Snow shoes.

Any of you guys use them?

Yes

Not much for trapping hike a lot in snowshoes when snow is there. I have 3 pair for different conditions and or terrains.

Bryce

I used a pair one season. Had a line up a brushy creek coupled with deep snow and it was exhausting always post holing and tripping. I caught enough fur up that creek to offset the cost of the shoes. They’re Cabelas bear paws. Still have em but ain’t needed them. They have since cleaned up and tore out fence rows up that creek. If your a traveling critter in this area you better pack a lunch.

Yep. Even on short walks they are nice. Once you have broken the trail, they make walking the same trail very easy. I use a traditional cloth tape for binding and wear moccasins. A twist of the ankle and I am in them, another twist and I am out of them. Very quick and easy, no buckles or ties to worry about.

Never leave home without them !!

^ yep, I get a few months, I can leave home without them.

Always have snowshoes in winter.You will be in big trouble without them if the snowmachine breaks down.
If you are snowshoing long distances in deep powder snow,you need a different shoe than one for walking out on a skidoo trail.
I had a pair of cree Albany shoes made about 40 years ago for trapping in winter on foot.They were custom made for my weight while carrying gear/fur etc.Frames are tamarack and filling is moosehide.A large strong and fairly light snowshoe.
I have another pair of cree hunting snowshoes,smaller and even lighter made of black ash frames and moosehide filling.I hardly used those.
I also have a commercial pair of shoes that I often carry on the snowmachine.

Absolutely! Even if there's only a couple inches of snow, it keeps your feet from slipping and saves energy

yes I use them a lot when I was younger use to go several miles a day now I use them less

Yesd I use them all winter, have several pair, but mostly use a pair of military shoes as the are metal and can take a beating and not break. Wet snow or water in the spring beaver trapping and they do not soak up water.

All the military snowshoes I have seen are actually magnesium frames. Super light and can be used as fire starters if needed. Just scrape off the tail and hit it with a spark.

Definitely use them. I have spur lines into places I can’t reach with a snogo and always keep them with on the machine . When it’s too cold to run the machine I make a point of getting out on a trail every single day, even if it’s just 2-3 hours when it’s -50. No metal frames for me.

X2 Wood only !!

I have two pair of the magnisum framed army snow shoes , I prefer bike inner tube as a binding , very simple easy on easy off and seem to hold decent and easy to carry a spare binding.

also free if you can find a bike shop that will give you the old inner-tubes.

we don't get enough snow to need than all that often but I enjoy going for a walk when we do.

It may not be important in your conditions but for me....overflow is a big factor. The wood shoes don't conduct and hold the cold like metal frames do. So ice doesn't build on them as rapidly as it can on metal. The wood is also easier to repair on the trail if need be.

Cause they look cooler

I used to mush around in them whenever there was enough snow to warrant their use. I am a large fellow nowadays, but even back in my prime I was too big to use the magnesium surplus shoes. I always looked at snowshoes as a necessary evil of living in the Upper Great Lakes area, and I wore them only when needed. These days there are all manner of yuppie type folks that own and use them to hike in the winter. It's a big deal in my area...even have special trails for them and the x country ski people. Funny thing is, all the trails are groomed and solid-packed. We see folks off on state land snowshoeing a bunch too, but they are always walking the forest roads where a guy can walk all day in tennis shoes! About the only folks in my area that actually use webs because they really need them....are trappers and houndsmen that get off the trails, the rest of the folks you see "snowshoeing" are really just hiking along wearing snowshoes they don't need.

Always have them on the sled, but I bring a good set of 9x36" metal shoes on the sled. More maneuverable when setting traps, and adequate for on a sled trail. Also, more packable.

For hand hauling, or walking off trail I have settled on a set of ash ojibway style snowshoes with 400lb test monofilament hand woven mesh. Extremely light,strong, and way better flotation than just about all metal shoes. Especially when weight of the shoe is in the equation.

Hutchy, how long does the 400 lb mono last?

A long, long, long time. I have friends who put at least 5000 miles a year on the exact same shoes on expeditions and whatnot, and they have found it is the best wearing snowshoe deck material. They literally walk all winter, both on their property and as a part of everyday life and guiding expeditions all over northern ontario and quebec. It far outlasts the traditional rawhide, and it gets just as tight when weaving it. I think they use some 600 lb test for part of it also, and 400 for the main deck. I get mine from a net company in BC

Apparently the sunlight doesn't do it in like the smaller fishing line? Interesting. Do you have a website for the B.C. place?

Have you tried rubber for bindings ? I cut strips from old inner tubes. Last a long time and they are quiet. I hate squeaky bindings . Makes it tough when you're hunting

Never had any. But I've wished for some a handful of times.

Mike

What are snowmshoes? Just kidding. Saw a picture of a pair once.

Rubber bindings, commercial and cut out of inner tube.

My snowshoes with those bindings are at my trapline cabin so I can't get a picture. Look up the Bob Maki bindings. That isn't what I use but at least you'll get some ideas

Check out Lure of the North's website. They have really good videos about using traditional snowshoes.

I have trapped the Adirondacks for better than 50 years, never with a snowmobile, always on foot. As for snowshoes I prefer the "pickerel" style. Long and narrow. I hate walking spread legged.
Also, I prefer the neoprene lacing vs. rawhide, as when the snow is wet it sticks to the shoe and feels like a ton.
One other thing, when trapping on ice I never hook the heel strap, rather shuffle along like wearing a pair of slippers. Snowshoes are great for distributing your weight, but should you break through you want to get out of them in a hurry. I know, been there.

I have never understood why people walk like that on snowshoes. There's no reason for it as far as I can determine. Maybe they just think they have to.

With 10 in wide shoes the closest you can get is ten inches from your other foot. (5 inches from center to center) Do most people walk around all day with their feet LESS than 10 inches apart ?

I have the Alaska type snowshoes. With leather binders. I had got them back in 1977 and had put some linseed oil on them. They are made of wood with rawhide lace. You can run with them and like white17 to keep your feet close and these dose just that.

I have owned just about every snowshoe design ever conceived. I think I like the Ojibwa or Cree as Boco refers to them the best. They're no more functional that any of the others but I just love the design.

A bobcat track in the snow between my shoes and my sons wheeler buried under the snow. We definitely got some snow last winter.

Cree trapping snowshoes hand made in Fort Albany.These have had one refurbishment from extensive use.


Cree hunting snowshoes-hand made in Moose Factory.-Never used.

Note the extreme upturned toes..

Works of art IMO. I have a pair of hand made snowshoes my parents got me when I was a kid and they are close to fifty years old. Too much sentimental value to risk using.

I put many miles on the big tamarack trapping shoes.Float on 4 feet of powder.
The hunting shoes I bought much later basically as art,although they were made as utility hunting snowshoes.There used to be many people making snowshoes in the bush,and you could tell by the frames and filling,which area they came from.Not as many anymore having the skills to handmake shoes like those.When you find an old trapping cabin in the bush there is usually a few old frames in the vicinity hanging in a tree or in the old wood shed,or an old pair of shoes,one with a broken frame.Sometimes there are remains of smaller shoes also,probably made for the kids for rabbit snaring in winter.

Thanks for answering that as I wondered too. I used wood frames for many years trapping beaver and scouting for sign. Finally bought a pair of the new fangled things and have liked them. Have not worn them much the last few years.
Thanks

Over the years I have put on a mile or two on snowshoes.
Much of that time has been carrying survey equipment. I would not own a
pair of the bearpaw style shoes if you gave them to me. I use either the
Alaskan or Ojibway style, much easier to walk in and the Maki rubber bindings.
I bought a pair of Red Feather shoes awhile back, they are ok for climbing hills I guess, they have a cleat, but my size 13 LaCrosse pacboots
have abut as much surface bearing area.
These type of shoes allow a guy to walk much easier, use as a shovel dig up snow to find a monument and so forth.
They are also a real hoot to try and work around the tripod in. I might also add
that crossing over a 5' barb wire fence while wearing them is prone to giving someone a chuckle.
Finally, whatever anybody tells ya, do not wear them thinking you can cross thin ice.

Zim

The voice of experience.

Dangit Zim, just reading that last sentence make me catch my breath. I have always had a big phobia of falling through while on snowshoes. I used to wear them while beaver trapping and did my share of under-ice beaver trapping....but I was/am so chicken of a splash-down that I would ALWAYS pull my heel out of the harness when on ice so if I did go through all I had to do id kick off the shoe.

Those are the ones I use, 30 years, broke one, got another pair from sportsmans guide

I get mine from redden net company, but likely easier to buy a snowshoe kit from my friends at lure of the North.

www.lureofthenorth.com. went to school with both the owners and done some trips with them. They know their snowshoes.

Also, lure of the North uses traditional lampwick bindings. They take a bit of finesse to get set up, but are effortless on and off, and also to walk in.

As said, I prefer my aluminum's for around beaver houses etc because of the manueverability.

Handmade 5 footers made using caribou and moose skin. Also have 3 footers.

This is what I use. US military issue , made in Canada. Wooden set from the 1930's hang on the wall in my living room.

Yes.
It goes without fail that if I take a newbie out on snowshoes they complain about them and decide to take them off: they ALWAYS end up putting them right back on.