Boots, all leather or no?

[Fink]

I'm with CC. It is all over the west. I hate it. It has found me from OR to SD, MT to NM, ... its all over. The stuff I hate the worst and see the most outside the actual desert SW, is small, grows very low to the ground and very sneaky. It is almost impossible to avoid in some areas, especially the dead pads that are so well camouflaged as to defy description. If you are hunting high desert terrain, it's probably around somewhere.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4040/4463487669_77b41fbcf3.jpg.

I sat down right in the middle of one of those a few years ago, turkey hunting in western Kansas. Pretty much ruined my entire weekend, every time I'd move, I'd get a new sticker in my ace..

Back to boots.. I personally prefer all leather boots, but I have been known to wear tennis shoes while antelope hunting.

 

[Tim McCoy]

I sat down right in the middle of one of those a few years ago, turkey hunting in western Kansas. Pretty much ruined my entire weekend, every time I'd move, I'd get a new sticker in my ace..

Back to boots.. I personally prefer all leather boots, but I have been known to wear tennis shoes while antelope hunting.

Ditto in WY for me. Pretty much covered my entire arse in them. Great big old dead patch of em. Never even saw the sneaky things. Best part was a week or two later, the very fine tips that must have broke off when I tried to address the situation, started to act up. Looked like butt acne, or so I was told. Itched and hurt too.

It happened early on a three state back to back to back mulie excursion, so the left over spines had time to work. The last day driving home was not fun, nor was a couple hours on my belly with my wife holding a magnifying glass and tweezers and chuckling the entire time. I hate those things with a passion, 10x so for the dried up brittle dead ones you can't see that break the tips off in your sensitive areas. Actually hate is not a strong enough word.

 

[sodaksooner]

Now if you are in the mountains at elevation, cactus isn't as much of an issue. If you are goat or prairie hunting in general, better get the leather.

I went with my dad on a deer hunt when I was too young to hunt. Weather was nice so just wore tennis shoes, big mistake, Never went on the prairie again without some kind of boot on.

 

[ivorytip]

Ditto in WY for me. Pretty much covered my entire arse in them. Great big old dead patch of em. Never even saw the sneaky things. Best part was a week or two later, the very fine tips that must have broke off when I tried to address the situation, started to act up. Looked like butt acne, or so I was told. Itched and hurt too.

It happened early on a three state back to back to back mulie excursion, so the left over spines had time to work. The last day driving home was not fun, nor was a couple hours on my belly with my wife holding a magnifying glass and tweezers and chuckling the entire time. I hate those things with a passion, 10x so for the dried up brittle dead ones you can't see that break the tips off in your sensitive areas. Actually hate is not a strong enough word.

thanks for the laugh! haha, the wife looked at me funny when I laughed out loud! been there, done that!

 

[Tim McCoy]

thanks for the laugh! haha, the wife looked at me funny when I laughed out loud! been there, done that!

It's pretty serious stuff at the moment, but hilarious once the issue is fully removed. I do recall, mid way through the procedure, wondering what I'd have done if single and w/o a significant other. I have since added cactus to my list of things the world could do without, along with big spiders, rattlesnakes and ticks.

 

[PeterJohnson]

I'd take all leather boots...

 

[mcseal2]

Had the same issue as others with cactus poking through the side of my light Rocky hiking boots. I had those and Danner Pronghorns along last pronghorn trip. The Danners worked, they are light and fairly cheap. Mine were $90 on a big sale They do have synthetic panels but they are higher up on the boot, further from the ground, and I didn't have issues.

Since that trip I've went to better boots that have more ankle support for side-hilling and packing more weight. I have an insulated pair of the Meindl Cabelas Alaskan Hunter boot, and an uninsulated pair of Kennetrek Mountain Extremes. I found the Kennetreks used on Ebay, got them much cheaper and they looked almost new. Anyway if you plan to use them fairly often these better boots are hard to beat. They are probably heavier and stiffer than necessary for antelope hunting but are great in rough terrain. My ankles are fairly loose, to much walking uneven ground working in slip-on cowboy boots, so I like the extra support they have.