Russell Moccasin Co. Woodcock TLC

Growing up, my only boot experience was with upland bird hunting footwear. I would outgrow a pair every year or two, and put on whatever was on sale or available as a hand me down. Once my feet stopped growing, I got frustrated by how fast my boots managed to fall apart, and look bad doing it. So, after I learned about the boot making history in my own back yard (PNW), and then higher quality footwear in general, I started to look for an upgrade for the Pheasant fields of Oregon and Montana: Enter Russell Moccasin. I had some fears about whether a traditionally made boot could hack it in tough conditions, but ultimately the history, story, and the boots won me over and I took the plunge. I already had a sensible pair of shoes set aside for the Dome since most of my daily life consists of pounding the linoleum in a business casual/scrubs healthcare setting. But, when the Russells (8in, lace to toe, double vamp, bird shooters in Tan German Elk leather) showed up just before the Dome started, they were just too cool. I’m amazed how well they performed. I got them tangled up in Barbed wire, had water up close to the to the tops crossing creeks, plowed through dense ditches, and the boots just kept looking and feeling better for it. I was amazed that they were more flexible, more breathable, and held up better than the more “advanced” boots I’d been wearing. But this is what Russels are made to do, and after hunting season I still had 4 more months of Doming ahead of me and some big, beefy, albeit beautiful, hunting boots to try to pull off in a dental clinic. While I couldn’t make them work with my jogger scrubs (I tried it. My wife laughed), they look great with chinos, and thanks to these boots and the Dome I actually put on “real clothes” way more often, and had fun and a little extra swagger because of it. I really can’t imagine another boot that could work in such different environments, and better yet, they started a lot of great conversations along the way.