By Bruce Ross, WWA Executive Director
I just finished dressing my boots.
It was time. They hadn’t been cleaned since fall, I wore them through most of the winter, and again yesterday when I dug my duck boat out of the snow. (Lesson: don’t leave your boat overwinter far from a plow.)
I had long-coveted Russell Moccasin boots, and finally, last summer, pulled the trigger for a pair of South 40 Birdshooters. After my foot got traced, and I selected the leather and soles, they were stitched together at the Berlin, WI factory, and I got them in time for a North Dakota pheasant trip. I wore them for a day before departing, and then for the better part of a week tromping around some very muddy, slippery terrain—no break-in required. I have worn them a lot since then, including chasing Wisconsin birds behind my younger lab, Callie. Dry, comfortable, all-day support. Can’t ask more of a hunting boot in its first year.
I have had fancy, hi-tech boots and liked them. And never dressed them.
And so I missed an opportunity to re-live the shots I took, missed, or hit when I wore them… didn’t think about the buddies with whom I enjoyed the hunt (or the end-of-hunt cocktails) when I wore them… didn’t recall the special retrieve Callie made deep into a milo field, or her return five long minutes after I missed a flushing grouse in some thick cover—with the “missed” bird in her mouth. These boots will be around for a lot of memories… isn’t this why we hunt?
My 870 shoots just as effectively as my over-under. I just feel better carrying my Citori.
Callie doesn’t seem to hold the same feeling for the boots as I am developing. As I finished dressing the first boot, she clambered onto the bed, pushed the boots aside and plopped down between me and the boots. I think she’s jealous.