I'll be hunting the first week of the rifle season and want to get a new pair of boots. I would like to get them ASAP so I have time to break them in. I'll be hunting in the Southwestern part of the state in the Beaverhead national forest. Can anyone who is familiar with this area recommend a boot?

CraigP: We got an inch of snow here in Beaverhead County today in the valley! The foothills looked to have 3 to 4 inches. Gee! We need the moisture but come on its almost May!
I use the great Danner line of boots for my Elk Hunting and have many many pair of them! I buy them from a guy at Gunshows in Portland and Seattle who gets them as returns and resells them real cheap! I have at least 10 pair of them (a lifetime supply!) - everything from Goretex to the full leather Elk Hunters. And I guess I would recommend the Elk Hunters as the weather can do and be anything on the late opener this year (October 26th). So get the heavy duty boots and be prepared if there is 6" of snow. There will be rocks and ankle twisting steep slopes no matter what so they will come in handy! But bring some of your other lighter boots to use if the weather is dry and warm! I wish I could be more specific but the weather burps back and forth here almost daily!
I hope you are succesful that first week but if not be sure and return for the last week of the season which is correspondingly late this year! The Elk season closes this year on November 30th! Better chance of snow and the high springs freezing - thus the later cold weather (and shorter days) to bring the Elk out of the back country this year! And not only that the dark phase of the moon is November 23rd making this the perfect year to Hunt the last week! I am really excited about it! There was NO winter kill this year here in SW at all! Other than Wolves over east a bit the herds should be about maxed out!
Good luck!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

hey varmintguy any way you can hook me up with the guy who sells the danners been looking to get myself a pair, but dont have the money and if theres a way i wouldnt mind talking to your buddy. thanks

I wear my Georgia work boots generally. Any tough comfortable boot will work. If you are like me, no matter what they are made of, you will have wet feet in no time, either from waterproofing failing, or sweaty feet. Even Goretex doesn't keep my feet dry.

In my experience there's no "one" boot "perfect" for all condition's... that's why I've got about four pairs! I guess for one boot I'd give the nod to a Goretex-lined Danner with an airbob sole... mine are the "Trophy" model and are excellent. Any of the Schnee's with a rubber bottom, leather upper and a liner are excellent too. Stay away from those with insulation added in the rubber bottom as they're a bit much for general condition's and definately are too big for stirups if you're going to be on a horse. For early season condition's (before snow) I use a light backpacking boot.

I know my Iowa whitetail hunting isnt anything like montana elk hunting, but i give the thumbs up to Danner as well. I know a lot of guys who wear them as regular every day shoes/boots in the fall and winter months. They feel more like a cross country training shoe than a boot, but boy are they warm and durable.

I've had a few eastern hunters come out to hunt the MT hills and to a man they all ended up buying boots out here with BOB SOLES. I'm with Brad, I have three different pairs; a very light set of Russell PH's for warm weather and FLAT terrain, a set of Danners with bob's for cooler weather and a set of Shnees pak boots with bob's for the really wet or cold stuff.
The common thing I see is one needs good grip so the bob soles are THE sole, and ankle support for uneven ground.

Your very smart to get your boots squared away NOW not waiting two days before your trip.

FN in MT

I'll throw in a Me Too here with the others from these parts. The sole and the ankle support are key since you're likely going to be side-hilling quite a bit. I hunted that area opening day last year - cold and dry.

Redial

Here'sthe boots in my arsenal

Vasque (leather and gortex) Hikers

Danner's with a minimal amount of Thinsulate with Bob's

Schnee's pacs with Bob's when it gets really chillywilly.

"GET TO THE HILL"

Dog

I like Schnees with bobs. Uninsulated which works for me down to 15 or so degrees and insulated if it's going to be colder than that for any length of time. They are dry and quiet.

Anything made by Asolo.

All of the guides and packers around here wear Whites Packers and switch to Sorrels when the snow gets ankle high...My favorite boot is the simple Justin Horseshoes, a leather tennis shoe looking affair and damn near as water proof as the Sorrels...The don't weigh much either and i like light boots..My ankles are very strong and I never have many foot problems..Most of the early part of the year I wear my Courtneys.

How many of you have wet snow grow into a mass on the bottom of your airbobs? The heals of mine build up terribly. Any solutions, other than kicking them off occassionally? I've considered the spray on Pam type stuff to see if it will help.

On a similar vane, how much insulation is necessary for hunting boots. Here in California I use my Vasque Clarion GTX lightweight hikers and am fine. I am hoping for an elk hunt in Colorado in November and have no clue as to getting a pair of boots with 400 grams or more of Thinsulate or not. I have been looking at the Rocky Boot line.

Dave, I severely frostbit my feet in 1976... as a result my feet are pretty temperature sensitive so take that into consideration. My Danner Trophies are a 600 gram Thinsulate/Goretex boot and would not want less for November hunting... temps can often be well below zero. On ocassion I use double mountaineering boots or pac's if it gets really cold.

BA

BTT for manicor

John, if you hunt long enough in different snow condition's (yes there are many types of snow) you'll eventually hit the "right" condidion to have this happen... several days of the season last year apparently had the right condition's as what Ric described plagued me.

I prefer insulated danners here in idaho, when the weather gets nasty. Great boots.

The guy who said anything by Asolo is right on the subject. Many of the boots recommended by the posters above are servicable, and have their good and bad points, but will always wear out fairly quickly. It could be why some posters have several pair.

Any good mountain boot, or expedition boot, from the great European makers will be superior. Asolo, Merrell, Fabiano/Scarpa all make excellent mountain boots. If they are the choice of wear for mountaineers conquering the world's great peaks, they will be the best choice in elk country, too.

On flat terrain, for big game hunting or wingshooting, my choice is always Le Chameau rubber wellies, with good insoles fitted. In fact, 95% of the time, they are what I grab. I wore these on last fall's elk hunt in Vermejo Park, in southern Colorado.

[ 08-10-2003, 20:39: Message edited by: wayne nish ]