Western Elk Hunting - advice for a flat lander
- Thread starter SwaneeSR
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Swanee - I was in a similar spot last year. I had one buddy out west, but he's a very experienced outdoorsman. He suggested we put in for tags as a group in Idaho. He told me we got really lucky as we drew all the tags we requested (elk, mule deer, and antelope).
I too am a very experienced outdoorsman, but I'd never been out west. The biggest...really the ONLY issue I had adapting to an elk hunt was the altitude.
I live at 400 feet, and I think I adapt to altitude a little worse than most people. I hiked and shot all summer. I could hike here for 5 hours non stop with a 50 lb pack in 100+ degree heat. Out there I couldn't hike two minutes up a hill without having to stop. The biggest hill in my city is only 60 feet. It's the back of a dam at a local lake. Out there we might be starting at 6,000 feet and climbing up to 7,000.
Being in great shape at sea level kept my legs from hurting while I was out there, but it did absolutely nothing for my ability to breathe. That was the only tough part, I simply couldn't put out like I expected to. I've almost decided (not 100% yet though) that it's not worth it for me personally to hunt like that any more. I'm i great shape, but I can't breath out there. I simply can't cover the ground I need to, and I can't be gone long enough from work to get acclimated. Two weeks is out of the picture for me. Usually I can get 4 or 5 days but that's it.
Hunting public land on foot really made me appreciate those commercials you see where everyone just rides a horse or an ATV up the ridge.
It seemed to me as though every state had a little bit different system. Pick a state, read their game and fish website, and put in for tags. Then get after it! It'll be an adventure you'll remember forever.
We hunted Mule deer in MT the year before that and while it was difficult, the elevation was a bit lower so it wasn't as bad.
If you need some motivation, here's the story about my elk hunt:
http://southernoutdoorsman.blogspot.com/2015/12/if-you-were-trying-to-find-one-animal.html
I too am a very experienced outdoorsman, but I'd never been out west. The biggest...really the ONLY issue I had adapting to an elk hunt was the altitude.
I live at 400 feet, and I think I adapt to altitude a little worse than most people. I hiked and shot all summer. I could hike here for 5 hours non stop with a 50 lb pack in 100+ degree heat. Out there I couldn't hike two minutes up a hill without having to stop. The biggest hill in my city is only 60 feet. It's the back of a dam at a local lake. Out there we might be starting at 6,000 feet and climbing up to 7,000.
Being in great shape at sea level kept my legs from hurting while I was out there, but it did absolutely nothing for my ability to breathe. That was the only tough part, I simply couldn't put out like I expected to. I've almost decided (not 100% yet though) that it's not worth it for me personally to hunt like that any more. I'm i great shape, but I can't breath out there. I simply can't cover the ground I need to, and I can't be gone long enough from work to get acclimated. Two weeks is out of the picture for me. Usually I can get 4 or 5 days but that's it.
Hunting public land on foot really made me appreciate those commercials you see where everyone just rides a horse or an ATV up the ridge.
It seemed to me as though every state had a little bit different system. Pick a state, read their game and fish website, and put in for tags. Then get after it! It'll be an adventure you'll remember forever.
We hunted Mule deer in MT the year before that and while it was difficult, the elevation was a bit lower so it wasn't as bad.
If you need some motivation, here's the story about my elk hunt:
http://southernoutdoorsman.blogspot.com/2015/12/if-you-were-trying-to-find-one-animal.html
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Good point on the altitude, when we moved to Albuquerque (5K') it literally took us several months to get used to the altitude. Hunters have died due to pushing it at high altitudes. Even elk huff and puff when they're way up there.
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Look up "mountaineering rest step" or high altitude hike pacing. There is a science to covering ground at high altitude in steep country. It's slow but at the end of the day and especially the end of the week you will have covered twice the ground and still feel great.
Interesting story, well written, plus a great bull elk. And yeah, the altitude out here in the Rocky Mountains is very, very hard on those hunters who live at or a bit above sea level.
I'm in good shape. I live at 3,000 feet and I still have to huff and puff up in the high country.
L.W.
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