Field-worthy footwear

What's on your feet can make or break a shooting day. Whether you're on hill, moor or peg, these sporting boots and brogues will stand you in good stead

- Written by Felix Petit

SELECTING appropriate shooting footwear can be a gambit. In a 1931 issue of The Field, polo authority General RL Ricketts wrote: 'Shooting boots are of many kinds, from the watertight white whale-skin production of the high-class London bootmaker, costing many pounds, to the grass shoe of the Kashmir mountains costing as many pence.' The sporting arena is varied, spanning everything from blanket bog to walled garden, but to thrive across this spectrum of habitats the correct footwear is vital. Being appropriately shod is the difference between a memorable day in the field and trench foot, bone-dry elation and soggy misery.

Lindsay Waddell, a former chairman of the National Gamekeepers' Organisation, says: "As a young man going into keepering, I was told by an elder statesman that my feet would be one of the most important things to take care of, as I was about to spend most of my life on them. That, of course, means wearing the correct footwear. It must fit well and do the job in hand, whether that be on the moor, in the river, wading through some foreshore mud or standing at a peg on a frozen field in midwinter. It matters not the task, the shoe or boot must look after the wearer."

With this in mind, loading up the car for a sporting holiday can feel a little like packing for a winter campaign in Russia, with bringing options to meet every meteorological and topographical eventuality a necessity. However, a quality pair of gumboots, a decent set of technical boots, some classic leather shooting boots and a pair of brogues should have you covered for any scenario.

Brogues

Wear-anywhere classics for early-season days

Arriving at the shoot to find the ground firm and dry underfoot is a common occurrence when shooting in shirtsleeves. If the temperature is well into double figures it feels silly to be clomping around in heavy boots of any kind. Enter the brogue.