I hunted in Whites for 25 plus years love them. They however are a pain in the butt to break in like two month's of suffering.
I had a Rep tell me not to do the water trick to them it swells up the leather and reduces the life of the boot.
Whites are trully quality my smoke jumpers were rebuilt twice i used them at work would last a life time if you just hunted in them.
They are heavy though.
The Hunters Whites makes are ok the tread is not as deep as i would like in ice deep snow and down hill climbs.
My smoke jumper hills dig in and i can really go down some steep stuff.
Way past the budget you were looking at though.
I switched to Lowas about 5 years ago love them i still bring the whites as a back up.
Good luck and hope you guys see a lot of animals.
