For cold weather moose hunts on relatively flat terrain with lots of sitting/calling/glassing I wear 1000 gram thinsulate Elk Trackers and they are great, but they are not the best for long days hiking over steep/rugged terrain. For early season steep terrain hunts I have Scarpa Kinesis Pro GTX non-insulated and absolutely love them. I have worn them on mountain back pack hunts and alpine horse back mule deer hunts and for my feet they are great. I tried Hanwag and Lowa, but they just didn't fit me well. I would like to try a pair of Kenetrek Mountain Extreme 400 gram but nobody nearby carries them.
Hanwag for me. I’ve got tatra gtx and a pair of trapper tops. The tatra have been awesome for a bit of a low boot and I’m new to the trapper tops but I love them so far. The difference in a tall boot is incredible.
I had Lowa renegades and they were super comfortable but fell apart quickly.
La Sportiva Evo Nepal - Almost exclusively, and rotate between two pairs for guiding. They are certainly too much boot for a lot of hunting, but they fit me so well that it's worth dealing with the stiffness. They (and any similar torsionally rigid, "full shank" technical mountaineering boots) are unparalleled in the steep and sketchy. Have used kenetreks and meindl and liked them both for anything outside of hunting sheep and goats. Wider soles, and less torsional rigidity = twisted ankles and less precision in foot placement. Bulk of my hunting is alpine though, definitely not the right boot for lower incline stuff.
If you're looking for good boots, you should get some now.
If you're going to try on boots anywhere right now, call before you go to check for your sizes.
I think you wont be seeing many new shipments of boots coming out of Europe for a while...
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Crispi's.
After looking for boots for 3 years I decided on Crispi Hunter GTX 12" high. 200g insulation with the Goretex liner.
Boot fit right out of the box. No break in (though I'm strongly against breaking in your foot with any pair of boots)
Great North Precision in Kelowna has a good selection of Crispi, Lowa and Zamberlan.
My last pair were Meindl’s but they did not hold when used on sheep hunts. After two years they began to leak. I’ve recently ordered a pair of la sportiva Nepal Cubes. Anyone else use these?
I like Scarpas and have been wearing a pair for eight years. They will likely be replaced this year with another pair. Scarpa has some models made in Romania and these are too wide for me. I buy only the Italian-made boots. I have one pair of Danners which fit well but there is a seam on the right boot which hits in just the wrong spot and, after five or six miles, my foot is almost bruised. Too bad because I like the boot, otherwise. I have to say, the last pair of boots I had which really fit well were issued to me in Ft Lewis in 1969. Since then, I have always had to use insoles or something to take up space. This is the curse of having long, narrow, feet. GD
Had good luck with my feet fitting both Kennetreks and Crispi Boots. I take the Briksdall SF sheep hunting, Kennetrek mtn Guides for mainland. Looking at adding the Crispi Colorado's this year.
As stated above, try them all on, don't just order em up unless you're okay shipping them back. Boots are damn important when your feet are the only way back to the truck.
Soloman Quest 4D. I bought them, walked 400 metres in them then hiked the West Coast Trail with not blisters or foot discomfort. I have never had any better boots.
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