Fifty years ago, I don’t think that writing this article would have been necessary. Everyone wore leather shoes or boots and knew how to take care of them. And come to think of it, there were a lot more leather products in general. Coats, belts, more car seats and furniture were made out of leather.

There were no four-wheelers so people rode horses and they had saddles and reins to oil up. And all reins and saddle bags were made of leather. Nowadays half of the belts are constructed of something other than leather, some reins and headstalls are braided out of nylon rope, and saddle bags are made out of Cordova or some kind of foreign material.

So now a lot of our outdoor/everyday items are made out of something other than leather.

With the above said, how to care for a good pair of leather boots is a foreign concept. Let’s cover that today.

As a kid, I didn’t have any money to spend, much less to blow on a good pair of boots. Plus, it seems a kid outgrows their footwear before they get out of the front door of the store, so why would you spend a couple of hundred dollars on a good pair of boots for a kid? Sure, years ago clothes got passed down but even then, there was no money to blow on expensive footwear.

But the older I get, the more I value a good pair of comfortable boots. If you are really particular, it is easy to spend $300 on up to $400 on a good pair of leather boots! (I only paid $325 for my first car in high school.)

But even if you only pay $150 a pair of boots, then you want to take care of them. If you do, then they will last for years and maybe even decades. I still have five or six pairs of my dad’s cowboy boots and he died in 1990.

So what’s the proper way to care for leather boots? What are the Bozo No No’s? What I’m going to say in this article will apply to your hunting boots as well as your work boots. The first thing to do is to not store them away wet. Let them dry out before storing them in the back of your closet. I’ve never owned one but they make boot dryers that air dry boots. Some people do this nightly on their work boots. It’d be nice to do this on an elk hunt when you’re stomping through snow everyday but not possible when camped in a tent on top of a mountain.

Years and years ago, dad told me that if you switched out wearing your boots every other day that they’d actually last three times longer instead of two times longer. I’ve found this to be true with my work boots. For work, I have a pair of Irish Setter Wingshooter boots and a pair of Cabela’s work boots, both of which are leather. Having two pairs of hunting boots to rotate not only extends the life of your boots but it also gives your feet a rest. Unfortunately, most people can barely afford one good pair boots, much less two.

On your work boots, it is way more comfortable if you wear a good boot pad like the Medi-Dyne Tuli’s Plantar Fasciitis Insoles. I thought it’d work to do the same on my hunting boots since we’re walking on rocks most of the day (hint — “Rocky Mountains”). I guess I only tried it once decades ago with some big sloppy boots, which made my feet slip around inside my boots, so I started wearing good hiking socks for padding when hunting (although I guess I tried this years ago with cheap boot pads, not the Tuli’s).

Now for the biggee. You want to keep your boots oiled up, which will help them last for years. But don’t oil them up when they’re wet or you’ll lock in moisture and the leather can’t absorb the oil.

Years ago, they came out with waterproof sprays. I just don’t think they are good for your leather so I recommend oils or good boot cremes — Like Neatsfoot Oil, Lexol, mink oil, etc. As a kid, we put Neatsfoot Oil on all of our leather products. Baseball gloves, saddles and everything, but no doubt, the oil can get on your Wranglers when riding. Not that many cowboys would care but now I use Lexol on my saddle. You can put Lexol in a bottle and spray it on and then rub it in.

To treat your boots, clean the mud and dirt off. Walking through tall grass will do this. Make sure that they are dry and then apply your oil and rub it in. If you’re a normal hunter, you’ll oil them up after each hunt before storing them. My work boots I oil up every weekend.

If you oil your boots up properly, you’ll start hearing comments like, “Hey, I met you on top of this ridge elk hunting 10 years ago, wow, and aren’t those the same pair of boots you had on then?”

Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana. He also writes for various outdoors magazines and teaches outdoors seminars at stores like Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Bass Pro Shop. He can be reached via email at smileya7@aol.com.

One thing I love about writing is some of the interesting people I get to meet. I don’t relish in meeting celebrities, most of them are too self-centered. As long as you know that your role is to worship them then it is all good but God forbid if you have something to say. But it is cool to meet someone that is a hero like Marcus Luttrell or Eugene Gutierrez.

Well, one of my favorist (I know that isn’t a word but this is my story) bosses ever, Doug Pageler, called me the other day and told me that he wanted me to meet his granddaughter-in-law (as Hailey would classify their relationship). I hadn’t seen Doug in a while so it’d be good to see him anyway so I said sure.

Upon meeting at the Hog Dog restaurant, Doug introduced me to Hailey Smith. She was an interesting interview. Her dad had her fly fishing at 7 years old, and by 15, she knew she knew she wanted to be a guide. At the ripe old age of 19, she moved to Montana and attended the prestigious Sweetwater Travel Company Guide School. I can only assume that she must have done an excellent job because seven days later she was guiding. While in Montana, she guided on the Yellowstone, Big Horn, Bitterroot and numerous other rivers.

After the season, she moved back to Idaho and enrolled in school at the University of Idaho. After a year, an old buddy called and told her she ought to come up to Alaska. He was guiding and they could use her. After repeated calls she finally signed up.

After a flurry of hustling, guide licenses, plane tickets etc., etc., were lined up and four days later she was enroute to the Last Frontier state. She arrived at the lodge and after a snack and warm greeting she was notified that her first guiding trip would begin at 5 a.m.

She had run many a river with her dad but she was now on her own. Suddenly it got real. It’s one thing to be running an Idaho river with dad being the captain and being on your own with one or two clients and rounding a bend in a raft and there’s a brown bear in the middle of his stream.

We all have dreamed of being a game warden, a guide or owning a big ranch, haven’t we? Well, let’s take a peek into the life of a guide and see what her schedule really looked like. Was it all fly fishing on pristine rivers and having a good time? Well, not quite.

She rolled out of bed at 5 a.m. (You know, before that little round thing in the sky called the sun even pops over the horizon.) She had to grab her 60-pound raft and strap it to the pontoon on the float plane. Then load up the pre-packed lunches, fly rods, life jackets and paddles. And the night before, depending on where they were going, the necessary flies for the day.

She didn’t say all of this but I’ve guided enough people to know how it plays out. Most clients are rich and used to having their way. They’ve spent a lot of money to get to your lodge. The weather had better be perfect, the fish biting and keep them from getting eaten by a bear.

All of my guides in Texas and most in Louisiana have fished right along beside us. They get to fish full time. Not so with an Alaskan guide. Hailey was busy paddling and getting the clients into position. A good guide is invaluable. They’ll put you in position for a good cast, they can read the river and tell you where to cast and how to work your fly. Guiding is hard work. Especially if you’re also paddling.

Then of course we had to swap a few bear stories, didn’t we? And she has a few. Once, she and a guide buddy were floating a river with some clients. He took the right fork so she took the left. There was good water. But as soon as she rounded the bend the water disappeared down to nothing and the raft bottomed out. To make matters worse there was a big brown bear in the middle of the river fishing.

She jumps out trying to dislodge the raft while the clients sat in the raft. She is sweeter than me. I think about that time I’d of informed them if they didn’t want to become a raft wrap taco, they’d better jump their happy little tails out of the raft and help me out. But they survived.

The bear stories all run together now that I’m sitting here pounding out this article on the keyboard but somewhere in the mix one charged within 10-feet and stood up looking at her and her clients. She did the whole stand up and look big bit but at about 5-foot-5 and 110 pounds soaking wet I doubt that she looked too intimidating but luckily, he finally dropped down and took off the other way.

Then lastly, I had to ask her the obvious question. Was it tough breaking into what is traditionally a man’s world? She said the other guides were all super helpful and supportive. Of course, if you read between the lines, she’s a go-getter and a smart young lady. What other 22-year-old kid has done all that she has? Not many.

What an interesting interview. Now, of course, we’re trying to line up a fishing trip.

Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana. He also writes for various outdoors magazines and teaches outdoors seminars at stores like Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Bass Pro Shop. He can be reached via email at smileya7@aol.com.

For a lot of people out there, it is all doom and gloom. School started back up. Sleepy-headed kids that have been staying up until midnight are suddenly getting jerked out of bed at ungodly hours, thrown into a car and dumped out in front of some strange establishment called school. If they daydream and their thoughts drift off to their summer backpacking and fishing adventures, suddenly they’re snapped back to reality by the sharp crack of a ruler on their knuckles.

And a lot of adults didn’t escape this tribulation transition either. Some of them are the cruel ogres that inflict such pain upon the kids. Their schedules have been disrupted too. They’re the teachers! They’ve cruelly been snapped out of a lull as well.

I have first-hand experience with the above. I watch it on a daily basis. My wife is a school teacher and my daughter is a college kid and works part-time as a teacher’s aide. You’d think every year they were 18-year-old kids getting jerked out of a peaceful life and thrown into Marine boot camp.

They jump out of bed (well, crawl out the first week) and run around with their tail feathers on fire scrambling to get out the door only to dart back in once or twice for some forgotten item.

So, what the heck does the above have to do with hunting? Ha, I’ll tell you what! A bunch of us hunters are no different. We wake up a day or two before season acting like we didn’t have a year to get prepared. We’re running around searching for a list of items that seems to have disappeared. Well, actually they never got around to writing a list so they’re running around the garage like a kindergartener randomly remembering items needed to have a successful hunt.

I just had a buddy call me Thursday and ask me if I had his hunting knives. Where’s my tent? Then opps, where’s my HS Strut scent wafer? Then where’s my ammo? Where could my new Sierra Designs sleeping bag possibly be? Only to discover that the kids used it for a sleepover. After finding it you discover they spilled a 2-liter bottle of Coke inside of it and the neighbors dog slept with them and chewed his way out of the bottom of it.

I guess humans are just humans. Whether they’re school kids, teachers or hunters, they create the same disasters wherever they go, just in different scenarios. But despite the drama, the Idaho hunting season is in full bloom right now! It’s like watching a fireworks show. At the end of the show, they always send up multiple rockets in rapid succession. Well, that’s exactly how fall is in Idaho. She offers so many hunting opportunities that it is almost impossible to list them all. We have grouse, dove, chukar hunting, deer, elk, bear, wolves and if you drew tags (which I didn’t) antelope, moose, big horn and goat hunting. And I probably missed listing your favorite species. Such as upcoming duck, goose and pheasant hunting. And what about the lowly rabbit and squirrel hunting? Or cougars!

So if you live in Idaho, you’re totally blessed. What other state offers all the hunting opportunities that we freely enjoy? And we have multiple options in which to hunt. We can hunt with pistols, bows, crossbows, airguns, blackpowder and rifles.

If you’re new to the state of Idaho don’t be bashful. Grab your bow/rifle and hit the mountains. No one is going to show you their secret spots so you’re going to have to learn on your own. Buy a forest service map and go out exploring. When you find a spot you like, buy a detailed map from MyTopMaps.com.

It’s going to take you a few years to find some good hunting spots but that’s true no matter where you live. Over time you’ll meet new buddies at work, church or neighbors that will take you. But don’t go back to their spots later by yourself or you’ll be tar and feathered and run out of Idaho.

And if you handle and cook your game right, it’ll be the best organic meat you’ve ever had. I’m excited. In January we filmed three shows on processing and cooking game. I think they’ll be the best outdoor cooking shows ever produced. I met Charles and Jody Allen — the owners of Knives of Alaska on their ranch to cut up a deer, wild hog and a wagyu steer. They also had the High Road With Keith Warren crew there to film it all — Keith Warren, Matti Tackett and Johnny Piazza and one of the top 15 chefs in America, Michael Scott. I learned a lot from them. You’ll learn how to pull some unique cuts off your wild game and how to cook them. Here’s a link to some of the footage. Click on the pic with Keith holding the hog then next on the tray of meat. Two more shows to come. highroadhunting.com.

So don’t set out another season. Get out in the woods and if your kids are old enough, take them, too. Dad started taking me deer hunting when I was 7 or 8 years old. If the guys in your camp are too rough to have your kids around then you need to make some new friends. Have fun.

Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana. He also writes for various outdoors magazines and teaches outdoors seminars at stores like Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Bass Pro Shop. He can be reached via email at smileya7@aol.com.

This is going to be a bit of a unique outdoor article, but nonetheless, I think that at sometime in all of our lives the info here will be pertinent, and it is applicable if you’re young or old. I don’t want to say that we’re like cars but we all do have a shelf life. Some longer than others. But God is in control of when we die so what I’m going to talk about today is how to keep you more active whether you have a short life or a long one.

If you hot rod and peel out, your tires aren’t going to last as long, right? Same with your joints. The more you abuse them when you’re young, more than likely you’ll have trouble when you get older. So if you’re young, take heed to some of these precautions, and if you’re old and feeble, try some of these remedies.

I want to be able to fish and hunt until the day I die and if you’re reading this article, I’m betting you do, too. So let’s get started. I’m betting that a big percentage of people reading this article work in a concrete jungle of some kind. Whether it’s in a plant, store, construction or whatever.

I always wore rubber high-top boots in the plant the first seven to eight years. I was a general foreman at the time, which meant I had a crew of over 300 employees and seven foremen. So I was running, gunning 10.5 hours a day. One day I came home from work and my shins were killing me. I bought some $1.99 Dr. Scholl’s boot pads which felt great. Ah, they were a slice of heaven. But within two weeks they shelled out. I then learned that I needed to invest in some good boots and jogging pads. I just recently got some Tuli’s pads.

I’m warning you younger guys and gals, start using pads now while you’re young. They will extend the life of your knees. I wish that I would have started using them seven or eight years earlier and my knees wouldn’t feel like they do now.

The other day I had a carcass fall on my head and flatten me. The doctor said he wanted to replace my knee. Nope, it hurts but I can still walk. I’ve seen too many people get knee replacements and are now dysfunctional. I’m not going to be stuck in town with all the other little yuppies.

Get some good boots and pads like the Tuli’s. They will extend the life of your knees. I don’t want to say it’s like walking on carpet but that’s not too much of an exaggeration. And if you’re an old timer, it’s never too late to start doing the right thing. Squeak as much life out of your knees as possible. You can trim down the toe end with a pair of scissors to fit your boot.

So far, knees have been the main focus and for good reason. If your wheels are blown out, then you’re pretty much blown out of the water, outdoor-wise.

But there’s another common ill that many face — a messed-up elbow. My left elbow is a little whacked.

In high school, I got thrown off a bull and it bruised the elbow. Then in college, the day after Christmas, I had a horse run into the fence and somewhere in the wreck it knocked my elbow out of joint. Ever since then, it doesn’t bend out totally straight. And the last few years, if I’m working super hard it locks up.

For whatever reason, if I squeeze it right above the joint, it doesn’t hurt and I can move it. I’ve found this also to be true on my knee. I used to try to tape them up tight with athletic tape but recently I found something a lot better. MEDI-DYNE makes a Velcro strap that you can put above your elbow or knee and tighten it down. It makes you feel like a new man. Obviously, it’s the tendons and/or ligaments that are messed up but for whatever reason, it makes my elbow feel 100 times better.

About 25 years ago I had some floating bone chips in my elbow from the horse wreck and had them removed. The bone chips would get in the joint and lock up my elbow so I had the Doc remove them.

Ugh, it’s never been the same since. This MEDI-DYNE wrap really helps.

Here’s the moral: If you’re young and work on concrete or work on your feet in general, get some good boots and pads. (Or if you’re older it’s never too late to do what’s smart.) If you’re older and your joints hurt, try one of these straps like the MEDI-DYNE. I got their CHO-PAT Tennis Elbow Support. Everyone knows that real men don’t read instructions but in looking at their website they show placing the CHO-PAT below the elbow but for me it works better above. Maybe my wound is different.

P.S.: Little Tommie has no medical training so heed his medical advice at your own risk.

Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana. He also writes for various outdoors magazines and teaches outdoors seminars at stores like Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Bass Pro Shop. He can be reached via email at smileya7@aol.com.

To help prolong the life of your knees wear good boots like the Irish Setter

This is going to be a bit of a unique outdoor article, but nonetheless, I think that at sometime in all of our lives the info here will be pertinent, and it is applicable if you’re young or old. I don’t want to say that we’re like cars but we all do have a shelf life. Some longer than others. But God is in control of when we die so what I’m going to talk about today is how to keep you more active whether you have a short life or a long one.

If you hot rod and peel out, your tires aren’t going to last as long, right? Same with your joints. The more you abuse them when you’re young, more than likely you’ll have trouble when you get older. So if you’re young, take heed to some of these precautions, and if you’re old and feeble, try some of these remedies.

I want to be able to fish and hunt until the day I die and if you’re reading this article, I’m betting you do, too. So let’s get started. I’m betting that a big percentage of people reading this article work in a concrete jungle of some kind. Whether it’s in a plant, store, construction or whatever.

I always wore rubber high-top boots in the plant the first seven to eight years. I was a general foreman at the time, which meant I had a crew of over 300 employees and seven foremen. So I was running, gunning 10.5 hours a day. One day I came home from work and my shins were killing me. I bought some $1.99 Dr. Scholl’s boot pads which felt great. Ah, they were a slice of heaven. But within two weeks they shelled out. I then learned that I needed to invest in some good boots and jogging pads. I just recently got some Tuli’s pads.

I’m warning you younger guys and gals, start using pads now while you’re young. They will extend the life of your knees. I wish that I would have started using them seven or eight years earlier and my knees wouldn’t feel like they do now.

The other day I had a carcass fall on my head and flatten me. The doctor said he wanted to replace my knee. Nope, it hurts but I can still walk. I’ve seen too many people get knee replacements and are now dysfunctional. I’m not going to be stuck in town with all the other little yuppies.

Get some good boots and pads like the Tuli’s. They will extend the life of your knees. I don’t want to say it’s like walking on carpet but that’s not too much of an exaggeration. And if you’re an old timer, it’s never too late to start doing the right thing. Squeak as much life out of your knees as possible. You can trim down the toe end with a pair of scissors to fit your boot.

So far, knees have been the main focus and for good reason. If your wheels are blown out, then you’re pretty much blown out of the water, outdoor-wise.

But there’s another common ill that many face — a messed-up elbow. My left elbow is a little whacked.

In high school, I got thrown off a bull and it bruised the elbow. Then in college, the day after Christmas, I had a horse run into the fence and somewhere in the wreck it knocked my elbow out of joint. Ever since then, it doesn’t bend out totally straight. And the last few years, if I’m working super hard it locks up.

For whatever reason, if I squeeze it right above the joint, it doesn’t hurt and I can move it. I’ve found this also to be true on my knee. I used to try to tape them up tight with athletic tape but recently I found something a lot better. MEDI-DYNE makes a Velcro strap that you can put above your elbow or knee and tighten it down. It makes you feel like a new man. Obviously, it’s the tendons and/or ligaments that are messed up but for whatever reason, it makes my elbow feel 100 times better.

About 25 years ago I had some floating bone chips in my elbow from the horse wreck and had them removed. The bone chips would get in the joint and lock up my elbow so I had the Doc remove them.

Ugh, it’s never been the same since. This MEDI-DYNE wrap really helps.

Here’s the moral: If you’re young and work on concrete or work on your feet in general, get some good boots and pads. (Or if you’re older it’s never too late to do what’s smart.) If you’re older and your joints hurt, try one of these straps like the MEDI-DYNE. I got their CHO-PAT Tennis Elbow Support. Everyone knows that real men don’t read instructions but in looking at their website they show placing the CHO-PAT below the elbow but for me it works better above. Maybe my wound is different.

P.S.: Little Tommie has no medical training so heed his medical advice at your own risk.

Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana. He also writes for various outdoors magazines and teaches outdoors seminars at stores like Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Bass Pro Shop. He can be reached via email at smileya7@aol.com.

To help prolong the life of your knees wear good boots like the Irish Setter