doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Boots for Upland Hunting

I have a pair of Danner 8" grouse, if I ever wear them out, I'll buy another pair.

Kangaroo Leather boots!

Amazingly light weight yet strong. I used to get mine from Browning. They were dark green lace-ups with a moderate tread so you had some traction, but would not pick up a ton of mud and clay. They felt like I was wearing tennis shoes with extra support. Google kangaroo leather, and check out the various brands. Cabelas' version looks like the Brownings I used to buy. Orvis offers a nice set. These can be had with thinsulate and water proof.

Irish Setters all the way!

Those Browning Kangaroo boots were great, wore a couple of pair out over many years. Day in day out, you you'll not do better than a pair of Irish Setters w/the Goodyear welt, if you can bend over to tie them. Ha! I have had great luck with a pair of Rocky 'bomb cloth' Wellingtons for all round use that I had a local Hispanic cobbler grind off the entire lugged sole and retrofit a sole very close to that found on those original Browning Kangaroo boots. Seriously labor intensive and not inexpensive. Have had them redone twice, but my guy has retired now and were I in need of a new pair of upland boots, it would be another pair of Irish Setters and I'd never look back. I've two pair that go back to the 60's. Have Vasque, Danners, L.L. Bean boots, one in need of new bottoms at present, mud boots of several varieties.

Regardless of boot chosen, buy yourself a Peet(sp?) boot drier, best thing ever; they even make a portable model these days. My feet sweat, my boots get wet by days' end. I hate cold feet. Use a boot dryer and polypropylene socks against your feet or Marino wool and never have cold wet feet again.

From a guy who makes his living as a forester in Minnesota and has chased birds in MN, WI, SD, WY MT and ID I offer the following experience:

I need at least 8" boots with a Gore Tex liner while grouse and woodcock hunting for dealing with the water that is on the landscape. Even with 8" boots it seems like once or twice a season I step in a deeper hole and end up with a wet foot.

I need boots with strong ankle support. If you have ever stepped on a wet alder and twisted your ankle, you know a stiff boot is helpfull. Kangaroo boots (like the LLBean upland boot) are too flexible and don't offer enough ankle support. Also need stiff boots if you are chukar hunting in Idaho.

While I like the way Red Wing upland boots fit and feel (even right out of the box), I wish they had a lugged sole. A smooth sole can be treacherous even while grouse hunting as I am frequently in slightly wet areas with lots of rotting leaves. Red Wings Gore Tex boots have maintained their water proof quality for over 4 years, which is pretty good. The LLBean boots mentioned earlier didn't maintain their waterproof quality for even half a season.

I have never found a leather treatment that truly waterproofs leather the way a Gore Tex liner does. I don't have experience with Filson or Gokey boots, but I do have a pair of White's leather logging boots (from Spokane, WA) that were custom made for me. While they are great on a dry hillside in ID for chasing chukars, they are of no use in wet weather or for grouse hunting.

I am currently breaking in my first pair of boots from Under Armor and they might be as close to my ideal pair of boots as I have found yet. A lug sole (not a super-agressive Vibram) that is aggressive enough on snotty leaves in the swamps, Gore Tex lined, light (about 2.2lbs) with very stiff ankle support made with some ballistic nylon that is brown, not camo.

Ft Lewis from Danner wore several pairs out during 21 years of active duty. Done a lot of bird hunting with them from Ohio, NY, Ca and Alaska the green browning boots are light weight, however they only lasted 3 seasons loved them but just did not hold up.

For 43 years, I've been wearing a pair of L. L. Bean Maine Hunting Shoe. I think they used to be called their Maine Guide Boot. The ones with the rubber bottoms and leather tops and speed laces. I've sent them back twice to have the rubber bottoms replaced. They said that would be the last time they would be able to put new bottoms on since the leather tops are wearing out despite them rebuilding parts of them over the years. This last time I sent them back, they offered to give me a new pair at no cost instead. I wanted to keep my old ones.

They are comfortable, light weight and suitable for mostly dry situations. If it's very wet, your feet will get damp even with treating the leather tops. Not a cold weather boot but warmer, cold weather versions are being offered now.

Your mileage may vary.

Jolly

Russells have been my favourites for years

I have more than a dozen pair from shoes to boots and love them

Irish Setter Wingshooter 808.

I should add that my endorsement for the kangaroo skin boots was to address the desire for a lite weight boot. From my experience wearing out several pair, I concur with the comments by others here that these boots would not be my first choice for RUGGED terrain nor would I expect these boots to last as long as the cowhide leather boots. If I were to buy a new pair of boots today for rough use (not work boots) I'd go with the military grade Danners, something like these: (http://www.countryoutfitter.com/products...CFUI2gQodBEoPFQ) I wore a smooth top version of these issued to me in the USN, daily use from concrete, and rough metal or wet decks to sand, saltwater, freshwater, and over hill/dale humping a load in the jungle. They were tough, reasonably water proof, dried fast, reasonably light, both flexible and supportive. They were tough too. Not as stylish as those fine looking Irish Setters though. The Danners dry out fairly quick too after stepping in deep wtr.