It definitely takes trial and error and some fine tuning to figure out layers and not get too hot. That's the reason I am a fan of wool and on two different outerwear for winter hunting.
First is carhart jackets, I can wear an undershirt with a wool sweater and a carhart jacket and if you unzip a carhart there is some good airflow around the whole jacket that helps cool you down and dry any sweat.
Second method is a gore tex jacket with no insulation, I can wear an undershirt with two wool sweaters and a gore tex jacket to stop wind and I can unzip the arm pits or whole front to increase air circulation.
Loose knit wool sweaters will cool down and dry off quick with a breeze, they are great insulation but wind will blow right through them. So with a lot of movement and hiking outerwear that can, if you want, allow air circulation is great. I never actually add or remove layers throughout the day, the temperature just decides how much wool I put on then if I get hot or cold I ether open up the outerwear or button it up.
For the legs is different. If its warmer out I ether wear long underwear with wool pants or long underwear with only gortex pants. If it gets under 10 degrees I wear the long underwear, wool pants and gortex on top. Then gators over my boots and up to my knees to protect the bottom of my wool pants from twigs and brush or to keep my gore tex from being so noisy and it keeps snow off. But I have no way of getting air circulation through the legs, it's not a problem for me, it just takes some experience to know how much to put on depending on the weather.