Gear Review: Lowa Tibet GTX

I finally did it.  I invested in a good pair of boots.  Up until now I’ve always purchased boots for $80 to $120.  They’ve always gotten the job done and I’ve had no real complaints.  But after another season of side-hilling I decided it was time to abandon the do-it-all boot and get myself a nice pair of purpose-built chukar boots.  So far, so good.

These boots cost me just over $300.  That was a tough pill to swallow but I’m confident that they’ll last much longer than my boots have in the past and will also give a great deal more support to my failing ankles.  Years of basketball were not kind to my ankles and knees.  My weight hasn’t helped much either but it’s much easier to blame the sports…

The stiffness in these boots is fantastic.  You can stand with just a toe or the side of the boot on the lip of a rock and feel like your entire foot is fully supported.  No rolling in the ankles, no weird muscle cramps from trying to balance, and no discomfort from pinching in the toes.  Granted, I have yet to chase chukars in them; I’ve hiked all over my neighborhood and up one good rocky hillside near my home.

The materials appear to be very high quality, the rand is a good 1.5″ up and goes around the entire boot, and the lacing system is nothing short of amazing.  The lug pattern is very open, which should keep the mud and snow from clogging up the tread and leaving me without traction.  That was my one and only complaint in my current pair of boots.  They’d pack with snow within a few steps and leave me walking on ice.  I don’t think that will be an issue with these.

 They are designed for use as a backpacking boot.  My hope is that the extra firmness will help support my 300+ pound frame for at least a few years before arches start to collapse.  They don’t seem to need much of a break-in as I have had no discomfort to this point.  I’ll keep wearing them through the summer and they’ll be ready to rock when September finally rolls around.  I intend to post a Part 2 to this down the road when they’ve really been worn and tested.  Until then…

 

My Top Ten Memories of the Season

These are the memories from the past season that I’m pretty sure I’ll never forget.

10 – Watching Him Grow

It’s been a while since I’ve had a pup to raise and this pup has been a joy for all of the family. Watching him make his first point at around 3 months of age was pretty cool, even if it was just a fly.

9 – “Best Chukar Dog Ever”

Me and Steve were asked if we wanted to see the best chukar dog ever by a man that smelled like he’d been drinking for days. As we walked to his truck we saw a large German Wirehair standing in the back of his truck. The man stated that all he has to do is drive to the top of any mountain and stop the truck. That dog will jump out, walk over to the ridge, and lean out over the edge. At that point the guy rolled up his upper lip and made a face that was unreal and then took a deep breath through his nose. If there’s a chukar in 2 miles he’ll smell it, if not he’ll just look at me and we’ll keep driving. I about bit through my cheek to keep from laughing, not from anything but that face he made. As we walked away I looked at Steve and said, “Damn, I need to get a dog like that!” We just laughed.

8 – Slump-buster

For some reason this season was a tough year for me when it came to shooting. I was starting to think I couldn’t hit my truck if I was sitting inside of it.

On one of our last hunts of the year and on our way back to the truck, a jack rabbit jumped up between us and took off to my left. I took a few steps back thinking that Steve might want to shoot it since he had just bought a new gun. I looked at him and asked, “You gonna shoot that thing?” He said, “Na, it’s just a jack.” I turned and shot it shocking the day lights out of my hunting partner. I never shoot rabbits while chukar hunting and I’d missed every shot I’d taken in the last month. But I had to try and break out of my slump.  In spite of killing that rabbit, it didn’t work.

7 – Pretty Bird

Spike locked up on point near the end of one hunt as Ivy worked down a slope around 40 or 50 yards away. Three birds came up. Two flew straight over the ridge and the third flew right at us. I was thinking, “Dang, that’s a pretty bird. Steve is going to get that one… Hey, maybe I should shoot.  Yeah!  Why don’t I take a shot?”  By this time the bird is right on top of me. I threw my gun up and took a shot. Nothing. Steve fired twice. You guessed it… That pretty bird just kept on flying.

6 – Spike’s Shaking Jaw

As we came a across the hillside, Spike goes on point looking straight down the mountain. I go to his left and Steve to his right and finds a large rock to get up on for good shot. As I walk up his left side he would wait until I was almost to his front shoulder and than slowly creep forward a few steps and wait for me. After doing this a couple of times he comes to a complete stop and will not move. I’m now even with him and looking all around him for a bird. I can’t see anything so I take a step forward and he doesn’t move.  He’s looking at me like, “Don’t move!  It’s right here you idiot!”  I look back at him and his bottom jaw is shaking. I ask Steve if he can see anything being he was above us and he said, “No, nothing.” We probably stood there for 2 minutes, if not more, when a bird came right up between that dog’s feet. Scared the hell out of me. I’ve never seen a dog’s jaw shake that hard.

5 – The Speech

Read Steve’s top 10 about “The Speech”, he’s pretty much right on about it. But in my defense I had forgotten at the time that he had just gotten out of the hospital a day earlier. I also might have used a word or two that wasn’t very family friendly. Probably wasn’t a very smart thing to say to a man carrying a loaded shotgun…

4 – Hunting with my Step-son

This is the first year my step-son, Chase, finally had a chance to get out hunting with me. He had never been hunting before, never been out with a dog doing what it was bred to do, so it was all new for him. We got out after grouse and chukars but those trips we didn’t see anything. I decided to take him to one of the hunting preserves so he could see the dog work on birds and he could get some shooting in. He went 7 out of 10 on pheasants that day and was totally amazed with Ivy. I think I had more fun watching him than he did shooting the birds.

Chase after his first day getting some shooting in.

3 – First Blue Grouse

Taking a day off work in mid-week and heading for the mountains in pursuit of blue grouse. The birds we had found thus far in the year hadn’t held real well and were busting out of range, but today that all changed. Standing in a meadow at the edge of the trees and watching Ivy working down towards me, a bird flushed not 20 feet from me. One bird, one shot. My first blue grouse. That was a great feeling of accomplishment. I think I texted that picture to everyone I know and probably a few people I don’t know.

2 – Holly’s Sandwiches

One thing’s for sure, my wife always makes sure we have a sandwich, drinks, and goodies to eat while out hunting.

On top of the mountain with the sun going down Steve asked if Holly sent sandwiches. “Yes, she did,” I replied. “And she went all out on these sandwiches. She was up early grilling something,” I told him. “So I’m sure there going to be good.” Sure enough, back at the truck, I break out the sandwiches, and wow, did she go all out! Grilled chicken, cheese, onions, peppers, bacon, and whatever else on pita bread. Damn, that was one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever ate. On the way home, Steve tells me how great that sandwich was and that Holly had really outdone herself and to make sure I thank her for him. After getting home and taking care of the dogs, putting gear away, etc., I sit down for dinner. As we’re eating dinner my wife asked me if I liked the sandwiches she had sent with me. I told her I thought it was the best sandwich I had ever ate. Steve, on the other hand, said it wasn’t your best work and would appreciate it if you would step up your game. Yup, I got a look and we cracked up laughing. The next day at work Steve asked me if I told Holly thanks and I told him what I had told her. The look he gave me was priceless. He was convinced I really hadn’t told her that when two days later it was my anniversary and my wife came in to surprise me. She walks in the door straight up to Steve and says, “I hear you didn’t like my sandwiches.” Again, priceless.

And now for my number one memory of the the season.

1 – “We Found Birds”

Even though this happened last year it’s still something I think about every time we get into birds.

Last season Steve decides we should become chukar hunters. I had no clue about how, where, or anything when it came to chukars, but he was all in. After watching a few videos and reading a few articles on the internet, one of which said you need to take a long rope with you to drop your dog off the edge of a cliff, I told Steve he was nuts and this chukar hunting thing sounded crazy. He was convinced this was what he wanted to hunt so I decided to go give it a try. On our first few trips we didn’t find any living creature, let alone a chukar. Our next trip we found a mountain that was straight-up. Everyone says steep is what you need and steep is what we had.

Curtis on “Steep Mountain”.

Steve went just under the ridge while I was 50 yards down hill from him. Six birds came up right in front of him and he was able to get a couple of shots off but I wasn’t in a position to see them. What I did see was my hunting partner, all 6-foot 8-inches of him, with a shotgun in hand and the other made into a fist, jumping up and down as he was pumping his arms into the air and yelling like any twelve-year-old girl would have been proud to, “Curtis! We found birds!” My good gravy, what a sight that was. I almost peed my pants and fell down that mountain. I will NEVER forget the sights and sounds of “Curtis, we found birds!”