Home Forums Birds & Dogs Upland Game Which Boots for Pheasant Hunting - Waterproof

Time for new boots myself. My 15+ year old Cabela's kangaroo skin ones are pretty much done. They've been resoled multiple times and they're also getting a bit small as I get older. Alas, BP/Cabelas no longer makes anything close to my old boots and Browning also no longer makes their boot that I had years ago.

Do you recall how long the break in was on the Danner Grouse? I see some comments.

I see notes about it being narrow. I'm a 10-D in most of my foot but a pretty wide forefoot. Any advice?

if you have to have Kangaroo, them perhaps LL Bean would be an option. In addition there is Russell. I doubt you will run into many others wearing Russell’s. 😀

I looked at the Bean Roo' boots but the reviews were really bad with both quality and waterproofness. Surprised as I have generally had very good experiences with Bean stuff. My bird vest is Bean and getting pretty ragged but it's 25 years old!

I have a pair of Russell dress chukkas and they're OK but the wait and the time to break them in was forever! They're comfortable now but I swear I must have worn them to work for a year before they felt good.

Tried the Kangaroo boots once a long time ago..Great to walk in....however found them lacking for ankle stability on uneven ground.

Mentioned earlier, the fit and support of the Lacrosse alphaburley type boots have improved tremendously. The come with and without insulation....if there is any chance of wet or snow they have become my first choice and have found nothing warmer. Nor do you have to worry about drying them out. A pair of extra socks handles any situation where your feet sweet.

Had to go thru a cattail area last year and just sloshed thru with the high Lacrosse. With leather I would have been over the tops.

There was very little break-in needed, they were pretty comfortable right away. The only issue I had was a weird squeak/click that developed with each step. I had no problem with the width either-depending on the maker, I'm either a 12 or 13 D.

Might be instructive for you to learn that thousands of SD pheasants are shot every year by people wearing white New Balance cross trainers

Thanks for the inputs folks. I've got some rubber boots and looked at the fitted rubber and they're mostly pretty heavy.

Did they ever stop squeak/clicking?

One can break-in Danner Grouse boots by wearing them to bed once.....

Yes the fitted rubber boots can be heavy...depending on the amount of insulation. The uninsulated ones are reasonable....

Make sense. Now, if you told me to wear them to bed and then click my heels and wish I was home again, why that would be nonsense.

Just "finally" broke in a pair of Crispi boots.....They almost won.

Years ago, I had a Danner Grouse boot and it broke in on the first trip...But I have to admit, I just looked at the most recent interation....and the reviews mention they don't break-in out of the box....

Ahhhh, this is soooo hard, but, but....Seems as if I was wrong.....There it's out and done....

For most of my bird hunting I wear either a pair of Merrells (early season) or a pair of Under Armour boots. I these realize these are not traditional boots like Danners or the old green, Browning featherweights but for most of the bird hunting I do, they serve me well. The Under Armour deer stalker boots in particular, are exceptionally nice. They come in two weights with 400 or 800 gram thin-sulate and gore-text liners. The insoles have a very good arch, ankle and heel support and the boot's sole is is quite rigid and supportive as well. The outer shell of the boot is a leather and cordura blend, and they show virtually no signs of wear despite the fact that I have worn them for, 3 going on 4 seasons now. At the end of the day my feet are dry and not tired or sore from wearing ill fitting, leaky, water logged boots. Without a doubt, the Under Armour boots are the nicest, driest, lightest weight and comfortable boot I have ever worn and I would not hesitate to buy them again.
For what it's worth, I hunt in the very upper N.W. corner of ND and temperatures here are sometimes well into the sub-zero range while I'm hunting.

Is the Under Armor one this one? UA Hunting boot I don't see one called the deer stalker on their site.

Most of my bird hunting is in moderate or warm weather these days but with our move to NH coming closer at a good rate, grouse in the north woods is certainly my focus! I doubt I'll ever be the hard core bird hunter of my youth chasing pheasants in the midwest regardless of the weather so uninsulated is my preference and just wearing the right socks. I have a pair of uninsulated rubber Cabelas boots that have served me well on a couple of Newfie moose hunts and I love my feet stay warm in them almost regardless of weather but not the greatest for walking on the sides of hills.

Ah well. Will likely take a shot with the Danners and add to a boot collection that my wife already mocks. "you also have two sets of wading boots!" "Well, yes Hon it's like this....."

The UA boot I have is actually the "Brow Tine", not the "Deer Stalker".
My mistake, had to look it up to confirm.

Sounds like maybe you should take a look at the Danner Pronghorn....Which was actually the boot I was thinking about and not the Danner Grouse Boot...I kept thinking, "no that boot broke in out of the box"...It was the Pronghorn...

They did after I spent a good part of a turkey hunt walking up through a creek that was running pretty good with spring runoff. An hour slogging through water cured the squeak/click.

I don't mind a stiff, all leather boot for hunting so use Meindl Vakuums for everything. They fit me very well. If I was looking just for an upland boot, I'd be looking at the Comfort Fit or Ultralight Hunter.

https://meindlusa.com/collections/mens-collection/Men's

Thanks for the advice - Went with the Pronghorn. Looks like a good fit and only 3.5 ounces heavier than most of "featherweight" bird boots out there.

Thinking back how comfortable they were, I just ordered a pair.

Been using stiffer boots for sometime now...it should be interesting to see how the pronghorn works out.

I'd never advocate someone getting a cheap pair of boots, or boots that you'd not be happy with but I am not seeing "pheasant boots" as a huge deal. If a guy doesn't want leather than there are some synthetic options, but they're more limited and IME, not really needed barring some oddball medical issue.

Pheasant hunting normally involves getting out of a vehicle, walking 1-2 miles down some canal banks, fencelines, cattail patches or crop rows. Get back in vehicle and go to next spot. I've taken a boat to river islands and crossed shallow rivers in waders, then put my boots back on and hunted the thick riverbank Russian Olive and willow areas....but have never put much thought into which boot to wear, aside from not wearing tennis shoes. If I am in mucky areas I wear muck boots (rubber or neoprene). It isn't like a guy will be hiking miles into the backcountry in snow and ice.

Carry on I guess....but I'd put all of this effort and mental gymnastics into how and where to find unpressured birds, than what boots to wear to get to them.

I have a pair of insulated Danner Pronghorn boots. I highly recommend you order a size larger than your usual size IF you're planning to wear a sock liner plus 1-2 pairs of warm socks (wool, etc).