Hunting Boots or Hiking Boots

[jbeaumont21]

It sounds like you may have had some pretty serious ankle sprains in the past, you'll stretch or tear the tendions and your ankle will wobble. I learned a bunch with my wife's recent ankle sprain with Avulsion. A really good foot doctor took a lot of time to explain things and some of it clicked with me as I've sprained my ankles a few times (each) and consider myself to have "weak ankles", but really it is injury.




The boots I'm using now are underarmor speed freaks, I wore them for a week straight in the rain/snow mixed conditions up to about 4-5 inches of snow and was pleased and had dry feet.  They are a lower rise hiker style boot and seems to have better ankle support than a mid rise or higher boot.
My wife says I have a shoe fetish, I do like to take care of my feet and have a lot of boots at home
Most all of my boots have large flat wide vibram soles and almost none of them have a heel.

I did use a boot dryer each and every night though and high quality wool socks.

I can't wear stuff with a higher heal or my ankles will roll.

Yes I have had some serious ankle sprains over the years from playing basketball.  I am still suffering from an achilles tear last year. I am no longer playing basket ball so that I can still walk and hunt when I get older.  Too bad, it was a great workout. Luckily I work at a medical clinic with PT as I have been doing physical therapy ever since but it is a long slow process. Feel free to share any tips that you learned from your wife's doc.

[KFhunter]

You prolly know more than I do about it (I'm sure of it) if you're doing physical therapy.

Mine isn't bad enough to send me to the doc. 

[Fl0und3rz]

All those ideas sound great.. but I need an EXTRA wide boot.. my Redwings are 2E and are just to narrow.. as much as I love them.  They do pinch my toes and make me limp after a couple of days... 

Check out Morton's Syndrome.  I cannot recommend a boot for your specs.  If you have what the Morton's Syndrome describes - I do - you need a wide toe box to prevent compressing the foot to toe joints together and pinching one of the nerves.  If I wear boots that are too tight across the toes, the nerve pain will flare up quickly.

I use a rubber hunting boot (LaCrosse Alpha Burly Sport), which provides decent ankle support for me. I don't know how it would work for you.  I also used my Sorel Pack Boots this year,  which boots are leather upper and rubber lower with a wool felt removable liner.  Ankle support is almost nonexistent, but they were very comfortable for my wide foot. And I had no problems with my issue. 

Pack boots are probably the best way to go for me, and it seems that some of the White's pack boots are in my future.  They also seem like they would have better ankle support than the Sorels, so that might be an option for you to look into.

[Doc Sauce]

I don't know if you are "cold footed" or not... but I switched to Asolo this year.  The ones I am wearing are not insulated.  I wear a couple of pair of socks when it is cold.

I was looking at spending my money on hunting boots and then thought about checking out REI.  The guy I talked to was a hunter and it started making sense that there is more money (and research/development) being spent on hiking boots than hunting boots because there are  more hikers/backpackers than hunters. 

It came down between Kenetrek and the Asolo.  In the end, the Kennetreks were really heavy and couldn't see me wearing them in the summer for scouting or hiking with the family.  I figured i'd deal with cold feet better than I would hot feet... and the weight difference between the boots was significant.  The body fatigue from moving more weight on the end of a lever (or pendulum) is pretty significant.

Again... depends on what you value.  I'm not as cold footed as some of my friends and I value waterproof, sturdy, and lightweight.  Asolo set the bar for that category... or at least it did for me.

[Huntbear]

All those ideas sound great.. but I need an EXTRA wide boot.. my Redwings are 2E and are just to narrow.. as much as I love them.  They do pinch my toes and make me limp after a couple of days... 

Check out Morton's Syndrome.  I cannot recommend a boot for your specs.  If you have what the Morton's Syndrome describes - I do - you need a wide toe box to prevent compressing the foot to toe joints together and pinching one of the nerves.  If I wear boots that are too tight across the toes, the nerve pain will flare up quickly.

I use a rubber hunting boot (LaCrosse Alpha Burly Sport), which provides decent ankle support for me. I don't know how it would work for you.  I also used my Sorel Pack Boots this year,  which boots are leather upper and rubber lower with a wool felt removable liner.  Ankle support is almost nonexistent, but they were very comfortable for my wide foot. And I had no problems with my issue. 

Pack boots are probably the best way to go for me, and it seems that some of the White's pack boots are in my future.  They also seem like they would have better ankle support than the Sorels, so that might be an option for you to look into.

Yes, I need a wide toe box.... I have a pair of Rocky's that work great, fit great.. however, they are no longer waterproof, and are only 200 gram of insulation.. can not find the same ones again... 

[aaronoto]

Check out the Salomon Quest as well - light, great support and waterproof.

[netcoyote]

I've settled on Meindl boots for most of my outdoor trekking. The Alaskan Hiker is what I currently use.
http://www.cabelas.com/mens-high-hiking-boots-cabelas-alaska-hiker-boots-meindl-2.shtml?WT.tsrc=CSE&WT.mc_id=GoogleProductAds&WT.z_mc_id1=80075337&rid=40&mr:trackingCode=C69D52CD-958E-DF11-A0C8-002219318F67&mr:referralID=NA&mr:adType=pla&mr:ad=21397153151&mr:keyword=&mr:match=&mr:filter=43600703111
They are rigid enough for my feet, come in wide widths and can be ordered with, or without, insulation. They are a mid-ranged price boot. Cabela's carries them.
One thing I realized this year was that the stiffer the boot, the harder it's going to be to sneak up on game. You walk around in a rigid sole boot and you will snap every twig within three feet of your path...or so it seems. I tried a softer ("hunting") boot in my collection on one trip this fall and didn't have the problem. If you need a stiff boot for the support, that's what you should use. I'll guess you'll just have to be more careful about your steps.

[eburg127]

I second the Meindl's.  I have had the Denali's for a couple of years with no problems during hunting season.  I do want to get another pair for summer hiking.  I think the main thing with any boot is to wear them around the store for some time and bring your socks with you.  I am cheap, but got several recomendations for Meindl's from some serious hikers/hunters.  These guys put on way more miles than me and they all switched to Meindl.

[pianoman9701]

Lowa Vajolet

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

  I love me my Lowas.

[threedwizard]

I feel your pain, having suffered through Achilles Tendonosis for the past almost 2 years. looking for the same type of boot. I'm looking at Hanwag boots, not cheap but very good reviews. Following this thread and started one in Backpack hunting. Thanks!

[snags]

Elk Hunters are made by Danner but only sold at Cabelas. I'm thinking about getting a new pair. Mine have lasted me 11 years and many miles. I've owned other pairs of Danner boots in the past, but none of their boots are built like the Elk Hunters!

[scottcrb]

i love my han wag . only took about 20 miles to get really broken in and comfortable and still very supportive. the customer service at lathrop and sons is amazing too. they have a whole line of boots danners and han wag they are leather but amazing so far. only had them about a year .

[troyspinetar]

I picked up a pair of Vasque hiking boots. They are incredible. I primarily use them for hiking, but because most of my hunting involves rigorous hiking, I go ahead and use them. I got the lightweight gortex style, when these wear out I am going back for another pair. I got them at REI. Good luck!

[andersonjk4]

I got a pair of Meindl Ultralights last year and so far they offer great support in a very lightweight boot.  I have the uninsulated version but I think Cabela's offers them in 2 different insulation weights.  They are a leather/nylon boot, so I don't know how they will hold up over time, but so far for hiking and warm weather hunting they are great.

[jbeaumont21]

I ended up going with the Asolo's . REI has them on close out sale for $244, normally they run $350. So far they feel real good with tons of support, plus they are mostly synthetic making them lighter weight and won't soak up the water like pure leather boots. I'll let you know how they end up performing after some wear. Thanks all for the advice.