Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Rubber Hunting Boots

How much more scent free are they than leather/nylon boots? A good many are also neoprene with rubber bottoms. Is neoprene ok? I feel like the neoprene stinks worse than any other material they would use. Most of the time I walk about 800 yards one way in to a stand. I feel like my feet would be swimming at that point. What has been your experiences with them?

I wear Lacrosse rubber and neoprene boots. I walk about a half mile or more one way. I don't think that it helps a whole lot with scent. I wear them because they're waterproof.

I don't know about those LaCrosse. Had a pair I bought and paid good money for when I still lived in Alabama. Finished wearing them out here in NC. Doubt they lasted more than 18 maybe 19 years.

Used Lacrosse for years (same pair) but went with Muck boots this year, as they are much easier to get on and off. During bow season, I spray them down with no scent spray when walking in and had no issues with deer smelling me. Of course this year was so dry I am not sure that is a good test. Will know for sure next year. Logic says they have to leave less scent then leather. YMMV

Another vote for LaCrosse, mostly due to their 18" height. Green rubber with bob bottoms are my idea of great boots. Like the rubber versions as the neoprenes seem to shred pretty quickly. Sadly, don't think their quality improved when they moved production to China.

have


I have several years on Lacrosse (Alpha Burley ?)boots.

We wear them for moisture.

Other than that we walk a route where the deer almost never travel... stands placed strategically.

When bowhunting we'd wear rubber boots but I often washed them in baking soda and left em in cedar trees during the day with our other clothing.

They are not scent free. Every last time the dog got loose at home while I was hunting, he'd follow the scent right to me. Those were a lab and a beagle.

Currently with the deer trailing cur, doesn't matter WHAT boots I wear the ONLY way I can go hunt without him dragging the wife along on a leash when they walk, and him not following or trying to follow me is if I do a weird looping route where he doesn't all of a sudden pick up on me leaving the road or trail... So a lot of the time I just take him with me to sit in the woods. He is very good about staying pretty still and his dang eyes spotting deer are better than mine... but I digress.

Rubber we wear extra tuffs, but have not had any of the chinese ones, ours are older...

Used to wear La crosse quite often. But then they would dry rot in our heat so quick we just wore whatever Walmart had after that.... 75 bucks for a boot that was worn 50 times a year and rotted in 2... nope.

The 13" Servus Northerner insulated pac-boots have treated me well. They cost around $100, but they wear pretty well and are both warm and comfortable.

Mucks for me. 15yrs on the first pair. I ripped the toe and thought it might leak, never did. I debated on the LaCrosse Burlys myself but stayed with the Mucks because they are sooooo comfortable. I think comfort is more important than the "rubber or neoprene" debate. I tried a couple of other off brand boots BPS and Cabelas thinking I'd save some money and they'd be just as comfortable. They were not! JMO. Good luck

I have a pair of Muck Wetlands that are probably 12 years old. Great boots but they are a tad slippery on slick surfaces. I need to find replacements that have better much better traction.

I had a pair of mucks and hated the damn things. They stretched so much that on rough ground, my feet would slide forward and the ends of my toes would get sore. I have worn LaCrosse ever since they quit making RedBall boots, long ago. The size changed slightly when they moved to China or wherever. Can't put my jeans inside of the tops now like I use to. Old boots I can, so it is not me, but the boots. miles

Yes rubber and neoprene boots, no leather boots for 17 years, shot a few deer over that time. Even rubber snake boots.

Hunted with a guy in Wyoming this year who wears Muck boots. Says if they fit you, they're the best. He has had his for several years and wears them for all hunting, rain or shine.

Some boots fit better than others the same as some rifles like certain ammo. Best to try them for yourself than buy them and never try them on. I wore cowboy boots years ago but I haven't found a pair that's comfortable on my feet in 20 years, no matter how good the reviews are.

Lacrosse Burly have been great for me. had these for about 15 years, only use them for hunting, only put them on when I get out of the truck and walk about a mile to my stand. I've never had deer spook because they smelled my scent trail where I walked.

Use them rain or shine, they are starting to get some cracks, I'll probably get another pair of Lacrosse Burly

jmho
the issue with leather is the various
treatments folks use as much as anything.


i never wear boots i'll hunt with to do anything
else. when i get back from the field, they come
off right there. no filling fuel tanks, no campfires,
no cooking, etc.

The LaCrosse Burly as in the photo above are not what they used to be. I bought a new pair a month or 2 ago and only wore them twice before a small tig went through the side of one them right above where the tread is welded on. I could not believe it. I hunted in a older pair for years and never gave a second thought to where I was stepping and never punched a hole in a boot.

I don't understand why they would make a boot that is so easy to puncture. I don't care if it's a little heavier or if it costs a little more, I need a durable waterproof boot. I'm going to try a pair of the Kamik Bushmans. They are made in the USA and get good reviews.

Similar practice to yours and the previous poster. I've been asked why I spray scent killer on rubber boots......

I don't use rubber boots anymore. I like the Muck type. Much easier to get on and off, and more comfortable to me.

That said. I have a pair of LaCrosse, Burleys I think, that I bought in 1999. I used them for 20-40 hours a week for work and for turkey hunting. They're 800gr insulated. After all the hours and miles they still don't leak.

If it can smell the boots, it can smell you. Play the wind and don't worry about the boots.

I've killed plenty of deer while wearing leather boots. I agree with Rock Chuck. I think whoever came up with the idea of marketing rubber footwear to deer hunters based on the idea of scent control is a marketing genius. If you need them for walking through puddles great but otherwise wear whatever is comfortable.

The idea of scent control with rubber boots is that they don't let scent "out" from what's inside. Nothing can be done about the scent that is already on the outside....step in petro and you carry the scent of petro, though it will retain a scent for far less time than leather. You leave behind the scent of the boot (and what it's stepped in) but not of what's inside the boot. Rubber smells like rubber and for a short time whatever it's stepped in, it's not scent free but it is containing the scent of what's inside the boot....leather retains scent and smells like whatever has been in it, what's in it, where it's been stored, what it's stepped in, etc, and it will leave that scent behind.

I've been wearing Lacrosse boots for many years, first the pac style boots with the rubber bottoms with tops made out of leather or cordura, but for the last 12 years or so have been wearing a pair of LaCrosse Burly uninsulated boots like pictured above. I wear them for turkey season and deer season unless it is below freezing and then I wear some 800 gram thinsulate Danners.

I have a lot of miles (from turkey hunting mostly) on these boots with no sign of dry rot or any signs of wearing out.

I don't know about the scent proof part, but hunting in swampy areas they do come in handy. I've watched deer cross where I've walked with rubber boots, and other boots and it never fazed them, unless they were downwind of my stand.

In my part of Alabama most hunters who are looking for waterproof boots are wearing either LaCrosse or Muck. The neoprene on mucks would be fine if its cold enough but most of the time, they are just too hot for me wear and they will get ripped if you are in areas with lots of sticks or brush to walk through.

I shared a camp in western Kansas with a group of hunters from Louisiana and the mud room where we left our boots looked like an ad for Lacrosse with 6 pair of Burly's and one lone set of Mucks lined up.

Bob.

You have to wear rubber boots to set pig traps, you will never catch a pig if you have on leather boots. Rubber boots leave a whole lot less scent when you scatter corn or going to your stand.

Good post.

I don't think rubber boots are "scent free," but they darn sure don't hold scent like leather. I always make it a point to thoroughly rub my rubber boots in the first water hole I can find b4 walking in and have fooled many deer. They still stop and sniff, but most times do not spook.

I'm on my 3rd set of Lacrosse burly boots since the early 80s. I have bowhunted with them and leather boots and I have had deer close with both on. I primarily wear mine because I get less ticks and chiggers wearing them when it's warm. Or when I am going to walk in lots of mud and water.

I have some muck boots that are about 5 years old, not sure what model. They are very comfortable.
I do not wear them anywhere but in the field. I don't even drive my truck with them on. you do not want to wear scent proof hunting boots anywhere that can contaminate them, like filling your truck up at the gas station.
Properly maintained rubber hunting boots will keep deer detection of your presence down considerably. I hunt some very small properties including the 27 acres at my house. With small properties it isn't always feasible to have your own trails to avoid detection by the deer. The scent free rubber boots are essential to keep my spots from burning out.

When I first started hunting Whitetail it seemed I would never get any nice bucks and does were tough to get as well. As soon as I started wearing rubber boots and hunting 30-35' up in my TreeLounge I began to I became successful, like flipping a switch.

I've had the same Lacrosse boots for about 10 years now and they are far from worn out. I just picked up a pair of Lacrosse Aero's not because the others were worn but the Aero's being neoprene and rubber are a bit lighter. I also have a pair of Lacrosse uninsulated full rubber boots I wear to fish both in fresh and saltwater, those are going on 10+ years as well with no leaks or complaints. Never bought them really for scent control, more for the warmth and waterproofing. Here in New England you don't need to go very far to be in a swamp(cedar or otherwise). I tried on some Muck boots when buying the new Lacrosse boots but they did not feel to me to have the same type of ankle fit as Lacrosse

For hunting Whitetails here, I step in cowshidt for scent control. Bull schidt actually works the best.

Weather dependent on foot ware here from rubber to leather and fabric. All sorts have game (predators/vegetarians) have crossed my paths and showed no knowledge of my recent presence. I do not, however, run about in stocking feet.

Start walking with the wind though and it's a different game indeed.

This past weekend I watched a button buck follow my steps from the day before. He followed them right to the point of a blood trail from a buck I shot minutes before...and he followed that blood trail to the edge of a bluff (that the buck went over). I finally ran him off to go get the buck.

Maybe I just stink, but I've watched all sorts of game pick up my tracks....even with rubber boots (and without).

Around deer season, for that you might as well wear hip boots then. Because that's how deep the bull schidt is.

I would get a pair that are really comfortable and just warm enough for those cold mornings. Keep them clean, store them in a tote when not in use, stay off the deer paths as much as possible and hunt upwind. My experience says that no boot is scent free.

all I know is that the longer I hunt, the more I realize that I know nothing about hunting.

Some of the smartest well equipped internet deer hunters who do more blogging than hunting will tell you they have an battery powered Ozone generator and wear charcoal lined underwear to mask their farts.

Hunt the wind, wear rubber boots or not, hunt at the right times, be still, don't play on your phone, enjoy being in the woods with God's creation on display.

I can think of some people who could really use those but they're not necessarily hunters.

I'm gonna cast my vote for the Mucks. My pair of Muck Wetlands are at least four years old now IIRC. Couldn't tell ya if they are more scent free but they seem to me to be O.K.. But I don't do stuff like pumping gas with them on if I'm gonna hunt in them any time soon. They're great for walking but you gotta make sure they fit you and a pair of heavy socks. Two years ago the winter was super cold and the only time my feet ever got cold was sitting still in 12 degree weather during deer season (after the first hour I had cold feet). I also did a lot of work related outdoor walking and snowshoeing with them in sub-zero temps and never had cold feet as long as I was moving. I think if they had any scent on them it wouldn't stay on them as long as it would stay on leather/nylon boots. I retired last spring so they'll probably last me longer than I thought but if I wear these out I'd gladly get another pair of the same.

Muck and Bog boots are very similar but they don't fit the same. For me, Mucks just didn't fit right so I went with Bogs. It depends on your foot shape.
I wear them all the time around home in the winter but they don't have the needed support for Rocky Mtn elk hunting. On milder terrain, they'd be great. I've never got cold in them but I've never sat on a stand, either.

I used to be just like that. Wearing camo too.

Now I play the wind, and don't worry about the rest. I've killed more than a few coming home from work get out and head to the right area or stand.... work clothes, work boots, that probalby smell like fire at a minimum, leather they are....

I've changed my methods and worry about whats important these days and kill as many if not more, generally speaking more, than I ever used to.

Mucks for me. An old pair with the side zip. I have a high instep so lacrosse don't fit. Can't get my feet in them unless they are 2 sizes too big. Then they flop around.

I tried some bogs. Fit good but the sole was slicker than owl schit.

Le Chameau.....the sky's the limit

English text book in high school had a sentence " Children, don't forget to wear your rubbers." A few did, three cheerleaders turned up pregnant. One of them lives at my house. Damn, that was 47 years ago. Time flies when you are having a big time!!

I wear Redwing waterproof leather slip-ons. Don't see myself going back to my rubber boots unless I need to cross deeper water.

My Dad swore by those old Red Ball boots. I like LaCrosse Granges and Alpha Burly 800's. Current Granges have some cracks that have started to leak. Luckily it was a dry deer season this year. They gotta be 12+ years old. I have high arches and Mucks just don't give me the support I need. Course I haven't tried any on in many years; they may have changed. Southern and Eastern AR (the Delta) demand rubber or neoprene boots extremely wet and muddy conditions most years.

Scent free rubber boots... LOL. Give it some more years you will figure it all out. Took me many to also.

The mucks Carolyn has are neoprene up top... that damn sure holds scent...

I kill deer as well as I ever did. I wear rubber boots when its wet. Beyond that I wear whatever I have. Obviously I don't have em doused in gas, but the fire boots I wear daily may have some funk on them some days too...leatehr.

Years ago, after setting up my ladder stand, I climbed in to see what I could see. A 7-point came through, following my trail and obviously sniffing my tracks. He kept coming down the trail and then proceeded to chew the branches over a scrape about 30 yards away before moving on. I killed him, or his twin brother, on opening morning from that stand.

He obviously smelled my tracks and obviously didn't GAF about it in the absence of other danger signs. Maybe a older and wiser one would have.

I killed a buck in November with my ML. A spike that was with my buck fidgeted around after the shot, smelling the fallen deer now and again, and in general acting confused about the situation. He finally wandered off in the direction from which they had come. I got down from my stand and my son came over and helped me dress out the buck. Then we went back to our stands, leaving my pack lying next to the dressed buck. Soon after, the spike came back, repeated the sniffing business with the deer and my pack, actually touching it with his nose. Again, he eventually turned and went back the way he'd come from, agitated, but not panicked.

I don't know how you wear your boots but when I wear mine the rubber part touches the ground I'm sure if I brush against tall grass are brush with the top it may leave a scent.
sometimes you could smoke a stogie cigar on stand and deer don't care, I've even heard of them coming up to smell a smoldering pile of crap a hunter just took near his stand (emergency crap couldn't get any further) But I have seen deer, hogs and coyotes repel and run off as soon as they hit my trail too. I just know that my deer sightings went up when I started wearing rubber boots.

I've seen similar behavior. I've never seen a mature buck do such though.

Pigs are the answer. Rubber boots and scent blocker stuff rarely rarely fools pigs noses. That's enough for me.

My sightings have gone up because I know more about what I"m doing, even though I figured out camo and rubber boots and scent blocker stuff isn't where you should spend your time.

I will add though, on your side of the argument, none of the above can ever hurt anything.

Never mind the part that I have yet to have a dog that could not follow me, in rubber boots, even in the days I was anal and would wash them in baking soda and hang em in a cedar tree during the day while not hunting...

Much better to keep teh wind in your face, the sun at your back, and approach from safe areas...Thats about as foolproof as you can get.

We all gage mature differently at times. What I can say is we've shot a trash buck, and had it fall over for some reason instead of run off on the place where we have to hunt out of stands and with feeders.... and later a more mature buck will come by and eat next to the dead one. 5.5 is about the oldest I can age one on the hoof IE guessing, and for sure I"ve had 4.5 year old ones do it.

Years ago I had shot a spike and a 4.5 year old buck came by later, not large enough for my tastes and kicked the arrow out of the way while eating the rest of the evening...

This is not common though from what I"ve seen.

Abnormal sights/scents/sounds is what gets them IMHO. Around our house, you can hunt without having taken a shower or changing clothes generally without a worry, although from the bow stand up close now and then it will get you.

One of the best bucsk I've shot with a bow over the yeras, shot at 15 steps, and had come downwind of me coming into the stand, I'd just drive home in the drizzle, put on a pair of ski pants and an old goretex mil jacket and sat down 5 minutes earlier... that deer was aged at 6.5 He was not full downwind, but he was about 90% of the way there, when he angled and came on in.

But that stand is at the house, couple hundred feet away, the dog barks at the deer half the time, we go in and out of the house, barn etc... drive in and drive off and most of the time the deer don't care. Obviously the mature ones are a bit spookier than the young ones but thast to be expected overall.

That spike's lack of reaction to his dead companion might be due to the spined buck's instant demise without any fuss or commotion. A red fox was hunting mice a few yards from the buck at the shot, and he returned to his work while I sat in my stand trying to reload without spooking the spike (thought at first that it was a legal doe). No doubt that deer in this area get a nose full of human stink on a regular basis, and a lot of them probably don't get too riled unless the danger is confirmed by sight or sound, merely alerted, at least until hunting pressure starts to wise them up. Older deer, as noted before, are probably spookier.

I did go on and order a pair of the Cabelas duratraxx they have on sale. I have had deer hit my trail and spook recently was the reason I asked. I had wandered into a new stand at dark through some brush and probably didnt take the best route in. The deer fed through the flat and one of the deer I couldn't see spooked, so all the rest of them spooked. The only thing I can figure is that one of them hit my trail I walked in on. Also 5 years or so ago I had a pair of cabelas rubber boots I had purchased for waterfowl. I wore them to my deer stand one day and walked right in to my stand like I always did. A while later a few does came by and when they hit the path I walked in on they stopped. They freaked out but didnt run, they walked up and down the scent trail but wouldn't cross it. Finally, they just turned and went back where they came from. I agree with the playing the wind, but a lot of times where I hunt it is swirling, the deer come from all different directions, whatever. I try to do whatever I can to get that deer as close as I can. 10 yards could be the difference in seeing the trophy of a lifetime or it slipping away without you knowing it was ever there.