I am from Tennessee and hunt whitetail, I got drawn for Colorado 4th season elk and need some new boots with insulation! Best boots that won’t break the bank? Thank you!
Something to keep in mind, if your hiking a bunch alot of insulation will make your feet sweat and be hard to dry.
If your doing long sits with little walking more insulation will keep your feet warm.
I'm not sure where to point you but sadly it's not a simple solution.
I like pac boots for super cold if not grinding miles out everyday. Warmer and easier to dry less comfortable less supportive when hiking.
Pure grinding out the miles I'm taking a 200/400 gram boot and extra socks. When I stop to glass for long periods I'll swap socks. Dry socks are mostly mental but imo keep the insulation from saturating and take less time to dry.
If it's sub zero daily with a lot of hiking I might bump to 800/1200 grams but those conditions suck the dedication of getting far from the truck.