Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Recommend rubber boots to me

I have always been a leather boot guy. Recently I got a new pup and we are out tromping the swampy and slushy fields and woods everyday exercising and training. I was thinking about the elk guides I went with in Alberta a few years ago and they wore nothing but rubber knee boots everyday and hiked everywhere in them. I’d like to try some. I know a lot hunters wear them.
Any particular ones you’ve actually owned and worn and can recommend? Don’t need insulated, but good for lots of walking. Thanks!

i use Muck brand wetlands

Lacrosse. Tight around the ankle, and a steel shank.

Love my Muck's.

I have 50 years experience that says Jim's offers excellent advice. More so if you don't need insulation. Their Grange boot can be had for $60 or so, are fairly light, and quite durable.

Grange LaCrosse. They are made in China now but mine have held up well. If you need cold weather comfort they come in 2 insulated versions and both have a lug type sole rather than tractor tread.

Muck boots, they make several different models.

Xtratuf

Is there any other ?

I have used the LaCrosse grange for lots of years and Red Ball before that, made in the same style. They do not fit after the China move like they did before, but hold up pretty good. I used to wear all the tread off before they started leaking but not now. Close, but not worn smooth. miles

LaCrosse if you go thru any trash/briars/sticks... if you are just going thru wet grass, Mucks are fine... I've actually had both.

I have Bog boots. They're very similar to Mucks but fit slightly different. Go with the one that fits you the best.

Have had several pair of the LaCrosse Grange here too. Miles if you used the old Red Ball rubber boots you been on this earth for more than just a little while. My father (96) and uncle (89) wore out many a pair of those RB's hunting quail, back when we had some in AR. Later they switched to LaCrosse and that's what I grew up using.

Mucks are good boots, but I'd avoid the entry level price point - not from quality, but from walking in them over distance.

I've got Irish Setter and Browning in heavier duty rubber boots, and the difference in heel slippage and comfort is very noticeable.

The better boots for what you describe will have a heavier duty sole, some stiffness in the arch, and generally have a much more aggressive tread.

The light tread tends to slip for me, I've tumbled more in my light Mucks than my other boots.

I think the Grange is the best for toughness and non-insulation. The MUCK's are comfortable/warm and I use them both for farm and hunting but I think the Grange will outlast them....

Since it sounds like you're doing a fair amount of walking...not just to the tractor and back....regardless of what you get, pull the paper thin insole out and replace it with a Superfeet green (or whatever aftermarket insole you prefer). Using a quality insole that fits you can change a boot and I don't think it shows up more anywhere than it does in a rubber boot. In some it may change the fit so take that into account.

Yeah, I got in on the tail end of the Red Ball boots and good quail hunting. I am old enough to remember when there was no deer here. Now we have deer and no quail. I also remember when we had lots of woods in east Arkansas, and no soybeans. Cotton was king. miles

Yep, my uncle said he was 16 before he ever saw a deer track. Our deer camp originated as a fox hunters camp. Fox population went down, deer population came up and they wanted to run those dogs. Mom was from DeWitt. Back in the day (for me) it was cotton, rice, milo, winter wheat, soy beans and oats. Now it's corn, rice, soy beans and winter wheat. Lots of fields have been let go.

Xtratuf is your feet’s best friend!

I am a little North of there, near Des Arc. miles

I would steer clear of the Muck boot brand. While I own several pair of their different models, I have learned that a tube of shoe-goo is your best friend if you plan to wear them in the woodlands.
They may be fine (and in fact are!) in the grassland, but are extremely susceptible to snagging and tearing of the uppers (any area above the molded lower) when used in brush and dried tangles.
They are relatively warm, but no where near the advertised temps. (i.e. the Insulated Woody Max shows a comfort range of 60 to -40 F, but at best is good for 0 F or possibly -10 F if you are
continually walking. (We get to test the warmth claims every Winter here in Northern Minnesota .)

Very little experience with most of the other brands mentioned, other than the "Red Ball" and "Ball Band" rubber boots some 50 years of so ago. They were fine, but i'm sure there are better
brands available in this day and age.

Another vote for LaCrosse Grange