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

One point about boots, alluded to by tw in his previous post mentioning a Boot Dryer.

If you wear boots daily, or for that matter shoes as well, it's essential that they are allowed to dry out. You really need two pairs for this. It's the concept used by the Military when teaching recruits to never wear the same pair two days in a row, marking one pair with a white dot. This allows them to dry out. Boots/Shoes worn daily rapidly deteriorate. I've followed this rule since the 1980's, I'd say that two pairs of boots easily last longer than three pairs that are worn daily. Leather maintenance is also important, using a polish or creme will keep them from getting hard and the leather cracking.

Regards
Ken

Stay away from Under Armor boots. Both my buddy and I tried them and they leak like there is no tomorrow. They are like wearing tennis shoes and feel great, but wet feet and bird hunting are a bad bad combination. I've had Danner Sharptails for years and they are good for one year IMO and they start leaking as well. Muck Uplander boots are the best I've encountered for staying dry, but they are heavier then some of the others.

FWIW, there are no leather upland hunting boots that are 100% water proof.
They all will leak at some point.
After decades of upland hunting and a few boots, I have settled on Russell.
Filson tried to purchase Russell but Ralph won't sell.
Old school tech and factory in Berlin Wisconsin.
Have been there many times for fittings.
Customize to what you want and your fit.
When they fit, they are like hunting in slippers.
But you just can't walk into a store and walk out with boots,
Russell's require some time and effort on your part.-Richard

I've had the same experience as Tut with Danner Sharptails -- leaky after only a year. My recent and first pair of Irish Setters went well into year 3 before the waterproof membrane began to fail on one. My favorites have been Bean's Kangaroo Leather, very light and comfortable, and their Gore-Tex has held up through two seasons or more -- with one exception. One pair leaked at the heel the first time I wore them, which happened to be for dog training in a heavily dew-soaked field. Though I'd bought them a few years before, Bean replaced them at no charge -- including free shipping.

Jay

Danner Canadians were my favorite boots for years. I started having foot troubles a couple of years ago. After a fitting for a pair of Russel boots at the Vintagers I opted for a mountain ,toe lace design. All of the bell and whistles were ordered, bobbed souls, triple vamp, ect. I was told that the boots would be waterproof, they are not. I bought a pair of gortex socks to wear over my regular socks. They do the trick on those days of walking in wet snow or rain. Even though there not waterproof I will order another pair when this pair breaks down. My foot problems went away. They are comfortable out of the box. The support and traction are great. I just love the boots.
terc

Wish I'd known about the Russell custom boots 10 years ago when I was trying to find a boot to fit my father. He liked the Irish Setter boots at one time, but when his last pair finally wore out, we just couldn't find another pair of anything that felt good to him with his xtra wide at the toe and narrow heel feet. Bet he'd have been pleased with a pair of those Russells made to fit. That is so long as he didn't know how much they cost.

Thanks for sharing a lot of great information. I am also curious as to what height of boots everyone prefers, 6". 7", 9" or taller.

Depends entirely on how deep the swamp is...Geo

Great answer!! Hahahaha

I have 6", 8", 10". Almost always wear the 6" because I am usually hunting in the desert or in dry mountainous terrain. One of my buddies is going with 6" and snake gaiters for the coming season.