What Does It Take?

Most of our hunters are coming from lower elevation and it is amazing how much better they adapt to the altitude with a little exercise beforehand.  Some people ask, "how much exercise does it take before they should feel good about elk hunting?" There are too many factors at hand to answer that question specific to you (what your starting fitness level is, how much hiking is involved, how much does your gear weigh, what’s the elevation, how steep is the terrain). I do not have experience as a physical trainer but have many years experience as a hunting guide and I will say that if you are physically fit and a seasoned exerciser I tell my clients to keep it up and step up your program a little before coming.  If exercise is not in your reprutua, I always recommend doing anything to get exercise.  You don’t have to join a gym or start running ten miles a day but simply walking more and more each day will do wonders.  Take the stairs instead of an elevator, in a parking lot find the farthest parking spot rather than the closest (which I guarantee nine times out of ten you won’t lose any more time, because those spots are almost always open!).  Those are a couple ideas to get you started. Then you can push yourself as much as you want, any exercise is always better than no exercise.