Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Altitude Sickness

I will be elk hunting in Wyoming (leaving out of Dubois) this year and I have see alot of articles in different magazines about altitude sickness and some do' & don'ts. I live in Kentucky where it is somewhere around 600 to 800 ft above sea level. The camp where we will be staying at is at 9500 ft. I am planning on arriving in Dubois 5 days prior to going in to camp to try and get somewhat adjusted but Duboise is at 6700 ft and they say altitude sickness does not affect until about 8000ft. I was wondering if anyone has come down with it and what they did to over come it and if anybody has used some of the remedies that you can buy over the internet like Altitude RX or do I really need to get anything at all. Thanks for any info.

Diamox is the drug of choice for prevention, see your doc. I've also read the Viagra works as well. Staying at 6700ft for 5 days will help A LOT. Go walk as much as you can tolerate those five days, and rest up the last day.

This year will be my 3rd elk hunt.....get your azz in shape now!

Staying at 6,700 is good, but staying at 9,500 for a few days before the hunt would be better. I live at 5,200, and I can tell a difference after 3-4 days at 10,000 where I hunt.

Stay well-hydrated and avoid alcohol.

I also have to take Diamox. I Live in Eastern Colorado at 4000 ft. I normally hunt elk at around 10,000 ft, and mountain goats-two years ago at 13,000 ft. I used to get headaches so bad at altitude, that it would cause me to throw-up uncontrollably. (NOT FUN). As a side note, I never had these issues until after a severe accident. I got hit square in the head with a brake pod off of a semi truck. I now take the Diamox 48 hrs. before the trip, and 48 hrs. after reaching final altitude. WARNING- make sure you know what the risks are. Diamox IS a blood thinner. It also make pop taste like nothing you have ever tasted before.

Tony.

LKC.

Acclimating at "near" altitude helps a lot. Excessive alcohol DOES NOT. The only problem I ever had with altitude sickness also involved Jack Daniels. Live and Learn!

donsm70

Altitude sickness can be very serious, manifesting itself as HACE (high altitude cerebral edema) or HAPE (high altitude pulminary edema) and from minor symptoms to death.

The worst thing a low altitude flat-landeder can do is fly to the higher destination and sky or hunt-- high exertion-- the same day or even the next. You are doing it right in driving as your body slowly adjusts as you gain altitude going up and across the plains to the mountains. And then staying at 6-7k for awhile is good too.

Strangely, getting AS is not at all dependent on your general condition as the highest conditioned athletes can get it. The most common expression is flu-like symptoms with a headache and the best general treatment is aspirin and good hydration and if more serious symptoms occur one best get to lower altitudes quickly. I've tried Diamox and the side effects I had negated whatever positive affects ( I did not get AS whether due to Diamox, I don't know) I gained. It's a diuretic which seems counter intuitive to Increased hydration. For me, changing body fluid balance changed my intra-occular pressure And my eye sight was fuzzy for about two weeks after each hunt ( I tried it three times for hunting 9-10k feet). And that hampered work when back home; another bud developed tetany of his hands and he won't use it again but obviously these side effects don't happen to everybody.

Best is slow ascent, drink water (no alcohol), take aspirin everyday, and monitor your exertion and body for a day or two when first at altitude.

Following the above regimen (no Diamox) and when in my 50s it would take me three days (about mid-hunt on most hunts) to begin feeling decent at 9k feet after driving from about 1300 feet-- a day-- and spending a day at 6-8k feet before hunting.

I liven Texas at about 450. I drive to Colorado and that helps to acclimate (2 days). Also take diamox and hunt at 8 to 9000. Sold on the diamox.

My hunting buddy lives in Denver. Not sure the altitude bu a few years ago he got so sick I had to meet his wife halfway back to Denver and send him home with her. We were not even at high altitude.

I get mild headaches sometimes. LOTS of water and an aspirin regimen helps for me.

I go from 4500 to about 7500 ft for my elking, and it takes about 2 full days for me to feel like I draw complete lung fulls of air. I go in 3 days ahead of the season now.

Physiologically, I think it takes more like 8 or 9 days to fullfy adapt, but from memory that is more related to the Everest folks starting out at about 18 or 20 k.

Number one being in better shape than you ever have is not enough! Start getting there right now!

Best thing you can do is spend a few days hiking around at altitude before starting to hunt.

NO ALCOHOL!!

Every guide will tell you that they get clients that can't make it to the elk just over the ridge.

I work out and diet all year for one thing: Chukar hunting up with the Big Horn Sheep; so getting to elk is like pheasant hunting.

I've had altitude sickness and it is down right scary.

I get it every trip,I drive out a few days early knowing it takes time for the body to adjust,constantly drinking lots of water, gatorade ,take an asprin every 4 hours and staying where its warm during the first two-to-three days tends to help a good deal, so I usually stay at a motel or a friends home during the 3 days before the season
symptoms generally include killer migraine headache, sinus hurt and you feel like youve got the flu, but it passes, and if you know what to expect and basically rest the first 3 days youll adjust.
yeah! IM that obsessed with hunting ELK!

I have got it only one time and I was hiking through snow drifts at 12,000' and breaking a trail for the rest of our group trying to get to "hidden lake" to catch some mythical trout.

I got severe headaches and nausea. When we got to the main trail, I had to turn down hill and get to lower elevation. My headaches didn't go away until 8,000'.

10,000' has no effect on me other than making it hard to get enough air in my lungs. Going from 5,000' to 12,000' in one morning and rigorously hiking was a different matter.

I would play with the diamox well before your hunt so as to get an idea of how it will affect you.

It seems age may also be a factor. Three years ago, a buddy's uncle from Tennessee came out to hunt with us. He was in decent shape, but was 70 years old. Had done drop camp hunts in Alaska several times, and traps full time in the winter. So not a couch potato, in fact, somewhat of a tough guy.

Anyway, he spent 3 days with us at 5200ish feet before heading up to camp at 9,000 feet. Was fine when he arrived, but in the middle of the night he began suffering from altitude sickness related issues. It must have been hard to tell us that he was suffering from severe migraines, diarrhea, joint pains and dizziness.
We drove him down the mountain to stay at a motel at 6,000ish feet where he would also have access to phone reception if he needed it. Two days later we came back and he had recovered, but we restricted his elk hunting to lower elevation stuff and he was fine. Didn't find him an elk though.

Anyway, that was only 9,000 feet and a guy from your neck of the woods who done some pretty hard core hunting before. But the problem was, I just don't think his circulatory system was up to par at that age. Too bad, because we shot 5 elk on opening morning, and he could have been right there with us.

You guys are getting me worried, seriously. I didn't do any high elevation hunting/hiking etc until I moved out to UT and lived at 4500'. Never had a problem up to 12K+, but will be heading to ID this fall to chase elk and am now living at just under 1k'. Won't be going anywhere near 12K, but am starting to think I may need to schedule an extra day or of lead time...

Yea I found some great info here. I have been hiking at around the 9000 level about has high as we can get here in Oregon and never had a problem but I am getting older so thanks for the great topic and some solid advice. I will be in CO this fall but we are going to be down around 7500 mark and I will be there 3 days early.

Thanks for all the info, i'll get ahold of the doc and see about the diamox. As for getting in shape, i started back in march, i'm 53 so i figured i'd needed to start early. I can't run anymore because i tore up my knee playing ball and have had 3 operations on it but i have been walking (fast pace) 6 miles a day 5 to 6 days a week. I have also been climbing the hills that we have around here to try and get a start. Hopefully all of it will help some.

Something that has been mentioned here already but needs mentioned again is HYDRATION. My brother lives in the midwest at about 1000-1100 ft and drives out and hunts CO every fall. (base camp 9200 ft) Hunting elevations 10,000 to 12,500. He leaves on wednesday to my house (6700ft). Thursday we get to base camp and Sat start hunting. The only times he has had problems is when he's dehydrated whether from not drinking enough water or too much Old Crow from the night before. In all instances rehydrating and a few hours rest at base camp has had him back hunting. Fitness plays a large role as well. He's in pretty good shape for an old frt.

We live at 200 asl. We hunt CO at times up to and over 10,000 asl.

We drive in, and straight to about 8000 typically, and head out, sometimes right away with backpacks on.

We start taking a regular 325 aspirin every day a few weeks out, then one twice a day a few days out, and then when hunting, up to 4 a day. I carry diamox just in case.

That plus cardio exercise at home helps.

Nothing helps like going gradually but we don't have the luxury of that much time off at once so its run and gun... I was 45 last time we did it. Always feel much better by the 3rd day, but can tell ya that aspirin regimen made a BIG difference when we started doing that.