlackOvis | Cabela’s | Sportsman’s Warehouse
Still not sure the Sitka Mountain Pants are right for you?
Read our Sitka hunting pants guide for key Sitka pant comparisons:
