Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Altitude sickness

This is something that at times really hammers me. Do any of you have any ways that deal with this that helps.
Thanks
Jim

I live at 4, 500 ft. When I venture to Wy for elk (floor is 7,000 and timberline is about 9,000), I get there three days before the season and do the light chores of getting camp in, a little scouting, and some fishing. For the first couple days one has the sensation that he can quite pull in a full breath. By the end of the 3rd day, that sensation has gone away, and life is good.

Rolaids or other calcium carbonate antacids will help. Nothing really fixes it other than acclimation. I live at 4000'. We usually hunt at 6 to 9k. I try to get in good shape during the summer and I haven't had any real problems. I can get tired but not nauseous unless I really overdo it. I have a 5 mile route that I hike at least twice a week during the summer that has a 1000' gain in 1.5 miles. While it only gets up to about 5650', it does help a lot come elk season. I work up to carrying 20 to 30lb in my day pack, too.

The above is good advice. Also, staying hydrated is big help. Avoid excessive alcohol consumption and not too much coffee. Drink plenty of water during the day, your pee should be no darker than pale yellow. A couple ibuprofin before bed and when you get up in the morning should help with the headache (and achy knees).

Thanks guys. I seem to be more prone that some of the guys I've hunted with. We live at about 700 feet above sea level. I was riding 80 miles a week on my bike when getting ready to go and around here could walk all day but that thin air sure hurts! I had not heard that about the antacids. I never drink so that isn't a factor but I do like my coffee!

Atomic-strength Excedrin can help. I've seen it first-hand.

Excellent advice. Keep hydrated! Arrive at that altitude two or three days early if you can.

Good hunting and stay healthy.

L.W.

Unfortunately, nothing really works for altitude sickness other than being there for a while. There's no magic cure or prevention.

That's my experience. Way too rough for my lungs
Takes more than a couple of days for me

You are correct, of course. The other stuff helps mitigate the symptoms though, hopefully enough to make hunting up high tolerable.

Shortness of breath or running out of air is pretty normal, and you will never catch your breath like at home.
Headaches, nervous jitters, not sleeping, nausea, chest pains are more what I have witnessed with altitude sickness.
Cramps is more from lack of hydration.
Hydration, Rolaids, arrive a few days early, nothing strenuous for the first few days, all helps.
Some have to sleep 2,000 to 3,000 lower than where they hunt.
Some medical conditions are aggravated by altitude.
Buddy can't go fishing in the mountains anymore, because of high BP and more, doctor's orders.
Another bud has to run his CPAP. Takes him about a week to get any kind of acclimation.
There are small aerosol canisters of oxygen available.

It can be rough
I hunted for years around timberline in and around the Maroon Belles in Colorado
Everyone is "In Shape" until you hit that 10,000 foot level where the air and the trees thin out

We used to camp at 7300' and then pitch a spike camp up higher around 9000'





Water lots of water helps, but once you get into the highs it can hit you hard

Sounds like I'd better just get out there a few days earlier. That's easy for me but not so much for my hunting buddies as they have different work requirements than I do. I have thought of going alone several days ahead of them and setting the tent up then relax for 3-4 days.

How high?

From most of the studies, it seems like both daytime activities and sleeping over 9000 feet have the greatest chance to cause it.

I've used diamox in the past as a preventative. I don't know if it helped, but I didn't have any sickness. I was sleeping at 10500 and hunting around that elevation too.

Start it 2-3 days before you get up to elevation.

All sage advice. One must get used to the altitude and keeping hydrated, lay off the booze, is an understatement. One does not realize how poorly hydrated they are until they get to altitude. I drink till I pee clear, always!

It may be worth trying Diamox. A lot of people report that it works very well. Two things I am not good at, I have to remind myself to do at elevation. Hydrate and pace myself. So far, that has worked well for me. Now the altitoots, that's a different story. I'll blow the damn blanket off of me in the middle of the night.

+1 on Diamox

When I lived at sea level & had this issue, it worked like a light switch.
Turned the symptoms right off.
Best to start the day before you reach altitude & continue about 3 days.

People’s chemistry for altitude sickness are very different. If you are in the worst percentage it can be deadly & should be taken very seriously.
Everyone has trouble with stamina & oxygen until they acclimate but if you’re getting severe headaches & nausea you could be getting brain swelling & lung issues. Sensitivity gets worse with age. Everyone gets cerebral &/or pulmonary edema at 14,000, most at 12,000, some at 10,000 but a small percentage get it as low as 5,000

Worst case scenario is coma & death.
Not trying to be dramatic, but it is no joke.

As above posts advise, hydration, slower ascent (eg. breaking the commute into more days, not driving from 0 to 7k or more in one day), don’t work hard right away when you arrive, no alcohol the first few days all helps.

If you are in the hardest hit percentage a prescription for 125 milligrams of Diamox is a Huge help.

Just to clarify, the above applies to the sudden change in altitude. There is no problem once you have time to acclimate. I now live at 7k & have no problems. But could get violently ill when I lived at sea level & traveled to 6k.

I had one hunt that it made me sick enough I had to leave camp for lower altitude. That camp was at 10,600 ft. and we packed in fairly quick with horses. That night I had all the symptoms most get plus being hot then cold and disoriented. The next morning I hiked the 7 miles down to the truck, went to Eagle and got a room. It ruined that hunt. The guys I went with didn't have a clue just how sick I was. They kept hunting. I didn't get to.

My last trip there I had the typical headache and lose of appetite and we camped at 10,200 feet. I managed pretty good. I don't drink any so that's never an issue. My next trip we plan to have our camp at 7200 feet then hunt higher. I've made the same trip before and got along pretty good. I'll look into the Diamox too. I've never heard of it before.

ALTITUDE SICKNESS: The two most serious types of altitude sickness are High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) and High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE). HAPE is fluid in the lungs and you can self-diagnose it when you feel gurgling in your lungs or pain in the chest. If your breath is condensing and your friends aren't condensing, then you may have fluid in your lungs. HACE is fluid on the brain. You can self-diagnose it when you get dizzy and stay dizzy for more than a minute or so. If one of your hunting partners goes unconscious or doesn't wake up in the morning, you need to transport him to lower elevation immediately to save his life. The only effective field remedy for HAPE and HACE requires an item called a Gamow Bag and you won't have one. So, DESCEND! DESCEND! DESCEND! Get to lower elevation immediately if you want to live. Fortunately, HAPE and HACE are both rare (but not unheard of) below 10,000' elevation.

The most common type and the least severe is AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness). It's often associated with dehydration. Its symptoms are similar to those of influenza and they may include mild headache, nausea, vomiting, lassitude, loss of appetite, and periodic breathing (waking up gasping for air). Common Aspirin and Tums can help. Diamox is the brand name of a prescription drug (acetazolamide) that works for some people. Start taking it a couple of days before you begin to ascend. But it doesn't work for everyone and there are some potentially miserable side effects. In most cases, if you rest for a couple of days, drink lots of liquids, and take Aspirin and Tums, AMS will subside.

The best way to avoid altitude sickness is to ascend slowly, at the rate of 1,000' per day. But often you don't have that much time. So, get in good shape now. Good shape means strong heart and lungs. Good exercises include running stairs, swimming, bicycling, or any other kind of exercise that works the heart and lungs. However sometimes even the best athletes can get altitude sickness, so don't count on that being the cure all. Get to high elevation a few days early and just lounge around for a few days before you start exerting yourself. Stay hydrated, avoid alcohol and coffee or any other kind of diuretic. Take one Aspirin and one Tums each day. Be alert to the symptoms mentioned and react appropriately if they occur.

Also try to develop a technique called pressure breathing. Essentially you consciously make your lungs inhale and exhale before you feel the need to breather heavy. If you wait until you need the air then it’s too late and you are always out of breath. A logical extension of pressure breathing is a technique called the rest step. You generate a rhythm between your body effort and your lungs so that you move slower using less energy, and so you have air before you need it; step-breathe-pause-breathe, step-breathe-pause-breathe, repeat, etc.

If dropping below 6500 or so to sleep, I seems the studies suggest you shouldn't have a problem. The problem is if you come from sea level, ascend fast (24-48 hrs) and stay above 9000 ft for sleep and activity. You may not get it, but are at higher risk then. I'd suggest acetazolamide (diamox).

Give your body time to acclimate. Start trying to gain elevation a few days before the hunt. Gain elevation slowly. You will begin to produce more red blood cells.
The climbers rule of thumb is sleep low climb high.
If you start to feel ill drop back down before it becomes more serious.
I climbed to 22,800ft once. I felt HACE, HAPE, cheyne stokes, but they are all manageable if you pay attention. I used diamox but what really got me through was drinking more water.

Hunt high, sleep low. This is another good strategy to mitigate the effects of elevation sickness. Of course if you're having to hike up 3000 feet every morning to hunt, that can make things more challenging.

I try to stay In Ogden (4,500 ft) or Rock Springs (6,500 ft) one night and get to Craig (6,200 ft) two nights before the hunt which is generally under 7,600 ft. That eliminates the issues I had sometimes driving straight from Boise arriving the night before opening day. Several times I got a little symptomatic a couple days into the hunt. We had one guy get dehydrated and end up in the ER several years ago. Our cabin is at 3,500 ft and no issues there. Perhaps that helps the adjustment. Happy Trails

Just for the record, Boise's at 2700'.

I don't know how much it helps but I take an iron supplement and/or try to eat iron-rich foods before and during a hunt, since your body needs iron to produce red cells.

If nothing else, it's a good excuse to bring a few steaks for the fire.

We're at 4000'. I've hunted at 9k with no problems. On the other side, I take our church's Trail Life troop on a llama pack trip every year. Our favorite spot is at 9200'. We've had some minor altitude problems with a couple boys but more commonly with adults who go along. We've considered a longer trip this year. it's 10 miles in and would take 2 days. We'd go over a 10k ridge on the way. That's not a good spot to have people getting sick. Each boy carries his own 1st aid kit and we've put Rolaids in each one.

BTW, on these long group adventure type trips, whether hiking, canoeing, or whatever, when someone gets in trouble, most of the time it's an adult, not the kids. Kids are more resilient.

Yes it is. Driving straight from W. Washington at near sea level with only one night in Boise and a rather short night in Craig didn’t do as much in acclimating as a few more nights at somewhat higher elevations. Happy Trails

I'm almost 72 and spend time every year at between 9,000 and 10,000 ft. I've never been bothered by altitude sickness. I live at about a 600 ft. elevation and walk daily for two miles and have done so for a long time. However, altitude sickness bothered my wife a great deal when she was younger. It seldom affects her now at 73, but she's active and also walks daily. I don't think she ever took any medication when she was troubled by the sickness and it always subsided completely in two or three days.

The most important thing is to hydrate and take it easy at first. I lived in the Andes mountains for a work project, the elevation we stayed at was bout 14,800 feet but we did get up to about 16,080 feet in elevation. When I first got up there I was sick as a dog, after about 3 days I got acclimated to it. Your body also burns a lot of calories at that elevation, I lost a lot of weight. Ibuprofen is your friend. Some people take a small oxygen bottle up, if they start to get a headache, about 10 minutes on the oxygen helps a lot. Be careful.

This is going to seem like an odd thing to do for this but it's what I was told by a man that lives close to Pagosa Springs, Colorado. He told me that eating pears, skins on them would help with the headaches. I have done that as I love pears. Does it work? I made two trips and didn't notice the headaches. For the stamina it didn't do anything.

you need spinach for that. Ask Popeye......

Regular exercise beyond the point where you're sucking air will help but it's not a cure all.

Never bothered me until we drove up Pike's Peak. Felt terrible. couldn't breathe or sleep. Didn't get better until we landed in Charlotte. Ruined my trip

Second this, look for a quality iron supplement also, will be easier on your system.
It takes awhile to ramp up your iron, if in fact you are starting lower than optimal. Get on the supplement 6-9 weeks before your hunt.

I'm good with that!

I live at 1270 elevation so the lack of Oxygen affects me pretty much wherever I hunt. Its not uncommon to break, 10,000 but we are usually a little lower. Like suggested before, I start carrying a weighted pack on my PT hikes before season and get into camp a couple days ahead of time, which I also use for scouting. I have hunted higher and have never had altitude sickness, but it does not affect all.

As said, different individuals have vastly different abilities to handle higher altitude,. Some people will die at elevations others don’t notice. If in doubt, head to lower elevation, NOW! A teenager climbing 12,000 foot Mt. Adams died overnight of altitude sickness at what sounded like 8 or 9,000 feet according to the news story.

Two examples of people prone to altitude sickness:

My wife is hyper sensitive. Some days she gets sick at elevations above 3,000 feet, yet once in awhile she will do fine on the rim of Bryce Canyon at nearly 10,000. In Quito she ended up in the ER with apparent heart attack. Docs took one look and said, “Another tourist with altitude sickness.” They gave her some pills that helped till she could fly home, don’t know what they were. Another trip she got so sick in Banff, which I’d guess is 3500 -4000 in elevation, that we canceled the rest of our stay and headed home to sea level. One time driving through the high plains of Wyoming she got slightly mind fuddled and her vision greyed out till she was looking through a horizontal slot blacked out on top and bottom. We boogied for the Snake River canyon and she got better by the mile as elevation dropped. Forced over hydration ahead of the sickness, not allowing a chance of dehydration helps- sometimes. She avoids high country anymore.

At 7,000 feet when deer hunting in California, a hunter near me went into chest pains and I rushed off of the mountain to take him to an ER because I was sure he was having a heart attack. He insisted that it was altitude sickness and merely needed to get home to sea level. By the time we got down to 1500 feet he was fine.

Driving up Pikes Peak gains a lot of altitude very fast. At least 6000ft and even more if you start down near the center of Colo Spgs. They have some problems with that there. Barr trail is a great training hike for big range mountaineers because of that altitude gain. Very sorry to hear of your experience.

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.

In some ways I've not liked the way Colorado has moved the elk seasons later on the calendar than they used to be but it does make for some better hunting at lower elevations. So I've been told anyway.

Ivermectin is for heart worm prevention in pets and farm animals. I think you meant "Ibuprofen" (active ingredient in Advil).

I can’t qualify the overall advantages of Colorado moving all but the 1st rifle season back one week. But moving them puts 4th season of 5 days starting Wednesday before Thanksgiving, a show stopper for us.

Going up Pikes Peak ruined my trip to C Springs. Coming back down didn't help. i felt terrible and had to leave early (Air Force trip). Didn't feel bettter until plane landed in Texas.

I know. I wish they had not moved them like they are now.

Me, too. I usually liked hunting 2nd season when it opened 10/22-24 and hunting 3rd when 2nd opened earlier. Now, 4th season opening later poses 2 obstacles for me: Celebrating Thanksgiving with family and traveling long distance that late in November. As a non-resident, I guess I’ll just go with the flow until I can’t! Happy Trails

FYI, I've hunted Colorado since 1992, I always had trouble sleeping. In 2016, I didn't get a wink of sleep the whole 6 days I was there, I was exhausted, luckily, I shot my bull on the second night. Same thing happened in 2017 and 2018. I kept going to my GP and getting meds for altitude sickness. In 2020 I had to go to see a Rutgers, NJ Occupational Health Specials doctor because I was having some throat issues and I was a first responder during 911. While I've always had trouble sleeping, it was getting worse, when I saw the doctor she said to me "you look tired". When I explained my sleeping issues, she sent me for a sleep test and I failed badly, I have sleep apnea.

Just be careful, I use a CPAP now and all is good, I don't know if they make a battery operated one for camping. I'll see this year if the CPAP helps and will let you know. Be safe out there.

Altitude affects everyone differently. I live below sea level. I am typing this at 9300 feet. Other than very mild headaches, I suffer no ill effects. Obviously my lungs take a while to acclimate. My wife does well when she first arrives, then at about the 2 week mark starts suffering fatigue, shortness of breath and headaches.

All of the suggestions given are good and may work for some or even most people, but some folks simply can't overcome the effects.

Thanks for the comments guys. I always feel better at the end of my trip when it involves altitude so it seems getting an earlier start at getting there would be a big help. Some of the other guys I go with can't really do that though so we compromise. My dream hunting trip is to just go myself and get there 5 days early, set up camp and lounge around then when they show up I'm charged and ready to go, likely allot more than them!

Check with your doctor about medication. Diamox. I have been to Tibet and Peru. We started taking the meds several days in advance and it helps. Lots of water and avoid coffee (OMG!) and alcohol.

I live at 7650. Have been for the last 45 years. Hunting at 8000 feet even gets me running out of air. I can't exercise, ,I drink a lot of water,no booze and move slow. I don't venture more than 200 yards from my mule now days.

Had it maybe once, mild case from day hiking at 11K with no acclimation. Better to arrive early and spend the first night in the truck at minimum.

Coffee or tea never an issue, it helps in the AM and I drink plenty of water on the hike up anyways.

Genetics and personal physiology I believe is the biggest variable, but outside of adequate acclimation I believe drinking a lot of water is the best thing a person can do to help themselves out. A gallon a day isn't too much, by any means.

I love my coffee as much as the next guy, but it does dehydrate you.

Actually, now the "experts" say coffee doesn't dehydrate you. Alcohol is the worst for that but......

Not drinking alcohol is fine for me, I quit a long time ago. On my first trip to the high country I had read don't drink coffee so I didn't. Horrible headaches then it dawned on me maybe just to cut back a bit. I sometimes think keeping as close to a normal diet might be best.

Well they could fool me then....everytime I drink coffee in the evening I wake up the next morning dying of thirst.

Yes, experts are like that.

A few years ago on the last day of our hunt we had a guy that was complaining of chest pains, loss of breath, arm tingling etc and had to be taken down to town and to the ER. Come to find out it was alcohol induced as a group of them were celebrating the elk harvest the night before and he had a few too many shots.. This was at about 9500 feet and we stay about 7900 ft..

On the bright side, if you go to the ER in Granby CO, the nurses are very easy on the eyes!!!

I

But I’ll bet there is a bar nearby with eye candy with a lower co-pay! LOL

At high altitudes in Peru the pharmacies sell small personal bottles of oxygen, this can be a life saver if you have a severe case. The other thing in Peru that really helped was Coca tea, this would be hard to find here but I don't think it is illegal, same for chewing coca leaves. The Rolaids and Diamox are about it as far as I know as preventatives. Getting there early and getting in shape are the two best things you can do. With age you will acclimatize more slowly. Try to plan the big hikes for after you have been there a few days. Go early scout and set up a really nice camp for the guys who can't go early.

If you have even mild symptoms go to a lower elevation, if it gets severe you will not be able to get yourself to a lower elevation on your own.

The way it effected me was I got the "brown flu", arriving a few days ahead of time and slowly working into the hunt routine is helpful. Stay well hydrated and watch your diet, be sure to pack anti-diarrheal meds.

And do not, under any circumstances, trust a fart.

This weekend I was on a llama pack trip. We live at 4000' and were up to 9500'. I didn't have sickness but I was sure sucking air. A couple guys, who live downhill at about 2500', were showing mild sickness symptoms. They aren't the same thing. Sickness in it's mildest form is dizziness, headache, maybe nausea, and muscle aches. I had none of those but any rapid exertion had me really gasping for air. I would get over it in a minute or so.

Here's a list of the stages of sickness. If you're anything more than acute, you'd better be getting your tail downhill ASAP. Even dropping down 1000' can make a huge difference in many cases. We were only 800' above the trailhead and I could feel a difference in just that much.

Types
There are three kinds of altitude sickness. :

Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) is the mildest form and it’s very common. The symptoms can feel like a hangover – dizziness, headache, muscle aches, nausea.

High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) is a buildup of fluid in the lungs that can be very dangerous and even life threatening.

High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE) is the most severe form of altitude sickness and happens when there’s fluid in the brain. It’s life threatening and you need to seek medical attention right away.


Here's a list of symptoms that elk hunters are most likely to have:

Symptoms

You might have:

Headache
Dizziness
Nausea
Vomiting
Fatigue and loss of energy
Shortness of breath
Problems with sleep
Loss of appetite

Symptoms usually come on within 12 to 24 hours of reaching a higher elevation and then get better within a day or two as your body adjusts to the change in altitude.