New Hunting Boot Preliminary Report.

Been looking for new hunting boots for a while and finally found a pair with the specs I was looking for and were on sale. I previously had a pair of Irish Setters and they've been great, put a lot of miles on them over probably 10 years. Of course they no longer make the same model so I found another manufacturer who did ( 800-1000gr of insulation and actual gore-tex). So I ended up with a pair of Danner Pronghorns.

I've had them for a month or so and put the miles on them this week during the deer hunt. They are very comfortable right from the get go with no break-in needed. The coldest it got in my area was 3 and my feet were toasty warm in the stand. My Irish Setters had the same insulation and are good to about freezing. I also trekked through a few swamps and they didn't leak. Of course the next test is longevity so we'll see how they last but so far, so good. TC

Thx for the report, seems like a nice boot. I hope they last.

Danner makes a good boot, as do many others, I am a bit of a boot junkie, between me and my boys we have five Danner models: Santiam, Hood Winter Light, Bull run, Acadia, and Canadian. The Canadian are my favourite leather boots, but for deer hunting (the only hunting I do now) I mostly use waders as I hunt swamps primarily.

I use a wax based water proof (snow seal) and they take that well. I did use too much Neatsfoot Oil (AKA Mineral Oil) one time and that softened the leather too much, it took me a while to get out the excess. I find the Danner branded leather conditioner has too much oil in it but used sparingly it is fine for casual use.

All my leather boots are re-craftable, most have goretex liners and insulated to some degree but I prefer the lighter insulation (ie 200 gram) as any heavier and the boots don't flex well.

One pair has had new soles, and another needs new heel counters (too much neatsfoot oil) but Danner offered me a new pair at cost so that was a better option.

Thanks for the report Marker. I was thinking of applying mink oil to the stitching but I may use snow seal instead. TC

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Originally Posted by trky chsr

Thanks for the report Marker. I was thinking of applying mink oil to the stitching but I may use snow seal instead. TC

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I stopped using mink oil as a primary water proofing due to it softening the leather over an extended period, no where nearly as much as neatsfoot oil though. I do use mink oil when the leather gets dry, my son spilled some industrial solvent on his boots which cracked the leather, I beleive mink oil would have been a better option than wax in this circumstance. In my experience mink oil does not water proof like bees wax does, but it will displace water, if the mink oil has silicone in it then you will get some additional water proofing but silicone does not stand up to heavy outdoor field use like bees wax does. A disadvantage of beeswax is in winter it can harden and get pushed out of the leather, in sub zero cold conditions mink oil has been a better alternative. Thats just my experience, others may have different views.

Thanks Marker, more food for thought. TC

Thanks for the report.

This deer season I developed very painful shin splints. Not really sure what caused it. Could be my boots are worn out or the 5lbs of mud on boots... lol
Took 2 long weeks to heal! Ill be saving my loonies for some good boots for next season.

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Originally Posted by bellerivercrossbowhunter

Thanks for the report.

This deer season I developed very painful shin splints. Not really sure what caused it. Could be my boots are worn out or the 5lbs of mud on boots... lol
Took 2 long weeks to heal! Ill be saving my loonies for some good boots for next season.

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I used to do a lot of running in my younger years durring the summer months (not as much as some but more than most), I went to a doctor when it started happening who told me it was an overuse injury and rest was the cure. To prevent it the solution was including a smaller amount of running in the winter and not 'shock' the system all at one time in spring.

I used to run Danners and have absolutely nothing bad to say about them. they lasted 7 moose seasons in just about every moose terrain possible but they simply wore out and I didn't like the offerings that year they had and went with some Under Armor boots that have been pretty good but certainly not tested to the extent of the Danners simply because I haven't had a moose tag in 3 years now