Switching to Tennis Shoes / Trail Runners from Mountaineering Boots.

[stoopiddumbman]

Are you guys that are running approach shoes going through them pretty quick due to outsole wearing fast? I think they use a pretty soft rubber.

 

[khart_6882]

I have to agree. My summer hiking/scouting boots are some 89$ UA ultralight boots that are more like a high top basketball shoe than a hiking boot. I’ve never had a single issue with them no matter what I’ve put them through. Packing in salt and trail cameras through miles of nothing but steep jagged rock and no issues.
Come October I get out my stiff leather mountaineering boots and before I even start to lace them up, I tape my heels and big toes. I’ve tried every way to lace them, different socks and insoles, I’ve just got too narrow of a foot for about any mountaineering boot to really hug my foot snug enough.
The only reason I go through all this during October/November hunting is because of the 400grams of insulation. My feet get so goddamn cold so easily


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[Maverick1]

View attachment 624002
These are the best thing I have ever worn, on my third pair

Keen Taghee III’s. I have about 12 pairs of the Targhee II’s, many of those broken in and used on hunts, a couple still brand new. They just work really well for my feet. (And, yes, I’ve tried a lot of the more expensive hunting and mountaineering boots.). The lugs tend to tear off the soles, and they don’t last forever, but they break in super easy and are my go-to’s for mountain hunting.

 

[5MilesBack]

My problems with trailrunners or tennis shoes is keeping my feet dry and keeping all the pine needles, sticks, dirt, etc out. Otherwise they'd be fine for the most part. But even with my boots I'll do full on sprints while chasing elk etc. They don't slow me down at all. I've also been known to get real aggressive with some bulls and run at them while intentionally stomping and breaking every blown down piece of wood I can find on my way to him. With good boots, that isn't a problem. I wouldn't even attempt that in lesser shoes.

 

[Yoder]

Has anyone read the book Born to Run by Christopher McDougall? He talks about how running injuries skyrocketed right when Nike made their first cushioned jogging shoes. It's a great book. They visit a tribe in Mexico who are known for their legendary running skills. They pretty much run ultra marathons wearing sandals and never have knee or ankle injuries. They go into detail about the science involved but basically, the more cushion in your shoes, the higher the recorded impact. Our feet are super sensitive for a reason. Without cushioned shoes, our bodies automatically adjust to better absorb impact. With cushioned shoes we run heel toe and smash our joints. It's pretty interesting.

 

[Yoder]

You have to slowly transition and build your feet, legs, and knees up. Going from mostly boots to minimal shoes in any terrain, let alone rocky/steep without an adequate transition and strength program will result in disaster.

This is super important. I've been slowly switching to minimalist shoes. I work in a factory and I couldn't even wear them on flat concrete all day. It's taken a few months along with strength training to get to where they are comfortable. I always wore orthotics and even had arch reconstruction surgery on my left foot. Since I switched, I don't need the orthotics anymore. I eventually want to get to where I can hunt in them.

 

[sodaksooner]

My brother can get away with it and uses lightweight low top Merrells or Salomons at times. He doesn't do it every day, but has no issues when he does. I can't do it, but do try and keep my boots as light as possible. Crispi Altitudes right now. For early season non mountain hunting or treestand stuff, Trail runners/tennis shoes are the bomb (except in cactus areas)

 

[yfarm]

For those that try low shoes try these $20/pr. Available solids and camo. Lycra

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Have been thru 3 generations of North Face ultra shoes, no complaints

 

[Radford]

Just got back from a mule deer backpacking hunt. We spent a week hunting, took the floorless and stove for a shelter also had to pack our water in 3gal ea. With all the late season gear we ended up with packs near 80lbs.

I wore my Scarpa Grand Dru’s which I wear often and have had great luck with. I carried some old worn out Brooks Running shoes for camp shoes as well. We found a spring about 1.5miles from camp and each time we passed it we could bring a couple gallons back each with a dry bag.

Anyway after a couple days of 10+ mile days and a ton of elevation I started to have some knee/IT band issues on my left leg and also had a some hotspots from all the steep ascents. I decided to lighten up the pack for the day so I left my kill kit since there were two of us and left the big spotter at camp. I also decided to toss on the running shoes for the morning hunt. I couldn’t believe the difference, I felt like a whole new person and went from having cashed out legs to felling like I could climb all day long. We end up killing a buck that evening so I packed him out with the tennis shoes 5 miles, not sure how much it weighted but my Kifaru, one hind, one front quarter, half the neck meat, a back strap and loin. Q’s bone in. Plus my gun and gear. I was a little worried about the weight but it felt great and so did my feet. I wore the shoes the rest of the trip and even on the two trips out of there, one with the deer and one with camp.

I was a little worried about cactus but kept a close eye on them. The shoes probably only has 1/4” of foam left between the ground and my feet, most of the rubber was worn from them from years of use but they still worked awesome.

Anyway, moving forward I’m switching to shoes anytime it makes since. I just ordered some Merrell Nova 2’s last night and some seal skin socks for my late season mule deer hunt that starts next weekend. I will still keep my several pair of mountaineering boots for hunting elk in the downfall.

I cannot believe how much I enjoyed the light shoes, I’ve been hunting in heavy boots for years. I had already put several hundred miles in the boots this fall prior to this hunt. I’ve been hunting since august antelope and my legs are in pretty darn good mountain shape too.

View attachment 622124

I’m going through the same journey as you. Switched to heavy mtn boots some years back cause all my coworkers and friends convinced me I had to or my feet would disintegrate. I never had a problem before carrying a heavy load or any or nonsense reason they say so I have switched back to lightweight hikers and will never look back.

 

[mtwarden]

I made the switch to trail runners for backpacking probably 20 years ago. For backpacking (and day hiking) it’s all I use.

I thought if I’m using them for backpacking, I should try and use them for hunting? For hunting it didn’t work so well. The actual hunting part wasn’t too bad, but with meat on my back and a fair bit of sidehilling, it didn’t work at all. The trail runners simply folded over- that sucked, sucked bad.

For whatever ever reason I seem to find myself in a lot of rock when hunting and with trail runners my feet tend to take a beating.

The boots I do use are probably on the lower end of the weight scale (for hunting boots) and don’t feel the need for heavy boots, but I likely won’t be hunting in trail runners anytime soon.

I still put on 1500+ miles on my trail runners (usually two to three pairs a year), only 200-300 miles on my boots in a year.

 

[StupidLightweight]

Due to an achilles strain from a 20-mile hike in new boots, I couldn't wear anything but minimalist shoes for the better part of two years. As such, I did what I had to to get out. Yeah, my feet were cold, wet, and I had to watch my steps more to avoid rolling an ankle, but man, what freedom! Twelve or so years later, I wear trail runners whenever possible. Boots are necessary in snow, but I don't believe they're beneficial for me in August/September/October backpack hunting. I can go so much further with less fatigue in lightweight shoes. Debris can be an issue, but it's not hard to pull the shoes off and shake them out. Moisture is also an issue, but you can either swap socks or keep wearing them, and shoes dry out much faster than boots.

And trust me, I heard from everyone how stupid I was for wearing tennis shoes. Have I rolled my ankle with lightweight shoes? Yep. I've also done it in boots. There's no perfect footwear (or rifle, cartridge, truck, or wife), but you make your choice and behave accordingly. I'm blown away by how many people wear stiff, heavy boots when they'd be fine in footwear that weighs 75-percent less. This reminds me of a thread on here about the .223/77-gr. TMK....

 

[khart_6882]

What do you guys do if it’s getting cold at night and you’re going to be set up glassing at first light? Double up on wool socks once you get to your stand? I don’t think my toes could handle sneakers with temperatures in the teens


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[Wagner]

I was turkey hunting in the Black Hills last spring. Took my Lapponia’s and a pair of sneaker hikers with me. I tried the sneaker hikers for 1/2 day and couldn’t get them off quick enough. For normal terrain they are super comfortable but once I started side hilling etc. there was no comparison with the Lapponia’s.