CO Mule deer training for a flatlander

[Tufrthnails]

Yep I'm from Florida this is my first ever Mule deer hunt. 2nd Rifle season. Going with my Brother and his buddy that both live in denver. I'm about to turn 40 and in pretty decent shape from stomping swamps deer and hog hunting here. I've started training with weight in my pack since It has been my Army days a decade ago since I have carried much more then a stand and small backpack for any real distance. Any pointers to help this flatlander. I am getting to denver 2 days early to help ease the elevation suck. I remember the first couple of days in Afghanistan and the suck of the elevation change. My brother's buddy really wants to hit a spot that is 11500', but I'm super worried about that kind of elevation and sickness, but I don't want to ruin their hunting either since they both have bull tags also for the unit. Of course no alcohol whatsoever, but any tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

[OFFHNTN]

Start slow and keep building up every 1-2 weeks. Vary the workouts if you can. Do a stairclimber/stepmill one day, walk a hill another day, walk on an incline treadmill both forward and BACKWARDS another day. Start with 20lbs in your pack for an hour, keep increasing so that a couple weeks before you go hunting you are up to 60lbs for 2-3 hours or as long as you can do a workout.
Nothing is going to prepare you for the elevation. Denver is only 5,500 feet or so and I doubt you will notice anything, but you will for sure notice 11,500'. If you are going to go there I would suggest trying to get a prescription of daimox from your doctor. Elevation effects everyone differently, but I can about guarantee you are going to have a bad headache at a minimum for the first 2-3 days in you go right to 11,500,
Good luck!

 

[hobbes]

Altitude sickness varies from one individual to the next. The change in elevation typically had me dragging when going from flatland to 10,000+, but I never experienced sickness. It did take a few days to adjust.

I eventually lived at 8000 then 10,000ft so that made a world of difference. I hunted several times over 11,000 and never experienced sickness. I live at 4300 now and hunt 8,000. Visited Leadville at 10,000 a couple weeks ago without noticing much, but wasn't exactly exerting myself.

Im no expert, not even close, but I think cardio will serve your heart and lungs well.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

You’re going to have a blast. I’m from Florida as well and hills are in short supply. The stair stepper and treadmill on incline are your friend. Rotate those in with weighted rucks 2-3 times a week and if you have a stadium anywhere around doing stairs would help. Make sure to wear your boots doing all this if they aren’t broken in. There isn’t a lot you can do for elevation, if at all possible the first day or two try to pace yourself a bit, let your body acclimate a bit and don’t get so spent it can’t recover. Good luck.

 

[FYT]

I am getting to denver 2 days early to help ease the elevation suck.

This will be really helpful. There is short and long-term acclimation, but a day in Denver and then a day a little higher will be a good thing for you. My brother trains harder than I do, but he lives at 300 feet. I live at 6600. What we find when we hike together is that even though I don't train as hard as him, I can keep up and usually outpace him. My legs burn more, but his lungs struggle even harder than my legs.

I guess what that may tell me is to really focus on cardio to get your lungs as ready as possible, but that's just one very small sample size obviously.

 

[Carr5vols]

I'm in georgia I am doing 1,000 stairs twice a week with 40 lbs, one ruck at 2 miles 60 lbs once per week, and one ruck 4 miles 40 lbs once per week. And I know that will not be enough.

 

[Felix40]

Running long distance and treadmill on max incline always helped me the most.

 

[Sleeperls]

Lungs and more lungs.

 

[Cornhusker]

I'm a flatlander as well although at higher elevation than Florida. I try to stay in decent shape at 60 so I feel pretty good physically in Colorado or Wyoming mountains about a 3- 4 hour drive. What gets me is altitude and that I've found is a gradual conditioning and can't be rushed. I got serious altitude sickness scouting with my buddy on Mt Evans last year I went from 2,700' to 13,000 in just a few hours and hiked hard in boulder fields it was a mistake. It takes a couple of days to acclimate to altitude I would worry about that more than physical condition if you're in relatively good physical condition. Good luck and have fun.

 

[Tufrthnails]

Thanks for the input guys. We've decided to start at 7k to 8k first and work our way up over a couple of days. I've got access to stairs at work so I'm adding them into my routine. Guess I'm gonna get a gym membership to add incline treadmill. Wonder how they will feel about me wearing my pack?

 

[Newtosavage]

At 11,5 I'd be more concerned about being snowbound than elevation sickness.

HS stadium bleachers are generally easily accessible and free.

 

[Jqualls]

All I can tell you is I live in the west and it seems no matter how hard I train it still sucks up in the high country. The things that have helped me are pack training mixed with mountain biking and running. I think for a flat land dude High intensity interval training that focuses on leg stuff would really help. When you think about climbing mountains especially the off trail steep stuff, no one cant just blast up it without stopping with pack on (Atleast no one I know can) so really its short bursts of anaerobic exercise mixed with short rest. Then for the long hikes out the endurance training pays off big.

I think the opposite is a better approach. Go for slow and steady. I shoot for a pace that I can go at for an hour without stopping. The steeper it gets the more I try to get in a slow rythm especially for any significant distance. There will be times you need to make short anaerobic bursts chasing an animal but for most climbing shoot for a steady pace. I do agree with interval training but also do some training that keeps you just under your redline for an hour or 2 straight once a week. Biking is a great way to push your lungs for extended period without tearing up the body too bad.

Have a backup plan. 11000 feet during second season could be 2' of snow.

 

[Catahoula]

Liters and liters of water is a must before and during your hunt helps with elevation. But likely to experience a minimum of a headache. I generally have a headache for a day or so when I go to 10,500. I get myself to camp generally 3-4 days before a hunt begins. If you can get to your elevation a day or so early would be of great help before exerting yourself at elevation.

 

[DesertJoe]

Know the signs and symptoms of altitude sickness, and don't just walk long distances training, but work in some wind sprints, or hard rucks up your best local hill as fast as possible and then walk down at a more normal pace as a cool down. Other than that I'd look up some advice from qualified individuals.

 

[30338]

It is hard to prepare when at lower elevations. Lived in Illinois for a few years when I was younger, made it tough on fall hunts here. Now at 53 I try to pack 72 pounds up 600 steps each week as well as carrying around the hood. Starting to get a few aches and pains. Hunts start in Sept and go through Oct so hopefully will be ready when its game time.

That high altitude medicine works wonders and I'd recommend starting it 24 hours before you hit CO. Doesn't do anything for your physical conditioning of course but does help on the altitude sickness which can be quite dangerous.

Do the best you can, climb as many stairs as you can, with as much weight as you can. And always hunt above your vehicle lol.

 

[Tufrthnails]

i've got an appt with my doc at the end of the month so while i am there i am going to ask him about a rx for daimox.

 

[blutooth]

Start keeping track of your water intake now. By the time you leave, hopefully you will drinking 3-4 liters/day consistently. Drink that much each day you are there. It won’t help with the physical strain, but it will help you combat altitude sickness.

 

[Newtosavage]

Be careful with stairs and weight. If you overdo it, you will injure a knee and that will set your whole training regimen back.

I can do bleachers with a 30# pack just fine. One day I was feeling frisky and did bleachers with a 50# pack. After that, I was lucky to do bleachers with NO pack for the next month.

The trouble with "don't overdo it" advice is that you don't know if you've overdone it until you've overdone it.

 

[Newtosavage]

My wife is a marathon runner. She is very fit. Ive even run a few marathons with her to train for hunting. Those seasons my lungs were great but my legs died.Slow and steady is a great approach to the hunt and long cardio is super important for training ( most my training days are an hour to two of hiking running or biking) but burning the legs past the aerobic point has proved to be a great improvement In my ability to climb the steep stuff (and be able to climb it several days in a row). Just my experience, everyone is welcome to their own opinion.

I had the exact same experience. Running flat land was fine for the lungs but really didn't do enough for the legs. After my 1st season, I started running bleachers and that made a world of difference. Like night and day. The second and third seasons were much, much easier. I also found that bleachers were easier on my knees than running pavement. Not sure why but I suspect it's because all the impact when I do bleachers is on the balls of my feet. My heels never hit the bleachers.

 

[GabeMN]

I did my first Western hunt in 2013 in the San Juans for elk. I am from Minnesota and hadn’t spent much time west at all.

I heard a lot about altitude sickness and was concerned also. I trained my legs and cardio quite a bit and drank lots of water on the way out and in the days leading up.

We were only in Lake City for one day before heading up the mountain and hunted very hard between 12 and 14,000 feet the entire time.... other than being a little more winded, I didn’t have any adverse affects at all from the altitude... no headaches... so I think it really does effect everyone different. My 62 year old dad was with and he had the same experience...