Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Lightweight vs heavy boots?

Dwayne,

And Easter wishes to you and yours also. May Spring be springing in you area....It is trying hard here.

My only point would be the old saying "One size doesn't fit all". Some have weak ankles, some have had damage, some may have diabetic neuropathy where the ankles, shins and even calves can use some extra assistance. Some may hunt in low land slush or push cattails for Pheasants on a regular basis. Some may hunt the snow often. Others may even prefer some of the excellent supportive rubber options that are more common today. All situations where low hikers may not be the best choice..

Agree, shoe fit and preference is the very definition of personal and to your point, situational.

To my point if I described the things I’ve done in the last few years in detail the vast majority of guys would say oh you need big supportive boots for that! Just sort of by rote, they’d say it… “everyone knows…”, they’d say. And they’d be wrong.

I think the demographic here skews “older’n dirt” and might in essence medically require certain things from a shoe. But for the younger, fitter guys reading this… if I can save you a decade or two of unnecessary suffering and encumbrance then I will have done good work here today.

It’s for the children, battue. The children. 😎

There are LW boots with ankle support and LW Low cuts. You always seeming to relish playing the role of the contrarian, I'm not surprised what you choose. However, both boots in your pics would definitely be classified as hikers and not a Mountain hunting boot. At least not by the majority of those who go into the mountains during hunting season, and you would be old in the tooth compared to those who make a living at it, when the weather may be fickle. Anyway, in your pic was there a trail close by or were you constantly climbing the rocks you chose for you BA pic? The children would like to know. Since your activity....verified by pics and timing.... seems to be more along the lines of summer trekking rather than actual mountain hunting.

As this is the backpacking subforum on a hunting forum….

I think I’m the realm of hunting big game, with the possibility of packing meat- lightweight trail runners aren’t going to cut it. I’ve bagged a ton of peaks in Montana in trail runners, ditto racking up tons of 20-30 mile days backpacking. The weight on my back ranging from 5-30 lbs, it’s basically the only footwear I use in those endeavors.

Now with hunting big game, I’ve found that very lightweight boots and trail runners simply don’t cut it for hauling 70# loads. Simply isn’t enough stiffness and your footwear will roll over itself, especially side hilling.

I do look for the very lightest boots to accomplish that, but I don’t think I’d classify these boots as “lightweight”; lightweight among mountain boots, but not “lightweight” in the realm of hiking shoes/boots.

If there are folks capable of packing meat (in rough terrain) in very light hikers and trail runners- I tip my hat

battue- yes, I’m a contrarian among contrarians. That should just be an auto-.sig on the Campfire.

That pic is from the JMT in the high Sierra Nevada. If I get a chance I’ll post a few more pics that show the trail; but it’s over 220 miles long so, y’know…. 90% of your footfalls are on granite up there. It’s not a trail in the common sense. To your point, neither is it OFF-trail, although I’ve done tons of that in general in low top hikers. To my point, on the JMT your footfalls can be at any angle. Speaking for myself and I believe anyone with reasonably functional ankles…. Let them dogs RUN! Let the ankle flex and do its thing. It’s why it’s THERE. Millions of years of evolution are not wrong.

Mike- if weather allowed (I’m not wearing low tops into snow) I’d pack in in the Solomons, hunt in them, and pack the first load out in them. And have my stiffer, high top Solomon’s at the truck if I felt I needed to swap.

Y’all know I’m jinxing the effin’ F out of myself here and now I’m gonna sprain an ankle on my upcoming hike. 😂

100%...

Our steep rocky desert mountains even with little to
no weight on your back literally eat lite hikers. I've tried multiple pair of top shelf light hikers and they don't come close to cutting it...

Well if you'd stay out of the sotol and yucca, you might get more mileage......


JK, I like light hikers for day hikes on trails but anything else I use a boot. Never know what you might come across when you go cross-country.

That's where I'm at too.

I wear the lightweight trail hikers for kicking around the yard, and light duty trail hiking in dry weather. Problem is they don't hold up well at all if the going gets tough and wet conditions. The Gore-tex Salomon stuff that I wear, usually leak right out of the box. All that said, they are comfortable and I do like them for easy duty hiking.

What brand / model do you use?

Thanks for all the replies.. good info here.

I realize that what works for one person may not work for another. So I'm curious what you guys define as "light hikers". Some examples of shoes would be appreciated, for reference.

ETA - From what I have read in the thread, light hikers are not suitable for hunting. So what shoes or shoe class is enough for "hunting" off trail?

I'm looking forward to the replies as my opinion has definitely changed over the years. And I don't pretend to have all the answers.

I’ve settled into Crispi Thors, they fit me like they were made for me. Good stiffness, good outsoles, but relatively light.

When it comes to boots, fit is king. That is the top priority.

Boots are unique to the individual. I've not tried them all but I've tried a bunch. Kenetreks are my favorite fit, but they don't last me a year unfortunately.

I'm almost at 2 years with these. To me these are a sturdy boot, with a lightweight "feel" and have held up pretty dang well. They are Scarpa SL Actives..

GregW;
Happy Easter and good morning to you sir, I hope all is well with you and yours.

Thanks for the photos and the boot reports as well.

The slice marks on your boots speak volumes about where you're going and the type of rocks too. They're not all the same somehow or at least our BC rock slides don't seem to be.

We used to have a shop that stocked Kennetrek an hour north of us, but they don't apparently anymore and for us to order boots by mail just becomes problematic. I've actually heard similar reports about them not lasting from some of the folks up here who wander off the beaten path.

As I'd mentioned, the Zamberlan Vioz GT I got feel great, but I can't help but think they're not going to last super long without a rand, which is too bad but that's life.

The last thing I'll throw out as a bit of a broad statement or perhaps a question is that the German made boots always fit me just a wee bit different than the Italian made ones.

Our eldest daughter is my usual hunting partner and my wife and I offered to get her some new good quality hunting boots for a birthday present. As an aside, I find it really tough to get presents for our adult girls now, so we'll often do something akin to that - have them pick what they want/need.

Anyways she ended up with Scarpa boots I want to say and I thought they were really well made.

Thanks again for sharing your experience with us, I enjoy learning about conditions in parts of the planet I've never seen personally.

Happy Easter and all the best.

Dwayne

Have *multiple* choices when choosing your loadout:


Firearms/ammunition.

Apparel.

Tents.

Packs.

Boots.

Fuels/stoves.

Knives/tools/hydration/navigation, etc. etc.

Transport.

Back up

Plan B and C.


Never be confused again.

have you tried altra trail runners?

Looks like AZ eats up boots fairly quick.

I like midweights. I need as much ankle support as i can get with soft ground. Lowa Tibets for me. I do my daily 3 mile walk in them and hunt in them. In my area, everything gets wet and saturated. Keeping water out of them is the key to keeping things light.

Hey folks. Hope this finds you well. We are 3 weeks/ about 350 miles into our hike; so far so good. Averaging a bit over 15 miles/day per our plan. Did over 180 river crossings (Gila) some waist deep and fast… was very glad to have easy ankle articulation. The next section, north to Grants, has lots of sharp lava and I’m thinking I’ll have my house sitter send my next pair of Solomons in that resupply box. That’ll be around 450 miles on this first pair. They won’t be “done”, but the resupply after that is kind of sketchy as far as delivery. I already did a comical pad rodeo trying to get replacement sent ahead after my BA failed catastrophically in the desert south of Lordsburg… you can’t always count on deliveries to some of the remote places that accept hiker boxes etc.

I’m in cahoots with scores of other CDT hikers, some doing huge miles a day (25+)…. this is freaking NM on the geological continental divide; it’s rugged as hell. Every single one is wearing low tops. Every single one. Just sayin.

GFY

I agree with other posters - fit, so it does not rub feet / squeeze toes or slip and cause heel blisters.

But if walking over steep and uneven ground, plus carrying load, support is important.

Due to living in a wet country, I would add waterproof boot performance too. Wet feet quickly get cold, plus blisters / infections.

I can comfortably pack in a week's worth of hunting gear up a trail wearing lightweight merrell trail runners. I also use those for getting quickly up a trail or up a hill in the morning as they're easier on everything than boots. But I put real boots on at the top, and wear boots period for packing meat.

I'm not too sure that boot weight is super relevant used in this way. The old norwegian welt type is very heavy to hump up a hill, but a real godsend for packing meat down. Newer ultralight Charmoz or La Sportiva types are fine but they don't keep you upright like the old leather, having used both. The UL sportivas almost have a hinge at the ankle which gets annoying on a sidehill, no matter how tightly tied.