How steep is too steep?

[Bulldawg]

When you are thinking about checking out new areas to hunt, what kind of grade are you looking at to determine if that's doable or not?

I'm looking at some areas that I'm sure will have some elk, but getting there is going to be rough if we make that decision, it would be a lot of climbing in a short horizontal distance, 1800 ft over 1 mile.

1 mile is not bad, but 1800 feet in one mile is quite a bit, rather straight up, some of my spots are 1800-2200 of elevation gain but over 2-3 miles.

I don't think what anybody says here will sway me one way or another, I'm gonna try to keep this area as my 3rd or 4th place of interest so we'll only go there if we can't find anything in the few days leading up to scouting some other areas.

Just wanted to see what some others are thinking when looking at new spots on a map. Also to note, there is no way around the steep climb, there's nowhere that we could start higher and go further. its straight up from the valley to the top of the ridge.

 

[WeiserBucks]

Doesn't really matter, if that's where they're at, that's where you need to go.

 

[grfox92]

1400 feet in .75 miles in the morning and back down to camp in the evening is something we did 3 days in a row every weekend in September, for the last 3 years.

Last year we brought a mule all the way up there. There is no trail and tons of blow down.

You will find a way. Its doable but you need to go there and find a route if there is no trail.

Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

 

[Marbles]

Short answer, it depends on you.

I have hunted places were standing straight up I can reach out and touch the hill side. In thick trees that is safe, on wet grass with mud it is scary. Then there is everything in between.

Only way to really know is to put feet on the ground. I have looked at maps and thought an area would be fine only to realize I didn't want to walk over it. I have also looked at maps and written an area off as too steep only to end up using it as an access route.

It also depends on your fitness. If it sounds like an ass kicker in your head, then probably should plan a hunt over it. To me, that elevation gain sounds workable and I would not worry about it if the footing is good.

Remember, you will hopefully be coming down it heavy.

 

[Steve300xcw]

I normally make that call about the time i'm in the bottom and fully committed.

When you notice that you are talking to yourself. Saying things like "dont look down there, you might see something" "wtf are you doing dude?" "oh, this is goona suck so bad"...Might be worth pausing and thinking about it for a few

 

[Marbles]

I normally make that call about the time i'm in the bottom and fully committed.

When you notice that you are talking to yourself. Saying things like "dont look down there, you might see something" "wtf are you doing dude?" "oh, this is goona suck so bad"...Might be worth pausing and thinking about it for a few

What if you look at it and say "I probably won't die on that today" or "I think I can catch myself with the axe before going over that cliff." You have to keep the self talk positive after all.

 

[Blackbird]

When looking for new areas to hunt like this on a map I want to ground truth it once again physically there try and find a way to glass into the area before hand. Then you just have to make a game plan and get to work.

 

[Poser]

Its often the case that you can reasonably pick your way up and down a lot of terrain in the 30-39 degree slope angle. Around 40 degrees is where it often becomes unreasonably steep for hunting purposes unless you are hunting goats. In that case, you may have to expand your tolerance a bit more.

 

[Steve300xcw]

Also depends on the ground. Its really neat when there are tree's to grab