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Moccasins for hunting?

Red Beard

Red Beard

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2019
Messages
5,516
Location
in my skin
Thanks to @Zero One Actual, I'm now looking at moccasins. :rolleyes:

So many questions come to mind... Anybody employed them during your hunting tenure? What was your experience? How did you keep them scent free? Didn't your sweaty foot deposit od-de-man into the leather sole? Did you initially bury them underground for 12 months prior to wearing them in the woods like Eberhart does? :smiley:

Zero One Actual said:
www.gethealthyandgrounded.com

Why Every Hunter Should Wear Moccasins

If we look back to indigenous hunters we can glean a great deal from their technique and successes. They were light on their feet and nearly silent while walking through the woods. If the animal can't hear you coming, then you have the advantage of getting close and increasing your chances of a...
www.gethealthyandgrounded.com www.gethealthyandgrounded.com
Click to expand...
 
I keep neoprene dive booties in my pack for hunting in the mountains. It's a good camp shoe, and I use them on stalks. Much quieter than a boot. I don't care about scent deer hunting because I'm a hairy mouthbreather. But I'm sure the neoprene keeps the bad stuff in to an extent(they're waterproof). I would imagine if you're in "i need to have quiet footsteps range", then scent on your feet probably doesn't matter. Though I could be thinking about the application wrong...
 
The same thing could be accomplished wearing a thin soled shoe like a converse for still hunting. I assume those moccasins are expensive.
 
kyler1945 said:
I keep neoprene dive booties in my pack for hunting in the mountains. It's a good camp shoe, and I use them on stalks. Much quieter than a boot. I don't care about scent deer hunting because I'm a hairy mouthbreather. But I'm sure the neoprene keeps the bad stuff in to an extent(they're waterproof). I would imagine if you're in "i need to have quiet footsteps range", then scent on your feet probably doesn't matter. Though I could be thinking about the application wrong...
Click to expand...
Those neoprene dive booties would be next level stealth I bet.
 
I have the mypillow moccasin slippers. They're great for around the house but the broken ground, I need more ankle support.
 
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kyler1945 said:
I keep neoprene dive booties in my pack for hunting in the mountains. It's a good camp shoe, and I use them on stalks. Much quieter than a boot. I don't care about scent deer hunting because I'm a hairy mouthbreather. But I'm sure the neoprene keeps the bad stuff in to an extent(they're waterproof). I would imagine if you're in "i need to have quiet footsteps range", then scent on your feet probably doesn't matter. Though I could be thinking about the application wrong...
Click to expand...
this is moneyyyy. i got dive booties but I got some nice 5mm cold water surf booties too that have a more durable sole and grip to them. you're a genius my man. Dry and warm, i can wear those suckers in the winter! That was always my issue... with socks and my feet getting wet and frozen.
 
ripcurl e-bomb i think. theyre not that expensive either. maybe 50 bucks and they fit your feet like a glove
 
you can get cheap dive booties on amazon for 10-15 bucks. Also, mine are blue. No critters have looked at my feet and ran, so I think it's ok. I want them as thin as possible. Just there to keep feet clean, and knock down noise.
 
PEEJAY said:
this is moneyyyy. i got dive booties but I got some nice 5mm cold water surf booties too that have a more durable sole and grip to them. you're a genius my man. Dry and warm, i can wear those suckers in the winter! That was always my issue... with socks and my feet getting wet and frozen.
Click to expand...
Yep. Just gotta insert your carry along steel shanks when stalking isn't working out and you end up tree-ing yourself with a ROS under you.
 
Flashbomb* for 5mm. they dry quick when you soak em too.

Here's a link but you can prolly find em cheaper.

Booties Gloves & Hoods

Designed for the coolest of coastal conditions, our range of wetsuit <a href="/us/mens/wetsuits/booties-gloves-hoods.html#/filter:mens_wetsuits_accs:Booties">booties</a>, <a href="/us/mens/wetsuits/booties-gloves-hoods.html#/filter:mens_wetsuits_accs:Gloves">gloves</a> and <a...
www.ripcurl.com www.ripcurl.com
 
Red Beard said:
Yep. Just gotta insert your carry along steel shanks when stalking isn't working out and you end up tree-ing yourself with a ROS under you.
Click to expand...
yea i would last 2 min haha. i cant do ROS with astronaut boots on. my feet would be out of service for a week. i only really stalk on my "lunch break" in areas i cant set up in a stand, so i wouldnt have time to set up anyways. I have public 10 min from my office. Never really "works" but i have an addiction and cant help it. My name is PJ and im a huntaholic.
 
Red Beard said:
Thanks to @Zero One Actual, I'm now looking at moccasins. :rolleyes:

So many questions come to mind... Anybody employed them during your hunting tenure? What was your experience? How did you keep them scent free? Didn't your sweaty foot deposit od-de-man into the leather sole? Did you initially bury them underground for 12 months prior to wearing them in the woods like Eberhart does? :smiley:
Click to expand...
I cant wait to see how deep this rabbit hole gets.

Next year Ol Red Beard is gonna be wearing nothing but moccasins and a loincloth

Btw @Red Beard did you know its impossible for animals to see loincloths
 
I don't know if they make anymore but I carry a pair of "seal skinz" sox in my pack for the very purpose of quiet final stalk. They probably wouldn't stop a thorn or such but come on, suck it up a little.... you're stalking game in the free world!!!
 
How many animals do you think you'll kill stalking vs sitting still? Do you have lots of stalking ground? Have you successfully stalked deer before?

For most hunters, stalking isn't and shouldn't be a big part of their game and I don't think it makes sense to even start thinking about it.

However, I think I killed 3 out of 11 deer and 4-5 pigs (all of them) last year by stalking. Stalking is a common way to kill hogs here so I've had a fair amount of practice and the skill won there translates to deer.

It is really hard to find traditional moccasins that are meant to actually be worn outside. Wet leather is slick as goose turds on an icy sidewalk and about as nice-feeling on your feet. I think they're a remarkably poor choice of footwear and the only reason they ever got used was because there wasn't a better alternative.

I've worn "barefoot running shoes" in the woods. I think Merrell made the ones I had. They were kinda nice really, but they were low-rise shoes and stuff would get into them like dirt and plant seeds. Chiggers and ticks were also an issue. But I'd go with those before I went with leather mocs.

Usually I wear rubber boots that are easy enough to kick off, and wool socks underneath that. If I am worried about the sound of my footfall on a stalk I will kick my boots off and the socks are thick enough to protect my feet for the 30-100 yards i need to traverse.

If you're covering ground, real shoes are the way to go. I spend more time doing that than stalking. Makes more sense to choose gear that facilitates that thing than stalking for me.

TLDR, just kick your boots off on a stalk.
 
This from the guy that just smoked a copperhead in his front yard? I've been struck twice on the foot on my own property, one of those times much later in the season than I'd have thought snakes were active. No thanks; not around here, at least...
 
Back when I was young and first started bowhunting I used to still hunt whitetails a lot when I couldn't afford other tree stands or people didn't want them put up on their property. I could usually smell them before I saw them. Some of the funnest and best hunting I've ever experienced. I used camo painted opera binocs (just one power type little glasses type things) that stuffed right in my upper chest pocket or I could hold easily in my hand to scan where the "sniff" was coming from. Usually I noticed a dark eyeball or an ear twitch before anything else. I used to wear old broken in work boots or soft soled shoes. The best time to stalk was after an enduro run went through my former family farm and the trail was so chewed up you could wear plastic clackers and the deer couldn't hear you.
 
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