Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Plantar fasciitis, difficult pack hunt in 3 weeks, advice sought

I just cruised the thread but I had a case of PF about 6 years ago and the green superfeet really helped. Most of my shoes have them now.

Best of luck on your healing and hunt.

Bought green Superfeet today. Fingers crossed!

My foot isn't right but it's improving and I've got 10 days. I think there's hope. Did a hard ride today to keep the rest of the beast in good trim.

Good luck, I have dealt with PF for years. Aleve, aleve, aleve. Then ice and roll a golf ball or tennis ball under your foot and stretch it out.

Jeff, sorry to hear of your foot problems. I'm not familiar so can't comment.

I can comment on boots that don't fit causing blisters, in the case of you run new boots. Leukotape P. Wrap your feet in the problem area with it. Solved my blister problems as I have never had a pair of boots really fit properly, and tried hard.

Good luck on your hunt.

Mine has improved alot lately, aleve as needed, often only 1 tab every few days if it wants to flare. Rolling a frozen bottle and a golf ball a few times a day and some stretching the calf muscles has helped alot....

No matter how minimal you feel it, keep stretching and rolling IME. Good luck Jeff, you will likely make it thru it, just be proactive along the way.

Thanks for the thoughts. I've kinda plateau'd it seems and I'm currently trending pessimistic that this [bleep] will be a fully functional hoof in a week. Still stretching and icing and so on, but I've got a pretty good twinge going still if I step through the motion normally, and that's here on my flat property. It's not helping that I got a bunch of shop work in and am walking & standing on concrete a lot and will have to continue to do so to get it all done before I leave for the hunt. Concrete is the enemy of mobility IME. No surface for old men, haha....

There's a Plan B & C coming together...... even if I can't get to the spot I want to hunt, I might be willing/able physically commit to a shorter pack, and I do have a couple ideas there. One in particular is only about 2.5 miles in and gets me to the fringe of the good remote high country- that might work. Another thought is to go "full tortoise": leave a day earlier, and just go the speed it takes. Maybe break it into two days. The problem there is killing one and the urgency and time constraints around that. It's been a little stressful both other times I did this hunt after I got one down.

Failing that I have good glass and a really dialed long range rig and a 4wd truck with good tires and I can take the full 11 days if I need to. Car camping in all it's glory, me and the other slobs <grin>.... Actually sounds kind of relaxing. Plus the fishing there is spectacular.

Ibuprofen is NOT the same as Naproxin.

800 mg is daily reco max for ibuprofen. Naproxin is less.

FWIW.

Man, amazing how we all have similar tales here.

Mine troubled me for about three years, one year very badly!
It got so bad that at one point I was trying to help a friend find a good mountain goat with his lifetime tag and I was literally hopping down the road on one foot--for miles! Flippin' insanity. Absolutely brutal.

Stair stretches, ice roller, ibuprofen, plastic boot to bed every night, deep tissue message--here come the pain--it hurts like hell, quality orthotics with ALL SHOES you wear.
REST...repeat....


Good luck, you have my sympathies.

Because of the drought, they're saying the deer in so. Idaho are low for the time of year. You might find more low than high.

Good to know, thank you! I won't be that far from Idaho.

Leaving in 3 days. At this point I have to just concede that I'm not packing solo into there in 3 days. Foot still isn't close to 100% and just as bad I haven't been able to hike or walk for 3 weeks so my legs are soft and my balance is off, at least as far as backpacking off-trail in rugged country I mean.

You guys were right. This is a fairly big deal. [bleep]. "Who knew".

Still get a good twinge with every step, though I will say I've got some bounce back and I don't think I'm visibly limping anymore. So, lots of progress but this ain't a foot that can be trusted right now, clearly.

On the bright side I'm going hunting on a GOOD tag with a good rifle and glass into some gorgeous country and I'll still be able to get out and hunt it effectively, I think. I just can't get my ass into the really premium areas far from roads.

There's been a lot of great info offered up here and I'm very grateful.

Good luck!

My case took over a year to resolve. Stretching, custom orthotics in all footwear and no bare feet. It sucks big time. Be proactive and patient.

After reading this thread, I bought some Superfeet insoles.

Now I want a pair for every pair of boots and shoes I have!!


No more foot pain!!

I've been using supertest in my everyday and casual shoes for a while. I just put a pair of the SF Guide in my hunting boots. They feet great; test will be next Saturday.............

I'm up hunting on this foot. Icing it and rolling it on a tennis ball every night around the campfire.... not better, not worse, certainly not good!

The Superfeet ROCK.

I've got 4 days left on the tag so I'm pushing the foot harder now. Basically sat on my butt the first 5-6 days of the hunt, watching.

The thing that is a little spooky is, you know how you end up walking on the outside of your foot? I've actually gotten pretty good at that, lol. But up in some rocks and snow yesterday I almost overbalanced to that side twice. A reminder that things ain't right and to be careful I guess.

Jeff O just wondering how the foot does when going up and down hills in the hills when hunting. Ive had problems since April. End of August I finally got the inserts and foot is doing way better now. I'm up to 40 miles of running and hiking a week now and can feel it but way better than before. The only thing is when i have to go up uneven hills i can feel it instantly. Even with the inserts in.
I'm hoping it just needs more time to heal.

Thanks and good luck.

I've been fighting it since turkey season-- Stretching, tennis balls, frozen coke bottle and a pair of good feet inserts. It's better but not 100%. I'm giving it a real test next weekend---start of Colorado 1st elk rifle season. I'll be up there at 11500'. We shall see.

Good luck Bob!

Noduck, hills aren't ideal but ironically the sage flats are the thing that sets it off the most. It's the uneven and uncertain footing I guess, partly because of the gopher (or whatever they are) tunnels doing mini-collapses underfoot. Up on the top of the mountain I'm mostly on rocks and dirt and it's more controllable.

It's pretty sore tonight. Rolling with it. Keeping my hunts in the 3/4 mile range. That could still set me up for a deer pack-out that was troublesome.

It's unlike any injury I've had-- I just don't know what to expect! You can't power through it. It won't just go away on its own. Can't walk it off- quite the opposite.

I haven't been taking ibuprofen up here, or Alieve either. I just can't function on anti-inflammatory-level doses of those for this type of activity.

Mine has been good for the last 2-3 years. I got some inserts, used a night splint. But for me the most important thing is to stretch. A 30 second stretch by standing with your feet together and just bending over to try to touch your toes. That's all I need to maintain flexibility.