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.
Last edited by forester; 06/24/15 08:33 PM.
