Late Season Elk Hunting/Winter Boot

dirtnap_nation

New member
Joined
Nov 3, 2018
Messages
14
Location
Northern California
Hey Everyone. Hope everybody is having a good season this year. Filled my California General Archery Blacktail tag 7 days into the season so that was awesome. I’m starting to gear up and fully prepare for our Montana Big Belt Mountains November 7-13 Elk and Deer Combo Hunt. I am looking for footwear. On days over 30° my dad and I will
Just wear our Crispi Guide GTX 200 gram Insulated Boots. Any colder than that are feet get cold especially for hours of glassing. The boots will be needed for Late fall elk and deer hunting, late season deer hunting and winter predator hunting and other winter activities. We are looking at the Insulated Mountaineering style boot models: Crispi Wild Rock Plus GTX 800 gram, Schnees Granite 600 Gram and Kenetrek MounNtain Extreme 1000.
The Mountain Pac Boots we are looking at are the Schnees Hunter 2 Pac Boot and the Kenetrek Grizzly Pac Boot. Please let me know what your real world experience and review of these boots are. Needing a winter boot I can hike up to 10 miles per day in, keep me warm well below zero and be able to side hill steep country chasing game. Not just a snowmobile snowshoe boot. Need it for everything from late season elk and mule deer to winter coyote hunting. My feet get cold really easily which is why I’m looking at more than 400. At 25° my feet were really cold with the Crispi Guide 200 grams last season in Wyoming in October.
 
For late season cold temps, I love the Elk Tracker 860s with 1000g thinsulate. Many guys may turn their nose up at them, but for me, they've worked better than anything else during long sits in frigid temps coupled with long hikes to get to and from. Bottom line, when it gets really cold, these are the go to boots for me (I am a cold feet person too).
 
Danner Elk Hunter. 400gm of insulation gets me through late season hunts and even shoulder hunts in January. All leather construction. Best boot traction I've ever had with their Danner Bob outsole. Works awesome on snow and rocks.
 
Since you mentioned the Kenetrek Grizzly, last season was my first with that boot. I was very impressed. Hunting boot functionality in a pack boot. My feet stayed warm in late season tree stands and I was super pleased with the way they handled a mulie hunt which started in the 20s, then tuned to melting snow and gumbo mud. I put on 9 miles in the mud with a relatively heavy pack for a day hunt , the last 2.5 miles with a boned out mulie buck. I thought my feet would be sore the next day due to the weight and contorting my toes to maintain traction and balance, but that was not the case. You can’t go wrong with the Grizzly.
 
Depends on conditions> 12 plus hours in snow and highs of 20 degrees might need more than 400 gram. In snow all day highs in low teens better go with 800 gram.
 
I have long owned a pair of Schnee's Hunter 2 pac boots that have been my go to boot for any late fall outing, birds or big game. The air bob sole is an excellent sole in steep snowy terrain. I can walk for miles in them. I really like the height of the boot. If you have the leather snow sealed well, crossing creeks is not a concern.

I pull the liner out at the end of each day so that the boot's condensation can dry as best it can. I also have a spare liner that if needed I just swap them out to get a drier boot, if needed.
 
Boot blankets and 200 or 400gram with good socks. Nothing worst than walking in heavy boots full of sweat when its cold out, unless you glassing from road or truck hunting then heavy boots are fine....
 
This suggestion is a bit out of the box, but I bought NEOS overshoes to help a buddy with a bison tag in AK, a February hunt. Very impressed. Just used regular socks and my uninsulated boots inside and never had cold feet. We saw temps colder than -20ºF on that hunt.

 
Caribou Gear

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
110,817
Messages
1,935,468
Members
34,889
Latest member
jahmes143
Back
Top