Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Elk Hunt Conditioning, everyone on track?

Just finished a 50 minute hike carrying 97 pounds in my Kifaru Longhunter. Included 10 sets of stadium steps at the football field for good measure. I was happy to take the pack off, but feeling pretty good all in all. Alternating packing weight and distance running. Resting pulse at 52 and shooting for mid 40s by late Sept.

All this to support my 14 year old on his first rifle hunt for bulls. Barring injuries, should be ready to go. How is everyone else doing getting ready? Time to start if you haven't.

I stay in shape year round but try to peak before I go in the woods. I've been doing pretty well except lately. I had to work 21 days in a row, 12 hour shifts, so I can get in the gym but haven't had time to ride my bike, go to spinning classes, or do any yoga in the last couple of weeks. In a week or so I'll be back at the whole program.

Last year I spent a fair amount of time hiking around the neighborhood (3-4 miles) with my LongHunter Guide with 70-80lbs. I was getting ready for the high buck hunt. This year, I'll going on my first archery elk hunt (always been a rifle hunter). I haven't worked out, hiked, or run ONCE in 7-8 months! I've been bustin' my butt in a full on backyard renovation, which has keep me working hard, (packing cinder block, bags of cement, digging ditches etc) but not the cardio and leg workouts I desperately NEED to start again. I can't figure out why this year it's SO HARD to get back going again. Starting over again when you've been out of it for so long like I have, always SUCKS!!

I always say I'll never get out of shape again and then life happens and I fall off the wagon. I'd imagine you have a good base with that kind of physical labor. Archery is only about 2 months away, get back out there now and you will enjoy it a lot more in Sept.

I'm way off the wagon and seems like I"ll go cold turkey... not good but we'll live. We had a storm come in and total a 100 foot barn but just enough that we could get all stuff out, relocate, and then have started tearing it down board by board.... Its long weekends and evenings, and will take till fall to get the new one up.. if we are lucky, but thats not enough work really to get the cardio up, but better than nothing at all.
We'll see in Sept.

Jeff

I need to drop 30# and my knees would be much happier but overall I keep in shape with softball, wakeboarding, jetski, etc.

But need to and always can get in better shape. I wish soon that I can say I am in the best shape of my life.

At 51 I am finding that I am slowing down no matter what I do but I have been doing my morning walks 5 days a week. 2.5 to 3 miles and I will add a pack and hope to get some backpacking in but I definatly feel it more this year. Those hills are looking steeper all the time. With gas prices we have cut down our day hikes instead of every weekend it only happens once or twice a month,,,eeks.

Well my conditioning is not near what some are doing but it seems to work. I ride my bike about 5 miles every evening, walk the dog 2 miles, and then we have a fairly steep staircase with 22 steps on it leading up stairs. I usually climb it about 2 dozen times with a 35# pack 3 times a week. Other than that I play hockey several times a week and I suspect is enough of the cardio that I don't have to do as much elsewhere. Has helped my legs/lungs immensely over the last several years. So far its working.

I've got a little course down a 900 ft. canyon that's about 1.7 miles one way. I have been carrying a 35 lb. pack and usually do it in about 50 mins. Gets to be "interesting" in the 90-100 degree heat.
However, there are some motivating sights, occasionally. It seems that the attractive, young women of the area like to swim there while wearing very little or....
Haven't resented doing this course yet. E

E you sly dog, now I know why you're calling your bino tests the stack tests.....

Dober

Do some my "extended binocular testing" down there as well.... Just cause I'm getting old doesn't mean I'm dead yet. ARFF!! ARFF!!! E

E I need to test some bino's maybe I can fly down and join you that is lot better than what I get to see Most of my walking is in the dark and in my neighbor hood that is a blessing.

As one gets older,staying or getting in shape is a chore compared to the younger years.I try and do lots of things year around but it isn't the same as before come hunting season.I am as strong or stronger but I think my lungs shrunk.

Glad I have an 18 year old and lots of friends to help should I be lucky enough to get one.

Jayco

Absolutely! You owe it to yourself and your hunting party to test your gear.

I am forced to concentrate on rehabilitation from knee surgery before anything else. This week I increased 10lbs to the weight I can curl with one leg. I have 10lbs more to go before my legs will be relatively equal.
I'm recovering well, but I will probably never run in the Pikes Peak marathon or ascent again.
I definitely need to lose 10 lbs.

I've been hiking to timberline recently and I hope to make several trips to 14,000ft this summer.

When I think about conditioning goals for hunting I'd say I have definitely have had some past success on elk by being able to quickly clear timber or scramble to the top of a ridge in time to set up for a shot.
I can still do that, but it's always tough to shoot accurately when you are gasping for air at 10,000 or 12,000ft.

The thing for me that is a critical factor is fatigue over the course of a weeks hunt. I can get pretty amped up at the start of the hunt. So much so, that most years I can cover 20-30 miles or more over the 1st 2 days. By mid-week that catches up to me more than it used to.
I'm as good once as I ever was, but by the 3rd day I don't have the core strength that I once did. I drag my feet, I'm not as alert. Not really hiking strong or hunting effectively. I tell myself that 3rd day will be the day that I change strategy and post over a creek in dark timber somewhere but for some reason that never seems to happen. By the 5th day I'm usually getting stronger again.

I'm sure that now I would grunt under the weight of a hindquarter at high altitude. Bring it on.

I've been on a strict 5 day regimen since January and it has paid off big dividends. Have been doing a lot of strength training with weights so that I hit every body part once a week and 20 minute hard core cardio every day. Now I'm transitioning into maintaining the muscle mass I've built and am upping the ante on the cardio. We have a damn just out of town with a little over 200 steps to the "scenic view", so I'll load up the pack w/50 lbs or so and start hitting it 3x a week, along with everything else I'm doing. I'll also be putting in some miles on the mountain bike 3x a week. I haven't been in this good of shape in years and I'm looking forward to this hunting season cause I know I'm gonna enjoy it much more due to the conditioning I've done.

For those that have been waiting or finding excuses....Just do it!!!! You won't regret it.

A good and fun topic, anything but gun gack right.......

I'm on my bike pretty much everymorn and or afternoon, doing some lifting as well.

This fall I turn 50, holy crapola, I can now get an ARP card, some there's any ARP gunsmiths out there with great discounts...grins, oh and I almost forgot where I was at with this, but I'll be darn if I am gonna go into my 50's being over weight and out of shape!

Dober

Mark -

You're still a youngster - I think you have another 5 years before you can join ARP. Could be wrong on that but at 57 I'm sure I'm old enough.

Started swimming a couple years ago right after elk season. Started out at 5 laps (25-meter pool, so 250 meters) and had to rest between them at the beginning. Now I do 2000 yards 3 times a week with no rest stops, and have gone as high as 4000 yards on a weekend, also with no rest stop. Then 2 days a week I work out with weight machines.

That's great for cardio and getting my wind back after too many years smoking, but I really need to spend more time building up my legs.

Swimming, now there is another fine way to get in the exercise! Mucho easier on my joints (I've been blessed with 5 knee surgeries in the last decade).

Dober

Leg extensions work really well for my leg muscles and I didn't do that many of them to build up, but heavier weight(for me anyway)
There is also this weird thing that I"ve mentioned before that helps my calf muscles. Remember I'm at 200 feet ASL, and flat basically, so doing stairs with packs makes my calves burn... I go to an elevated platform, take one foot and hang it off the back, IE toes and ball of foot only in contact, hold a 10-30 pound weight on that side arm, and extend the foot all the way down(IE as far as it goes) and all the way up, usually no more than 10 times without severe pain. I swap legs, and do each leg 3 sets. I don't like this at all, but it sure helps.

Jeff

In the last 6 weeks we cut, loaded, unloaded, and stacked 8 truckloads of fire wood. Then split and stacked a supply for the coming winter. I've walked about 3 miles each morning with the wife and dog, mowed the grass every week, and do about another mile walk each evening. I'll likely cut another load of wood for friends this Saturday and go fishing Sunday. When I have some time, I might start a training program. 1Minute