Colorado second season boot insulation

KsRancher

WKR
Joined
Jun 6, 2018
Messages
685
Unisulated for me. And I also wear regular cotton Hanes socks. I keep wool socks in my pack if it's cold. As mentioned above. Gaiters were a game changer for me. Really helped keep the feet dry which in turn keeps them warm. Don't even wear the wool socks unless it's going to be 10° or less. It's pretty hard for me to get cold if I am moving any at all.
 

Marble

WKR
Joined
May 29, 2019
Messages
3,512
Hunting in single digits on snow all day can sure be miserable with cold feet. If I walk a lot, I'm good, but if I need to sit for a while, my feet will get cold.

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Joined
Jul 20, 2014
Messages
1,150
Location
Kirtland, NM
Non insulated and gaiters. Like others have said, don’t go over 200 grams if you want insulated. It’s the best of both worlds for walking and sitting. Wear good socks and be sure to wiggle your toes around when they start to get a little cold. A good over the boot bootie works great. For longer sits sometimes I will build a small fire.
 
Joined
Dec 16, 2021
Messages
544
Location
Larkspur, CO
Last year hunting a late season in temps between-25 and +20 with uninsulated boots I found that my feet would sometimes get numb from cold but I wasn’t all that uncomfortable. Of course I kept the rest of my body plenty warm. Any time I stopped for more than a few minutes I took my boots off and dried them in the sun or by a small fire. I packed out some elk through a foot of wet slush which soaked through in spite of my gaiters but I was able to dry everything out pretty quickly.
 
Joined
Jul 24, 2019
Messages
65
Definitely uninsulated good leather boots ( Gortex a Must) I would do a good merino wool sock 65% or more merino with liners. I was in 11 below one morning and my feet never got cold. If you are going to sit for a long time, then bring some heat packs and tape them to the tops of your toes. Have done that deer hunting several times.
 
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AgentP

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jul 16, 2024
Messages
107
What do you mean by "backcountry"? Are you backpack camping in the "backcountry"? What elevation? So many variables. It can be 70 one day and snow 18" that night.

I used to guide in second season rifle, and now guide my wife. If I could only have two pairs, an uninsulated pair and 800 gram insulated, and deal with the sock situation for temperature swings. Our camp was at only 9400' and I had a couple horses so I could take two pairs.

But I've endured some unbelievable weather (See: stuck in a dome tent for eight days in the infamous "Blizzard of '84, on my freaking honeymoon, and we're lucky we didn't kill each other...) that made me REALLY happy to have insulated boots, and when I didn't need them, I didn't need them.
What pair did you mostly use for second season. I don’t have the livery of carrying two in
 
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AgentP

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jul 16, 2024
Messages
107
Definitely uninsulated good leather boots ( Gortex a Must) I would do a good merino wool sock 65% or more merino with liners. I was in 11 below one morning and my feet never got cold. If you are going to sit for a long time, then bring some heat packs and tape them to the tops of your toes. Have done that deer hunting several times.
What do you mean by liners?
 
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AgentP

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jul 16, 2024
Messages
107
Hunting in single digits on snow all day can sure be miserable with cold feet. If I walk a lot, I'm good, but if I need to sit for a while, my feet will get cold.

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So what do you run? Insulated or noninsulated
 
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AgentP

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jul 16, 2024
Messages
107
Negative on the insulation. It’s just going to make your feet sweat more when you’re moving which = colder feet when you’re not moving.

You should bring a second pair though, I’ve dealt with snow 2 years in a row for second season and was really happy to have a spare pair of boots to switch to midweek once mine were saturated with water.
So I’ll be up in the vail area. Still think I don’t need insulation for second season?
 

Nicaburns

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Dec 16, 2022
Messages
226
Uninsulated but I carry neoprene ski boot covers and I throw them on with a hand warmer underneath if glassing a long time if it is too cold.
 
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AgentP

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jul 16, 2024
Messages
107
Uninsulated but I carry neoprene ski boot covers and I throw them on with a hand warmer underneath if glassing a long time if it is too cold.
Can you send me a link to those covers?
 

croben

WKR
Joined
Aug 21, 2022
Messages
314
It took me a while to figure this out as well. My feet would always freeze after I stopped moving, no matter how much insulation I had in my boots. My problem was that my feet would sweat while moving, and my socks and boots would get wet. Once I stopped moving my feet would freeze almost immediately. For a mobile hunt with some glassing sessions, I use non-insulated boots and bring extra thicker socks to throw on and help keep my feet warm when I stop. I also carry hand and foot warmers to add extra heat if needed.
 
Joined
Feb 26, 2018
Messages
440
Location
Nebraska
I would never recommend having only non-insulated for 2nd season, that is just bad advice since the temps can vary so much.
 
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AgentP

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jul 16, 2024
Messages
107
I would never recommend having only non-insulated for 2nd season, that is just bad advice since the temps can vary so much.
Then what insulation do you recommend? I was going to just get some down booties for when I’m stationary to combat the cold
 
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AgentP

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jul 16, 2024
Messages
107
Non insulated and gaiters. Like others have said, don’t go over 200 grams if you want insulated. It’s the best of both worlds for walking and sitting. Wear good socks and be sure to wiggle your toes around when they start to get a little cold. A good over the boot bootie works great. For longer sits sometimes I will build a small fire.
Any recommendation on an over the boot bootie? I can only seem to find artic shields and I don’t see many reviews about them for hunting in colorado
 
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