Difference felt in hunting 7500 FT vs. 11500 FT ?

[PAhunter58]

Guys, thanks for the cool responses so far. It's a muzzy hunt in the Gila. I'm guessing camp to be in the range of 7000-7300 FT. The highest elevation I'm seeing is around 8500 Ft or so. Way better than the 10,800-11,500 cliffs I was climbing last year. Plus the 18" -24" of snow pack during third rifle didn't help either.

 

[el_jefe_pescado]

10k is the magic number for me as well. But if it ain’t pretty up there.


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[Thunder head]

For me living at 1,000 ft. the difference is huge.

When I was in my 20's I started to feel it at 8,000 but was okay until I went over 10,000.

When I got into my 40's anything over 8,000 kicks my butt. Below that isn't bad at all.

 

[jspradley]

I hunt NM between 7500 and 10,000. I'm a flatlander as well, living on the TX coast. I'm good to go at 7500 but once it gets over about 9500 I start to really feel it. Hunting CO in 2017 at 11500 and up was a huge kick in the dick.


Start low and work up to the higher altitudes after a few days and you should be good to go. Take it slow and don't do stupid stuff and you wont get hurt

 

[Ono]

Acclimation and physiology is everything. I can go from 300ft to 12k in less than 8 hrs and feel like my brain is going to explode, but I have no problem going from 300 ft to 11k over a couple days and hiking my ass off. Might be sucking air on the steeps, but it is not a limiting factor.

 

[hobbes]

Ive not read all the responses but this is my experience with it.

Back when we lived in CO, we started at about 8000 and I worked at 7500. We lived at that elev for about 6 or 7 months before buying a place in Leadville at 10,200. There was a noticeable difference for the first couple weeks while I worked on remodeling an old house. I'd get out of breath much quicker.

After a month, I didn't notice it much. We lived at 10,200 and I drove down to 7500 every day for work. I did this for 4.5 more years. During that time folks from back home at around 340' would come to visit. My wife's family would act like they were dieing the entire visit. My family would adjust after a few days and not act like it bothered them (neither side being in particularly better shape than the other). None of them were running marathons during the visit, but some were better about sucking it up and dealing with it. (There is always more drama on her side of the family, but that's another story)

I live around 3875 now and have visited 10200 once after we lived here a couple years. I could definitely tell the difference during our visit.

I believe everyone adjusts to it a little differently.

 

[brsnow]

I live at 5200 but I hike, scramble, and mountain bike. Much of this is above tree line. I typically feel it for the first 20 minutes or so and then it just feels like anywhere else. Sudden burst hunting, like running up a ridge I will notice it as well. For the most part it doesn’t impact my experience.