ll bean hunting shoe/boot

[Rick Losey]

I remember a thread a while back about the great service some of you got while getting the bottoms replaced, so I know some of them have been worn a long time. I have never owned a pair - thought about it - just never bought them.

but, I need something for wet woodcock covers. I generally go for leather moc toed styles, have gotten tired of getting two seasons out of gore-tex lined leather boots, before I end up with wet feet.

the last rubber bottom boots (generic) I had were prone to getting thorns through them ( and that is fun because you need to pull the thorn out slowly through the boot before you can get it off)

so - here are the questions -

is the rubber bottom tough enough for thorny covers?

and how is the wet ground mud traction with the chain pattern sole, and how soon does it wear smooth?

[Stephen Hodges]

Well Rick, I have been wearing LL Bean Hunting Boots for longer than I care to report, since high school actually, and when they wear out, you just send them back to Beans for a "retread" and you are good to go for another ten years. They are great boots that have stood the test of time. Buy a pair and you will not regret it one bit:corn:

[Mike McKinney]

I wore out several (maybe 8) sets of bottoms with three pair of uppers over many years of tromping. I always enjoyed Bean boots though the lower rubber is only waterproof as high as the rubber, but that never did bother me too much. I always wore the cold proof insole with the steel arches. I loved those boots, but from my perspective I always found them to be sock eaters and they required good elastic in the upper part of the sock and in looking/feeling back, I'm not positive but I believe the lack of support in the boot was hard on my feet long term---but it was all I would wear for years.

[Dean Romig]

Hi Rick,

I have two pairs of them and like them very much for what I require of them. The uppers can be made relatively waterproof (not for continuous submersion) by treating them quite heavily with a product like Sno-Proof which is a bees wax product softened with a natural oil product. Just heat it up and heat the leather too and brush it on with a basting brush or a cheap 1" paint brush. They don't offer a lot of support by themselves but are as comfortable as moccasins after a few wearings. The chain tread offers good enough traction but when the tread smooths out after a few seasons they are not good on the snow at all for traction. When (if) mine wear out to the point I need to replace them I'll definitely buy another pair. One of my pair have had a set of new bottoms and the other pair will need new bottoms in a couple of years. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

[Daryl Corona]

Rick;
I've had several retreads of my Bean boots and found them to be adequate but were terrible on slippery rocks and mud. Like Mike, I found the support was less than what I needed. Bottom line is, my feet hurt after a long day. Do yourself a favor and look into the Russell line of boots. I've owned a pair of their double moc upland boots for about 10 yrs. and without a doubt the most comfortable, completely waterproof all leather boot I've ever owned. Call the owner Ralph, and he will guide you in the selection of the perfect boot for what you plan to do with them. I promise you, you will thank me after your first day wearing them afield.

[Jerry Harlow]

I am wearing them right now bow hunting and dove hunting. With bad knees the thing I like about them is they are light as a feather. They do not wear your legs out. I think they have more than enough support, but you can feel sticks and things through them. I also put the insulated pads in when it gets a little colder but not too cold. The bottoms wear very well.

Mine are twenty-plus years old and have been resoled many times. They even put a patch where the leather was thin when they put on the last new bottoms. If you keep the leather covered in mink oil they do not leak. But it wears off quickly. I got the taller ones and got the dark brown, which they will turn anyway with mink oil. Since I was a kid I wore these quail hunting every time it was wet. Will eat your socks unless you wear socks taller than the boot.

The only thing I'll buy from L L Bean since everything in their catalog except the boots says IMPORTED. I throw the catalog in the trash now.

[ron belanger]

I've never tried them nut my brother swears by a boot company called "Schnee"

My brother is a deer hunter extraordinaire, and he actually goes through water into swamp islands to reach the bucks inner sanctums...these boots serve him well and are quite similar to the LL Beans. Here's a link for you.

http://www.schnees.com/

[Stephen Hodges]

I have a pair of Schnees, and they are great boots also.

[Greg Baehman]

I've got 8 pair in various heights and configurations--both the original Bean Boots and the Maine Hunting Shoe. I wear all but the mocs with shearling insoles. For bird hunting, I grab the 10" high Bean Boots while my Russell South Forty Birdshooters sit in the closet.

[John Dallas]

For anyone with an unusual shoe size or foot configuration (I wear a 13A shoe) Russells are the way to go. Not cheap, but the good stuff rarely is

[George Lang]

I have a pair of 8" high, size 10 wide, that I can no longer wear due to an ankle problem. There yours if you want them(or anyone else that can use them) just pay for the shipping. Dark brown tops. Bottoms and leather tops in good shape....George

[charlie cleveland]

lastnight at football game i seen the ll bean logo on a van figure that..wonder if they give you a new one when it wears out...red wings makes a mighty good leather boot thats tough and water proof up to a point..i wore them for years for work and hunting... charlie

[Rick Losey]

OK, so we go to the near by Beans store. I figure I should try them on first. Of course the store doesn't carry anything remotely related to hunting. And that included the Maine Hunting Shoe. They did have the rubber bottom boots. So when the young lady come up to ask if she can help, I asked her what the difference is between a boot and a hunting shoe.

She doesn't know but points to the guy in the shoe department and says he will and she will get him to help me. She speaks to him and goes off to help others. The guy never does come anywhere near me, waiting on others as they arrive instead.

I was about to leave when some customer comes up to ask me about a product. I said you need to ask someone in a green shirt. He says - oh, I thought you worked here.

I say No, I have only been standing here long enough to work here. That at least got the attention of a green shirt walking by who went to get me some boots to try for fit.

Turns out a 12 is not a twelve unless you normally wear several (as in three or four) pairs of heavy socks. there was over an inch of toe room. It seems that with a single pair of heavy socks (i brought hunting socks with me to check the fit) I wear an 11 again (less than 1/2 inch toe room), first time since about 8th grade.

And a 12 inch tall boot is only considered 10 inches high if it is gore tex lined, however an unlined 10 inch boot is 10 inches high. I am getting dizzy.

By now the young lady notices I am still there and comes back to tell me the difference between a boot and shoe is the thickness of the sole and the shoe guy finally shows up and says the boot version came out in the 1970's because the shoes became fashionable and the sole wore on too quickly on pavement. He suggests the boot until I say want the shoe because much to their surprise, because I hunt and woodcock covers are wet.

It did get funny, because the guy who had come over to wait on me said he had property that had a lot of woodcock and they were always in the wet stuff. He likes to watch them flush, and we talked about the way they flew. Of course I asked if he allowed hunting and he said no. I said I had to ask and he laughed and said he understood.

so Maine Hunting shoes are ordered, we will have to see how they fit and how tall they really are once they get here.

[Jay Gardner]

Currently have three pair (including my dad's pair he purchased new in the early 50's). Here is my pair, purchased while on vacation in Maine in 1974. The ONLY boots I wore hunting for probably 30+ years. They have been patched and re-soled by Bean a few times. Now I wear them primarily for sentimental reasons as the just don't give me the ankle support that I need for long days in the grouse woods. They also make navigating "snotty" logs a little dangerous. Regardless, I'll probably go to my grave wearing them.

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n308/Doublegun_2006/IMG_0257.jpg (http://s115.photobucket.com/user/Doublegun_2006/media/IMG_0257.jpg.html)

[Kevin McCormack]

Bought my first (and last) pair 50 years ago this month when I and some other friends were given permission to hunt pheasant on a series of farms on the MD-PA border. All of them involved slogging through wet bottoms that drained corn and other grain fields and ran for miles between the ridges. I learned some valuable lessons very early on: (1) the "non-slip chain tread" soles were as advertised ONLY on level ground (and virtually useless on any accumulation of mud or snow at whatever the incline); (2) the uninsulated version even with 2 pr. of wool hunting sox were cold as hell at anything below freezing temps; (3) they leaked water at the rubber bottom/leather top stitch lines regardless of what waterproofing treatment used over time (including melted paraffin).

When it came time to send them back in for new bottoms, I had the originals replaced with insulated Vibram tread soles with metal shanks; the improvements in toasty toes and support and traction were most dramatic, but over time the "split backstay" design played hob with the Achilles tendon on my right heel. I'd come home from 5 or 6 hours in the field with wet feet again (leaky seams) and the added aggravation of a sorely chafed heel and calf.

As the once incredibly abundant pheasant population on our choice little farmsteads began to succumb to overuse of pesticides, clean-farming, and a marked explosion in feral house cats (introduced by well-meaning yuppies moving out to the country from places like Pikesville, Glen Burnie and Baltimore), I began to spend more of my time grouse hunting in northwestern MD, PA, and NY. On a grouse hunting trip to NH in 1999, a friend of mine introduced me to Muck Boots, which at the time all the dairy farmers were buying up with a frenzy for wearing around the farmsteads in the winter.

I brought a pair back with me from that trip and have never worn anything but since then for light- to medium-duty bird hunting. They are warm as toast, completely waterproof, offer plenty of arch and ankle support, and are fitted at the ankle such that they won't ride off even in the mud. An added bonus is that you can 'fold' them down for ventilation or cleaning, something I don't think you can do with any leather boot, especially laceups. I'm working on my second pair and even bought a "shorty" version for use while working around the yard. For my money, there's nothing like them.

BTW - check out the very latest Shooting Sportsman mag (got mine 2 days ago). They have a very informative special evaluation section on the best of the so-called "pac" boots available for this season's hunting.

[Bill Murphy]

After years of thinking that pull on rubber boots would slip off, and or cause blisters, I started wearing them when it was real wet. Now, like Kevin, that's all I wear for any outdoor use that requires more than shoes and less than waders. I have about five pair, haven't paid more than $25 for any of them. Some have room for extra socks, some don't. Some are insulated, some aren't. I still have Filson unlined Uplanders from when I was on the employee program, but can't seem to break them in wearing them about two days a year. I see they are up to $375 now. We paid flat rate eighty bucks for any boot as sellers of the product. They are a tough boot and waterproof, still made in USA.

[charlie cleveland]

i too wear the muck boots..for years no more wet or cold feet for sure..but a lot of heavy briar patches will put a toll on them...easiet boot in the world to slip on or off.. charlie

[Rick Losey]

i have muck boots - great for winter and i wear them on cold days on a preserve, and even that rare deer hunt. But they are a bit clumsy for my covers and the tops would be shredded in no time.

looking forward to trying to Beans hunting shoes, It rained all night here and drizzled up to just before I turned the dogs lose today. I like the fit of my Goretex lined kangaroo boots, but my feet were wet in no time and I was never in mud or water any where near ankle deep.

[Jerry Harlow]

Speaking of slip-on rubber boots, if you have a Tractor Suppy around you they sell Made In USA tall uninsulated brown rubber boots for less than $20. I wear them the entire turkey season in the spring and they have lasted several years per pair. As Bill said, if they fit, they do not rub up and down and I walk miles in them daily through wet fields and crossing creek after creek without wet feet.

[Frank Srebro]

It must be just me and I know this is heresy to some, but the LL Bean hunting shoe/boot is the most uncomfortable boot I've ever worn. Oh they fit OK and are light as a feather, but are cold feeling as could be for typical small game hunting here in PA even with the insert thingy. I bought a pair years ago after reading all the hype, wore them and felt like my feet were freezing, bought the inserts, a little better but still uncomfortable. Maybe it's my circulation. But my Red Wing Irish Setters don't feel that way when hunting in the same conditions. JMO FWIW.

[Daryl Corona]

Thumbs up on the Irish Setters Frank. I never owned a pair of Gore-Tex that did'nt eventually leak, even in heavy dew. I have 2 pair of Mucks and wear them on the deer stand or pit hunting for geese. Comfortable, warm and dry.