Fatigue / Pain Management on long hunts

[madtinker]

Take 10" every morning and 15-20" each night to stretch, roll out stiff muscles and do flexibility/range of motion exercise....have been doing that for back and legs and it's worth the effort...water bottle or something that rolls to roll out muscles

+1 on rolling out things. Helped my knee a ton last year.

 

[Gerbdog]

If your hiking yourself to pieces dont be afraid to take a day and sit a wallow, usually every 3rd day i'll take a day to sit a wallow .... and you know what? I see wildlife those days just like the days im out hiking around. There's a ton of wisdom in the comments that say to just slow down. I'll follow that up with: If your hiking and pushing yourself hard while your exhausted your probably not on your game and your going to make mistakes and blow opportunities before you even know theyre there. Been there done that. Thats why when im hitting a physical wall i'll take a day to sit a wallow and its good for the mental game too.

 

[Huntin_GI]

Just commit to not being a little sissy ass.

 

[Laramie]

Similar age here - I have been following the hunt hard 2-3, then take one day "off". I still might hunt but it will be very easy on that off day. I usually will sleep in a little and let my glass do a lot more work on those days.

 

[BRTreedogs]

Tylenol PM and BCAA s before bed

 

[BRTreedogs]

Daily NSAIDS aren't going to be rough on your liver/kidneys?

I fully agree with proper food, hydration, and quality sleep. Electrolytes makes sense.

Yes I had small lesions inside my intestines when I got the bore scope.

And I didn't really consider myself taking very many nsaids.

 

[87TT]

Ibuprofen and aspirin are your friend. Just don't depend on them. They do more than mask the pain. They are an anti-inflammatory also. They can help after a long day and if stiff in the AM.
I found out that the older I got the harder it was to get in good shape. Easier to stay in shape all year. Second the thoughts on a good night sleep and sometimes a down day. Or at least an easy day. Hunting is hard but killing makes it real hard............with the pack out.

 

[Scotto]

Agree with the advice above. Being in shape matters and exercise to the activity, like walking up and own hills with some weight in the pack prior to being in the mountains, has helped me. NSAIDS are good to have around when you need them.

 

[Larry Bartlett]

Nutrition is a key part of how you feel in the field especially 7-10+ in to it. I'm 51 y/o and stay in peak health and athletic fitness, but field nutrition has always been a peeve of mine. 10 days of food usually weighs 20-lbs on the light end and 28-lbs on the average for our field menus (2 - 2.8 lbs per day of food weight). Not anymore! Today my food kit packed with nutrient density weighs 16-oz per day.

Minimus Nutrition

Minimus Nutrition is a lightweight nutrition supplement that delivers perfect nutrients to preserve muscle during intense endurance activity.

minimusnutrition.com

 

[fmyth]

I'm 69 and spend the whole month of September in the elk woods. I take a morning or a day off now and then when I start to feel fatigue creeping in, and use that downtime to check out new spots or glass, or drive around to see who is hunting/parking where. Taking a morning or a day off pays off in the long run, because a fatigued hunter is a sloppy hunter. It recharges the batteries. I also work out almost year round, but don't kill myself. Lots of hiking with a pack and high-rep/low weight workouts.

Another thing that has REALLY helped with joint stiffness is high quality CBD-CBG twice a day under the tongue. That has been a life changer since a former Special Ops friend turned me onto it. My knee stiffness and soreness is a thing of the past.

What brand CBD-CBG are you taking?

 

[trophyhill]

I don't understand it, but one is an "agonist" and one is an "antagonist" of receptors, so they balance each other out. I know CBD helped, but the synergistic effect of the two seem to work better for me. YMMV

Thanks for the input. I am suddenly looking for a way to solve my knee issues. After a torn meniscus during last elk season and other issues brought to light with the X-rays and MRI, certainly worth a try.

 

[Marble]

Daily NSAIDS aren't going to be rough on your liver/kidneys?

I fully agree with proper food, hydration, and quality sleep. Electrolytes makes sense.

Not IME for short term. Long term would definitely not be advised.

 

[Marble]

My elk encounters skyrocketed when I slowed my ass down in the elk woods

This is true. I hear of guys covering 10+ miles daily and I just cant really understand why that is. Even on days where I have lots of walking it's rare to hit 10 miles. Normally it's 4-6, depending on the country I'm in.

If you are walking out to a truck camp every night and returning every morning, high mileage is likely. But if you are already in the back country, the point of being back there is to already be very near to where there are animals.

 

[Marble]

Thanks for the input. I am suddenly looking for a way to solve my knee issues. After a torn meniscus during last elk season and other issues brought to light with the X-rays and MRI, certainly worth a try.

Sometimes a Dr. will prescribe physical therapy for an injury. Insurance covers it mostly and it can really give you an idea of what your capabilities are. The PT will also teach exercises and techniques to increase strength and flexibility. You can use that info to keep yourself in the best shape possible throughout the year.

 

[Jaquomo]

Being camped in the "backcountry" is great if you're near where elk are. But way too many newbies think getting way back in there guarantees they will be near elk, when the opposite is often true. Then more time wasted packing up and out and finding elk somewhere else. On a 9 or 10 day hunt, that just wasted a couple valuable hunting days, and our intrepid explorers likely hiked past elk getting back in there.

As far as the hard chargers who claim to hunt 10 miles a day, only a handful of hunters are physically capable of doing that for more than a day at a time, and they are bumping more elk than "hunting". And by the whitetail definition of "bumping", that generally means they got spooked into the next unit. But it sounds really cool to tell the guys back home in PA, or wherever, "Oh yeah, we hunt 8-10 miles a day!" "Did you get an elk?" No, but we were bumping some every day."

Totally agree on PT prescribed by an Orthopod. I do sets of specific exercises prescribed for knees and quads, and between that and stretching and CBD-CBG, my former knee problems and stiffness are a thing of the past.

 

[Marble]

Tylenol PM and BCAA s before bed

Good advice there too. The BCAAs help with recovery at night and endurance and strength the next day. You can take them in pill or powder form and having some throughout the day is a good idea also.

 

[fmyth]

Thanks for the input. I am suddenly looking for a way to solve my knee issues. After a torn meniscus during last elk season and other issues brought to light with the X-rays and MRI, certainly worth a try.

Have you tried getting a corticosteroid injection in your knee? I have a had surgery on both knees for meniscus tears and arthritis. One knee is fine the other still swells and gets stiff on hunts. I get a corticosteroid injection a week before my first hunt of the season. It gives me considerable relief for a month or two.

 

[5MilesBack]

If you are walking out to a truck camp every night and returning every morning, high mileage is likely.

Depending on the unit, I'll hike in 2.5-3 miles in the dark to be where I want to be by first light......hunt that area, then hike back out to the truck mid morning. Then another 2.5-3 miles in the evening and back at camp after dark. A lot of those miles aren't active hunting miles because they're in the dark. But on the other hand, if I hunted from first light to dark every day and only moved at 1mph that's 14 miles in a day during archery.

 

[menhaden_man]

I’m not yet 50 but been operated on and crippled enough to feel it in my 40s.

Alleve PM and Howard Leight ear plugs sure help me get some ZZZZZZs.

Shedding a few pounds sure helps too.

Good luck.

 

[BigLou]

I made some changes to improve my sleep and it made a ton of difference...
- two tylenol PM at bed time (I usually dont take any sort of meds)
- started sleeping in a hammock (i'm too old to sleep on the ground)