Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting WV mountain boot advice

Hey there,

I'm no long range backpack hunter but thought this would be a great place to ask about some basic boots.

Can you recommend any lightweight for hiking yet warm enough to sit a few hours as well at a reasonable price?

I'm talking mostly wv to 3500' and anywhere from 10 degrees to 50. There's a ton of rocks and blowdowns to cover. My old heavy rubber boots just aren't cutting it except for sitting in a stand.

Thanks up front.

Scott

Truly lightweight and also warm enough for 10 degrees is a tough combination. I wear U.S. made Danners with 800 gram Thinsulate when the temp is below 30, more or less, if I’ll be sitting. Not especially light nor cheap either. Since I only wear them hunting, it’s a lifetime investment for someone my age. Good boots are worth every penny. You can’t hunt effectively if your feet hurt or are cold. The American Danners can be sent in to be repaired or resoled.

Foreign-made boots are cheaper and may work very well, but may be throw-aways when they need fixing.

I use these for that role:

https://meindlusa.com/collections/mens-collection/products/vakuum-hunter

I've had other makes/models, but these fit me well. I'd look for any all leather 8-10" hiking boot with at least a 1/2 half rubber rand. IMO, once you get in the $200-400 price range, you are getting into quality construction. The rest and most important is how well they fit you.

If I'm planning on much sitting or its very cold, I put a pair of NEOS overboots on over the hikers.

KEEN.

North Cascades proven.

schnees has a closeout sale you may want to check out

The beartooths I got a few months back are my all-time favorite hunting boot, and I've tried a bunch

Crispi Wild Rock GTX

I hunt in E TN in very similar terrain and temps. At 400 gr, they are warm enough for early AM sits/stands, not so warm as to be to hot when temps are in the 50s, and sturdy enough to handle the steep mountains. But they aren't cheap.....

Heck I’d roll some Lowa Renegades - they are great boots

Thanks for the recommendations fellas

MG:

As you know I am familiar with the terrain where you told you hunt annually in Monroe Co. I've also got a lot of experience with different types of boots, for hiking, and also for anything for hot weather, to dealing with 30 below in wet terrain in Northern MN...

I've found real expensive hunting boots are living on past Laurels, when they use to make good ones...for a reasonable cost. Those days are gone.

My time serving Uncle Sam, I was in the Medical Corps and had to look after troops, being out in bad weather, where foot problems can eventually bench the entire unit. In my experience, as far as hiking, in my younger years I was a hiking fool. On my resume, I can pass on I've hiked the entire Appalachian Trail, in parts, but the entire length of it from Maine down to Georgia, and then my time stationed in Washington State, I've hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, from the Canadian Border down to Bend Oregon...and then partial parts, south into Southern Oregon and Northern California.

Wet and cold, or hot and dusty. in 1969 in Scouting, I was with a crew that went and hiked 292 miles in 3 weeks in Glacier NP in Montana and Waterton International Peace Park in Alberta.. Everyone of the other guys had spendy boots and 292 miles in Glacier Destroyed their footwear by the time we were done... what I put together, they just got broken in...

So I think I have a good handle on talking about footwear and severe duty in the out doors...

For the last 20 years or so here in Oregon, I picked up a set of Herman Survivors. They've been out in all sorts of weather, hot and dry to cold and extremely wet. Feet stayed dry regardless of weather. They are getting sort of bald on the bottoms, but when I'm out in snow at altitude, I just put on some aftermarket ClampONs..giving plenty of traction on ice and packed snow.

To keep your feet both warm in cold and cool in heat, that boils down to your socks.

For that, I recommend using a set of Polypropelene Socks.. They are thin, but hold in heat, yet dissipate heat by breathing in warm weather or when your feet start to sweat... (which can later get cold after the sweat gets a pair of socks wet.) Over those, I wear a set of wool blend socks. They will also breathe in warm weather, but hold in heat in cold.

And to cover the two pairs of socks, order your boots 1/2 a size larger.. Always bring along an extra pair of both the polypropelene and the wool socks. Change them every couple of hours . to air out the socks you just took off, I've always carried an extra 72 inch shoe string... and a pair of clothes pins. Pin the socks on the boot shoe string and hang it on my pack, if hiking, or just around my neck when hunting.

a Lot more than once, I've walked or hiked 25 to 30 miles in a day, rotating the socks, never ended up with any blisters... that happens by keeping your feet dry and dousing them with some baby powder ( talc powder) when needed.

How you take care of your feet matters a lot more than having spendy hiking boots...just a comfortable pair, waterproof of course....foot health is best accomplished with a decent couple of pairs of breathable socks... Polypropelene and a pair of Wool mix goes a long way to having happy feet...

and in case, for what ever reason one might get a blister or two, some "Mole Skin" is great for covering those blisters and not making them grow, and ruining your day.

and its always wise to carry a pair of foot inserts, in case the ones you have give out on you way out in the middle of nowhere...

Oh,and those Herman Survivors? I picked those up at Walmart for about $55 bucks, somewhere before the year 2000. They still carry them at our local Wally World...I think the price is up to like $69.00...

Hope this helps you out my friend...feel free to PM me if ya got any more questions I can help ya out with.

cheers
john chr/ seafire

I hunt some of the same country. We have a camp in Randolph County, hunt the Sinks of Gandy to Spruce knob . Some of the roughest country in Wva. Crispi or Meindl , lacrosse used to be a good boot but the last ones I had didn't last 2 seasons.

I like Renegads's too, but all of mine are un-insulated. I see that they're making some that are insulated with Gore tex "Panda" insulation, is anyone familiar with that? Is it any good?

I’ve hunted in Randolph Co. WV for about 50 years. Love Cheat Mountain! I hunt in Crispi uninsulated boots. I think the model is their Wyoming? But absolutely love them. They’re not cheap but they are great for the very rugged terrain of WV. When it’s real cold and I’m sitting still, I put some toe warmers on the bottom side of my socks and I’m good.

Mackey

Cheat mountain is some rough nasty cold country.

I've been using decent leather, non-inuslated hiking boots for years. I've hunted down to +10 with good wool socks and have never gotten cold feet. I've been using these Crispi's for the last 2 years and like them a lot.

https://www.crispius.com/nevada-non-insulated-gtx

Thank you Sir for the great advice. My buddy who's camp we normally hunt out of in Gap Mills swears by those Herman Survivors. I probably should have taken his advice years ago. I'll try them this year. Thanks again and good hunting!

Scott

For serious use I suggest considering a special order sized to fit each foot with a different size. For comfort I like accepting the boots may not be first rate very long. For real long term use I like a high priced old style near technical climbing in big mountains good for crampons not klettershoe or rock climbing but leather. Mine have been Henke bought in Switzerland. The sort that needs 6 months around the neighborhood to break in. Socks in the end matter more than boots.

Scott,

Merry Christmas to you and yours.... And a wonderful new year.

Another tip I'll throw in , on how I use to break in boots, to include my combat boots in Basic Training...

Take a pair of wool socks and then underneath a pair of polypropoline socks. Make your boots one half a size larger than your normal street shoes.

Put them on, and pour a tub of hot water. Sit on the side of the tub with your feet and boots in the water for half and hour or more.. keep topping off the tub with hot water as it cools down. Afterwards, wear your boots for the rest of the day, and walk around in them until they dry., or its time to go to bed.

With this they will have formed to your feet, and are pretty much broken in. This is what I've always done with new boots.

I did the same thing when I was in basic training. We got two pair. First day I did that in the morning, and then just worn the boots all day.
Next day I did the same with the other pair they gave us... They marched us a lot in basic... and drill us a lot....so much that in 8 weeks ALL of us needed to have new boots issued to us once again...

Of 200 guys in my battery thru basic, I was the only one that went all the way thru with NO Blisters. Most of the guys in my platoon, did the same thing with the new boots we were issued, before going to their prospective AIT assignments.

and where did I learn that? BOY SCOUTS.

You were ahead of your time. I'll give you a funny story of my ignorance of breaking in boots when I was a young 18 year old Marine.

Well, I got the fleet in Okinawa with 3rd Marine Division. I got issued a pair of brand new steel toe safety boots and thought they were the cats meow.

Well the first chance I had to wear them I thought in all of my experience lol I laced em up on our MCRES (MC readiness evaluation) if I remember right. Anyhow I believe it was a 20 miler with all our gear. You can imagine the shape my feet were in at the end of that one!

Scott - I typically wear the same boots here that I use on western style hunts.

I have really liked the Meindl Denali’s for a full grain leather boot, used them for 7-8 years. Recently, I have been wearing Zamberlan Storm Pro’s. They’ve worked well for me for all hunting in Appalachia as well as my trips to Alaska and Wyoming.

If you prefer some insulation for the colder temperatures the Meindl’s with 200-400 grams of insulation are great. They’re too warm for me in anything over 25-30 degrees though if I’m hiking all day.