Stalking Footwear
10-04-2009, 01:22 PM
#1
Typical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Mertztown, PA
Posts: 970
Stalking Footwear
Wondering what you all use for stalking footwear. I wore nothing but wool socks Saturday and managed to get a shot off, no doubt in part to being able to get in the thicket so quietly.
Problem is, my feet hurt real bad by the end of the day, not to mention the splinter I had to pry out of the arch in my foot.
I know moccasins are preferred traditional, but I wouldn't mind something a little less maintenance free.
What do you use?
Fred
Problem is, my feet hurt real bad by the end of the day, not to mention the splinter I had to pry out of the arch in my foot.
I know moccasins are preferred traditional, but I wouldn't mind something a little less maintenance free.
What do you use?
Fred
10-05-2009, 04:42 AM
#4
Guest
Posts: n/a
10-05-2009, 10:31 AM
#6
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Mississippi USA
Posts: 15,296
Some companies make/sell stalking shoes--the ones I've seen were kinda' like fuzzy house slippers that go on over your regular shoes (put them on just before you start the stalk). My hunting partner in NM wore his over a pair of sandals to keep the briars out, but they didn't last long being worn all day.
Chad
Chad
10-05-2009, 11:21 AM
#7
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: land of the Lilliputians, In the state of insanity
Posts: 26,274
I wear boots with a tennise shoe type sole. Ive been known to take off my boots and go bare foot when I need to close the distance. Shoes are just too loud in some situations. When I have tale, dry grass, ill shead the boots and go bare foot. I dont have a bunch of land, so most of my stalks are not very far to begin with.
10-06-2009, 04:43 PM
#8
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Burleson TX USA
Posts: 6,455
You go bare footed with the snake infested wilds of TX? Your crazier than I thought. I thought snakes were like furniture there.
The snakes down here aren't as bad or dangerous as they are back home in Aus.
I have been bitten twice by the common brown snake back home, it is the second deadliest snake, just had spend a coupla weeks in hospital getting antivanine shots, thought I was gonna die tho.
10-06-2009, 05:22 PM
#9
Typical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Mertztown, PA
Posts: 970
Starting to be sold on just plain socks. Granted, I came home and had to pull my second splinter in as many trips, but the deer are flushing right next to me by the time they know I'm there. I need to work on my visual scanning a bit to be effective.
Tonight I had one of the coolest things happen that I can remember. I was within six feet of a yearling doe that jumped up and scared the hell outta me. I whistled and she stopped about 25 yards away. I had no intention of shooting with a recurve at that range and my skill level in low light, so I pulled out the bleat call and bleated a few times after crouching behind some weeds - I figured maybe she'd walk in to me but no way.
Instead she walked parallel to me and began browsing. She wasn't spooked too bad so I walked parallel to her. She held her ground and browsed a bit, so I bent over, grabbed some leaves, held them to my face and crushed them with my hand to imitate feeding. I stopped looking directly at her and she seemed to calm down. I zigzagged towards her about 10 yards, pretending to feed along the way and she just kept a close eye on me and browsed occasionally herself. every once in a while I'd call with a soft bleat to keep her confused.
At this point it was almost black so I browsed my way out of the field and headed back to meet my buddy at the car. One of the coolest things I had happen to me, but I'm afraid I made it easier for some other hunter to put an arrow in her. I doubt she'll last the season acting like that around humans.
Fred
Tonight I had one of the coolest things happen that I can remember. I was within six feet of a yearling doe that jumped up and scared the hell outta me. I whistled and she stopped about 25 yards away. I had no intention of shooting with a recurve at that range and my skill level in low light, so I pulled out the bleat call and bleated a few times after crouching behind some weeds - I figured maybe she'd walk in to me but no way.
Instead she walked parallel to me and began browsing. She wasn't spooked too bad so I walked parallel to her. She held her ground and browsed a bit, so I bent over, grabbed some leaves, held them to my face and crushed them with my hand to imitate feeding. I stopped looking directly at her and she seemed to calm down. I zigzagged towards her about 10 yards, pretending to feed along the way and she just kept a close eye on me and browsed occasionally herself. every once in a while I'd call with a soft bleat to keep her confused.
At this point it was almost black so I browsed my way out of the field and headed back to meet my buddy at the car. One of the coolest things I had happen to me, but I'm afraid I made it easier for some other hunter to put an arrow in her. I doubt she'll last the season acting like that around humans.
Fred
12-14-2009, 07:19 PM
#10
Spike
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 3
If there's one thing you can't neglect, it's footwear. You need to wear something that has a sole that's soft/thin enough so you can feel the ground as you lay your foot down. You have to be able to feel a stick before you transfer the weight to that foot, otherwise you may end up breaking the stick and making noise.
Another thing that I haven't seen much discussion about is the heel of your shoe. Today's boots and shoes often have raised heels, the more raised the heel is, the harder it'll be for you to woods walk. Basically you want a pair of shoes with flat soles. There are many commercial shoes that are suitable for this, LL Bean Maine Hunting Shoe, Teva Oriabi Moc, commercial mocs, or just a pair of heavy socks.
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Another thing that I haven't seen much discussion about is the heel of your shoe. Today's boots and shoes often have raised heels, the more raised the heel is, the harder it'll be for you to woods walk. Basically you want a pair of shoes with flat soles. There are many commercial shoes that are suitable for this, LL Bean Maine Hunting Shoe, Teva Oriabi Moc, commercial mocs, or just a pair of heavy socks.
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