Hunting bare foot...Am I nuts?

[kbetts]

Shooting one without shoes would be a lot easier than tracking a blood trail without them.

[bornagainbowhunter]

Originally posted by Squirrel Bait:
You can do it till you have a Copperhead talk you out of a toe!

 

EXACTLY!!  I have a friend who used to hunt barefoot.  He got bit on the foot by a copperhead.  He now hunts with shoes.  He did say it was a really good way to stalk.

[jonsimoneau]

When I was a kid, I had the biggest paper route in town.  All through the summer, I would do this paper route without ever wearing shoes.  My  feet were tough as nails.  Pretty much like leather on the bottom.  A couple of years ago in Namibia I attempted to put the stalk on some black wildebeast without shoes.  I got close, and it was fun, but I had to spend alot of time pulling thorns out of the bottoms of my feet.  My feet were not nearly as tough!

[Ragnarok Forge]

Yep nuts.  Man evolved enough to produce great hunting shoes and boots for a reason.

Ring worm, snake bites, various viruses and bacterias, cuts, various poison plants, briars, I can go on forever with the list of reasons to not go barefoot in the woods.  Every had to run away from a mad animal on rough ground?  Shoes help a lot.

Give it a shot the worst thing that can happen?  Revert to list above.  Best thing that can happen you find it works great and keep doing it.

[The Vanilla Gorilla]

It ain't crazy...

I just think of all the bull nettle, stingin nettle, blackberry, bodark, honey locust, catclaw, scorpions, vipers, sandburrs, cockleburrs and them big blue centipedes.

Id like to try them 5 finger shoes but I think the lack of ankle support would cause problems in some terrain.

[Northwoods]

Crazy, no... but the liklihood of success depends alot on how used to walking barefoot you are and what terrain you'll be walking in. When not at work, I spend most of the summer barefoot and really don't have much problems with most areas that I walk, including through nettles, thistles, black/raspberries.  As for poison ivy, I've walked through it some but generally just go around it. There are areas where I go REALLY slow such as areas near osage,locust and other plant with bigger thorns. Sandburs, in my book are a no go. I end of having to stop and pick the darn things off the bottom of my feet way too often to make walking, let alone any kind of stalking or sneaking reasonable.  
I don't and never have lived where poisonous snakes are an issue so can't really comment there.
Walking barefoot really heightens awareness, both for those things that'll poke your feet and for everthing else around you.  If you haven't gone barefoot up 'til now, I'd wait for next season cuz if your feet aren't reasonably tough, it won't be much fun and I think probably too distracting to make stalking effective.  
But, in reasonable terrain and with practice, barefeet can't be beat by any type of shoe for quietness, traction, and comfort and for the awareness of your surroundings that it encourages.  Good luck with it.

Ted