Hunting footwear

You don’t necessarily need new shoes.  The Speedcross 3s have enough structure that if your feet and legs are up to the task, you should be able to pack meat XC in comfort.  Put in some training miles with an 80 pound pack and find out if you need more structure.

The other issue with hunting footwear v. backpacking is that hunting often requires lots of time sitting or moving slowly, and thus wet feet can be something which needs to be avoided as you won’t necessarily have movement to keep them warm.  When the snow starts accumulating I switch to mid height waterproof boots for the rest of hunting season, but early season is usually still in my standard summer trail runners.

Very helpful, David. Thank you!

I will be bowhunting Idaho in late September. My sense is that I’ll probably be a little early for snow (could be wrong on this). I really like my Speedcross 3, so I’m glad to hear others stick with their trail runners. I do believe I will need to go up a half size as I notice my toes hit the front of the box when hiking down hill with heavier loads.

Good call on the gtx for winter. Maybe I’ll look into a pair if I decide to hunt in October. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

I’ve had bad luck with lighter fabric boots staying waterproof.  I had some Zamberlan Crosser mids which were great for off trail stuff, but the waterproofing grenaded in a season.  Since then I’ve been using LaSportiva Boulder GTX mids; which are burly but have a little less toe room than I’d prefer.  I’m looking at snagging Sportiva’s new Trango Trk for this fall.

I’ve had really bad luck with La Sportiva GTX shoes. The two pairs I have are not remotely waterproof. Checking the liner, it looks like they stitched right through the Gore-Tex, and that is mirrored with my experience of getting really wet socks in even light rain (these were new shoes too).

I love their trailrunners and light approach shoes, but I wouldn’t touch La Sportiva GTX shoes or boots with a barge-pole at this point.

I’ve also not had great luck with light waterproof footwear in general. I have a pair of Meindl boots that I left in a bathtub for 5 hours once to test and they were bone-dry inside. They weigh a kilo each though.

I’m also going mule deer and elk hunting this year. I’ll be backpacking in Nevada’s Jarbige Wilderness  at 8,000 to 9,000 ft. in early October. At that latitude and altitude anything could happen weather wise. My boots are relatively light Merrill GTX Moab Mid boots. On days with above freezing temps I’ll wear Thorlo Hiker socks.

Below freezing or in cold rain I’ll wear a thin polypro liner sock under thin closed cell neoprene diver’s sox which I have seam sealed. (Currently I use US Diver’s brand sox) The diver’s sox act both as a VBL and a very warm sock that will never wet through. Being a few extra pair of thin liner sox. The “stank” of the liner socks is bad at the end of the day. Change them for sleeping and the next day you’ll be ready to don your neoprene sox IF you have turned them inside-out and let them dry and stay warm in your sleeping bag overnight. This way you will avoid the agony of freezing toes in the morning. Put your boots inside your tent at one end. Spindrift snow in your boots is not good.

For snow I will use Knee high Gore-Tex gaiters that I’ll carry with me. Gaiters typically add about 15 F. of warmth to boots. That’s been both my XC patrolling and back country skiing experience as well as my hunting experience. At the end of the day, sitting around a campfire,  if you remove your gaiters your feet will feel the chill.

This combo, GTX mid boots, light liner sox W/neoprene diver’s sox and GTX gaiters is the warmest setup for the weight that I know of and still have walking/scrambling comfort and good traction.

If it will be bitter weather (10 F. or less) I will wear synthetic “felt” pac liners and NEOS overboots. And of course the diver’s sox VBLs to keep the felt pacs dry. Or if I’m backcountry skiing I’ll wear the divers’ sox with my Scarpa T-3 tele ski boots.

(Did I mention I wear diver’s sox in cold weather?;o)

I have a pair of the La Sportiva Trango TRK and they are just fine for waterproof-ness. I also had a pair of the La Sportiva Trango Cubes which were awesome, but I wore them out (the sole in the toe area) in one season. They were waterproof, and the uppers breathed better than most light alpine boots. I like the extensive use of fabric and synthetic armoring in them. The TRK versions are simple and flexible enough to satisfy some para-minimalist hikers looking for bigger load shoes/boots like for hunting. I personally can’t imagine carrying a couple of elk quarters through dense brush in trail runners, but that’s just me. :^)

Personally I think you’re far better off with a slightly stouter, heavier Goretex lined (or whatever) boot. September in the highcountry will often mean snow, and I’d plan around a worst case scenario, not best case. The boot I like for September off-trail (that’s where a hunting boot requirement gets a little different) is the Solomon 4D 2GTX:

http://www.salomon.com/us/product/quest-4d-2-gtx.html

Here’s what I wear for highcountry hunting here in Montana in October/November:

http://www.crispius.com/footwear/insulated-boots/hunter-htg-gtx-insulated-hunting-boot
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I also do high alpine bowhunting with a lightweight backpacking twist…

Have settled very happily on the Zamberlan 230 SH boots.  GTX, high-top, yet pretty darn light.  Have performed well on miles of scree, boulder fields, chutes, etc…in fact just bought my second pair.

I won’t hijack, but would be interested in a discussion about lightweight archery gear…

I won’t hijack, but would be interested in a discussion about lightweight archery gear…

“lightweight” and “archery” means traditional gear.

I quit bowhunting and only use a rifle. In my case I use a couple of different Kimber Montana’s depending…

““lightweight” and “archery” means traditional gear.”

Hmmm…true, yet…

Isn’t that like saying “Lightweight” and “Rifle” means a .22LR?

Back to the boots – agree 100% that the OP will want Gaiters for those conditions as snow is plenty likely.