What did you do today to get ready for Elk season?

I work out year around & it does pay off! Went out on a cow hunt with others for 3 days & covered aprox 10-11 miles total, not tired one bit & could have doubled it in serious elk terrain! Guess I'm as ready as usual. Bring it on! (grin)

ElkNut
 
Working out, practicing calls, flinging arrows, and reviewing gear. Excited for the season!
 
sleep,sleep,sleep, and more sleep training...because I know when I get on the mtn I want sleep much at all.
 
Pack centered HIIT workout. Didn’t drink alcohol. Doing 6 weeks dry before elk season. And then having a beer as a celebration for a downed bull.
 
Flew myself, my wife, two sons and granddaughter from MT to Nashville then drove to Southern iL today to visit family. It's 2 weeks before season starts when I should be scouting for elk. In other words, banking brownie points for elk, deer, antelope, and pheasant season. :)
 
Got both Garmins updated. Shot my bow in the AM and just before dark. Did my walking with the weighted pack. On the walk at the end of the road was rewarded with two nice big 4x4 mulies. They sure looked healthy. Watched them feed over the ridge at 200 yards.
 
Flew myself, my wife, two sons and granddaughter from MT to Nashville then drove to Southern iL today to visit family. It's 2 weeks before season starts when I should be scouting for elk. In other words, banking brownie points for elk, deer, antelope, and pheasant season. :)
Man I literally learned how to hunt in Shawnee National Forest down there. I know a bunch of those woods like the back of my hand. Killed my first deer in a wooden stand my dad built in the 80s.
 
Man I literally learned how to hunt in Shawnee National Forest down there. I know a bunch of those woods like the back of my hand. Killed my first deer in a wooden stand my dad built in the 80s.
Hunted turkeys in Shawnee for a lot of years before moving west 17 years ago. I mostly hunted whitetails on private but a little on public. First whitetail was out of a wooden stand in the 80s also. (Massac and Pope counties)
 
Being rained in this weekend and finally some cooler weather in the forecast, I decided to load up a couple more boxes of .300 H&H 180 grain Nosler Partitions. Will head to the range the first of the week to do a little more 300-500 yd range practice.
 
A quick look at the calendar tells me I have two weeks left until opening day. I have been doing the normal things like shooting my bow and hiking with a weighted pack. Those I do pretty much year round.
Today I made a sitting pad with three layers of thick carpet pad that my lovely wife sewed a multcam cover for. It rolls up and goes into a side pocket of my pack. I also vacuum sealed some frozen dinners for camp.
Wondered what other people are doing as it might remind me of something to put on my list to do?
Shooting bow and practice calling. Plus walk the dogs with a loaded pack.
 
Got my Friday chemo, coffee and Mackenzie river pizza for a pre workout and started with reverse sled drags. Then single leg rdls, calf raises, pull ups, rows etc. Waiting for my cam after dry firing my ventum a month ago🫣! Been shooting the Morrison ilf set up. Walking hills and lifting.
 
Completed most my premade meals, all vacuumed packed and in the freezer. Packaged up homemade
energy/protein bars, all vacuum packed and in the freezer as well. Went back through all my arrows and got them all matched out by weight. Watched a video or two while I was prepping meals. I put new batteries in some of my electronics. Actually Completed some "Honey Do's " I want to get done before I head out.
 
Starting to get my gear and camping stuff together and in action packer crates. Bought 2 locks for my coolers since they have to be bear proof and locked where I’m hunting. Still getting pre made meals ready. Breaking in my new boots. Shooting every other day. Just finished gluing in and indexing my broadheads. Trying to get ahead on all the meat processing at my plant so my employees won’t be swamped when I’m gone. Finished this deer mount as well.
 

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Never tried shooting my bow on a trampoline.
Did my walk with weighted pack, shot my bow, added some charging mounts in my hunting rig for the phone and Inreach. Watched and read some from the Elknut App while practicing calling, After dinner if it cools down to the low 90's, I'll take another walk with the pack and dog. If it's too hot. I may skip the pack.
Well if I give it try on the trampoline I'll have to let you know how it turns out. Might be able to make it work with long bow but not the compound, ha!
 
Upped the ruck weight to 65 and did 3 miles. Rode 11 miles on the bicycle and shot the bow. 20 days.
 
Shot the bow, Walked 3 miles this morning about 2 of the miles I did 8 laps up and down the dame hill. this evening 2.5 miles or so again 6 laps up and down the same hill. Worked on my custom truck bed shell for my Ford Maverick FX4 and finally got it on the truck for the trip west, pretty well kept to my diet except for a small brownie. Received a like new bow in the mail today (Elite Carbon ERA), ordered a Elite Rest for it today,
 
Went shopping today and picked up some bulk snack mix.. Vacuum sealed some more meals to freeze. Shot the bow and hiked with the dog.
Bonus recipe; 😋
Breakfast scramble.
Prepared at home and frozen ahead of time.
Take potatoes, washed, and cut in quarters lengthwise and boil them until not quite cooked all the way through. I check them by when a fork just barely slides in easy. Remove from heat and drain them. Spead them out on a paper towel and spray with spray oil. Then sprinkle them with season salt. Put them on the Treager or other smoker and let the smoke on the lowest setting for at least a half an hour. Then turn up to 350 and cook them for maybe 10 minutes on each side (3), remove and let them cool. Cut them into 3/4" to 1"chunks.
Chop up some onion and sweet peppers and throw them in a pan with some butter or oil and saute them for a few minutes and crumble in some elk sausage. Then toss in the potatoes and cook til flavors blend, maybe 3-4 min. Then let it cool and bag it and freeze.
In camp.
In the morning heat up a skillet with a little butter or oil, toss in some of the potato mix (a handful per serving). When it is hot, crack a couple of eggs (usually two per serving) in and stir it up. Throw in some cheese and finish cooking the eggs. And serve.
Cooking time in camp is just a few minutes for a great breakfast. I'm usually by myself and eat it out of the pan. Less to clean up.
 
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