I'm wanting the impossible,
I've got a pair of Danner pronghorns I really like the fit and support but the sole are way to hard.I also have a pair of Browning featherweights that creak when my feet sweat but I love the foot to ground feel.
If I could take the best of both boots I would be satisfied.
Any help!
Danner Sharptail?
The sole is not very aggressive, but I've logged many miles chasing pheasants in them....
Try some moccasins from arrow moccasin co. I wear them for almost all my still/stalking hunting and they give me great feel of the ground.
LL Bean original non insulated have worked for me for forty plus years, you can feel every small branch while stalking also the gum sole makes for quieter walking in leaves.
My favorites are the Danner Jackal gtx. They have a very flat moccasin sole. They are very quiet and lite. They also have a gore-tex liner. I recommend them if you do a lot of stalking or sneaking in to your stand.
I second the Danner Jackals. Mine are the high top snakes, and are soft, and totally quiet. Like tenny runners, you can walk all day, sneak when you need to, walk in water, and disregard snakes.
overbo, NO stalking boot is going to be really quiet on hard ground unless it has a really soft sole. I've guided lots of hunters and suggested that, they bring soft soled stalking shoes, none of them do that and bring something that is sold as "stalking sneakers" or that sounded quiet at home on their carpeting. On soft ground, any flexible boot with a thin sole will work. I have found three that worked on hard ground, Rocky 911's which aren't made anymore, Clarke's desert boots, which aren't really made for hunting, but work great in Africa or Australia during the dry season and Russell PHII's. I really like the Russell's, I can order them just the way I want, they have soft gum soles and were designed by a professional hunter, not some marketing guy!
Thanks for the feed back,
Can someone reccomend a boot that gives the support of the Danner Pronghorns w/ the foot to ground feel of a moccasin?
I'm hunting in rocky terrain that can be steep.Tipical elk country.
Chuck Taylors are great stalking shoes as are LL Beans rubber boots.
I recently (this past fall) bought a pair of the Cabelas "Full Draw" boots. They are really more or less like Heavy duty high top tennis shoes(camo) with 400 gms. of thinsulate (they also come un insulated) and are 100 % waterproof. I think they were around $100. These shoes are tough as nails and are the most comfortable boots that I've had on my feet. They weigh 2.8#s per pair. I hunted the plains of WY, the mountains of MT, and the hardwoods of OH and KYand can find no fault. I also used them with gaiters and my snowshoes on a five day snow shoeing trip in the MT where we were covering 15 miles a day. I can't say enough about them. Dave
Oh I forgot......most importantly they are whisper quiet!! Dave
I'd like to do more still hunting this year and just bought these stalking shoes for bass pro. There waterproof and "rubberized" material, so I think they should be fairly scent free. Hopefully they work, but for $30 on sale, I figure I'll find a use for them one way or another.
(http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w264/jeff_simon13/1467981_i-532636.jpg)
Get a pair of wrestling shoes. Amateur wrestling shoes will weigh less than 1 pound for a pair carry them with you until you get to likely areas.
Dan
Standard LL Bean boots (Maine hunting shoe)without the inserts have the best "feel" of the ground that I've found. You can feel sticks before you break them.
I'll second the wrestling shoes!
Check out the Oakley S.I. 6" boot and also Merrell has some good soft sole boots.
CS
QuoteOriginally posted by overbo:
I'm wanting the impossible,
I've got a pair of Danner pronghorns I really like the fit and support but the sole are way to hard.I also have a pair of Browning featherweights that creak when my feet sweat but I love the foot to ground feel.
If I could take the best of both boots I would be satisfied.
Any help!
I have a pair of Rancho Safari "Cat Prowlers" but they do not seem to be availible any longer. They slip over your regular boots and have a thick felt sole. They are scary quiet even in dry leaves. The only bad thing about them is when they get wet.....they get heavy and nasty,but you really don't need them on when the ground is wet. Also they're not good on steep slopes.
Cabelas sells a couple of products that are similar. Do a search there for felt sneakers.
Got a pair of the stalking boots from sportsmans guide 1 or 2 seasons ago. They look a lot like the redhead ones that were posted above. They were supposed to be waterproof but that didn't turn out to be the case. Other than that, they are great. They offer good support and are real quiet. Best 39 bucks I've spent in a while.
Nathan
I'm going with a pair of L.L. Bean They've been around for a LONG time and if they didn't work they wouldn't have survived the early days of hunting.
When the time for stalking occurs, pull over your boots cheap-o [cotton] socks. I learned to do this first in the first couple of weeks of infantry OCS, that OCs could walk on the floor without marring its wax shine. I discovered it also silences significant portion of general movement in dry woods.
It doesn't matter about socks' quality, brand, or material; they're replaceable. Nor does their degree of water resistance matter.
Hope this helps.
i want a pair of these
http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/
if nothing else, anyone attempting to track you would be baffled for a momemnt or two
Arrow mocs for me too. I have the lace boot, but there is no sole, just leather. I love mine and don't have a problem with traction in wet conditions.
The mukluk sport boot has a plantation crepe sole... I'm sure you could get it uninsulated for the early seson. It's a real nice boot.
I got a pair of Russell stalkers 3 years ago after a reveiw on TG by Charlie Lamb.
I ordered them with heel counters for our steep ground and the stalker sole.
I pretty much wear them daily because they are hands down the most comfortable boot I own, and the most silent. They are pretty tough as I normally get only one year out of a pair of boots in this country. That makes them a good value even at the higher price than most.
LL Bean, and I have a pair of Irish Setter with "ground sensing " soles that also work real well. My Jackals all leaked first time they encountered dew.
I also have moc's and like them but you have to be careful not to bruise your heals. Acorns and crab apples have done me in a couple of times with the moc's.
If you're cheap(not all true) try the LL Bean hunting rubber bottom boot and if you like spending a lot try the Russell's and you get the sole you want.
I have a pair of wrestling shoes that i bought at a re-sale sporting goods store. All I need now is some waterproof socks and that's the ticket.
I like the cableas silent stalk sneaker with a pair of gore tex socks. These are light weight and waterproof. It is basicaly the same set up as heydeerman with his wrestling shoe.