Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Elk Hunting as a Senior

Arrive early and acclimate. High altitude, steep hills, slick footing, pack and rifle are strenuos. All doable. As said get in shape. Also get good boots/socks and work your feet and ankles. Find a locall hill and train on some local steep terain going up and down and do some side hilling carrying a load. My elk loadout is 8lbs rifle and 15-20 lb pack in the mountains.

Elk hunting for most is a team sport particularly without atvs or pack animals.

God bless you and well done sir. Gives us in our 60s hope!

Spot on. Rustle up an outfitter offering relatively lower cost cow elk hunts on private land and use that experience to learn the ropes.

I shot my first bull elk 15 days before my 68th birthday in SD this year. Took 20 years to get drawn and I made 4 scouting trips plus the hunt. The highest elevation I was at was around 5000 feet so not real high. There were days scouting that we did about 7 miles some climbing but not too bad, I had 2 stents put in March of 2019 and I have been exercising on a regular basis. I couldn't quite keep up with my 34 year old son but I did ok. My point is if you are in reasonably good shape you should be able to handle the hunt ok, pace yourself and a good guide will be cognizant of how you are handling things. This was a once in a lifetime elk hunt for me so don't be sorry you did'nt go thru with the hunt.
wmd

I would contact a hunting consultant. You can explain your situation and they'll come up with some options for you to consider. I'm 63 and have been using Huntnation after someone here recommended them several years ago. Most of my friends are still working and those that aren't can't afford to go on guided hunts. I've booked 2 hunts with them and will probably book another this winter for my son and I. Good Luck!

Just came back from my elk hunt with a first day cow.. She was back a mile and 1/2 at over 8,000 feet. My buddy helped hold it and turn it while I dressed it and then we all packed it out. The next day I returned for one more load then drove a few miles, hiked back in two miles to help my other two buddies to get their two bulls out. Packed out a ham two miles and returned part way, to pick up my third load of the day. I am 75 now, conditioning, desire and overall health are the key. I have another hunt in two weeks.

Conditioning is VERY important, but natural ability is also very important. I'm 72 and my partner is 75. I'm quite a bit taller than him and have at least a 6" longer stride. I'm in much better shape than he is but he's way ahead of me in natural athletic ability. He can outwalk me any day, even with my longer stride. However, at rest stops and at the end of the day, I'll recover MUCH faster because of my conditioning.

That is some solid work, elkmen1. What type of packs do you guys prefer and do you use the common cheesecloth gamebags or custom made ones? I used my old Kelty frame years ago, and ended up donating it to a SAR team when I left the mountains. Wish I still had it....

Get fit, bike etc. Read up on high altitude edema. Altitude sickness and remedies. ( bicarb and limit alcohol)
I'm 72, live at 5500. Hunt at 9500. I also do not work at it, it is mostly a camp trip. I have taken up bicycle and that helped a lot this year along with finding out I had celiac so watching diet made a difference.

Pard is 79, but lives at 9000 so he is acclimated..

I just want to call out Troublesome for excellent use of the term Pert Near! Well done! and congrats to WMD!

Very doable, get in shape, have your doctor write a script for Diamox for altitude sickness and pick an outfitter. Good luck!

"Troublesome8, That is some solid work, elkmen1. What type of packs do you guys prefer and do you use the common cheesecloth gamebags or custom made ones? I used my old Kelty frame years ago, and ended up donating it to a SAR team when I left the mountains. Wish I still had it.."

I have three Camp Trails frame packs, which help, and were made only for packing. My partners have newer packs which convert to both frame and bag packs but the "Freighter" packs have never let me down. They are old like me, but get the job done.
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Packs, I use stone glaciers; sky archer 5900 (new model is 6400) for archery and a sky guide 7900 for long trips. They’re expensive but one of the lightest hunting bags on the market and super comfortable for me. I’ve packed out several animals and few trips up mountains hauling water for camp. They’re well made and tough so far. Game bags, I use caribou gear game bags. They’re light, breath, hold up well and keep bugs and dirt out. Flies can lay eggs through cheese cloth. The only option with it is if you can keep it elevated well off the meat or wrap it several times in which case the meat doesn’t breath.

I've lived near sea level for the last 30 years. Come hunt in Washington. Here's how it worked out for me: https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/11623852/1

It's spot-and-stalk hunting just like Warren Page and Jack O'Connor used to do, but it's well under 750' ASL. Sometimes you can hear sea gulls.

I talked with this guide a couple of days ago. He just picked up a 4,500-acre lease and is seeing monster bulls.


Okie John

I have been trying to keep up with all the latest in gear. So much out there now. Those stone glacier packs look to be the [bleep] . I have to admit that for the years I worked for outfitters I never had to sweat the pack out back to camp or to the trailhead as I had 40 head of horses to work with and I usually got first dibs on pack horses for my camp , so I was spoiled in that regard. These days, thinking of putting that weight on my back makes my roids swell! We had some gamebags made out of decent cotton years ago with a drawstring on em . They lasted us a long time and worked well.

New gear is always coming out and it’s hard to keep track of. It’s also all insanely expensive in Canada. I pretty much have to buy everything from the US if I want good gear. We’re a country that should be able to produce fine products but we seem to only produce pu**ies (I fall into my own criticism, I’m part of the pu**y generation).

I haven’t had any failures on either pack nor my game bags. I’ve never carried more than 120-130lbs in the bags. I don’t have much patience for horses. I run a pedal bike instead.

okie-----I also live in Washington on the east side of the Cascades. Been here for several years and have yet to hunt. So far this year I have been to Idaho, Wyoming and Oregon in a couple of weeks. Much better hunting elsewhere than here,. I have lots of preference points, so I may drop Idaho and try a hunt east of the Cascades this next year,

We hunted the Olympic penninsula,( what a trip that was), Yakima area and around Wenatchee area when I was stationed at Ft. Lewis many years ago. I backpacked in the Blue Mountains when I got out, saw quite a few elk in there.... I have a buddy who lives outside of Olympia somewhere, they hunt their own property , small acreage.

I just booked a hunt with Jeanne Horne. Now, how to get there? Fly to Denver and then rent a truck, or just drive all the way from the Houston area?

Drive. That way your gear is in your control the whole time, and you have your own rig to bring home the elk.