Getting In Elk Hunting Shape!

[ElkNut1]

What's everyone doing? Serious question! Elk don't give a hoot if we cannot get to the places they live & escape to. I do my best to work-out year around, I'm very serious & dedicated to this as I know if I let myself go it's so much harder to achieve elk shape as I get older! It's a freaking grind & there are days I just don't want to grind it out, but I do it anyway! Once done I feel so much better that I pushed through the sluggish start.

I keep telling myself I must do this if I want to be the best I can out there. How's everyone dealing with those - I don't want to work-out today thoughts-? Do you give in or plod through it!

ElkNut

 

[mtwarden]

It was pretty rare that I missed a workout when I was working; now that I’m retired it’s pretty much never

 

[Ross]

Plod through it no one can hold you accountable but yourself. The phrase how bad do you want it is no more true than when the decades stack up. The mountains never get flatter so you better put in the time.

 

[vladkgb]

I have a steep hill near me, and I do a mile with increasing weight in my pack, currently at 50lbs, I add 5lbs every week if I'm able to complete the mile in timely manner. Then i do 3 sets of a circuit while wearing the same pack with the weight. The circuit is 15 squats, 20 step-ups, 20 lunges, 30 calf raises, 30 secs of mountain climbers. May add a 4th set when im able to complete it without being totally wiped out. I do this 3 times a week. The other 3 days, I'm doing a minimalist compound lifting program to keep my strength up, takes about 30-45 minutes.

 

[87TT]

Year round through rain, snow, and sun I walk the dog to the end of our road and back twice a day. It is mile and half. The dog requires it and looks forward to it. Starting in the spring, I start wearing my pack with weight while doing this and increase the weight as time goes on until I am toting around 50 pounds. I end the walks with a hump to the top of the hill in my back yard that is fairly steep. It gets me breathing pretty hard and my legs are burning but I make myself get to the top without stopping ( about 200 yards) After I catch my breath somewhat, I shoot my bow with the pack on for a while.

 

[Poor Knight]

Backcountry Big Game Hunting Pipeline

This fitness packet delivers training to improve hunting fitness—boosting strength, stamina, and backcountry performance for a stellar hunting season.

mtntactical.com

or

MTI’s “SF60” Plans: Ages 60 – 65

SF60 Training contains three plans of MTI’s SF60 programming: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie “SF560” is an acronym for “Strength and Fitness 60” and is age-appropriate for all high-impact athletes in the 60-65 age range. The programming in this plan is specifically designed for civilian athletes, and/or...

mtntactical.com

 

[rclouse79]

I am trying out the program exo has for free on their website. I made it through the first of four cycles and impressed. I couldn’t walk right for a couple days after jump lunges with a weighted pack.

 

[87TT]

Backcountry Big Game Hunting Pipeline

This fitness packet delivers training to improve hunting fitness—boosting strength, stamina, and backcountry performance for a stellar hunting season.

mtntactical.com

or

MTI’s “SF60” Plans: Ages 60 – 65

SF60 Training contains three plans of MTI’s SF60 programming: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie “SF560” is an acronym for “Strength and Fitness 60” and is age-appropriate for all high-impact athletes in the 60-65 age range. The programming in this plan is specifically designed for civilian athletes, and/or...

mtntactical.com

Wouldn't you know it, too old for it.

 

[LostArra]

Easier to stay in elk shape than to get back in elk shape especially at 70 yo and living at 1100'.

 

[RuggedYogi]

I mountain bike, trail run, do yoga, and do HIIT workouts. Starting to ruck more now as the season draws closer. I’ve noticed that no matter what I do, there is no substitute for walking up hills with a pack when I am training to walk up hills with a pack. Living at 7,500 feet is pretty helpful, too.

Also, diet and recovery are becoming more important as I edge closer to 40 (not that old, I know).

 

[Dkugler76]

I get up and workout before work in the mornings. Usually compound movement type stuff and try to simulate certain hunting activities (box step ups, tons of sled work) but I time my rest periods in between sets so my heart rate stays pretty high. In the eveninging I walk with my pack on increasing weight as season gets closer

 

[Fowl Play]

I am the heaviest I’ve ever been after some medical issues and gradually have been stepping up the intensity over the last couple months. Currently doing 30min of cardio every day, combined with this 5 day workout. 3x sets of 10-12 reps for everything. Except for body weight which is variable. Have kept this up for almost 2 months and feeling great. May still be heavy going onto the mountain, but at least will be able to hold my own.

Edit: I’m an idiot and just relized this is in the over sixty forum (unless mods moved it). Which I am not. But hey, still working at it.

 

[PaBone]

I'm almost 63 and leave for Alaska here soon and then onto Montana in September for two weeks general elk DIY. I have a one mile loop mowed around the farm and make myself hike it every evening with my pack on, even if it's only one lap. I lift weights, kayak and bike a lot also. I never feel I'm in good enough shape and I know it's going to be a grind, but after hunting season all I can think about is doing it again next year.

 

[fatlander]

I got into what I thought was elk hunting shape when I started hunting elk hunting. Since then we keep pushing year over year to get into better shape. To reuse a quote I once read here; noons ever goes elk hunting and says, “I was in too good of shape for that.”

The MTN tough no gear programs, weekly weighted rucks in the mountains that increase in frequency as the season grows nearer, and some running around home is my regimen. Mobility work has become a bigger part of my daily routine as the years wear on.

 

[TaperPin]

My backpacking days are behind me, but I used to keep a heavy pack loaded for walks, just wearing around the house, or stepping up and down off a plywood box. At least for me, the muscles that hold shoulder straps and waist belt have to be kept in shape.

 

[Maverick1]

To reuse a quote I once read here; noons ever goes elk hunting and says, “I was in too good of shape for that.”

Well, that is and isn’t true.

First couple of seasons I got into elk hunting I really dove in and got into the fitness aspect of it. I worked out like crazy, focusing on what we often hear “get into the best shape of your life” and “you can’t be in too good of shape”.

So, that’s what I did. The result was I was very strong, had low single-digit body fat percentage and was what most people would consider to be great physical shape.

However, being in “great physical shape” is not the same as being in mountain shape.

Reflecting back, I was in “too good of shape” - but in the wrong areas. There were many things I did well, and others where I missed the mark. For example, I could run a half marathon really well, but could not hike on uneven terrain particularly well. My stabilizing muscles were not where they needed to be for side hilling! Ankles, knees, and hamstrings were absolutely shot after going side hilling through deadfall. As another example: I did lots of sprints those first couple of summers in training, but not nearly enough rucking with a weighted backpack. I could run really fast around the track for 400M, but couldn’t go uphill with a 75 pound backpack on for more than one or two summits in training! Even if I got an elk, it would have been brutal to pack out.

In addition, having a very low body fat percentage was great - for the first day or so…..but really was detrimental afterwards. Going for an 8-10 hour hike in the mountains, one would think having less body fat is beneficial, and it is, but not if you need to make those same types of hikes for sixteen days straight. There is a tipping point where having extra body fat is actually beneficial!

In general, I agree. It is important to be in great shape - great mountain shape - and one can never be in too great of mountain shape!

Good luck this season!

 

[TaperPin]

A very common problem with anyone packing meat down hill is weak quads which allow the knee cap to rotate down bruising the cartilage. My orthopedic surgeon was also an elk hunter and knew exactly what happened. Lol

Leg extensions at the gym and carrying extra heavy packs for preseason conditioning is key.

One year I shot a meat elk too far in and spent 4 days leap frogging meat bags down to the car. By the end of the season I had been backpack scouting and hunting this area for more than 2 weeks and physically felt pretty bullet proof, but I couldn’t bend one knee by the time it was all done - heavier weights preseason would have been worth it.

 

[elkguide]

So many responses to the question.
I work in the trades and am always going. Besides hunting/shooting, my other addiction is bicycle riding. Stuck on the road now, as my body won't take the bumps off road anymore. Currently recovering from a bad staph infection that required surgery and a hospital stay of 4 days. Surgeon told me that I shouldn't work or ride my bike till the middle of August and stay away from my HIIT machines and weights. Not very good at being told that I can't do something, (3 days of HIIT this week but only 125 miles on a bicycle) so I'm trying to keep myself ready for the hills this fall.

The right exercise is most important. My wife likes to bike and walk. We have a 5-mile road loop that we walk, 3 or 4 evenings a week along with an average of 200 miles on the bicycles after work. Even with all of that planned movement, I have found that if I don't get at least 10 miles a week, of walking through the fields and woods here, I cannot climb the western hills with any kind of stability. All of the working out is great for your heart health but it doesn't do a lot for your ability to attack the hills, so I head for the woods behind my house with my rifle or bow, pack and in boots just as I plan to hit the western hills this fall.

Coming from 270' above sea level, I have found that if I am in good shape, I can acclimate to altitude in just a couple of days. That drives me. I must admit that while I hunt in whatever weather is happening during the season, I don't hike/ride/walk in the rain. I'll head to my reloading/workout room in the basement and work out.

When I was guiding, the saddest thing that I saw was the 60-year-old hunter, that had worked hard all his/her life and was now ready to go on their first elk hunt and after getting to camp, finding that they just couldn't climb the hills or go down into that canyon because they would have to climb back up out.... that keeps me motivated and working out and dreaming of the incredible elk that I am going to challenge on their home turf this fall.

 

[Fire power]

There is no "Elk shape" that's just a marking tool or goal to get into shape. If you are in shape you are in shape if not.....well you're not. I was raised in Texas and when I moved to CO all I heard was how bad the altitude was and how I'd be gasping for air........didn't really notice it when I got there at all.

Granted I was running 100 miles a week then so maybe that had something to do with it........lol. But that's exactly my point. Now at 60 I'd feel that thin air more for sure but still..........if you're in good shape you'll deal with it better.........so you're in shape or not.....not "elk shape" that's just a buzz word.

 

[Boarmaster]

Elk shape my rear I’m just trying to get in atv and climber stand shape…… You boys is tough!!!