Anitperspirant and warm feet

[maine hunter]

45 degrees is a heat wave, shorts and shirt weather!!!

[JPjunkie]

Well Ive got to say Ive hunted 45 years , and in the 45 years Ive hunted , Ive Tried everything to keep my feet warm from Eletric socks to pouring hot coffee on them !!! LMAO !!! It was really ,really cold that morning ! But never has it crossed my mind to to use antiperspirant on them !!! This thread is cracking me up !!!

The coffee thing is hard core there Mine were so cold one day I thought about pissin in my boots Then I came to my senses when I realized the piss would freeze shortly after the warmup

[Kegbelly]

In all seriousness... I always suffered from cold feet, and my answer was to put even more socks on. Wrong! My feet were stuffed in my boots like a sausage, and they'd absolutely freeze. You need some air space inside your boots. I got some very good merino wool socks, I only wear one pair, and I bought some good leather/cordura boots with about 1200 g Thinsulate one size larger than I usually wear and my feet stay very comfortable. Granted I'm not hunting the frozen tundra in subzero temps but single digit mornings have not been a problem. Around here Muck boots are the big thing but I detest rubber boots with a passion, they bring back painful memories of wearing galoshes and idiot mittens to elementary school

[James Hutchison]

For still hunting or short stands about an hour I use Muck Wetland boots with a polypropylene base sock and a pair of heavy SmartWool knee socks. Long stands same socks with Lacrosse Iceman pack boots. I stay warmer with high quality socks and less layers, leaving some wiggle room for my toes.

[robertyb]

In all seriousness... I always suffered from cold feet, and my answer was to put even more socks on. Wrong! My feet were stuffed in my boots like a sausage, and they'd absolutely freeze. You need some air space inside your boots. I got some very good merino wool socks, I only wear one pair, and I bought some good leather/cordura boots with about 1200 g Thinsulate one size larger than I usually wear and my feet stay very comfortable. Granted I'm not hunting the frozen tundra in subzero temps but single digit mornings have not been a problem. Around here Muck boots are the big thing but I detest rubber boots with a passion, they bring back painful memories of wearing galoshes and idiot mittens to elementary school

Try our a pair of Muck Woody Elites with good merino wool socks and you will change you mind. Mine feel like tennis shoes almost. Really warm ones.

[Significent]

Heavy Merino wool knee socks made all the difference in the world for me. I got mine at Cabelas.

I think keeping your calves warm goes a long way toward keeping your feet warm. A loose fit around your toes helps a lot too.

[Boo]

You'd be surprised at how much some people perspire at their feet. I think an antiperspeant would be a good start if you are the one that sweats a whole lot at your feet. Also, your best protection, especially if you are a sweaty foot person is a better sole that creates an air barrier and does not collect water. Something else I learned a couple of years ago. A good foot drier works wonders!

[Riflemanz]

I wear Cabela's Inferno 2000gm boots with wool socks and toe warmers.

[racking up points]

I have 2000 gr Thinsulate rubber boots from Cabelas. They are the stuff. I hunt late season where temps are anywhere from -5C to -20C. I buy a quality pair of wool socks.

But a trick I learned when I used to work for the Utilities water division is to use a product called "sockettes." I'm not sure of the brand name but their slogan is "air conditioning for your rubber boots." They suck any moisture away from the wool sock and they have a lot of insulation in them too. Your feet will not get wet and your socks stay dry, its amazing. The exterior of the sockettes are the only thing that will feel damp. So after the hunt, I dry the insoles thoroughly. You might find them at a safety shoe store. I bought mine 10y ago and still use them in the late season.

On the last day of our season, temps were -13C with winds of 35K, (for the metrically-challenged that's pretty damn cold!). I hunted four hours in the AM and three more in the PM. I can honestly say that my feet were the only part of me that WAS warm.

I prefer rubber boots for their scent reduction property. Ground scent can ruin a good hunt. They also come up higher on the leg and this helps to retain more heat. Breathe-ability is the only downside but sockettes eliminate that drawback.

Cabelas also has a lifetime guarantee on their footwear. Every few years I find a fault so I can get new ones. They replace them, no questions asked, no receipt even! I bought a pair of boots about 8y ago, and it's gotten me 3-4 new pairs. You can't beat that!

So put your underarm products under your arm!

[JPjunkie]

I use sock liners same principle they wick away moisture

[MI Yeti]

i buy the best boots i can afford and wear wool socks . I keep an extra pair of socks in my pack just in case . I'd think some foot powder might help those whose feet sweat alot , i might need to try it myself some times

[Lake shooter]

I forgot to mention that i had actually tried antiperspirant on my feet many years, and it didn't work for me. Plus, I hate the smell of the stuff and don't use or cook in anything made from or containing aluminum.

On the scent thing, I believe that the "rubber boot/no scent" thingy is nothing but hot air that has been foisted on the deer hunting community for decades to sell more boots, so much so that many hunters take it as the gospel truth kind of like a lot of other deer camp BS like "deer always travel into the wind". Rubber boots outgas their whole life, I can still smell 'em 10 years down the pike, and rubber ain't a natural smell in the woods!

Hate to repeat myself, again, but I have deer walk all over my foot trails all the time with no reaction and I wear leather/Cordura boots, but well sprayed before entering the woods and always hung on a boot dryer after every use.

Another thing about rubber boots: they get cold in cold air, just feel 'em! If you put something warm and humid (skin) next to a cold surface, condensation will form on that surface, FAST!!! Socks don't matter either, because walking causes the warm moist air next to your foot to be pushed through the sock fabric to the boot interior, no matter how thick. Same thing as bringing cold glasses into a warm house or walking out of a cool house into the summer heat: the glasses will fog immediately! Even if the rubber boot has a cloth liner, you will have a damp liner in no time and the quick start to a miserable day of frozen feet! Here again as I said earlier: start off with warm feet and warm boots just before entering the woods and you'll be amazed at how much difference it makes in foot warmth and the time that you can stay put, even in a rubber boot.

[racking up points]

Rubber boots smell like rubber, not your foot. Deer smell rubber and won't spook like they do if they smell your work boots which smell like your feet. That is indisputable. It's not like there's some tonic in the rubber that eliminates all human scent.

Now, I could see an argument that says with each step, you're forcing human scent up and out the top of the boot, but not through it...it's impermeable. And this scent that escapes out the top of your boot isn't going to offend deer like the track left by a leather boot.

I also reject the idea that rubber is scent-free. It can on the smells of whatever touches it.

As someone who began as an OCD scent control freak, and in the last few years has only started to slack, I can tell you that I have as much, if not more success on deer now as I did when I tried to eliminate and control all scent compulsively. My 1 rule is don't let the wind carry your scent to their preferred bedding area. Pretty simple.

To me, the biggest rip-off is scent control clothing like scent-lok. I still own a lot of it...doesn't work.

[Kegbelly]

Try our a pair of Muck Woody Elites with good merino wool socks and you will change you mind. Mine feel like tennis shoes almost. Really warm ones.

I tried Muck boots, I don't think they were the Elites but they didn't do it for me. They're too easily punctured too, briars and sharp sticks poke right thru them. Mine didn't last any time before I was patching holes in them. Of course you dont know you got a hole till you wade thru some water and they fill up. I've got 2 pair of Cabelas leather/cordura boots I've been wearing for several years now and I really like them, they're warm, waterproof, tough as nails, and have great traction in wet muddy conditions we have here.
On scent control, I got mixed emotions... I do what I can to control my scent but I also think a lot of it is a marketing ploy to get you to think you can't be successful unless you buy product X.
Edit to add that when i was a kid we took our all-leather hunting boots and slathered em up in bear grease and put em in the oven to melt it into the leather, talk about some stinking boots! And we killed plenty of deer.

[Lake shooter]

RUP,

I totally agree on the wind thingy, but nobody can control the wind and the same goes for where a deer chooses to walk. Just because a person "stays off the game trails" and sets up downwind of where they think their quarry will come from doesn't mean that either will save them. Even relatively steady winds swirl all the time and deer walk where they choose in the direction they choose. That's why i'm a scent control nut, and in my long experience Scent Lok and Scent Blocker clothing do work, but not if they aren't cared for, kept clean and only donned AFTER getting to one's hunting area as i do, along with all of the other SC regimen. It's a PITA, but.........

Didn't mean to hijack, but the rubber boot/scent free thing really gets me rolling my eyes!