Strength and conditioning for elk hunt

[Mark Rippetoe]

The OP seems to have lost interest. I asked about the altitude of his hunt because of the fact that high altitude cannot be conditioned for very effectively, especially at low altitude. People who live at 9000 feet operate with an O2 sat of ~92%, same as you will have when you go up there. This difference is that they don't mind the discomfort as much as you will. Your best asset is your strength, which will make all your efforts at altitude more sub-maximal.

[Barry Charles]

The hiking around part is straightforward. So, as others have said, make sure you are somewhat conditioned to hike around. But your best asset is strength, especially if you manage to kill one. I've never figured out a good way to hike out the head (if you plan on keeping it) and you may have many hundreds of pounds of meat. If you're really worried, don't shoot anything too far from your truck and/or hope it doesn't die in an inconvenient location (Murphy says it will and will happen late in the day). A lot of expert elk hunters (which I am not) use horses or atvs or have access to them in the event of success. Getting the thing out is what you should be most worried about. Otherwise, practice hiking for a few weeks ahead of time and stay strong.

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

Can you hunt without whiskey?

I've heard it's possible, but I don't recommend it.

[Matthew Spicka]

"firearms & alcohol , yea" .... the white trash answer, great




good post

Uh huh huh... There is always after sundown.

[Matthew Spicka]

The hiking around part is straightforward. So, as others have said, make sure you are somewhat conditioned to hike around. But your best asset is strength, especially if you manage to kill one. I've never figured out a good way to hike out the head (if you plan on keeping it) and you may have many hundreds of pounds of meat. If you're really worried, don't shoot anything too far from your truck and/or hope it doesn't die in an inconvenient location (Murphy says it will and will happen late in the day). A lot of expert elk hunters (which I am not) use horses or atvs or have access to them in the event of success. Getting the thing out is what you should be most worried about. Otherwise, practice hiking for a few weeks ahead of time and stay strong.

I have hunted quite a few times, packing in llamas. Each Llama can hold 50#. And they require very little care during the week. 4 guys can bring in 8-10 llamas easily.

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

My new favorite member of the board. ^^^

[Jeff Bryngelson]

Well, I just found this post again and thought I'd offer an update. I live at about 1300 feet elevation. The conditioning portion I added in prior to leaving for the hunt involved mainly rucking up and down a ski jump landing hill with a 40 pound pack. I felt the training before the hunt was fairly taxing and thought it would be enough (first time elk hunter and boy was I wrong).

When we got to the high country I found my aerobic capacity was not up to the task. We back packed up to about 9,000 feet where we camped and hunted for several days. I hunted with younger guys who seemed to have it pretty easy compared to me. Climbing over beetle killed pines and traversing all the other obstacles day after day was very tough.

In hindsight, I think I would really hit the ski hill harder the last few weeks before the trip and add more weight to the pack.

Poser is right about the back to back days of rucking being tough.

[TommyGun]

The OP seems to have lost interest. I asked about the altitude of his hunt because of the fact that high altitude cannot be conditioned for very effectively, especially at low altitude. People who live at 9000 feet operate with an O2 sat of ~92%, same as you will have when you go up there. This difference is that they don't mind the discomfort as much as you will. Your best asset is your strength, which will make all your efforts at altitude more sub-maximal.

Rip, you had briefly touched on this a while back on your podcast, and you stated you might go into more detail on it in a future podcast. Please do. I am a sea level guy but the physiology of adapting to 10,000 ft is interesting as hell
(even from a academic sense, not a practical one).i think your audience would find it interesting also.

It's one of these topics I never thought about until I hear it on your podcast or the forum.

When you go to Colorado, does it help that you have been there often, or is it a bitch every time going back up to elevation? Or are you just used to it? If you drive down to say, eat lunch, and drive back up to elevation, do you hold on to the O2 sat a little longer? How long does it take to drop to 92% O2 sat? is it real time? I know that the 02 sat in the blood will reflect the oxygen transfer in the lungs (assuming undamaged alveioli and strong mechanical pumping) but is there a minor lag before stabilizing at 92%?

[VNV]

Can you hunt without whiskey?

Seems like a good cap to the day.

On the other hand, I’ve heard some young yahoos talk about how “rad” it was to go hunting on quaeludes (sp?). I’d think compliance would become an issue there.

[Lost and Found]

When you go to Colorado, does it help that you have been there often, or is it a bitch every time going back up to elevation?

I'm not Rip but I elk hunt every year around 8000' coming from 1200' and I think it does help knowing what to expect. I've also hunted at 10,000' and it's a big jump in oxygen suck but still doable if you spend a day or two at 5000-7000' beforehand and then take the first day or so pretty slow when you are hunting and stay hydrated. It's also nice to kill one early so the pressure is off. Elk hunting can be a psychological grind because it's tough traveling whether you are in the elk or not.

I'm 68 and have found strength training (I did NLP right up to this year's hunt) with some specific conditioning a month or two before the hunt (HIIT and weighted pack hikes) to be far more beneficial to mountain hunting than long distance cycling or running. No one has ever outrun an elk.

No better protein than elk meat.