Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Your choice for all-around western hunting boot

I like fatties myself...

Funny, I don't remember any fatties in those pics you posted........not that there's anything wrong with that.

For a foot orgazim at work or play.

Salomon Quest 4D GTX for the win. With gators I've had them to 20 degrees in snow. Work on rocks mud and sand 6 days a week. Only one other midweight made with better support.

Laces adjust easily and stay put for total foot comfort.. For my money and my time from 100* to 20* lowest so far to inches of rain in a day. I doubt I'll find a better boot for my world. Getting another pair and looking into getting a pair resoled. I'll most likely die in mine.

I'd stay away from La Sportiva.

Nice thing about salomon boots is they can often be found on sale. I hunted with the X-ultra mid last year first season and they were pretty good for 99$. Light and fast but not enough stiffness in the shank and sole when it came time to pack meat out.

I don't know about you guys but Im starting to think gore-tex is a total BS lie. I haven't bought a pair of boots in 5 years that had gore-tex hold up much longer than a few months. So I'm inclined to say keep it cheap and buy whatever is on sale that fits you. Sierra trading post had some nice hanwags on sale last year. backcountry always has salomons on clearance, etc.....

Goretex works, but it has to be sewn into a good boot to keep your feet dry. My Vasque boots are just about worn out but still keep my feet dry.

You don't. Now I'm really worried:)

Why?

I'll ocasionally go to something like a Salomon Quest 4D, but the majority of the time use a trail runner.
This is my current favorite:
http://www.sportiva.com/products/footwear/mountain-running/crossover-20-gtx

Trail runners definitely aren't for everyone but the I've packed 130 lb loads in very rugged terrain using them. With a set of MicroSpikes and trekking poles I'm good to go.

Ed T, the few pairs of sportivas I've experienced were poor quality vs price. I had a pair of trango S evo sportivas and they fell apart fast (400$). Stitches came out, gore tex was shot and all that after less than 100 miles of hiking and climbing. My wife has a pair of the pamir's, she barely wears them and the leather lining is already wearing through.

So that's just two data points. After owning lots of nice boots I feel like sportiva is resting on its laurels. They were once a premier brand but now, I think you're paying Italian boot prices for Slovakian quality. Not terrible, just not worth what they charge.

I've gone from investing top dollar in boots to just finding what's on sale and blowing through them.

I don't hunt "the west" but I do hike the west and hunt and backpack in rocky and occasionally wet conditions. I like backpacking boots for what I do, and have run through multiple pairs of Asolo and Vasque. The Vasque last longer, but the Asolo seem to fit better and are more comfortable. I ran Asolo FSN 95's until they quit making them. I am on my first pair of Salomon Quest 4G and just did a rocky 16 mile overnighter in them. I am impressed so far, we will see how they hold up. I guess that's yet another vote for the Salomons. FWIW, I am not hiking or hunting in extreme cold.

Kenetrek Mountain Extremes 400 grams of insulation for early season hunts. Late season especially with snow, I use Kenetrek Grizzly's. With the mountain extremes, I go with a lighter sock when it is warmer and haven't had a problem with them being too warm until the temps climb past 60 degrees or so.

I have worn the Lowa Renegade GTX for quite a while now and I'm about to get a new pair but first I'm going to try on a pair of the Salamon Quest 4D GTX. I had a pair of Salamon trail runners that I really liked but iirc they ran small in size.

I have Lowa Tibets for warm weather and Kennetrek Insulated mtn extremes for when it's good. I used to wear packs in cold weather. I hate them for any kind of rocky, rough ground.

I have one ankle that loves to sprain so I want pretty tall boots with lots of support.

I have to loosen the laces when I ride any distance though.