Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting 2023 - Fitness / Workout thread

Thanks! It always seemed so far off, I booked the hunt ~ 2.5 years ago and now it’s around the corner

Do your best to live in the moment and soak it all up, epic hunts always seem to go by in a flash.

35 miles last week and ~ 6000’ of gain, all with a 55# pack; got both strength training workouts in

Been fighting a sinus infection this week. Only been doing light cardio (ie walking at a brisk pace) and stretching.

September is around the corner, almost time to start chasing birds and bugling bulls

Good luck on your grand adventure Warden! Stay safe and enjoy.

Back in the saddle. Sled drags, back squats, split squats, leg press, 20mins of hiit intervals in the bike.

Did 20mins on the stairmaster and a couple mile run

This is my current Human maintenance schedule. (5-Days/Wk)

Run course - 04:30-05:00A

Gym/Court - 07:00-09:00A (30 min. travel time)

Home - 09:00-09:10A


EXERCISE: (~ 2 Hrs./Day)
EMOM = Every Minute On the Minute

2.5 mi. Run Course: (22-45 min.)
- Boot Hike
or
- 2.0 mi. run/recover/0.5 mi. run for time

Gym/Court: (~ 1.5 hrs.)
Mat: 4 x 20 reps (Circuit)
- Body wt. Squat + Jump
- Push-up
- Windshield Wiper (Hip mobility)
- Sit-up + Garhammer Crunch

Bar: Sets x Reps (EMOM) = 20
- Pull-up
- Bar-dip

Weights: (dumbbell) - 2 x 10 reps (EMOM)
- Bent Over Double Row, Toe and ankle - (single dumbbell L/R)
- Incline Curl + Press - (Dbl. dumbbell)
- Decline Flyaway - (Dbl. dumbbell)
- Vertical Clean + Press - (single dumbbell L/R)

Court: 4-wall Handball

Weights: (dumbbell) - 1 x 10 reps (EMOM)
- Inside Heavy Club Swing - (single dumbbell L/R)
- Outside Heavy Club Swing - (single dumbbell L/R)
- Shield/Cast Heavy Club Swing - (single dumbbell L/R)

Home: (10 min.)
Kettlebell:
- Hail Caesar 2 x 20
- Halo 2 x 10 (L/R)

Heavy Club: 2 x 10 (L/R)
- Inside Mill
- Outside Mill




GR

Half mile run, quarter mile in heavy vest, quarter mile in heavy vest and gas mask while carrying 25lbs in each hand, 50 air squats in heavy vest, 50 push-ups, 50 burpees. 25 minutes.

The burpees were an azz kicker

Thanks for the well wishes!

Lets see- 128 miles the following four weeks, better than half in the Brooks Range. Great trip, exceeded my expectations and they were high

My fitness was pretty good going in, but I was humbled a bit by the tundra- most of it relatively flat and thought I'd cruise, BUT sinking in with each and every step was tough- almost like postholing in the snow. Had to negotiate a lot of sketchy rock when we climbed, w/ a pretty heavy pack too (and even heavier w/ meat & head). But all in all, I was happy with my fitness level.

Frick yeah man!!!

What Greg said!

Well done! We need details........... <G>

Thanks Guys!

Cliff Note version of my Brooks hunt.

We started pack rafting (after getting dropped off by a float plane). We covered a lot of ground on day one- it's an effective to look into a lot more drainages than you ever would by foot. Saw young rams and ewes and lambs. Camped on a gravel bar to wake to really bad smoke (there was really bad smoke in Fairbanks two days earlier). We ended burning three total days stuck on that gravel bar due to smoke. I won't lie, I was getting very worried about this situation.

The smoke finally cleared the next morning. We rafted across the river and then portaged the rafts across two lakes to get into a drainage the guide has had luck w/ in the past. Hours of glassing and no sheep, so we loaded up the pack rafts and paddled down to the next drainage. We hiked until night fall (night fall being 11:00 PM-ish!). Next morning we were up early and continued up the drainage, glassing as went. Late afternoon we spotted three rams, two appeared legal. We ditched all of our camp stuff and several days of food and then headed up to make a play on the rams. We spent several hours of sidehilling, climbing, descending and climbing again to get above them on very sketchy (loose) rock/scree- very slow going. When we finally made it to the ridgeline we low crawled to the edge only to find the rams were no longer there. We retreated, moved down the ridge and repeated this several times before finally spying them in the very bottom of the basin feeding their way up the opposite side. The guide ranged the rams (said they were both good and a toss up) at 420 yards. Further than I was hoping to shoot, the 2-7X scope had the rams looking mighty small! I had my bipod on and a rear rest, so it was pretty solid. When the ram finally stopped long enough, I squeezed the trigger- I was able to see the ram go down and quickly racked in another round, the guide tapped me on the shoulder and said "no need". To say I was ecstatic is an understatement. A lot of work and sweat (and $!) went into prepping for this trip, but it paid off

There was more bad rock to negotiate and it took another hour to get to the ram. We took some photos and then got to caping and boning meat. By the time we were done it was after 11:00 PM. The guide thought our best course was to spend the night on the mountain instead of trying to negiotate the steep and sketchy rock back w/ loaded packs- I concurred.

I had planned for this contingency- I had a puffy jacket, puffy pants, warm hat along with a bivy and a cut down (40") Z Lite pad. The guide had not- he had a warm jacket and pants, but no pad. He did use the sheep cape to provide a little insulation from the ground. I didn't sleep great (it was cold), but got a little sleep- the guide I don't think got a wink.

At first light (~ 5:00 AM) we loaded the packs and headed out. It was slow and tedious getting back to our camp stuff. Loading that up on top of the meat, head and cape- made for heavy packs. We still had 6 miles to get to our pack rafts and the lake where the outfitter should pick us up the next day. We didn't make it back at nearly 11:00 PM- a very long day to say the least.

We got a big fire going (it started raining hard about a mile shy of the lake), shelters setup and ate a late supper. Not satisfied, we broke the tenderloins out. The guide got a green, sharpened willow stick and w/ no seasonings or oil, cooked thinly sliced loins in the coals. Oh boy, were they good!

The next morning we had to paddle to the upper part of the lake to have a more favorable spot for the float plane. We got back to the lodge ate a late lunch and took a hot shower. That evening we cooked the ribs outside on a fire (very slowly cooked with the ribs dripping hot fat into the coals). We salivated while drinking cold beers (stored in a permafrost "refrigerator"- 55 gallon barrel buried in in the ground). Sheep ribs might be the single best thing that have crossed my lips in the 65 years I've been around!

Anyways, great hunt that exceeded my expectations!

Very cool. Thanks for sharing and congratulations again!

Thanks!

In other news, post sheep hunt mileage has been 33, 37 and 36 miles/week. Still on track for 2023 miles this year.

My strength training took a hit, almost a month off . I’ve hit the last two weeks with twice a week lifting. Had to lower my 1RM by a fair bit, but am confident I can can bump it up a bit- well until rifle season starts anyways

OUTSTANDING write up and hunt. Beautiful country and great pictures, congratulations on a fine ram you earned it.

No workouts lately. Been hiking my arse off in the mountains. Back to regroup and head back out at the end of the week. Hoping the weather change will finally kick something off. Have seen a bunch of elk, some nice bulls, but not rutting

@elkman1 Thanks!

Had a good week- 59 miles, 40 of it on backpacking trip into the Scapegoat. Got both if my strength trainings in as well.

Went over 800 miles so far this year and over 3,000 feet elevation so far this week.