Conditioning for a hunt with a pack

Newt

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I am not going to be back packing in, but I do plan on carrying a backpack with me while I am out hunting from camp. I figure, unless I cut a lot of weight down from it, I'll be toting ~20#'s with me each day.

I have been hiking each week with my pack on, and changing up the weight here and there. Not only do I want to be in shape for the day to day hunt, but also after we get one, the trips it takes to get it out. I am hunting with another guy and so I don't want to be too worn out from packing his, or mine, to go back out again the next day and hunt for another.

After each hike I do have some soreness in the hips. It was more apparent this week after I had more weight and was using a different pack that transfers most of the weight to my hips via the load lifters.

My question is will my hips acclimate to this? I have been on a pretty significant exercise program for weight loss/cardio strength. I've lost over 30#'s so far, and have about 5-10 more to go (even though I would be fine to stay where I am at now). I can tell significant difference in my body in those ways, but I neglected to think about how much some extra weight placed squarely on my hips, would effect me.

One weekend, before I had modified my pack for load lifters, my shoulders took the brunt of the weight. My hips were not so bad off.

I assume that my body will acclimate to this, kind of like how a body builders muscles can hurt after an intense workout. I am just curious how long it might take.
 

Bar

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How old are you? You'll get over the soreness at some point. You want to make the load you carry progressive just like weight lifting. Make sure you have enough rest between workouts, or it will slow down your progress. Once you can hike with a certain weight with no soreness start to slowly add more weight. Your goal is around 100lbs. Once you get the weight up start to hike up and down hills. Make the steepness progressive too.

Get the best pack you can afford. Day packs won't work well. You need a frame pack for hauling meat out.
 

Shrek

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You say you modified the pack to install load lifters ? The belt may not be designed to carry weight and could have a lot to do with the soreness. What is the pack ?
 

twall13

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I have similar questions to Shrek, what pack are you using that you had to modify it to include load lifters? That may be a big part of the problem.
 

tttoadman

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I agree with the other guys. I added load lifters to an older pack frame. It is an improvement, but it is still a frankenpack that may only carry 60lbs or so with comfort.

Spend as much time in the field as possible, and make adjustments as you go. You will find the sweet spot between hips and shoulders that fits you. I tend to carry more on the shoulders than most guys like, but it works for me.
 
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Newt

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I'll get some pictures of the packs soon as I am finished with my modifications. I am 34, 5'6", sitting at 161lbs right now, but plan on being 155 ish.

The base packs are a Red Head Fair Chase, which I am using for my day pack. And an older Kelty Yukon, which I am just using the frame of and not the bag that it had.

The stock Red Head was a joke if you wanted to carry more than 10#'s, plus the weight of the pack. After my modifications the pack is a few ounces over 7#'s, and feels great with a total weight of 23#'s(where its sitting right now with the gear I have in it). I had to add an additional belt in order for it to handle things well. Its hard to explain, so I'll wait till I have pictures.

The Kelty is downright comfortable all the way around. I have strapped an 80# bag of mason mix to it before and the frame handles it quite well, but its definitely something I would have to work up to as far as being comfortable carrying it.

I am not backpacking in, and the unit I am hunting has roads/trails in close proximity to most places I'll be hunting so I wont be hiking miles and miles packing out meat like you would in a wilderness situation. My main concern is just the day to day hiking. I do not think that the packs are causing any issues themselves, they are quite comfortable, its just my lack of working my hips carrying this type of weight. In other words, while I do not doubt some top of the line packs would be the utmost in comfort, I still think my hips would be sore after a day of hiking.

I'll play with letting my shoulders handle more, but from everything I have read you really want the hips to carry the bulk of it. I know that before I put my load lifters on I had some pretty sore shoulders after a hike.

With my current workouts my rest period is 1 week between specific muscle groups, but I am working out every day of the week except for one. I figured this would be fine for conditioning my hips also right? Would training twice a week with a couple days rest between help things along faster? I've got 6 weeks till the season. I am just curious what others have found it took to get used to the weight, if they remember starting off like this. I am sure I will probably forget myself in due time.

I am not one of those guys who feel like they have to try to load as much as they can carry and then some. Unless there are serious time constraints, I only plan on hauling the rear quarters separate and maybe the fronts together. Plus, I am going with another guy so unless we both get one down at the same time we will be splitting the meat hauling.
 

tttoadman

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I'll get some pictures of the packs soon as I am finished with my modifications. I am 34, 5'6", sitting at 161lbs right now, but plan on being 155 ish.

The base packs are a Red Head Fair Chase, which I am using for my day pack. And an older Kelty Yukon, which I am just using the frame of and not the bag that it had.

The stock Red Head was a joke if you wanted to carry more than 10#'s, plus the weight of the pack. After my modifications the pack is a few ounces over 7#'s, and feels great with a total weight of 23#'s(where its sitting right now with the gear I have in it). I had to add an additional belt in order for it to handle things well. Its hard to explain, so I'll wait till I have pictures.

The Kelty is downright comfortable all the way around. I have strapped an 80# bag of mason mix to it before and the frame handles it quite well, but its definitely something I would have to work up to as far as being comfortable carrying it.

I am not backpacking in, and the unit I am hunting has roads/trails in close proximity to most places I'll be hunting so I wont be hiking miles and miles packing out meat like you would in a wilderness situation. My main concern is just the day to day hiking. I do not think that the packs are causing any issues themselves, they are quite comfortable, its just my lack of working my hips carrying this type of weight. In other words, while I do not doubt some top of the line packs would be the utmost in comfort, I still think my hips would be sore after a day of hiking.

I'll play with letting my shoulders handle more, but from everything I have read you really want the hips to carry the bulk of it. I know that before I put my load lifters on I had some pretty sore shoulders after a hike.

With my current workouts my rest period is 1 week between specific muscle groups, but I am working out every day of the week except for one. I figured this would be fine for conditioning my hips also right? Would training twice a week with a couple days rest between help things along faster? I've got 6 weeks till the season. I am just curious what others have found it took to get used to the weight, if they remember starting off like this. I am sure I will probably forget myself in due time.

I am not one of those guys who feel like they have to try to load as much as they can carry and then some. Unless there are serious time constraints, I only plan on hauling the rear quarters separate and maybe the fronts together. Plus, I am going with another guy so unless we both get one down at the same time we will be splitting the meat hauling.

I applaud you for looking ahead at every step, but make sure you are putting this much effort into map studying and other things that will make the hunt successful. We(the royal we) have packed plenty of animals out of the woods with old WW2 pack frames and cheapy wood frames that were horrible, but we sure had fun doing it.
 
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Newt

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I applaud you for looking ahead at every step, but make sure you are putting this much effort into map studying and other things that will make the hunt successful. We(the royal we) have packed plenty of animals out of the woods with old WW2 pack frames and cheapy wood frames that were horrible, but we sure had fun doing it.

Thanks. You don't know how much this makes me smile though. Some seem to not like how much effort I am putting into the other area's of my planning to make my hunt successful.

I have seen much worse "looking" packs on the back of some guys hauling meat out, and the smiles on their faces say all there is to say.

I drive the one guy I am going with nuts with my constant study of the area. I just want to have plan A, B, C, D, E, and F lined up. I know it will all change, things I did not anticipate will happen, and some things I hope that I never will have to experience might even come about - but at least I cannot say that I did not put 100% into the hunt.

I am sure things will change more over the years, and hopefully I'll be the guy being able to give advice to the newbie.
 

LaGriz

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Newt,
I too have a similar elk hunt planned. I have been wearing my HH Full Curl frame loaded with weights (total 35#) while on the treadmill at the Gym. Each morning workout starts with leg work followed by 45 min. with a hill program. It comes out to just over 2 miles before a day’s work and I do feel much better after 8 weeks into the effort. My hips took exception to the pack load at first but are fine now. Next week I will add another 10-15 lbs. and we shall see if the hips go to hurting once again. If a pack out is needed, I want to be up to the task. Especially if it's my friends elk. Want to be able to pitch in and haul loads in the morning without being spent for an afternoon hunt. The National Forest has many roads and jeep trails and hopefully a pack out will be short. Elk have a nasty habit of dyeing in bad places on our successful hunts. This
is a standard joke at our camp. Best to be prepared for the worse.
Good Hunting
LaGriz
 

Will_m

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I would be careful when adding weight to the pack, especially when in the context of a frequent workout program. The military has done a lot of studies on rucking, as it's a popular military form of conditioning. In short, your body can handle ~25-30 pound loads with high frequency, but once you start to go above that the wear and tear on your body takes serious hold, not only limiting itself to your joints but creating issues of systemic fatigue. However, that's not to say a weekly, or every other weekly "meat day" is not useful, especially for becoming familiar with your abilities.

A really good program would likely involve some compound movements like back squats, front squats, lunges, and also some hiking with a 25-30 pound pack in some elevation for conditioning purposes. After you no longer feel sore, or not terribly sore then you load in your "meat days" which is where you might put 100-150 pounds in your pack and start climbing, but be careful here as injuring yourself will undo all you have accomplished.

Kudos to you for taking it upon yourself to improve physically, it will make such a difference in every area of your hunt. It looks like you're doing good as well, just remember, for conditioning to become truly effective it has to be a lifestyle.
 
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Newt

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Newt,
I too have a similar elk hunt planned. I have been wearing my HH Full Curl frame loaded with weights (total 35#) while on the treadmill at the Gym. Each morning workout starts with leg work followed by 45 min. with a hill program. It comes out to just over 2 miles before a day’s work and I do feel much better after 8 weeks into the effort. My hips took exception to the pack load at first but are fine now. Next week I will add another 10-15 lbs. and we shall see if the hips go to hurting once again. If a pack out is needed, I want to be up to the task. Especially if it's my friends elk. Want to be able to pitch in and haul loads in the morning without being spent for an afternoon hunt. The National Forest has many roads and jeep trails and hopefully a pack out will be short. Elk have a nasty habit of dyeing in bad places on our successful hunts. This
is a standard joke at our camp. Best to be prepared for the worse.
Good Hunting
LaGriz

Please chime back in when you put the extra weight on and see. I think if I increase about 5 lbs each week I might could build up that way? Only 6 weeks to go doesn't give me much time. I wish I would not have neglected it for so long now. I guess I just never thought about how much it would effect me.
 
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Newt

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I would be careful when adding weight to the pack, especially when in the context of a frequent workout program. The military has done a lot of studies on rucking, as it's a popular military form of conditioning. In short, your body can handle ~25-30 pound loads with high frequency, but once you start to go above that the wear and tear on your body takes serious hold, not only limiting itself to your joints but creating issues of systemic fatigue. However, that's not to say a weekly, or every other weekly "meat day" is not useful, especially for becoming familiar with your abilities.

A really good program would likely involve some compound movements like back squats, front squats, lunges, and also some hiking with a 25-30 pound pack in some elevation for conditioning purposes. After you no longer feel sore, or not terribly sore then you load in your "meat days" which is where you might put 100-150 pounds in your pack and start climbing, but be careful here as injuring yourself will undo all you have accomplished.

Kudos to you for taking it upon yourself to improve physically, it will make such a difference in every area of your hunt. It looks like you're doing good as well, just remember, for conditioning to become truly effective it has to be a lifestyle.

One thing that I have constantly in the back of my head is keeping myself from doing anything that would potentially cause an injury. Id rather be worn out hunting than to be sitting there with a cast or something else on.

I figure by next year I will have it down pat, at least physically. Might not be top notch, but I will know exactly what its like and I will have been exercising for well over a year at that point. I started my program this year in April, but did not start training with a pack till June.
 

Biggs300

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I'm doing my 5th straight elk hunt in CO this year. Get in decent physical shape and, at your age, you should do fine. I started elk hunting CO at age 59 and at 62, me and my hunting buddy did a full backpack hunt….thank goodness we were not successful as I don't know that we could have packed out an elk after packing in with over 65 pounds of camp, food and hunting gear. Get a decent pack, a good pair of boots, a light weight rifle and go hunting. Good luck!
 

LaGriz

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Will-m and Newt,
I'm convinced your on to something. I don't want to do any damage to my 60 year old frame before the hunt. I stead I will add 5lbs at the most and change up some of my workouts. I joined the Gym because I wanted to have access to the pool. I think I will mix in a couple days of swimming and air up the tires on the mt. bike and and get into some late afternoon rides. It was 99 degrees on Monday and the humidity is a brutal 80-90% most of the time. I love the mild winters we have but dam it...it's just too hot for words. I just a saw a thread from a fellow trad archer on another site and I need to put in more time shooting my recurve. I will check back with you as my September hunt draws ever closer.
LaGriz
 

oldgoat

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To the original point of your hips being sore, it's possible you have the hip belt too low on your hips which will impede movement of your legs and could cause the soreness. Middle of the hip belt should be on the point of your hip.
 
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Newt

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I'll try to remember to check on the hip belt placement. I am pretty sure that I have it riding in the right spot, but cannot be absolutely sure now that I try to remember.
 

huntin'monkey

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Some good advice here. I'd suggest upgrading your day pack when possible. At 7 pounds, it's about a full third of your daily weight. It takes cash, but you can get into a 3 to 4 pound pack that will handle way more weight comfortably. you. And I'd look at what you are planning to pack around as your daily essentials. Minus the backpack weight, you are talking about 16 pounds or so. That seems like an awful lot for day hunting/hiking.
 

twall13

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Some good advice here. I'd suggest upgrading your day pack when possible. At 7 pounds, it's about a full third of your daily weight. It takes cash, but you can get into a 3 to 4 pound pack that will handle way more weight comfortably. you. And I'd look at what you are planning to pack around as your daily essentials. Minus the backpack weight, you are talking about 16 pounds or so. That seems like an awful lot for day hunting/hiking.
While I agree that sounds like a lot of weight for a day pack if he is comfortable with it I don't see a problem. My brother packs 20 lbs. + in his day pack and won't go without any of it after he got stuck on a mountain cliff overnight in a storm on a hunt several years ago. Now he'd rather pack the weight to make sure he is prepared if that situation ever occurs again. For me that's more weight than I want to pack in a day pack but I don't see a problem if someone else wants to pack it. To each their own.

Regardless, a lighter pack itself makes sense any way you look at it. My Exo, which is a full pack not just a day pack, comes in under 5 lbs. And will pack a lot more weight comfortably. Still, a pack can be in a future upgrade list as what he has will get him out hunting, which is the important part. Good luck in your preparations.
 
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Newt

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yea, I would LOVE to have another pack. And through all of this I have realized what I should look for in a pack. But that pack is going to cost a pretty penny, even though I know it will be worth it, and I don't have that penny to spend right now.

I have pretty bare bones as far as stuff is concerned. A couple liters of water and my food is going to run ~5-6 lbs. The rest of it is my kill kit, and very basic emergency stuff. I have not weighed each individual item, but I am going to look at getting a lighter weight jacket. That might cut a lb off. I do have some rain gear I threw in there, I might just try to get a light weight poncho or something instead.

But regardless, I MIGHT be able to cut the weight by a few lbs, but in the grand scheme of things its not that much. I do not see where I could cut 5 lbs or more without taking out food and essentials. I searched and searched to see what the average day pack weight was and 20lbs seems to be about it with the minimal gear that is recommended to take.

I do plan on getting quite a few miles away from camp and any transportation. With being unsure where all the water is in the area, I am not going to cut that which would save quite a few lbs.
 

oldgoat

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Twenty pounds is about the same weight as I carry. I like to be ready for what elk hunting may deliver!
 
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