What Makes You Quiet?

Product Review of the SneekTec Sneek Boot

By Jeff Barlow (Nimrod Outdoors)

We get asked occasionally to do a product review of something we carry in our backpacks. SneekTec is the company that makes one of these items in our packs. SneekTec is in the game of making you quieter. They are driven by a passion to eliminate sound. Their Flagship product is the Sneek Boot.

SneekTec was created in 2007 by Mike Barrick. Mike noticed how much noise he was making while trying to stalk a Mule Deer. Mike immediately started thinking of ways he could reduce the sound he was creating while stalking. Mike became obsessed with silence and soon developed a revolutionary new idea, and the Sneek Boot was born. Sneek Boots eliminate the noise created by footfall in nearly all conditions.

We found SneekTec and the Sneek Boot about 2 years ago. We were looking for the same thing as Mike had been years ago. Ways to get closer to our query without being detected. As you know we have a bunch of us that always hunt with us, and quite often they are younger less experienced hunters (that don’t watch where they are stepping all the time, LOL). To help us improve our stalking abilities we were on the search for something.

We got our first pair of Sneek Boots and tried them out. We used them at home around the yard, on some scouting trips and while we were out camping just to get use to them. They are really easy to put on and come in a handy little bag you can hook to your backpack or drop inside your pack.

 

We put them to the test on some archery deer hunts that year. We were able to get into range for Joey a couple time and he was able to get a couple shots. Just throwing out a disclaimer right here, these boots cannot make you a better shot. LOL The boots seemed to work great for keeping the sound levels of our stalk down to a low roar with the boys. LOL

We used them on flat sage brush areas mixed with rocks. We used them on thick wooded area with lots of twigs and some deadfall. We tried them on steep slopes of the alpine country. In all locations they seemed to perform well. The only drawback we found was on very steep terrain there was some foot slippage side to side and it took a little bit to get use to walking with them on.  On the flat ground it was honestly like walking on clouds.

They use a great webbing design with strong cinching straps to help keep the boot snuggly affixed to you hiking boot. This is one of the things we liked best about the Sneek Boot. You do not have to remove you hiking boots to use them. For a guy like me this was huge. I have such tender feet I have a hard time walking across my grass at home in my socks. LOL

The material they use is a Berber Fleece fabric or a Silent Suede material. The Berber Fleece is a quieter and more durable material. The Silent Suede resists thorns and burrs from sticking to it. Both are great material, you just need to decide which works best for you. The foam interior is an industrial grade upholstery foam with is designed to take and handle abuse.

The Sneek Boots weigh in at around 1 pound. It is a little extra weight in your pack but if it gets you those extra necessary yards closer (undetected), the weight is worth it. We have not noticed the extra weight in our packs and it is great to have the boot when we need them.

If you have any questions about the Sneek Boot or SneekTec feel free to reach out to us or get in contact with SneekTec. They are located on the web at www.sneektec.com and also found on Instagram, FaceBook and YouTube.

We would recommend you watch some of their YouTube videos and learn more about the Sneek Boot and we would recommend you get you a pair and try them out.

Make sure to check out some of our other product reviews on our blog to see what else we carry in our pack.

5 Common Trail Cam Mistakes

By Jeff Barlow & Terron Hunt

(Nimrod Outdoors)

There are so many positives and negatives that come along with Trail Cameras. Some people don’t agree with their use, some do. Today we want to talk about other parts of trail cams that can make, or in this case….break your trail cam setups.

We are going to talk about 5 of the common mistakes that are made when setting up your trail cams. There are most likely many more mistakes but these are the 5 we want to go over.

#1 Location – When looking for a location to hang your trail cam, there are many things you can do to save time and effort. Do some good e-research and look at maps before you head out. Look for places that are travel spots, where you can see trails on Google Earth (or other mapping software) that might mean animal movement between areas. Also look for places that look like water sources or feeding areas; look for bedding areas. This will give you tons of info so that when you actually get out there and put boots on the ground you have a good place to start and you’re not just wandering around looking for something.

  

 #2 Direction – When setting up your trail cam, make sure to set it up facing North or South. If you set them up in an East or West direction you will get sun bursts in your pics. East facing cams with have washed out pic in the morning hours as the sun rises, West facing cams will have washed out pics in the evenings as the sun sets. These are the most productive hours for wildlife activity and to capture pictures. By setting your cams facing North or South you should get the best results on your pics.

#3 Angle – You have now found the perfect location and tree (facing the right direction) to mount your trail cam to. Look at the surrounding area and see if you can see where the wildlife might be moving to and from. Make sure to angle your camera in a way that you get a good pic of the area. Don’t angle the cam to high so you only get the heads or the feet of the animals as they pass through. One tip is to take your cell phone out and put it in front of the camera and take a pic. Look at it and

see if you like the angle, make adjustments until you’re satisfied.

#4 Checking Cams – When going out to check your cams. Don’t do it in the most active hours for animal activity. Check your cams midday when you shouldn’t bump or run into animals that are at your trail cam location. Checking the cams midday allows you to use the productive hours of morning and evening to get to a glassing location and watch the wildlife in those sweet hours.

#5 Use Bait – Obviously this is state specific, as some states don’t allow for baiting over trail cameras, but use baits where you can.  Animals need a reason to come into the view of your camera, and bait is a great way to do that.  If you are not able to use bait, use another area in which there is high traffic of the animal you’re pursuing.  This can be a well-used trail, a water source, or really anything natural that attracts an animal.

Hopefully following these Tips you can get some High Quality Trail Cam pics that you will be able to enjoy. Hopefully this article has been helpful and you learned something new. If you have any other suggestions for readers put it in the comments below. Now get out there and get some cool trail cam pics and share them with us.

Bonus Tip - Don’t use your trail cam to spy on your Wife!!! Enough said. LOL