robbcayman

Okay, most on here agree the scentlok stuff is not worth it. I know that most on here use the $10 scent spray, so why not get regular boots and spray the scent spray on them??

I'm just wondering how many guys on here actually wear rubber boots? I'm not sure if I want to get them or not. I can get regular insulated boots for half the price of non insulated rubber boots. [&:]

TradTech

Twenty five years bowhunting whitetail. Rubber is the only thing I wear.

I do everything I possibly can to help control my scent, every time I enter the woods, hunting or scouting.

bhunter50

i use rubber boots for early season to seal the scent from my feet, rubber is very good at staying scent free, but your regular boots are made of very absorbent fabrics and are very hard to "keep" scent free. that spray will wear off very quickly and sock/foot/human odors will make their way out, whereas the rubber boots do a nice job of sealing the scent in and the exterior of the boots are cleaned easily with creek water, storing them is also necessary, but let the interior dry before storing. i would definitely consider rubber boots if you can. hope this helps! good luck!

Arjuna

Rubber boots are one of the best investments I ever made. Spend $75 on a pair of LaCrosse rubber boots and see if you don't notice a difference. It's not that big of a risk to try them.

I know that when I started hunting 10 years ago, I spent $30 on scent killer spray and non-scented anti-bacterial soap, and sportwash for my clothes. It was the best hunting "investment" I ever made. I immediately saw more deer in that year than in 3 years of trying without caring about my scent. I thought it was all hype until I tried it.The only reason I tried it was because one of my hunting (successful) friends challenged me. His reasoning was the same as mine now. What's the risk? If it doesn't work for you, then you can go back to your old way.

Rubber boots are the second best thing I tried. I will never go back.

That being said, I don't have to walk far to my hunting sites (Usually within a mile and a half)

Try it. If you don't like it, you can give the boots to someone else. My guess is you'll like them.

Rob/PA Bowyer

Rubber boots here as well and learned the hard way too many times.

In the early years....I made my way to my stand wearing only leather boots. Once on stand, 2 button buck fawns made there way toward where I walked in. They were alone and frollicking. The second they hit my trail they both went on alert!...Button bucks on alert....right then and there I knew something had to be done.

I've had mature deer cross my path while wearing rubber boots.

I will however say I have had excellent luck/experiences wearing regular footwear AND using Scent Killer sprayed all over them.

Either OR.
This are my experiences and I will stand by them!

LebeauHunter

I saw a doe circle a food plot and find my trail and bust me without wind and I was wearing my
cordura/leather boots. One thing you may not be considering, is that with every step air
comes out of the sides of the shoe. Sure, a little might come out of the top of a tall rubber boot,
but it's not the same. I only wear rubber boots. Plus we have some low spots (especially
in the winter) and almost nothing sucks more than it being pitch dark and you step in water
up to your ankles filling your leather boots and then you have to sit in a cold stand all morning
with a wet feet.

Greg / MO

I've worn Lacrosse rubber boots for years and years... but having said that, I'm painfully aware of their shortcomings, too.

Case in point: (Well, first to all the naysayers, let me add this: I NEVER wear my boots at any time until I reach my hunting grounds. I take them off before I get behind the wheel, and replace them with some ankle-high slip-on mocassins I use just for driving to and from my hunting area. They're constantly being sprayed down with Fresh Earth Scent and I step in every mud puddle I can find.)

I had just got up in my stand a couple years ago, when I saw the farmer's lab coming across the cut bean field I had just walked in... He had his nose to the ground, and he was tracing EVERY turn and sidestep I'd made. I was hung up about thirty yards inside the woodline, and had circled downwind of my stand as I approached it. The labtook the EXACT same route as I did, andwe eventually made eye contact as he stood under my tree.

Another time Ihad walked in through some very wet conditions; aboutevery other step was in a few inches of water. I was about 100 yards inside some pretty bigwoods this time, and spotted a forkie working his waypast in the distance. I don'tcall to deer any more these days which I don't intend to shoot for fear of educating future shooters, but this was a few years ago. I called him over, and he started circling around. I swear it looked like someone took a 2x4 and slammed him in face with it when he cut my entrance trail. He wasn't downwind of me; he had actually hit my entrance trail. I was literally amazed to see that he found it in those sloshy, wet conditions and me in rubber boots.

Now... having given those examples, I've hada LOT of deer walk over my entrance trail whenwearing rubber boots that showed no sign of knowing I was in the county. I think it's the most effective system I've found todate -- but those two examples clearly showed me it's not entirely foolproof.

MOTOWNHONKEY

Rubber boots with smashed hedge apples smeared all over them.

brokin arrow

knee hi rubber boots !tread pattern your call.

Antler Eater

I think it is tough for us to grasp just how good the olafactory senses of a deer (or any number of mammals for that matter) are. For example, we don't think about it that much but even the common cow has an amazing sense of smell. I have watched them follow my rubber booted steps through the woods to my treestand. In this neck of the woods they get desensitized to humans from birth and we take that desensitivity as stupidity (but that is another story). A deer on the other hand has to be able to survive by itinstincts and senses.Theseskills are honed everyday from birth to death. Is it anywonder that it is difficult to get within bow range of a mature buck.

For what its worth my experience mirrors Greg/Mo's. I have been trackedin knee high rubber boots on more than one occasion. I also have been ignored in "leather" boots, but have been "tracked" with them as well.

I remember one hunter telling the story of how his eyes were opened to the fallacy of total scent control in rubber boots when he stuck his grunt call in thetop of his snugrubber boots as he went to his stand. Every step he took the call sounded off.... Where do you suppose those molecules go when they come out the top of the boot? Further we haven't even begun to talk about the microscopic skin and dust molecules that fall from our bodies as we walk through the woods or sit in the stand.

I agree that a person takes all the precautions they can; but nothing is fool proof.