Superb in 2023? Danner Pronghorn Hunting Boots Review

Danner describes Pronghorn as their most iconic boot. We all know why!

Two decades, four generations, incredible features, wide range of variations, constant upgradation and continuous user satisfaction made Pronghorn fly high. These boots are good for hunting, hiking, jungle jobs but they can be used for any kind of field work. Even people use them as preferred work boots.

Everything premium, handmade, great finishing. Danner boots cost more but they give much.

Update (April, 2019): Just don’t think twice. If you need something like it, go for it blindly.

Danner Pronghorn Types Demystified

It’s a mystery. Danner shows 5, 6 or 8 Pronghorn boots while they have at least 9! There were 6 inch Pronghorns but they are rare to find out. No 6” boots available on Danner’s official site, amazon or anywhere else except on ebay. No more fuss about the 6 inch ones.

Let’s work on these nine.

Common Features in all of the Pronghorns

1. All featuring Pronghorn outsole.
2. Gore-Tex waterproof as well as breathable.
3. They are made out of CamoHide leather (1 pure leather upper and other 7 feature 1000 Denier nylon). Their unique leather ensures that the leather is not going to fade out or rub off any sooner.
4. Comfortable energy returning TerraForce platform ensures spring-like steps while they do not need the traditional extra weight.
5. Pronghorn DPH-1 last means your glove-like heel fitting is ensured while the forefoot is anatomically sweet.
6. The shanks are made of TPU which means these are not unnecessarily stiff, heavy or hard.
7. These are mostly not recraftable.
8. Pronghorns are men’s only.
9. They also have a wide range of fittings and come in two different widths, medium and wide.

Features Common in 8” Pronghorns (8 variations, except the snake boot)

All of the 8” Pronghorns are in their fourth generation. Danner did a lot of revisions on them. Here, for Pronghorn, fourth generation means a lot. Collars can hurt no more. Extra padding, extra comfort. No more sweating within. The footbed is way lighter than the early generations. More loops, more eyelets, semi-locking features ensure that they fit more like gloves.

Two 8” Brown Classic Pronghorn boots

no insulation

Brown All-Leather

Brown

Three 8” Realtree Xtra Pronghorn boots

Realtree Xtra Green

Realtree Xtra 400G Thinsulate Ultra Insulation

Realtree Xtra 1200G

Stunning buyer satisfaction. It’s very hard to find something so popular. 

Three 8” Mossy Oak Infinity

Thinsulate Ultra Insulation

Mossy Oak Break-Up Infinity 400G

Again, very popular.

Mossy Oak Break-Up Infinity 800G

Mossy Oak Break-Up Infinity 1200G

17” Snake Boot

no variations

These are not available insulated. The sense is clear, 17” snake means snake-bite protection. Snakes do not bite a lot during winter. On the flip side, 17” is a huge height. It would keep your feet warmer in light winter. Insulation would have made it heavier as well.

In-depth Review & Analysis of Danner Pronghorn Hunting Boots

ShoeAsk points:90 out of 100

Editorial Recommendation: Very high, best of the best for hunting

Remarks and Suggestions

Leather is hand cut and hand stitched, everything put together with extreme caution. Cobbled with care. If you know the specs you need, go for it.  Here’s an interesting old evaluation:

Better for

The surprising fact is that people wear them on plain concrete:

“Plain and simple. you can trust to handle any type of work environment, pay a little extra and invest in a pair.”

Whether you are preying on animals, birds (or in some cases even fish)… in the warm jungle, rainy woods, muddy rivers or freezing white `deserts’, Danner Pronghorn boots rock! Have a huge backpack on your shoulders? Trust them even for hiking on rough terrain.

Would you be able to use these `hunting boots’ for your work? Well, we have seen people who wear them to work. People work in these for more than two decades. Just one thing, if your job requires steel toe or electrical hazard, these are not for you.

Cops use them from time to time, we’ve seen military men love them. Park rangers or jungle workers love them as well. The vast diverse lands of good old big farms still adore Danner Pronghorn.

User, Expert and Trade Recognition

Points 5/5

It’s amazing that elderly hunters and professionals find these as comfortable as running shoes!

“I’ve hunted elk in the Rockies, grouse in the great plains, and deer in Wisconsin many times, and these boots have never once failed me. I even fell in the Salmon River while hunting elk last week and the only part of me that stayed dry and warm was my feet.”

But these hunt boots are not only for hunters:

“…many days at 20 and 30 below zero Danner 1200 has never let me down.”

Price vs Durability

Points 5/5

What’s the lifespan?

We would have given them 10 out of 5 if it was possible. Pronghorns are extremely durable. If you wear daily, expect at least a couple of years. Users are satisfied with the durability. If you wear them occasionally, well, after 4 to 5 years, people would assume that they are as new as six months old.

People easily wear them for 7-10 years.

Comfort

Points 5/5

As we always say, comfort is a three michelin star secret recipe with a good smell and a better look.

Pronghorns are comfortable up to the mark, but why?

Wider toe box; lighter weight; softer areas on the collar, tongue and especially the tendon area. Great sewing, greater leather, no water pouring in and vast breathable area ensure comfort. The insole, midsole, outsole- all conform to comfort.

Need more comfort? The insert is ok, but you can try something better.

ShoeAsk article on comfort.

Water, Chemical and Spill Proof

Points 5/5

There is no question on waterproofing.

The Gore-Tex WP lining provides you with everything you need to stay dry and warm whether you are in rain, snow, streams or mud.

Slip Resistance

Points 5/5

They are meant to be slip resistant. You know, jungle and rocks demand greater traction.

Toe Box and Safety

Points 3/5

They do not bear steelor any other safety toe caps. The reason is clear, they are not made for high risk jobs. Having said that, the toe and ankle have the best grade rubber padding. Wide, big and abrasion resistant which ensure safety to an extent. The anatomical forefoot gives ample room for the toes.

Break-in Time and Fitting

Points 5/5

They break-in pretty easy. Some find them broken in out of the box. Or you may need a little time so that the leather and footbed is molded around your feet.

“I put these on the morning after they arrived and long after sunset I realized that I had not changed to an older broken-in boot as planned. No blisters, no sore spots, wow everything about these boots I like.”

Pretty true to size, would fit as expected. Some may say that they are a little bigger, but that’s because Danner makes the forefoot with healthy wiggle room. The bottom line is, they will never hurt your feet and legs while breaking in or ever after.

Electrical Hazard

Points 2/5

Not exactly EH boots. Not meant for high risk jobs.You should expect better electric shock safety from these as they are completely waterproof and sort of sealing your feet off the ground.

Stylish and Presentable

Points 4/5

Don’t they look good? They look great, feel great. There’s only one thing though- you can not use them everywhere.

Breathable and Insulation

Points 5/5

Better breathability than most of the breathable boots. If it is 50 degrees out there, feet are not going to sweat. Pronghorns are constructed in such a way that you get the moulding of leather as well as the breathable mesh.You can get the proper insulations as needed. From no insulation to 400/800 or even 1,200 gram.

Leather, Upper, Lace and Heel

Points 5/5

Uppers are nicely balanced between the leather and composite mesh. 1,000D nylon uppers mean they are tough yet soft on your feet. Something nearly indestructible. Awesome sewing. The eyelets would not pull out easily. It is common to find the eyelets solid as rock after a number of years. Nice, smooth, super durable premium leather.These are the sorts of leather you would love to take care of. Use quality leather conditioner and they will last even longer.

And their CamoHide leather?

Let’s deconstruct the name. The leather helps to camouflage your feet so that you can hide them from your prey’s eyes. Yeah, that’s a no-brainer.

A craftsman at Danner with 20 year experience shares some of their secrets:

“A Danner engineer mentioned to me some 20 years ago, you know, there’s no exception or compromise for experience. It takes experience to feel the leather. It takes a good hand to feel and a good eye to see. You have to know how to best use the tools.”

Tongue, Collar and Weight

Points 5/5

They look like tanks but will surprise you with the lightweight. The tongue is padded pretty well. Not longer, not shorter. Pronghorn collars are exceptionally comfortable with huge cushioning and anatomical cut.

Insole, Midsole, Shank and Arch Support

Points 4/5

Even their removable insoles are way too durable. Their triple density, open cell polyurethane Ortholite® footbed ensures enough cushioning. These are not as fancy as the `specialized’ insoles but they do support the feet well. The removable soles also have nice arch support. In our opinion, Danner could have provided better inserts. Nonetheless, users have a tendency of buying inserts of their own choice which makes the preloaded inserts useless.

Danner’s TERRA FORCE platform is also very reliable. The TPU shank is better than the most.

Outsole, Construction and Sewing

Points 5/5

Pronghorn outsoles are giants. Even the exceptional treads look good. Their stitching is uncommon as well. Less sewing in the gore-tex parts mean more waterproofing. On the other hand, their upper parts are carefully sewn. The whole upper part is at least double stitched. Toe and heel rubber liner as well as lower parts of the boot is sewn thrice. don’t stay full of mud on the sole.

You will not see accountable wear in the outsole tread even after two or three years. The rugged rubber outsoles perform well in diverse & uncertain terrain.

Anti-odor and Cleanable

Points 4/5

They are easy to clean and hard to get dirty. Waterproofing and breathability ensures that you will not get much stink. Only downside is, no bacteria-treatment.

Warranty, Return and Post Purchase Service Policy

Points 5/5

Danner’s warranty and return policy is better than the most. Rely on their service, they’re dependable without a doubt.

Brand Faith

Points 5/5

People just love Danner. Very few brands are still carrying the dependable heritage of U.S. made boots. There are three types of Danner buyers:

Some think that they should buy something like Danner or Red Wing.

Others decided to wear Danners, willing to buy another pair.

The third are constant buyers. They use nothing but Danner.

Why not? People buy them, wear them out of the box to a longer hike and then forget the fact that these are brand new; yet to `break-in’.

Special and Uncommon Features

Points 4/5

Terra Force works great. 5 sets of eyelets and 3 sets of hooks for laces. Dependable since 1932.

And a lot more as we described earlier.

Cons

Points 4/5

To be honest, there are no serious cons.These are for hunting, so you may encounter a little discomfort at the outsoles while climbing.

There is no steel toe or EH; other than these, they are perfect boots for work!

As the forefoot is intentionally wider, some find them a bit loose.

Some old users are not satisfied with the newer generation but that’s a common thing for almost every famous brand. Old users sometimes do not find the new versions as familiar as they wished despite the fact that newer versions are more feature-packed.

Not all the Pronghorn boots are made in the US. They no more make every boot at home.

Editor’s Boost

Points 5/5

How can we not give Pronghorn a full five! Thirsty for a bit sharp comparison? Play this:

Close Alternatives

Popular Alternatives

Danner Men’s Vicious 8 Inch NMT Work Boot

Different and Uncommon

Timberland PRO Men’s Direct Attach Six-Inch Soft-Toe Boot

If you take a closer look at the Danner Pronghorn, you’ll see what `fine finishing’ means. The overflowing influx of cheap `work boots’ create more and more rough, ugly looking careless footwear. They do anything but satisfying your eyes.

Danner, on the other hand, makes it clear. They choose everything with a curated caution. They test everything including the leather. Having said all these, the Danner Pronghorn is not high priced rather a user wins at this range. They will pay you back while walking on grass, mud, dust, debris and even concrete. Cactus or sharp obstacles can hardly pierce the boots.

“Traction on them make him feel like a mountain goat when hiking , reducing fatigue when hiking, fit as expected and have delivered on everything Danner stands for.”

Their production is a careful piece of useful art which we can’t ignore.