The padded collar on the Irish Setter Elk Tracker 860 Red Wing Shoe Stores If you happen to live close to a Red Wing shoe store, they’ll be happy to measure your feet to ensure that you’re buying the right size. RedWing and Irish Setter tend to offer a broader range of sizes than other manufacturers, making it easier to find a great fit. At 12 inches in height, these boots are a little taller than I normally wear pheasant hunting or archery elk hunting, but the padded collar was very comfortable and the added support from the extra height was welcome with all the side-hilling I was doing. I found them to be exceedingly comfortable right out of the box and did not have any issues or hotspots after a week of hiking in them. They need to be immediately comfortable without any break-in period. The leather upper with GoreTex lining kept my feet dry and the aggressive sole provided great traction on the hills. The weather was in the 20’s – 40’s each day and my feet were never cold with 1000 grams of Thinsulate insulation. In my use case, traipsing around the snow-covered hills in northwestern Nebraska, they were an ideal choice. The Irish Setter Elk Tracker moonlighting as a mule deer hunting boot in the Sandhills of Nebraska. While I’m sure it is great for elk hunting the rifle season, it’s an equally great choice deer hunting or late season pheasant hunting. This is a boot that is made for any cold-weather hunting that includes moderate to high activity. Irish Setter calls these boots Elk Tracker, but I think that moniker is a bit limiting. Here’s what I thought of the Irish Setter Elk Tracker boot after a week of wearing them mule deer hunting.

I bought the boots, tossed them in my truck and the next day I left for Nebraska. Without hesitation, the store manager said, “You need a pair of Elk Trackers.” The manager measured my foot and found the right size for me. I walked into my local Red Wing shoe store and shared my plans. I needed a rugged insulated boot to hike the snow-covered hills.

My original plan to wear my uninsulated pheasant hunting boots wasn’t going to work anymore. I was headed out to hunt mule deer in the Sandhills of Nebraska and a blizzard and cold weather was in the forecast. Mule Deer Trackers might be a more appropriate name.

Irish setter elk tracker uninsulated