Early Season Elk Boot
Equipment
Any recommendations for a early season waterproof hunting boot and best place to order them? Tried Danner Pronghorns and they leaked pretty bad. Mainly hunting September in the Rockies. Hard part for me is I need a wide boot size and most dont come in wide.
Hanwag Mountain Light Hikers! They are amazing!
Uninsulated boot that fits from Hanwag, Kennetrek, Lowa, Meindl and a few more.
Depending on the terrian I vary between Kennetrek Mt light and uninsulated Mt Extreme.
Rick M
X2 as ermine for mid September or deff chance of wet weather. but in "early" season, early September if the weathers going to be warm and dry I'll go with solamon trail runners
Love my Kenetrek Mountain Extreme non-insulated's! Sizes 8-13 are available in wide. I highly recommend High Mountain Outfitters out of Idaho. Phone # is (208) 939-7777. Great service, great prices, and free shipping. If there are ANY problems with the boot itself, fit, etc, they will do an exchange ASAP. Can't get much better than that.
REI sale this week, the Lowa Renegade II are on sale for 149. Mine did leak after a while but they come in WIDE and sure were comfortable. I may get another pair. Also, LIFETIME return on any REI sold product. If they leak after 2 years, walk in to any REI and walk out with a new pair.
Most boots that are sold as "hunting boots" are not ideal for a mountain elk hunt. Any of the top brands of heavy-duty hiking or light duty backpacking boots are what I have been using.... Lowa, Asolo, etc. The fit if the boot is most important, and the terrain you will be in will determine which model will work best for you. Early season, the uninsulated versions work best for me.
thanks for all the input. Its just a matter is it worth spending 400 bucks or will 150 buck boot suffice? I have used Danners for many years but for some reason the boots just dont seem to hold up like they used to. Feet remained wet. Not good. If the Lowa Renegade work like WapitiBob says then that should be a pretty good choice....thanks again!!
If you can find the Danner's that are made in the USA they are still good, but the Chinese ones are hit and miss...Sometimes you get a pair that are WP, sometimes they aren't...Of course the US made boots are about twice as much...For that reason I am buying something other than Danner's for my next pair...
Most of the boots mentioned can be had for under $250.00. I picked up my last 2 pairs of Kennetreks on Camofire for under $230.00 each. Even at full price, the best boots will last many years if you only use them to hunt with.
I designed my own waterproof boot test. I put the boots in a sink full of water up to just above the ankle and put weights in the boots to keep them under water. Kennetrek mountain extreme non-insulated leaked after about 8 hours. Meindl Perfekt hunters leaked after 4 hours. Asolo 520 GV didn't leak after 12 hours at all. I kept those and took the first two back.
Get Schenees Wilderness...they will cover about everything and are light and durable...
I do most of my hunting in Asolo 520 GV's. They are great for lower 48 mountain hunting IMO. I'll be trying out Kenetrek Mountain Extreme NI for the first time in AK this year.
Kenetrek Hardscrabble Hikers
Listen to WapitiBob !!!!! I have two pairs of Lowa Renegade II's. Best boot I have ever owned. Lightweight, excellent support, etc. And for 149.00, you cannot go wrong. But here is the important part: whats works for my feet may not work for yours, so no matter what boot you go with, get it now, walk around in it for awhile, and return it ASAP if its not a perfect fit for you. You have about 3 and a half months, so plenty of time to return a few pair if you need to. But I have a feeling that the Renegades will be what you are looking for!
Keven
I'm with Mulepower! Get some thinsulate for comfort & great fits! I would not personally own any boot that didn't have 400grams of thinsulate. Some guys think your feet will sweat in them & you would be miserable, not so. Guys who have feet sweating issues in warm weather would sweat in anything, if you are not like that, (most hunters aren't) get some thinsulate in your boots! Even Sept. hunts can get into the teens & it does every year at some time!
ElkNut1
For early hunting season you need waterprofed boots. I once went early hunting without such boots, well my legs were soaked and after my hunt I caught a flu. After 2 weeks in bed, I understood that I need rubber hunting boots. It was a little hard to find good rubber hunting boots. So try this one out (https://bootsgeek.com/best-rubber-hunting-boots/). It can help you a lot.
Crispi Colorado. They are new this year
I think some new options may have come out over the past 7 years :)
Yes, Danner Pronghorns don't cut it in the mountains.
It depends on what type of hunting you plan to do. If you plan on hiking many miles in the mountains and possibly packing out meat, rubber boots will not work. I couldn't imagine hiking the mountains in rubber boots.
I see you're from Alaska so you're probably somewhat accustomed to cold weather and if that's the case I would recommend against insulated boots for September mountain hunting. In 19 elk seasons I've never used insulated boots and for me most of the time they would be way too warm, but then again I'm from Wisconsin. Also an insulated boot might be softer with less support due to the padding of the insulation. Yes it might be cold in the morning but your feet warm up quickly and you can always double up on socks until your feet warm up.
I've had Lowa Renegades for 5 years and they're a good comfortable, light boot but not quite supportive enough for me for hard hiking in the mountains. I prefer the Lowa Camino over the Renegade because they have more support or the Lowa Tibet which is even stiffer, for backpacking.
I actually prefer the Hanwag Alaska which is very comparable to the Lowa Tibet but the Alaska fits me better. I also wear a wide boot and both Lowa and Hanwag come in wide.
You should also check out Crispi boots, they're getting a lot of publicity lately.
And don't forget a good set of gaiters to keep your legs dry and prevent water from seeping down your legs into your boots.
Crap I didn't realize this was a 7 year old thread...
