Winter hunting/hiking boots

[calfoxwc]

With our 28 acres, I spend a ton of time outdoors, working, and hiking...and "patrolling" our woods so that

deer hunters way out back on the other side don't continue to hunt our woods, or the neighbor's woods anymore.

I met some pretty decent hunters, one jerk.

 

The meetings were the first fall we bought our property, two years ago...and those folks were fine - no problem. One guy - he is.

He was bow hunting last year, and I didn't even know bow season had started. So, I'm hiking the old

grown up road through our edge of the woods, past huge oak trees, etc on both sides, and this jerk

had his bow drawn and was aiming for me when I rounded the edge of some brush. Well, he started cursing me,

screaming about how he had hunted these woods for years, blabber blabber...thought? I was a deer and tried to goad me into to fighting him. Well, that wasn't going to happen. He was about 10 feet inside our property line,

and started to come after me once, and stopped and walked back off our property. I simply said we don't allow any hunting, and that's it, and walked into our woods and he disappeared. I always wear an ORANGE hat now, along with my orange vest.

 

And, I always know when hunting seasons start and for how long.

 

So, I figured I was going to maintain a constant presence out there. So last year, I did. I love the woods anyways. On one really freezing evening, this nutjob was walking the edge of our woods, looking to shoot a deer in them. I was about 50 yards inside our woods/property line... and he ended up yelling up a storm at me,

blaming me for not having gotten a deer. It was just getting pretty dark, and he yelled that he was going to shoot a deer that

was standing right next to me... so I simply called the sheriff, which I guess he split fast, and the sheriff came out,

and said the hunting was a problem for all sorts of property owners, and he was going to talk to this guy, and I should have

no further problem... I knew who he was, because I met him two years ago when he shot a deer on the neighbor's property,

in the woods... I even let him take the deer, and he gave me his name and number...

 

But the sheriff did notice that my rifle was unloaded. I explained that I didn't carry it loaded; I hadn't

expected to have to shoot it....

 

so he thought that was funny, but seriously asked me to do him a favor... carry at least one bullet with me, preferably several.

 

So, now I carry a loaded H&R 9 shot revolver with me, a .22. It's a neat gun. I'm pretty sure I'll never use it... but...

If I thought I might ever really need to shoot in self defense, sure, I'd carry the 9mm with me. But the H&R makes a lot of noise,

unless I'm shooting shorts, which I might use on a squirrel one day...

We have all sorts of friends who are welcome to hike out woods, in the close end of our woods, kids go back and forth between friends' houses....we go out there a lot, and a local biology expert who

works for museums and stuff, about plant life in our area, will be going out in about 2-3 weeks, walking our entire woods with us.

With the old ancient 1.5 acre? bog out there, we could have some very special plant life. We've never walked our bog,

it dries up for the most part in the summer, and floods in the winter and spring. It's unexplored territory. I expect to

find dinasaur bones one day. @@

 

And our neighbor has our permission to ride her horse on our property. So, I feel like I have to make sure our woods are not

used for hunting. Last year, to get to the goofy subject of the thread, my feet got very cold several times, in the many hours I would hike and sit and read. This year, I will hide out, and my Wifie bought me a camcorder for Christmas. I can record, and give the recording to the Game Warden, Mark, and he'll do the rest. I have great people skills, @@, but I'm past patrolling and meeting. Nobody

will be hunting out there, thinking it's the old farmer's land anymore. I figured two years ago, that it was fair to meet folks, and explain. Not anymore .

 

I ordered some Guide Gear boots from Sportsman's Guide magazine. I ordered these tall leather waterproof hunting boots for $79 bucks.

When they came, well, I wear a 10 1/2 wide. Always have. But these boots SAY 10 1/2 wide, but they sure the heyl are not.

They fit like a ten and 1/8, and NOT wide. Therefore, I sent them back. With real thin socks, I could wear them, but they were still tight.

 

Besides, the quality sucked - the liners over top of the toe were badly bunched and wrinkled when

they were glued into place... bah.

After all that, I decided to go to Gander Mountain, and tried on a pair of Golden Retriever boots, a hundred bucks, and Sportsmans'

Guide sells those too. But they were so tight at "10 1/2 wide" it was pitiful. With thick boot socks on, I couldn't even get one on my foot. And, the inner lining on the sole at the bottom of the foot... was bubbled

up at least 3/8" of an inch. So, they were crap too.

 

The problem is, both boots are made in China. I despise buying anything from China anyways, but the quality is bad.

 

So, now, I bought a pair of Rocky hunting/hiking boots. But, instead of 79 bucks for crap, I paid 129 bucks for outstanding

quality. No freakin China. But these boots are still made wherever it was in the Carribbean...

 

But, still, the Rocky at 10 1/2 wide was a big too snug, and not roomy at the widest part of my foot, you know?

 

so, I tried an 11 wide, that was better, but still not comfortable.

I actually bought a 12 wide, which is outstanding in comfort and room for the toes, with the heavy socks on.

 

It's the insulation. some dummy doesn't get that 1000 grams of insulation takes up space. Just in case anybody else

needs to buy a pair of boots.

 

"Just say NO to China and don't buy their crappy stuff"

 

I can't wait til it gets cold now. But bow season starts Sat, and I'll be behind a big old tree, safe from harm. But, the night before, or the dark early morning hours if it's snowing, I'll walk the perimeter of our woods, just so anybody will know to stay out.

 

It's easy to stay out there most of the day during the week, my Wife works... but Sat, unless she's busy, I don't stay out as much at all.

 

gives a new meaning to "Footprints"...

[CLEVELandMILIDH]

I understand you dont want people hunting on your property but for the people who own property around you that allow people to hunt or hunt themselves, its really quite disrespectful what your doing. You walking around your property just to prevent one guy from going 10 yrds onto your property is ruining the hunt for anybody else in that block of woods. People spend alot of money and alot of time preparing to harvest a deer, it would be courteous of you to atleast stay out of the woods for the first week of the season. If you feel the need to do some spying you can easily mount some trail cameras and you wont have to freeze looking like a nut sittin there with a video camera waiting for someone to step on your property.

[massbrownsfan]

I Hunt on 185 Acres of Private Land I also allow Bowhunters to Hunt there as Long as they dont Litter,Trash the Place,I use Lacrose Boot the Best Boot Made for Hunting buy them at Redhead or Bass pro shop

[calfoxwc]

I understand you dont want people hunting on your property but for the people who own property around you that allow people to hunt or hunt themselves, its really quite disrespectful what your doing. You walking around your property just to prevent one guy from going 10 yrds onto your property is ruining the hunt for anybody else in that block of woods. People spend alot of money and alot of time preparing to harvest a deer, it would be courteous of you to atleast stay out of the woods for the first week of the season. If you feel the need to do some spying you can easily mount some trail cameras and you wont have to freeze looking like a nut sittin there with a video camera waiting for someone to step on your property.

*******************************************************

Actually, no. I'm walking around our property to make sure there are no deer hunterS. This one guy

 

knew the land was private 2 years ago, and did it anyways. There are no other block of woods, though I get your point. All the woods are ours, and

the neighbor's, who really hates hunting, too. But, he isn't local, just owns the land, and I have his permission to keep an eye out. He goes

hiking when he gets a chance with his kids.

 

So, the entire line of woods is all off limits, completely. The other neighbor out back has about 50 acres, 80 percent of it field. If I don't be out there enough, they would hunt not only ten yards, (they shot the deer about 40 yards into the neighbor's woods 2 years ago... ) but they would hunt our entire woods, which ends up pretty close to our friends/neighbor's barn/stable. And none of the other neighbors allow hunting off the far edge of our land, and neither do the OTHER neighbors off the land left of ours. It's all off limits.

 

I'm not our there running a chainsaw, or playing my harmonica, you know. The only time the one guy knew I was out there, was when I got up to leave to go

back home at dark. Deer hunting time ends at one HOUR before dark. You'd never know I was out there.

 

Like I said, the game warden has NO problem with me quietly being out there. I've seen deer trotting through our woods, they didn't see me.

Now, if I'm out there playing a boom box or making noise, or jumping around like a kangaroo, I would expect to either be kinda shot at, or cited

for interfering with the hunters by the game warden.

 

I would never have been out there, but for the constant squirrel hunting on our land. I'd love to hunt squirrel with my Dad.

It's hardly FAIR to not be able to do that, because other hunters want to clean house in our woods.

 

I won't stay out of our woods, because the area in our woods has an ancient old orchard, with apples, and the ancient bog... all in the woods.

the jutjob guy said he got his deer every single year... in our woods. I will NOT stay home the first week, we bought out land, we own it, I won't give it up to illegal hunters. In fact, I will go out very early, and hang out near my favorite big huge oak tree, and watch the sun come up.

 

but I have my excellent camcorder now, so I don't have to confront anybody. Well, unless they shoot a deer in our woods...

they won't be allowed to come get it. The sheriff is on my side, too.

 

Illegal hunters have NO excuse for ruining things for legit hunters.

 

They do pay a lot of money etc, and I hope they get their deer. But they have a ton of land to hunt way out back, off our property line.

It's a giant field out there, with the land owner's woods on the other side. But we have the apples and water and cover.

 

I do make a point of picking a good place to stay, and I sit at the base of a big tree, and sometimes read. I'm about 25-35 yards inside our woods.

 

I'm not ruining anything for them, the game warden complimented me on making sure I wasn't interrupting their ability to hunt.

 

But the idiot has a deer stand facing into out woods, about 20 yards away, and still wants to hunt our woods.

 

Not going to happen. I hope they get their deer. I'm not against hunting, but our land and the neighbor's land is off limits. The whole right side

is houses with kids and very large back yards with a little bit of trees.

 

for instance, the game warden came out, it was dark, and he cited them for hunting from an ATV, after dark. That's big trouble.

I didn't know he was coming out, he's going to come out more often.

 

That's what HE does, makes sure there are no illegal hunters. I am very, very quiet. I'm not messing with their ability to hunt at all.

 

I'm keeping my family safe, and neigbors safe. Three years ago, a house had one of their windows shot out in deer season, way over

toward the homes where the way back huge field neighbor lives.

 

. I've found plenty of shotgun shells on our property from years past, some of them in our front woods,

where kids often play. It doesn't happen anymore.

 

You have to know the actual area before you get a correct picture of the situation.

 

 

 

 

[calfoxwc]

I Hunt on 185 Acres of Private Land I also allow Bowhunters to Hunt there as Long as they dont Litter,Trash the Place,I use Lacrose Boot the Best Boot Made for Hunting buy them at Redhead or Bass pro shop MassBrowns...

***************************************************

If I had that much land and it was more remote, I would let people I KNEW and trusted hunt out there, too.

 

BTW, I really liked the Lacrose boots I picked out, but they were 185, so I picked the Rocky pair, they were 129... I love them already...

 

wore them around the yard.

 

BTW, I was reading about the deer harvest last year. I believe it was 40,000 + deer taken in Ohio, I think that was only bow season.

 

Anti-hunting folks don't get it... if deer weren't hunted, they'd die of starvation and disaase by the many, many thousands...

 

I grew up hunting. Pheasant (in Ohio, the great freeze in ... 78 was it? killed off the pheasant population.

 

Squirrel hunting is the best. I'm not so keen on rabbit, it doesn't taste as good as squirrel. Even young groundhog tastes better

than rabbit. Maybe I'm not doing it right...

 

I neve shot a deer... maybe I'm too intrigued with how beautiful they move. They can leap a 5 foot fence so easily and gracefully it's amazing.

 

My Wife and I were putting up a few fence posts way out back, and two young bucks trotted right up near us, and were startled to see us,

and ran off. but it would be cool to have a freezer full of venison. Maybe one day...

 

I am going to actively hunt coyote and raccoon, to keep the populations down around here. They used to hunt raccoon out back in the middle of the night, I remember seeing them from our home. But, that was about 5 years before we bought our farm.

 

Oh, and I also check for any trespassing trappers. Haven't found any traps, I'm surprised. I'd better not, there won't be any warnings from me,

just prosecution. But, our entire farm is fine from traps, so far.

[Mr. T]

If it is waterproof and is comfortable I buy it.

 

I'm not into brand name boots only what works. Steel toe optional.

[CLEVELandMILIDH]

I misunderstood your first post then, I was under the impression hunters were hunting on land legally,butted up against yours. I wasn't trying to tell you not to enjoy your land. Im just saying in a situation were there's adjoining property and their hunting legally it would be courteous to take a week off for deer season. Unless your showering with scent blocker and washing your clothes with it and all the other drastic steps hunters take then more than likely anything worth shooting will be scared off.

 

I love squirrel hunting to, rabbit hunting's probably my favorite because your walking around alot. Deer hunting's very boring but that rush you get when you hear something coming up on you, then seeing it.....thats what keeps guys coming back every year. Goose hunting's always a good time, but them SOB's are harder than hell to kill....there meat is like beef its not white meat like most birds, I think they have bullet proof skin to...

[Kosar_For_President]

Anti-hunting folks don't get it... if deer weren't hunted, they'd die of starvation and disaase by the many, many thousands...

 

I am not a hunting guy myself, but this statement is 100% true.

[Mr. T]

I love to hunt, and not to brag but I'm a hell of a shot also.

 

Rifle, slug whatever it is I can always get a kill shot. For distance try 240+ yards and right through the heart with a borrowed old Remington 58 20 guage using slugs. I got two that day from that distance the other was missing half of his head. (I can see the bullet moving)

 

Coon hunting is the best if you have time to train your dogs right. We also used to trap when the price of furs were up there, and it made it worth the while. Back in the 80's we could make a few hundred bucks a week off of furs.

 

Probably the best reward of deer hunting is cutting out the backstrap right after the kill and marinating it and throwing it on the grille. Venison makes great jerky also.

[Mr. T]

Cal, you should allow someone you know to be able to hunt on your property, a lot of hunters share their meat with those who are in need. They just might give you some as well.

 

Most hunters will respect your property and if you have someone out there others will not bother him.

[calfoxwc]

I misunderstood your first post then, I was under the impression hunters were hunting on land legally,butted up against yours. I wasn't trying to tell you not to enjoy your land. Im just saying in a situation were there's adjoining property and their hunting legally it would be courteous to take a week off for deer season. Unless your showering with scent blocker and washing your clothes with it and all the other drastic steps hunters take then more than likely anything worth shooting will be scared off.

********************************************************

I understand. The 50 acres of field ajoins our combined 48 of woods. There is a small bit of woods on the edge of the

neighbor's woods... and I stay way away from that - it's at least 150 yards away I'm guessing.. It's a thought, I probably should do the scent free thing, but I don't want to invite

a deer to walk up next to me... @@

 

When I was a kid, my Dad went deer hunting in PA, public hunting area with two good friends he trusted to hunt with. At one point, they walked down a valley...

and heard a deer running through the woods, right at them. All of sudden, other hunters they never knew were there, started blasting

with guns from both sides, my Dad and his friends hit the dirt, crawled behind trees, and were yelling for their life...

 

So, I -just- want them? to stay off our land, it's just a long boundary. I'll probably stay another 20 yards away from the edge. But I'll still walk the perimeter in the early am when there is snow on the ground, to have my prints there if they cheat and start to shoot onto our land.

 

The game warden does the same thing you know. He hides outs in camo, and watches. He'd be a great sniper.

 

I've heard that goose can be pretty good if cooked right, but I'm thinkin I'd pass on that. But if they get way over populated...

[calfoxwc]

Cal, you should allow someone you know to be able to hunt on your property, a lot of hunters share their meat with those who are in need. They just might give you some as well.

 

Most hunters will respect your property and if you have someone out there others will not bother him. T

***************************************************************

Nope. If I want venison, I'd hunt myself, doggonit. @@ LOL

 

Most hunters do respect other property. I met one guy out walking the edge two years ago, and watched a guy walk into the neighbor's woods, then backout.

 

Then he walked further down and in and back. When I met him, he was puzzled. He said he used to hunt that land for years with permission, but

didn't know it was sold. Then he saw the new signs up saying no hunting etc, and wasn't about to go in. We laughed about that, and I said

the neighbor really, really hates hunting and never would give permission.

 

Just so ya'll know, I did meet a guy and his 14 yr old son. I was in out woods, they called out to say hi from that field, and invited them over... we talked a lot, he mentioned that if he and his son

get a deer in bow season especially, if he could follow it onto our property. I said sure, only for them since they asked and I knew I trusted them...

 

I gave them my home phone and cell phone if they wanted to call me first... he said he would only follow a deer onto our property if he called first.

He never did call, I'm sure they hunted way on the other side... it's the safety factor, that drives me to keep hunters out. I actually think the nut

was acting like a "guide" for hire out there...

 

 

 

[ballpeen]

I only buy Rocky boots....been stuck on that for a long time.

 

 

 

But no doubt, when buying a winter boot, you need to go up a size to size and a half to allow for liners, wool socks etc.

 

 

1200 grams of thinsulate sounds great, but you still need a couple pair of wool socks if you want to keep your toes from going numb if outside for 5-6 hours.

 

 

I don't know why, but boot sizes always seem to run smaller than shoe sizes. And my man, you are no spring chicken anymore. Our feet do flatten out and get larger as we age....just a fact of life.

[CLEVELandMILIDH]

The next pair of hunting boots I buy will be heated

 

 

If you live in the northern hemisphere then you've already felt it; the cold chill that signals the onset of nature's respite. So while not slip into these Columbia Bugathermo "high-performance" hiking boots and give the Earth a trample while its defenses are down? These heated boots feature dual-heating elements with visual indicators for battery and heating levels on the outside of that Omni-Tech waterproof skin. Three temperature settings provide as little as 3-hours, or up to 8-hours, of tootsie toasting heat from the internal lithium polymer batteries. Hell, might as well bring along a gasoline-powered generator so you can recharge 'em and show mother nature her real daddy. $250 and available now.

[calfoxwc]

BUGATHERMO ???

 

ROF,LMAO ! That is real? Or a joke? I can't tell anymore. ... @@

********************

1200 grams of thinsulate sounds great, but you still need a couple pair of wool socks if you want to keep your toes from going numb if outside for 5-6 hours.

 

 

I don't know why, but boot sizes always seem to run smaller than shoe sizes. And my man, you are no spring chicken anymore. Our feet do flatten out and get larger as we age....just a fact of life. ballpeen

*************************************************

These Rocky's I bought have 1000 grams, but they are also made of materials that help keep the cold out. But with 12 Wides, I can wear the thick wool socks with the handy thin liner sock with it... I should be good.

 

The 12's don't look anywhere near as big as a 12. I don't get it... a 12 tennis shoe on my foot would be like a swim flipper.

 

I used to feel like a spring chicken, right after my knee surgery, except I hurt my shoulder, and with all the getting up with my right arm,

 

my right knee is bothering me again. You're right.... I believe my feet ARE flatter and we're old guys now. Although, we did buy a new water softener,

 

and we got a senior discount because I'm almost over 59 !

 

 

 

[ballpeen]

Sounds like your boots are just like mine....12 wide....same materials.

 

The only time I wear them anymore is on my late season Cleveland trips.

 

Along the lines of those Columbia boots, I have a pair of wool socks that hold a battery with a heating element running under the toes.

 

It provides 4-5 hours of heating....not a great deal of heat, but it helps. I'll usually plug them in about the time I head to the stadium so they are at full force when I make the seats where you aren't moving around very much.

[calfoxwc]

One of these days, I want to take Dad to another Browns game... in a blizzard. The last time was fun.

 

I think you can see the game better in person with it snowing very strong.

 

Battery op socks... I've never tried those. We'll see how my boots do. I walk around a good bit, pick my perch

 

with excellent view of the woods, and I stay there for a long while...

 

Opening day of deer season, and Sun, I went out in the morning. No bow hunters in our woods. But,

 

I did see a big black cat on the road across the edge of the bog, as soon as I got in the woods, I saw a big fox squirrel who was barking at me

 

at close range.... and deeper in our woods, I saw a really big black squirrel. That is pretty amazing. The black squirrels were actually

 

brought down here from Canada decades ago. Now, they are everywhere. And over on the neighbors' side, in the woods, another

 

big fox squirrel. So, my efforts to stop the hunting on our properties is paying off huge. We used to have just a few squirrel, and now,

 

it seems the population is really coming back. Squirrel hunting is by far the most fun hunting I've ever done. I still have my own

 

taxidermied squirrel tail, the first squirrel I ever got. I read up on how to do it, and did it myself. I keep it in the box with my Solingen? hunting knife,

 

a gift from my Mom and Dad when I was a kid. All these years, I suppose that knife is worth a lot. It was fifty bucks back in the day...

 

I really want to hunt squirrel with my Dad again in our woods. Even if we never shoot one, it's just fun. Last year,

 

I was out, and I swear it was a Golden Eagle, or maybe a female? bald eagle in a tree way out back. It seemed to be a bit injured,

 

but it could still fly.

 

This year I have my fancy little camcorder/camera. I hope to get some pics of wildlife, and not any pics of any hunters trespassing....

 

Hey, I'm going to call Canton Mike and have him go hiking with me...

[apparelcandy]

That boots sounds very interesting....

[mohican]

Danner boots. Vibram soles. Thinsulate information. Bought a pair about 8 years ago for $250.00 and they are still in good shape.

 

240 yards with a old 20 gauge that I presume is a smooth bore? Really? hmmmmm Did you use a rangefinder to measure that distance? or have a dwarf pace it off?

[calfoxwc]

Danners are solid, but I was trying to keep the price down. We were just finishing paying off our farm....

 

I can't wait til really cold weather to wear my new boots. They are -nice-.

 

That, and our new 88% efficient fireplace insert is going to be a lot of fun, too.

[Kosar_For_President]

The next pair of hunting boots I buy will be heated

 

 

If you live in the northern hemisphere then you've already felt it; the cold chill that signals the onset of nature's respite. So while not slip into these Columbia Bugathermo "high-performance" hiking boots and give the Earth a trample while its defenses are down? These heated boots feature dual-heating elements with visual indicators for battery and heating levels on the outside of that Omni-Tech waterproof skin. Three temperature settings provide as little as 3-hours, or up to 8-hours, of tootsie toasting heat from the internal lithium polymer batteries. Hell, might as well bring along a gasoline-powered generator so you can recharge 'em and show mother nature her real daddy. $250 and available now.

 

Me and T and still wearing t-shirts!

[calfoxwc]

Yeah, well, WE will be wearing T-shirts Wed-Fri over Thanksgiving. We're going to

 

visit our friends in Salisbury, NC. Maybe we should take our bikes. GGG

[CLEVELandMILIDH]

Me and T and still wearing t-shirts!

 

Its been unseasonably warm here to. 50's in mid November, I aint complaining. Not even a dusting of snow, maybe we can just skip winter all together this year