The quest for happy feet

Anyone who has done any shooting will have faced this question when dressing for the occasion, and there are no clear answers. The humble Wellington boot carries the obvious advantages of being relatively easy to slip on and off and ensuring you are waterproof up to just below the knee.

Whereas the lace up walking boot style offers more support for the ankle and may well be the better option if you think there will be some uneven terrain around. Anecdotally, a quick glance down the line on most shoot days will probably show the welly is more popular, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see at least a couple of guns in the line wearing boots with laces.

What the figures say

The 2018 GunsOnPegs Shooting Clothing Survey produced some interesting results, which largely reflect the choice the modern game shooter faces. Of the 2,670 respondents 48.21% said they wore wellies most often for shooting whereas 20.05% said they wore lace up boots most often for their days in the field. However, interestingly, a further 23.05% said they wear both in equal measure. This last figure does appears to be supported by anecdotal evidence, as many shooters we meet and speak to say that sometimes they grab the wellies, but on other occasions they feel the lace up boots are more appropriate for the task at hand. 

If there’s been a lot of rain recently then the waterproof attraction of the Wellington is obvious. Meanwhile, if it’s a walked-up day on heather moorland then a sturdy and breathable lace up boot with lots of ankle support will be far more appealing than a hot and sweaty rubber welly with little support in unpredictable underfoot conditions.

What we value in a boot

There were some further interesting results when we asked respondents to rate the most important factors when buying footwear for shooting. From six options an overwhelming majority of 67.49% (something Theresa May could only dream about) ranked comfort as their number one influence when choosing their footwear. Hardly surprising you may think, but initial comfort in the shop does not necessarily translate to longevity or performance and also has no link to price. 

The factor which got the second highest number of top slots when selecting new footwear was performance with 14.29% of respondents placing it first and foremost. Now it’s a reasonable assumption there will be a difference in requirements between somebody who enjoys 10 fabulous days on the peg every season and an upland gamekeeper on a grouse moor. We would expect the keeper to rank performance and durability higher than anything, after all they are likely to be wearing these boots every day of their working lives and giving them the ultimate road test. Whereas if you work in an office and get the odd day’s shooting here and there then performance and durability may not be quite so important.

Buy cheap, buy twice

A surprising result from this question was that a mere 2.75% of respondents ranked price as their primary consideration when buying new footwear and even less said style was their biggest concern. So, what can we read into this? Clearly game shooters and everybody involved in shooting place a much higher value on comfort, performance and durability than they do on cost and image. The old adage “Buy cheap, buy twice” could not be more relevant for the shooting field. After all, we need our equipment to work and few things will mar a day more than a wardrobe malfunction, particularly if that means ice blocks for toes or, even worse, soaking wet feet!

We want happy feet

But it’s a bit of surprise that style comes so far down the ranking. Driven game shooting is a pastime steeped in tradition and a big part of that is the clothes we wear for the day. However, maybe the message is clear; when it comes to footwear, we want something that does the job first and foremost. Luckily whether it’s wellies or boots you are after we are rather well catered for, so make sure you don’t neglect this vital part of your shooting outfit. Happy feet equal happy shooting…

To find out more about Le Chameau footwear, visit their website here. 

Written by Will Hetherington, GunsOnPegs Contributing Editor

Will was the editor of the Shooting Gazette, a leading international driven shooting magazine, for 13 years. Having been involved with country sports publishing for a total of 19 years, he is now our Contributing Editor at GunsOnPegs.