Don’t bother racking your brain; unless we’re related, chances are you’ve never heard my name. I’ve had a few articles published, sure, but in the wide world of outdoor writing, I’m a nobody. Which is precisely why it floored me when Kenetrek called.
After drawing a once-in-a-lifetime rifle tag to hunt pronghorn antelope in Oklahoma’s panhandle, I sent Kenetrek an email asking if they’d be interested in sending me a pair of boots for the trip, never expecting that I might actually get a response. But respond they did. And in a big way, too. Kenetrek not only mailed me a pair of their Desert Guide Boots, they also sent two pairs of socks(Canyon Lightweight and Montana Midweight) and a pair of Hiking Gaiters.
I’ll be honest; wearing that pair of Kenetrek boots didn’t make me more successful on my antelope hunt. I could’ve shot the pronghorn I did wearing nothing but flip flops. I’d have been picking stickers out from between my toes but I could’ve done it. The feature I appreciated most on that particular hunt wasn’t the firm foot bed designed to navigate narrow ledges or the reinforced stitching in high wear areas; it was the toe guard. After duck walking the length of a couple hundred yards, my guide and I crawled on our hands and knees for another couple hundred. That’s when the CRP got thin. We covered the last hundred yards on our bellies, six inches at a time. Forearm, hip, toe. Forearm, hip, toe. By the time I got into position to shoot, every muscle in my body ached. Except for those in my toes. They didn’t cramp once.
Wright Outdoors 