LL Bean Main Hunter Boots

[Brianlocal3]

Does anyone know if the Maine hunters are carried in any Brick and Mortar stores? I have looked around here but could not find them. I need to drive over to Cabelas but its a 45min drive and just havent got around to it. I have cash in hand and like to give money to the local guys if I can.
Thanks

[Roger Norris]

I don't think so. I have quit on Beans.....I wear Schnees now. IMHO, much better boot. The Beans have changed....

[smokin joe]

The "Bean Boot" and the "Maine Hunting Shoe" are now two completely different items. I know they are both carried at the LL Bean store in Freeport, Maine.

The original, high-quality ones are the Main Hunting Shoes. I just got a new pair last year and they are as good as they ever were. The newer "Bean Boot" version is not as well made, and the materials are different.

I hope this information helps.

[Brianlocal3]

Thanks both of you. I had some in my past and was wanting to replace them. Here in the Midwest where I hunt they do just fine for me. Nothing too extreme. I might just suck it up and order them.

[GMASIUK]

I was in Maine in July so I figured I would take a ride to LLbeans headquarters in Freeport ME. I have been wanting a pair of the 10"  Maine hunting shoe, goretex insulated for some time now.

The boots are very nice, they should be perfect for of our archery season here in Massachusetts. I had an uninsulated pair 30 years ago that lasted forever. They never did wear out I just out grew them.

I am glad that I made the trip to bean to try them on because my true  shoe size was too big. I went down one size and they fit perfect. make sure if you order on line that you follow beans sizing instructions because they are accurate. They run big.

Best of all they are made here in America by American
workers!

[USN_Sam1385]

I know what I want for X mas....

[Brianlocal3]

I LOVE that about the boot. Made in America


 

Originally posted by GMASIUK:
I was in Maine in July so I figured I would take a ride to LLbeans headquarters in Freeport ME. I have been wanting a pair of the 10"  Maine hunting shoe, goretex insulated for some time now.

The boots are very nice, they should be perfect for of our archery season here in Massachusetts. I had an uninsulated pair 30 years ago that lasted forever. They never did wear out I just out grew them.

I am glad that I made the trip to bean to try them on because my true  shoe size was too big. I went down one size and they fit perfect. make sure if you order on line that you follow beans sizing instructions because they are accurate. They run big.

Best of all they are made here in America by American
workers!

[Flinttim]

I bought my first pair back in the early 80's. Good boot for our squirrel season and early deer season here.My first pair had the chain tread on them. Not a fan of that.The Mrs. bought me a pair of Cabela's clones one year for Christmas and the are OK, but I'll take the ones made here when I spend my money. I wear the knock offs now and then but mostly my latest Maine's.

[German Dog]

Yep order one size smaller for the hunting shoe.

[Roadkill]

Have both 10  and16 inchers. They are great on flat ground, but too slippery on hsteep hills.  The cabelas, i have a moccasin size, are no where near the bean boot in quality.

All you need do is send them back for new rubber. For those with 2  diffetent sized feet, you can get the rubber in each aize foe extra comgort.

[Geezer]

LL made one many years ago with what they called 'Bean-Bob' soles.  I love those boots (as long as it isn't too cold)!  I don't think their chain tread would be as good an option and I wish LL would bring back the Bean-Bob.  Buy the Maine Hunting shoe.  It seems that LL Beans have become popular with college students and they must have changed manufacturers to meet that demand.

[Blackhawk]

The Bean hunting boot is a tough one to beat.

 

[Paul/KS]

I'm glad folks clarified the difference between the Hunting shoe and the Bean boot...
Wish they made the Hunting shoe in an 8" upper tho.

[bswear]

To each his own!  I don't think the Bean Hunting shoe has changed except to become better. Schnees and the others are copies and with air bob soles are not nearly as quiet or track free in the house or tent.  I have the 16" and with pants tucked in I am tick free and can cross some serious streams.  I can  navigate some pretty serious elevation also.  They are made here and reasonably priced.  I love them for turkeys and deer.  When it gets cold I have a thinsulate/goretex pair in 10".

[Stinger]

I got my first pair in 1968 and wore them forever, but when I went to the Bean store recently to buy a new pair I found that the heel didn't go all the way to the edge of the boot and the boot felt unstable.  It felt to me that if I took the slightest misstep on a small rock that I would turn my ankle.  I can't find my old pair to see if they changed the design, but I decided not to buy them for that reason. YMMV.

[meathead]

I have two pair and wear them constantly in the spring and fall.

[Overspined]

Schnees are no better than LL Bean, just different.  For quiet stealth and stalking, Beans.  For mud, slick, steeper conditions or where you need to have the added stiffness and support in the boot, Schnees.  I use both.  

I have been on many miles of colorado cliffs in Bean boots, but I use schnees when it is wet or slippery.

I have been wearing Bean "Maine Hunting Shoes" for decades, insulated and not, high and low,some resoled (they always leak after that), now on my 9th pair. I made the mistake of ordering replacements during a brief window when they were "Bean Boots", before they made the hunting version again. They were nowhere near the quality of the Hunting Shoe. I wish they would find another sole pattern, however, as I've taken a couple of tumbles on slippery slopes with the chain treads. I switch to Pronghorns for those hunts now. You can only get Maine Hunting Shoes them from LL Bean, store or catalog.