Stalking shoes/booties

[Trial153]

Vibram five fingers have gotten me into easy bow range of a bunch animals. Socks don’t cut it unless you Like picking prickly pear out of feet for the rest of hunt.
Five fingers are light weight, silent and protect my feet.

 

[MattB]

I know your question wasn’t “should I use stalking shoes” so forgive me if you aren’t interested in my point of view. Here goes.

I toyed with the idea and have decided to just keep my boots on. I personally don’t think stalking shoes/socks make a big enough difference to justify:
1- the possibility of losing my boots. If the critter moves and I decide to pursue that could take me farther from my boots. I don’t like the idea of leaving my boots behind. I will not drop my pack either.
2- the extra weight in my pack. Generally it’s going to be difficult to find a pair that weighs much less than 8 ounces. Thick socks are the exception but you have reasons to not want those.
3- the extra time to stop and switch. In my experience time is critical, and wind. More so than the tiny reduction in noise. Add a little paranoia about losing my boots and add the time to mark them on my gps.
4- extra complication. Something else to fuss with while I could be spending that time putting together a solid sneak plan and just generally moving slower.
5- the additional cost. Not a big deal but it is a deal.

One of the only times I ever dropped my boots was when my buddy and I circled in on a group of blacktail bucks. My buddy has softer feet than a new born so I could hear him complaining in a whisper with each step. When we got to where we needed to be, we snuck in and the bucks were not there. I figured they had busted so I looked back toward where we had dropped our boots, figuring we could straight line it back and save my buddy some pain. Lo and behold the bucks had re-bedded between us and our boots, so we were forced to make an even bigger circle to get back on them or to our boots. The look on my buddy’s face was priceless.

 

[Wyobohunter]

One of the only times I ever dropped my boots was when my buddy and I circled in on a group of blacktail bucks. My buddy has softer feet than a new born so I could hear him complaining in a whisper with each step. When we got to where we needed to be, we snuck in and the bucks were not there. I figured they had busted so I looked back toward where we had dropped our boots, figuring we could straight line it back and save my buddy some pain. Lo and behold the bucks had re-bedded between us and our boots, so we were forced to make an even bigger circle to get back on them or to our bots. The look on my buddy’s face was priceless.

Where I go my boots go. I have reasonably tough feet but I’m not leaving anything that critical laying around. I once dropped my pack just to go have a look at an area. Come dark I couldn’t find my pack and the terrain was too hazardous to attempt getting back to camp without a headlamp. It was an uncomfortable night but luckily for me the weather wasn’t bad. After that experience I’ve just decided to not leave anything critical behind, even if it might interfere with getting a critter.

 

[MattB]

Where I go my boots go. I have reasonably tough feet but I’m not leaving anything that critical laying around. I once dropped my pack just to go have a look at an area. Come dark I couldn’t find my pack and the terrain was too hazardous to attempt getting back to camp without a headlamp. It was an uncomfortable night but luckily for me the weather wasn’t bad. After that experience I’ve just decided to not leave anything critical behind, even if it might interfere with getting a critter.

A buddy did that same thing once and bought a cheap, light flashing red light used by bicyclists which he puts on top of his pack if he drops it to do a stalk in the afternoon/evening.

 

[Wyobohunter]

A buddy did that same thing once and bought a cheap, light flashing red light used by bicyclists which he puts on top of his pack if he drops it to do a stalk in the afternoon/evening.

Not a bad idea. That solves one potential issue. Not for me though. Something else to carry and fuss with.

 

[WoodBow]

I know your question wasn’t “should I use stalking shoes” so forgive me if you aren’t interested in my point of view. Here goes.

I toyed with the idea and have decided to just keep my boots on. I personally don’t think stalking shoes/socks make a big enough difference to justify:
1- the possibility of losing my boots. If the critter moves and I decide to pursue that could take me farther from my boots. I don’t like the idea of leaving my boots behind. I will not drop my pack either.
2- the extra weight in my pack. Generally it’s going to be difficult to find a pair that weighs much less than 8 ounces. Thick socks are the exception but you have reasons to not want those.
3- the extra time to stop and switch. In my experience time is critical, and wind. More so than the tiny reduction in noise. Add a little paranoia about losing my boots and add the time to mark them on my gps.
4- extra complication. Something else to fuss with while I could be spending that time putting together a solid sneak plan and just generally moving slower.
5- the additional cost. Not a big deal but it is a deal.

I'm with you. It seemed like a great idea to me in theory. But application quickly shows all the problems. I tend to over think things and I'm borderline panicking that I won't be able to find my boots from the second they are out of sight. And that's even with me dropping a pin where they are. Walking on small rocks without boots sucks a lot. Seems most of the time i'm not positive how far the animal is away so I take my boots off too early and go farther than planned without them. Taking off boots does take time and does make noise. Especially if gaiters are involved. I think I will make something that just slips on my boots. I have heard of people using pieces of old carpet. That sounds effective though a bit bulky and not super light.

 

[jmannas]

Great point on the gaiters being noisy when removing….


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[dtrkyman]

I have a large pair of fleece socks, they fit over my light hikers so I still have all the support of my boot, they are a B to get on and off but I need to find a stretchy sock that fits over better!

 

[Duckhunterbrad]

I highly recommend you look at Anxynt stalking moccasins! Great quality and customer service. Their gloves are also top notch!

 

[MtGomer]

I snuck 700 yards across the desert in my socks last week to kill this buck, which has lead me to this thread. It was a pokey, painful sneak but taking boots off can be a necessity in the desert. It’s so quiet out there when the wind is not blowing and hard, vibram soles can definitely be heard.

 

[Pathfinder27]

I snuck 700 yards across the desert in my socks last week to kill this buck, which has lead me to this thread. It was a pokey, painful sneak but taking boots off can be a necessity in the desert. It’s so quiet out there when the wind is not blowing and hard, vibram soles can definitely be heard.

View attachment 493608

Not sure what unit you’re in in AZ but that looks a whole lot like the buck I missed in 24B last weekend. Congrats on a great AZ mulie

 

[hungrybear]

Some Stalkasins would definitely handle that problem. I have used some of those Vibram toe shoes and that was great for allowing grip in steeper terrain.

 

[Felix40]

I just finished an elk hunt with a lot of stalking, some cactus, and temps in the teens. I’m still convinced socks are the best but wrestling shoes are the next best thing when conditions don’t allow for socks. After switching out the boots I can almost run without making as much noise as boots. I have a blaze orange pack lid so losing my pack is of very little concern to me. When things are crunchy and there’s no wind, boots are a no go.