Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Altitude sickness

After hunting 4 or 5 days and not seeing elk, I often get attitude sickness.

I live at 8000'. Dont seem to get it.

I grew up above 10,000 ft. and still get up there quite often. I typically hunt between 11,000 and 12,000 ft. Sometimes after goats and sheep we can push towards 14K, but not too often. I've seen altitude sickness happen to people and seen them almost die. It is very serious, especially when guys are there to hunt and you're trying to convince them that they need to leave camp NOW and not just wait it out, which most of us would typically do. Once you feel like you just don't want to do anything, have a pounding headache, and still feel like you can't breathe, it is time to get to lower elevation. That is the only way to reduce the symptoms and stop the effects. And sometimes it is too late to reverse and you're going to need to go to the hospital. No one wants that to happen.

Good hydration, Diamox, no alcohol, and not pushing yourself physically until you are fully acclimated are all good things to do to lessen the effects. Acclimating slowly over 2-4 days where you overnight at increasingly higher elevations is probably the best way to avoid it all together.

Driving from Colo. Springs to the summit of Pikes Peak is a surefire way to experience altitude sickness. The good thing about it is that you don't need to spend a lot of time at the summit and that you can quickly descend just by hopping in your car. This typically doesn't work in elk camp.

The best cure is to avoid altitude sickness altogether. Stay home and hunt whitetails! No sickness and you can drink all the beer you want. No need to pay those exorbitant out-of-state license fees either. Watch youtube videos of locals hunting elk and failing and you'll know you missed nothing. Problem solved.

Sounds like you want no competition for the best reefer.

Who would fund your big State government?

We don’t need out of state hunter money. We have enough out of staters coming here to buy pot and get high on the ski slopes and campgrounds. Tax on pot is high. 😉

Going from 1500 feet to 8000 feet has a horrible effect on some mules and horses also. I had a paste that I gave mine and always got up there a few days early to get them acclimated to the altitude. I had one twelve year old spotted saddle horse that could just not take it.

Go convince CPW that they don’t need NR money. You’re dreaming now.... without NR money, you’d be whining like a school girl! LOL!

Would like to add my 2 cents here. I live at 1300 feet here in South Dakota and shot my elk at 10,600 feet last November. Did some serious exercising before the hunt and got myself into shape. Stayed hydrated and started taking Diamox 2 days before the hunt started. I received a kidney transplant in 2008 and take blood pressure and anti-rejection medications as well but the doctors at Mayo Clinic said the Diamox would not interact with any of my meds. I quit drinking pop (soda) several years ago but bought a six-pack of small Coke cans to celebrate when I shot my elk. That was the worse can of Coke I ever had! I forgot that Diamox makes carbonated beverages taste quite nasty and I will attest to that!

I'm lucky and live at 8000ft. I hunt timberline at 11.500ft. What I do is a week before hunting season starts I go up to 10,000ft and hike, fly fish or just hang out. I do that for a couple of days and then a couple of more at 11,500ft. I'm then ready to go hunting with no side effects. I'm an old guy, so I can't afford to get too tired. Not much reserve as when I was younger.

So, I suggest to come early and go up in steps so your body can adjust. Going up in one big step in elevation can get you killed.

I get altitude sickness every time I got out to Colorado, I usually stay around 8k-9k and hunt up. Last year i ended up getting blood clots in my nose after i was out, not sure if that was related to the altitude or just a complications from a previous surgery. Either way it sucked getting it fixed.

You'll be proven wrong in the next few years when they start limiting elk tags. Just like when Wyoming passes the 90/10 quotas. WG&F and CPW will be just fine. Love how NR think they make the world go around.

While I have no reason to argue your point, I would like to bring page 7 of the financial report linked below to your attention. Resident elk licenses $7 million and NR $44 million in revenue. NR hunting is big business in Colorado. I have been wrong before and I can prove it!
https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/C...l%20Report_FY21_Q2-Justin_Rutter-DNR.pdf

PS: I am not thinking that NR hunters are all that and a bag of chips. I am also not worried about what residents think about NR hunters, either. I have a long standing gig hunting on private land that belongs to a non-resident who pays the same taxes on that land as residents. If that opportunity goes away due to tag quotas, so be it. I won’t be here or elsewhere whining about it like some whiny little b1tches on here. LOL!

Thanks for the comments men.

I take a full sized aspirin each day for at least a week before I’m out there. Ten days is even better. Not the baby aspirin.

Hydrate hydrate hydrate all the time when I’m in the timber. Even when I’m not thirsty (that’s important). I live in SW GA which is 200’ above sea level. To go straight to 10,000’- 12,500’ takes its toll on me. Usually three days to acclimate. The aspirin and H2O help.

I used to go to CME meetings at Copper in CO. About once a year someone from the lowlands or the coast would fly in, get all they’re ski stuff on and hit the slopes hard for the afternoon. They’d get a headache, feel “fluish”, go to their room go to sleep and not wake up again. So they came from very low elevation to 8-10,000 feet and exerted hard all in a matter of 4-6 hours.

It doesn’t matter if you’re in phenomenal physical condition and you can develop HAPE or HACE ( high altitude pulmonary edema or cerebral edema, both of which are very serious and requiring in the field to get to lower elevations ASAP.

Most cases are milder with a headache, treating with aspirin and plenty of fluids is the answer along with decreasing exertion for awhile.

Diamox is a type diuretic and has been used successfully for this syndrome but some people get quite severe bothersome tingling in their hands and fingers over a weeks time plus it depletes fluid in the macula of your eye with visual Disturbances up to a week or so after discontinuing it.

Best approach is to go up to altitude slowly even over days if time allows, drink plenty of water, take an aspirin a day and refrain from alcohol.

Duh?? Ivermectin, of course! Actually, your idea of arriving 3 days early by yourself sounds like a bit of heaven. I actually like traveling by myself, or with the dog if it’s a bird hunt. Only myself to please. 3 days alone in elk camp might be enough for me to feign illness. Go early if you can and enjoy!

I agree about going early. Every trip I've ever made to the mountains I feel better after being there a few days.

It’s weird how it affects people differently. I’ve lived at 6000’ for two years now, and when we go to our cabin at 7400 my head gets a little swimmy the first day. When I lived at sea level, anything above 5000’ would make my head miserable.
And I believe your body can reach “critical mass”, and you’re screwed from ever going high again. I used to run with a guy (lived at sea level) who spent alot of time in the mountains, even ran Hardrock a few times. Never bothered him until one trip he got sick and now can’t go above 10000’ without needing medical attention.
Getting and staying in shape will defintily help with hiking and packing, but it doesn’t really address the core issue of operating with less oxygen. I’ve also heard that viagra will work for a quick fix, but I don’t think that would be a viable option for a week long hunt.

Altitude affects people in different ways. I live at 4k. At 10 or 11k, I can be panting but it's not altitude sickness. I haven't been high enough to have that yet.