Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Altitude Acclimation

Won't be for me, I hunt public land. But I will be hiking in to my spot next Friday, so if you can chase some my way (Saturday, that is), I'd be much obliged.

That shouldn't be hard. They always seem to know where the private land is.

Consider it done. I bowhunt on public ground and yeah the elk learn where the private is right quick. I'll be in 4,5,441.

Good luck to you.

4, 5, and 441? Man, you out of staters sure do get around!

Good luck to you too!

I live at 6600 ft, and the walking was tuff for me at 10800 on Sunday...that would be tuff duty coming from where you guys live. Took me about 20 min to get used to it....after that....not too bad..

I live at 4,400 ft and I hunt elk at altitudes ranging from about 7,800 up to about 9,000 ft. I work hard on my cardio fitness, starting about the middle of May. Barring major interruptions, I continue to push it until the day before I leave for the first hunt.

I make it a point to be in camp the Wednesday before the Saturday opener and remain active for the remainder of the week. Nonetheless, come opening day, I get winded with any significant expenditure of energy and have to pace myself. I mostly still-hunt bedding and loafing cover for the first couple of days. If I haven't tagged out by Monday, I start roaming and glassing more open habitat. As I age, it takes longer to acclimate. But, I like to think that I am a little smarter about what it takes to kill an elk and still be able to walk out on my own two feet.

Here's some news about Rolaids.
http://news.yahoo.com/rolaids-r-e-t-u-140311397.html

CreekChub,

I'm certainly not making light of a serious question, but sometimes my "rather warped" sense of humor gets the best of me. So without anymore apologies. I've found that as I age, the more I suffer from "altitude accumulation"!!! memtb

This is a small, but interesting study: Study link

If you liver and kidneys are healthy, ask your doctor to prescribe Diamox or the generic. Very inexpensive. It will assist your system is processing oxygen more efficiently. Test it out for a weekend before you go to monitor for any side effects (usually none). You need to take it 48 hours before you are at elevation and take it twice a day for the first 2 day of your trip. You must still drink water consistently during your hunt.

Good Luck!!!

Have hunted out west 4 times, living at about 900 feet. The first time was just sluggish for a few days. A couple years later, setting up camp at about 8,500 feet, the headache hit and I was in bad shape. Sitting in front seat of truck with head in hand wanting to die it hurt so bad. Dad took me down to town (couple thousand feet lower), got a sandwich and just messed around town, headache left. Went back to camp, then hunted around 10,000 feet and had zero issues. That drive back to town was like a light switch had been flipped, headache immediately left and I was fine. Been back to same place twice and had no issues other than slight sluggishness the first days.

I can't believe none of you guys are into 'blood doping'.....

think drugs are bad for you

ELK HUNTING has you beat badly

when hunting ELK you pay THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS for EQUIPMENT, so you can PAY THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS in things like licenses fees, and travel costs, spend days or at least hours, and usually pay guide fees so you can spend 7-14 days sleeping in a tent with at least one guy who snores, and you get to spend most of the year avoiding getting into physical shape you KNOW you need to be in to function, then spend several months both forcing yourself to exercise , knowing that NOTHING you can do at sea level helps much to prepare you, for the mountains, and worrying about if you've selected the correct location so you can spend your time learning to run or crawl up mountain slopes at 7000-11,000 feet altitude while you puke and have migraine headaches as altitude sickness kicks your butt, I get sick as can be with bad mygrain style headaches from altitude sickness the first or second or sometimes both days, of each hunt, it helps to take several aspirin and ibuprofen and drink hot tea,(not beer or coffee)and not do much thats stressful for the first 24-36 hours ,talk to your physician about other prescription medications (nifedipine, frusemide, Diamox,tedral and acetazolamide) that can combat the onset and symptoms of altitude sickness, and have those with you.(obviously talk to your doctor)
that 24-36 hours acclimation time requires you get to where youll hunt a few days prior to opening day,obviously,and spend a couple days at a medium altitude like 5K-6K before going higher,If your in a hotel/motel, hot showers help as they tend to reduce blood pressure slightly, which is a minor help, youll generally feel ok after 36-48 hours if you don,t push hard and try to sleep several thousand feet lower than you hunt, it helps
--Drink water- and gator aid , force yourself even if not thirsty,-Start several days or a week BEFORE you arrive at altitude. Most folks--especially those who work at more sedentary professions--don't drink enough water/liquids to begin with.

--Don't drink alcohol.

--Start taking 2-3 aspirin each day several days before you arrive at altitude.

--As mentioned, bring Rolaids. At the first sign of feeling just a tiny bit queasy, take some.

--Try to avoid heavy exertion for the first day or two at altitude.

--Folks with high blood pressure are more likely to get altitude sickness, so keep that in mind for you and your partners.

--Drink water.......

https://www.altituderx.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altitude_sickness

http://www.bing.com/health/article/...tude+sickness&qpvt=altitude+sickness

you spend dawn to dusk either over heated or freezing your butt off, in the hope that you can shoot a damn 450lb-700lb elk, and carry his body out in several 70 lb back packs, on several trips into and out of a canyon,(usually covered in mud loose shale, thick brush or snow) loaded with meat , for the 2-5 miles hike out of some steep canyon, (ELK ALWAYS seem to live in the next canyon, never above your camp) where you slip and fall on your face at least every 1/2 hour , while you try hard to give yourself a heart attack , while asking your friends if your having fun yet?
and do it year after year, and even look forward to it, in fact you feel cheated if you miss a season.

I get it every trip,I drive out a few days early knowing it takes time for the body to adjust,constantly drinking lots of water, Gatorade ,take an aspirin every 4 hours and staying where its warm during the first two-to-three days tends to help a good deal, so I usually stay at a motel or a friends home during the 3 days before the season
symptoms generally include killer migraine headache, sinus hurt and you feel like you've got the flu, but it passes, and if you know what to expect and basically rest the first 3 days you'll adjust.
yeah! IM that obsessed with hunting ELK!
ALTITUDE SICKNESS SUCKS
carry lots of water and aspirin, Excedrin etc. as altitude sickness is common and a real P.I.T.A., head aches , nausea ,are real and common youll feel like crap for the first 24-36 hours, you likely to have a killer headache, but drink lots of liquids and take pain killers and it slowly passes so don,t let it end your hunt, don,t let altitude sickness ruin your hunt, its a problem for almost all new hunters that don,t live at similar altitudes,symptoms are a killer head ache and nausea, that usually takes 8-12 hours to start after moving to higher altitude and it can last 12-48 hours making life miserable , its cure is drinking lots of liquids like gator aid and water and taking aspirin and Excedrin and resting while your body adapts , if possible spend the first couple nights at a slightly lower altitude, example where I normally hunt the altitude is about 8K-11K , if I spend a couple nights in a motel at lets say 5K-7K it tends to REDUCE but not eliminate the problem and DON,T GET STUPID and push yourself hard at those altitudes, just find a decent place to sit and watch a narrow canyon, or a natural travel choke point and glass the area if you feel out of breath or overly tired, once your in a good area,many guys find that sitting and glassing every 15-30 minutes for an hour or so,is more effective than constantly still hunting because its hard to carefully inspect an area if your having a difficult time just breathing and your exhausted
my wife thinks I,m addicted to this insane obsessive addictive,masochistic behavior that kicks in any time it snows more than a few days,and I'm in the Rocky mountains in sept-nov......I told her shes wrong ...it rarely snows in sept.

I found a much easier way to do it. I moved to where I hunt, and hike almost everyday where the elk are.

I know that's not possible for everybody, but if it is. Do it! You'll never regret it if hunting is your life.