Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska which boots?

Ok, maybe not the normal boot question.

I have in my closet two sets of boots: Cabelas Meindl Perfekts (400g Thinsulate) 10" boots and a set of Alpha Burly 800 gr. Rubber boots.

In 2011 I wore my Alpha Burly Pro 800's on a snow filled tromp through Kodiak Island on my way to bagging a couple Sitka.





It was a touch cool out...but warmed up throughout the week. I never really thought of my feet much. At the end of the day, my feet were darn sweaty-damp. But never cold.

In 2013 I did my Goat Hunt. I used my Cabelas Meindl Perfekt 10" boots. In spite of the horror stories, my feet were warm, dry, comfortable and the soles didn't peel off. Mind you, that was only 2 days of solid damp/wet hiking...but I'd put near 500 miles of wear on them breaking them in before the hunt. My boots were wet from the moment I hit the turf...but my feet never felt wet. Then again, it was only 48 hours total hiking and damp time...




I have a fall Brownie hunt in the Talkeetna's planned. September - which happens to be the second wettest month of the year. So, let's plan on spending 7 days in the high likelihood of wet. Temps should be a low of 40...high of upper-50's. That is, if you believe that Weather.com stuff.

My thoughts:

The Alpha Burly 800's: waterproof...but dang, at 800g of Thinsulate it's going to be a hot boot. I remember the sweat in them the first time and it's going to be at least 20 degrees warmer.

The Perfekts: were, in fact, perfect. Admittedly I spent 500 miles breaking them in and making sure these were defect free. They were. Love these boots. BUT! Experience has taught me (that is, 15 years of backpacking in the Sierra's) that leather and Gore-Tex can/will fail...it's just a matter of time.

Still, I love the Perfekt's...temp wise, they are right. I can grease the leather with Sno-Seal (I used 2 coats on my Goat Hunt with no issues) to help with the water.

Or, I could just buy another pair of rubber, non-insulated boots.

My gut tells me that new non-insulated Rubber Boots will work fine.

My heart tells me the Perfekt's will be fine, especially since they are a known quantity.

My guide prefer's hip boots.

What would YOU do?


PS: in a very odd moment in time, during my goat hunt the tide came in over a 2 hour period in our hunting spot. What was a minor trickle of water coming in turned into a 2' deep river 30' wide to cross. I had my rain pants on which I snugged extra tight with the velcro at the bottom. I added a length of cord around the ankle to snug it even more. And then, to the amazement of my guide, I simply ran through the river as fast as I could. Believe it or not, the water never had enough time to travel up my "sealed" ankles and water never made it into the boots. I made four stream crossings this way and the idea has stuck.