Treading Around

By A. Sayward Lamb

The treads that you have on your hunting boots can make a lot of difference on where you tread and how comfortable all that walking can be, as you travel over the countryside chasing deer or other game. I think that most experienced hunters, learned at an early age how important it is to have boots, first of all, that fit properly; and secondly, have that right type of boot that will suit the terrain and weather that you are going to be out in. I doubt if there is anything more distracting to a hunter than to have sore feet, whether it is blisters on your heels, pinched toes, or abrasions caused by boots rubbing the wrong places.

Whatever the case, you sure can’t concentrate on hunting when your feet hurt, and you know that every step is going to cause more pain. Having feet that get wet or cold also causes distractions that disrupt your hunting and as I will illustrate later, can cost you the opportunity of getting your game.

I would like to explain in a bit more detail what I mean using my own experiences as guidelines. Most of the terrain that I hunt on is mountainous country varying in degrees from knolls, to larger hills, steep hillsides, and on up to the higher elevations of mountain tops. There we often find rocky outcroppings, and moss covered ledges. In areas of hardwoods, especially during the fall of the year, we often encounter lots of leaves under foot. This can make for tricky walking, especially where there are numerous depressions, which are often filled with leaves.

We also have to be careful about blow downs, stumps, and other objects that we encounter as we walk through the woods. It is often better underfoot when we are in the softwoods because we can see the layout of the ground better but here there is often less visibility and numerous branches obstructing our way.

My sons, Ron and Jim, and myself, own several acres of lowlands and that area includes swale grass, with lots of hummocks, small swamps, and pucker brush. This makes excellent cover for deer but presents a definite challenge to the hunter who attempts to walk over the rough terrain. There are areas of open hardwoods alongside the Little Androscoggin River, where walking is much easier. For hunting that lowland area, I have generally used rubber packs because they ensure that my feet will remain dry as I walk over the boggy areas. Even walking through some of the swamplands is possible, providing you make sure you don’t step in over the tops of your rubber packs (generally they come up to the upper part of the calves of your legs).

I remember once when I was hunting on that land with my brother-in-law, Glendon Allen, I heard nearby shots coming from the area where Glen was located. I presumed he had shot at a deer. I was standing in some swale grass and some alder bushes obstructed my vision, in the direction of the shots. I watched intently and soon I saw a nice doe come running towards me. I knew I could not get a clear shot through the alder bushes, so I started to run through the swale grass with intentions of getting a clear shot at the doe before she disappeared from sight. I had run only a few feet when I tripped on one of the bases of a clump of swale grass and fell flat on my face in the tall grass.

I wasn’t hurt, but that sure ended any opportunity of getting a shot at that deer. It turned out that Glen had shot the “Skipper” that was with the doe. We dressed out his deer and took it to the registration station and then went to my home in West Paris, where we hung it up. A short time later, we took my father with us and went looking for the doe. As it turned, out my father shot the doe later in the afternoon and it was huge. Field-dressed, it weighed 160 pounds.

When I first started hunting, the only types of leather hunting boots that I wore were not waterproofed with anything other than waterproofing that I believe were derived from animal fats, oils, and wax. One of my favorites was Neat’s Foot Oil that was made commercially and was in liquid form. The leather on the boots had to be dry before applying this dressing and I often heated it up to make it much warmer, with less viscosity, so it would penetrate into the leather better.

I applied a small amount onto the boot and then thoroughly rubbed it into the leather with my fingers, using fast circular motions. Once the leather on the whole boot was saturated, I did the next one and afterwards I would place them on an old newspaper to prevent any seepage from staining the floor. If possible I would leave them to dry overnight. Next time I wore them I would find the leather very soft and pliable as well as waterproof.

Other products I used occasionally, included mink oil, bear grease and other commercial brands of waterproofing. My father told me that as a younger man he used to warm up deer tallow until it melted and applied this to waterproof his boots. I never tried it, so don’t know about the abilities of the tallow to keep boots from wetting through.

Later on, manufacturers came out with leather boots that were impregnated with silicone and were never supposed to leak. I was walking by a shoe store in Lewiston, Maine, many years ago, when I saw my first pair of this type of boot. They had a pair sitting in a huge dishpan full of water on display in the front window of their store. Alongside was plenty of advertising stating the amazing waterproofing qualities of those boots. “Seeing was believing!”

Needless to say, I didn’t have to read the advertising to believe their words. I went into the store and asked to see one of the boots that were on display. Sure enough, the inside of that boot was as dry as a bone. I went home and soon after, started saving my money to buy a pair. I had them ready to use before the next hunting season rolled around. When I purchased the boots, they recommended that I buy a can of silicone and spray it on the boots occasionally. This was sure a lot easier than the old method of waterproofing leather boots.

Another great quality of those new boots was the fact that they were insulated, making them a lot more comfortable in cold weather when compared to the old regular leather boots that I used to wear. They also had Vibram soles, which meant there were very deep treads, which would prevent slipping in wet, snowy, or muddy conditions. It also meant they were very prone to tracking lots of dirt and debris in onto floors, which under certain circumstances were not conducive to good marital relations. I soon learned it was much better to either take the boots off before entering the house, or to be sure to “stomp” them hard, and then sweep off the treads before walking over the floors. I found I liked the heavy tread on the soles, while walking in the woods. They sure prevented lots of slipping and sliding, as well as providing plenty of traction when climbing up and down hills.

I never liked leather boots in really cold weather, whether or not there was snow on the ground. I found that the L.L. Bean type boot with gum rubber bottoms, leather tops, and lined with heavy felt, made the warmest footwear for me to wear in below freezing temperatures. Over the years the weather in Maine, as well as other northern areas, has warmed up. I can remember when we were ice-skating in early November, as the ponds would be frozen over. Now, we seldom get a lot of snow and cold in November. Still, it gets cold enough at times, so that I like to wear the felt lined boots in extreme cold weather. I also like them if I am going to do a lot of sitting around during the day. I find they are not as comfortable for walking, because they don’t provide the support of leather boots. Still, they are nice for sitting around on deer crossings, not worrying about having cold feet.

A few years ago, I was up in the north Maine woods hunting with Leon Baker. We drove about seven miles from the main highway and planned to hunt on both sides of an old cut over area. I don’t remember just why but we each drove to that area in our respective pick-ups. Once there we parked in an old logging yard and then decided that one of us would hunt on the easterly side of the logging road, while the other would hunt on the westerly side. We had plenty of snow on the ground, but it was not a particularly cold day. It seemed to be just the right kind of a day for deer to be moving.

We separated just after noontime and I chose to hunt on the westerly side of the roadway, which happened to be the uphill side. I had on my insulated leather boots, which I felt would be suitable for the conditions. I planned to scout around the area looking for fresh deer tracks, before taking a stand later in the afternoon. With the fluffy snow about knee deep, I had no difficulty walking through it but I found several hidden obstructions under the snow. I had to move rather cautiously as I moved uphill through some old cuttings and open hardwoods.

I found several deer tracks in the snow but they were partially filled with snow. To me, this indicated they had been made during the latest snowfall, which was a couple of days earlier. I was intently watching ahead looking for deer tracks and possibly deer beds, when all of a sudden I found myself up to my knees in a wet hole. I shuddered when I felt the cold ice water running down inside my boots!

I hurriedly jumped up out of the wet hole but the damage had been done. My socks were very wet. I hoped that they would eventually warm enough so that I could stand the discomfort.

Instead of walking around any more I headed back to the site where I planned to sit and wait for deer. This was only a few hundred feet from where I had parked my truck. In fact, from the stand I could look down to where my truck was parked. The place I selected was adjacent to some raspberry and blackberry bushes near the edge of the old cutting. Behind me were some hardwoods while in front of me were the berry bushes as well as some small pine trees that had been planted in the old cutting by the Paper Company. They were only about three or four feet tall, so they didn’t obstruct the view of the side hill.

While hunting the area a few days before, I had seen several fresh deer tracks among the berry bushes and noted that the deer had chewed off the tops of several of them. I hoped some of them might be back again to feed at that site before dark. I had all intentions of sitting there and waiting until the end of legal hunting time.

As the afternoon wore on, the air became colder and along with that, my feet were getting very cold. I tried wiggling my toes and moving them as I sat on a stump at my stand. This did not seem to help and shortly after three P.M. I decided that no deer were worth having frozen feet, so I walked down to my truck, started it up and drove back to Leon’s camp. It wasn’t long before I had the wood stove kicking out a lot of heat and had on dry socks and slippers. Boy, it sure felt good!

Leon arrived at camp a short time after dark and brought me some interesting news. He said that when he returned to his truck, he happened to look up on the hill by the berry bushes and he saw a buck and doe standing there. He said they were standing only a few yards from where I should have been sitting. He said it was too late from him to shoot, so they escaped any harm that day. I have always felt having those cold feet might have cost me a chance for harvesting some venison.

Another great advance in hunting boots came with the development of Gore-Tex fabrics. Using a combination of leather and Gore-Tex made a boot that was not only waterproof, but could also “breath”, thus helping to eliminate damp feet. When combined with the newer type of socks that “wicked” away the moisture from the skin, true comfort was accomplished for thousands of hunters. It didn’t take me long to acquire this type of hunting boot, after they came on the market.

Being careful as you hike through the woods doesn’t mean that unexpected things can’t happen and this most often means losing your footing. I have had my share of these accidents and here are a few I recall.

I was hunting with my son, Jim, a few years ago. We were walking along an old overgrown logging road, when all of a sudden I tripped and fell forward, striking my face up against the base of an uprooted tree. The fall caused me to have several small contusions on my face, which bled profusely. My glasses were bent so badly that one lens and bow was headed one way, with the other in the exact opposite direction. When Jim looked at my face, he thought for sure I was seriously injured, but fortunately that was not the case. My eyes were fine and once we got the bleeding stopped, we determined the problem was only several small contusions.

As a matter of fact, after stopping by at Jim’s house to clean up, I went back home and found an old pair of glasses and later that day, I was back hunting with Jim. As they say: “You can’t keep a good man down!”

A couple of years ago, I took my Savage .308 rifle and headed up in back of my cottage to sit and wait alongside a deer trail for the latter part of the afternoon. The stand I chose was on a very steep hillside and I had to hang onto some of the tree branches and bushes in order to work my way up over the ledges. Once I was up on the ledges, where I wanted to sit, I was nearly a hundred feet above the deer trail. The visibility from that location was excellent, as I looked down onto the open hardwoods.

I stayed there until nearly the end of legal hunting time then headed down over the steep mountainside. As long as I held onto the branches and smaller bushes I was in control of my descent. I knew that going back downhill was treacherous and had taken the precaution of unloading my rifle before heading for home.

After I got below the steepest part of the side hill, I came to more open hardwoods and the ground was covered with a thick layer of leaves, which turned out to be very slippery. I started sliding and got moving so fast that in order not to fall I had to start running downhill in long strides. Soon I knew I had to do something to slow myself down and about that time I saw a small tree on my right. Immediately, I stuck my right arm out and hooked onto the tree. This brought me to sudden stop, but the rifle, which I was holding in my left had, flew out of my hand and continued several feet down the mountain before it landed on the ground.

I gathered myself up and slowly moved down to where the rifle was lying. The first thing I noticed was that the rifle stock was badly cracked but I have to admit this did not surprise me when I considered the velocity that the gun was traveling when it left my hand.

I ordered a new stock and replaced it before another hunting season arrived. I was lucky, because the telescope and other parts of the rifle were undamaged and I also suffered no injuries.

For the past several years I have had back and leg pains that seemed to get progressively worse. During the past year or so, my back got to the point where I could not walk very far without having severe pains that inhibited my walking. Of course, I still wanted to go hunting and so I did but my travels to the top of the mountains were not a part of my hunting plans. Instead, I limited my hunting to short hunts or at least I didn’t travel very far without stopping to let the pains subside. The pain was increasing and finally it got to the point where I decided it was time to find out the source of my problem.

Last year I saw a doctor who recommended that I have a MRI. He made arrangements to have this done late last winter while I was still at my winter home in Florida. I was due to go back to Maine in a few weeks so decided against having anything further done before going home for the summer.

I forwarded the MRI images to a neurosurgeon in Maine for his evaluation of my problem. To my surprise, he found that sometime in past years, I had suffered a broken back. He asked me if I had any idea when this might have happened and the only thing I can recall that might have caused this injury happened about thirty years ago when I was deer hunting on my father’s wood lot in Greenwood, Maine.

I always liked to hunt on the tops of the ridges, especially where there were rocky outcroppings and ledges. Often times I would go to the edge of some of these ledges and peer down over the side to see if any deer were bedded down. On this particular morning, I walked out on a moss-covered ledge that sloped downhill. I never gave it a thought, thinking the tread on my boots would ensure my footing. Boy! Was I surprised when I found myself suddenly sliding down over the wet moss and out into space.

I fell about twenty feet and landed with a severe impact on several inches of leaves at the base of the ledge. During my fall I had the presence of mind to hold my rifle with both hands out in front of me. This way, I knew that if the gun did accidentally fire at least the bullet would not be headed my way.

The impact caused the rifle to slam down onto the ground with startling speed. I also noticed my back hurt but otherwise I was O.K. The gunstock was badly broken but not unexpected. I limped home with my sore back but as I recall, I didn’t feel the pain was any more than a bad strain caused by the fall.

Slowly my back felt better and I didn’t do any follow up to determine if I had suffered any back injury. After that I had back pains from time to time. As I got older, the pain became more severe but I learned to live with it. As I reached that age, where I could be considered “older”, “Old Father Time” caught up with me, as far as my back was concerned. After arriving home last spring, I made an appointment with the surgeon in order to discuss my options regarding my back problems. During this visit, he showed me the MRI images and I was astonished to see how badly out of position two of my vertebrae had healed. After reviewing my options, I chose surgery.

This was performed in June and I made a normal recovery. However, after about a couple of months I began to experience even more severe pain, so the doctor ordered another MRI. These showed the two damaged vertebrae had moved, causing pressure on my sciatic nerve. The doctor recommended a spinal fusion on those two damaged vertebrae, so I had a second surgery in November.

I am glad to report that I am recovering nicely and now, for the first time in thirty years, I have no pain in my back or legs. True, I have several months to go before I will be completely healed, but by wearing a body brace when I am on my feet I am able to be “up and about”. I suppose I will never figure out why it took thirty years to discover my problem. As they say: ” Better late than never.”

You can bet that I am looking forward with great anticipation for another hunting season. It certainly will seem good to travel over my “stomping grounds”, enjoying ” treading around” over the mountains of Maine.