I am looking for a pair of snowshoes to purchase for dealing with all this "White Stuff". Wondering if anyone has some experience with them and what I should look for. I'm not the smallest guy in the world weighing in at approx. 275#'s. What type/kind of snowshoe should I be looking for. (I have used some before but one broke about a mile in from the truck!! Not a fun experience! But this snow has cut my season short by about a full month and that is NOT going to happen again!!!) Any help/advise would be appreciated.
Snowshoes??
- Thread starter Doc74
- Start date
koja48
New member
Back in the day, I used Trail shoes (the long ones) in open country (I still weigh 245#). Switched to cross-country skis after that, but haven't done this since I moved to the high desert 30-years ago. They used to make a "mountain ski" that was shorter & wider and very mobile in hunting/trapping applications. No clue as to if these are even made anymore. Snowshoes are WORK, albeit not as much as floundering about thru deep snow.
I go 250# and use Redfeather brand shoes. Aluminum frame, hypalon deck, 30" long with a tail. I still sink some but they are short enough to manuever around in thicker cover and the tail design makes it easier turn. Sierra Trading post usually has some at a good price on clerance.
I have a set of Iverson's. Modified Bearpaw trapper style, they are serious work, but as noted not as bad or exhausting as floundering! Before we had 44" on the ground for 45 days last year, never used them, there is a substancial learning curve, or art to the use. You aren't going to just strap on and go! Pace needs to be steady and slide inside out to travel, if you dog is on point in a dense plum thicket you aren't going to be flushing and shooting with these on!
GustavDaGSP
Member
I just bought a pair from fleet farm and tried using them last friday the snow is to fluffy still and i took them off and just walk threw the shit without, granted im 5'9 160 and can stay on top of it better than a guy your size! If this keeps up without any thaw we might all be buying Sodak lisences for next year! 
goldeneye
New member
I just bought a pair from fleet farm and tried using them last friday the snow is to fluffy still and i took them off and just walk threw the shit without, granted im 5'9 160 and can stay on top of it better than a guy your size! If this keeps up without any thaw we might all be buying Sodak lisences for next year!
You speak alot of truth. Gustav Sad as it is.
If snow is knee deep I hunt any deeper my dog can't hunt so I never have thought about buying snowshoes. Ther fun to play with but hunting would be a pain in the rear. IMO
birdshooter
Well-known member
Which ever ones you decide on just make sure to select them based on users weight. Generally with a guy your size you should be looking at a fairly large shoe to provide the most adequate float. A rule of thumb is for every pound of weight you will want 1 square inch of shoe to support the user.
The other thing about shoes is while they provide decent float on settled snow, they still sink in on very light powdery fresh snow, just not as much as without. Getting used to them while just walking will take a few outings let alone trying to maneuver cover and shoot at a bird that is flying away at 90 degrees. Turning quickly and shooting with snowshoes can be an art form if your not used to it.
FCSpringer
Moderator
I got a pair from a guy in Newfoundland Canada. Quite unique. I am at a sad 230, I hate to say as it should be 200 But these are a spring steel hoop, small diameter steel wrapped in like rubber roofing which is nice for not slipping, with the heavy duty nylon webbing, very light weight. I saw them on a Canadian Show and loggers swore by them, so I thought what the hell I will order a pair. I love em. He is an old guy that will custom make them according to weight, including your gear. They have a flat design, kind of a bear paw but not quite. I thought being flat it would be a joke, but the set up makes you pick up the front first and the springiness helps as they flex to the terrain. Pretty cool, as far as I know my dad and I are the only ones in the states to have a pair. He uses his coyote hunting. He said he sells them to guy's down here but I have not seen anyone else with them. I went on BBC and searched snow shoe man and did some calling and found him. I still have the receipt somewhere after 4 or so years now. When Canadian loggers were saying they went and tried different shoes after having his, then always end up back with his, it was good enough testimony for me. The one thing is the binding is a rubber one and stretches hard in cold to get a boot in. I put them on the boot at home now, and just slip into the boot already on the shoe when I go out. Makes life easier rather then a fat man wresteling snow shoes on his back on a gravel road. And yes snow shoes require you to learn to walk again. But they are nice when you get used to them.
But these are a spring steel hoop, small diameter steel wrapped in like rubber roofing which is nice for not slipping, with the heavy duty nylon webbing, very light weight. I saw them on a Canadian Show and loggers swore by them, so I thought what the hell I will order a pair. I love em. He is an old guy that will custom make them according to weight, including your gear. They have a flat design, kind of a bear paw but not quite. I thought being flat it would be a joke, but the set up makes you pick up the front first and the springiness helps as they flex to the terrain. Pretty cool, as far as I know my dad and I are the only ones in the states to have a pair. He uses his coyote hunting. He said he sells them to guy's down here but I have not seen anyone else with them. I went on BBC and searched snow shoe man and did some calling and found him. I still have the receipt somewhere after 4 or so years now. When Canadian loggers were saying they went and tried different shoes after having his, then always end up back with his, it was good enough testimony for me. The one thing is the binding is a rubber one and stretches hard in cold to get a boot in. I put them on the boot at home now, and just slip into the boot already on the shoe when I go out. Makes life easier rather then a fat man wresteling snow shoes on his back on a gravel road. And yes snow shoes require you to learn to walk again. But they are nice when you get used to them.
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By far and away the best shoe for a hunting purpose is called "Ojibway" snowshoes. Take a lesson from the indiginous people of northern Minnesota, they hunted swamps and red willow with them. I purchased a pair and absolutley love them. I have about 1000 miles on them in the last 10 years. They have a pointed toe that can split, push, and monuver through cattails and willows. I've hunted many many days in them and have went thru the biggest and baddest cattail sloughs while on them. They float well in powder and are a god send in willow, crp, and cattail. Google search and look them over.
Red Label
New member
I concur with dc! I have two pairs of the "ojibways" and you can literally run in them. I built my first pair 25yrs ago and my dad did the "kit" about 10 yrs ago. They held him just fine at 250#. The great thing about them is the pointed fronts that cut brush and the fact that they "swoop up" in the front allowing the shoes to naturally raise above the snow as you move forward instead of cutting into it.:thumbsup: For bindings...I use a stlye that Fleet Farms sells, they are just a simple rubber skirt that you step into and pull over your boot. Quick in and out and they are very durable.