Exercise for hunting season

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daniel craig

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Disclaimer: this post is not meant to be an ablest dig to those of limited physical mobility and I apologize if it comes off that way. I’m thankful for the ability I still have and I’m no way wish you denegrate or put down anyone.

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Let’s face it, there are at least a few of us who enjoy hunting but hate/dislike/don’t care about exercising for the sake of it. Since leaving the employ of my Fathers brother Samuel....I’ve not been great at exercising. I used to run Spartans and all that blah blah blah....Sure, I like to hike and hike often but that is not exactly a hard workout most of the time.

It wasn’t until I met my the other family that I saw and fully came to realize how much easier it is to enjoy hunting and to be successful at it when you’re in decent shape, especially if you’re going to be the experienced/muscles of your hunting group.

I still hate exercising for the sake of it, and I know that might make me mentally weak or whatever but I’ve found a little motivation in using it as way for “prepping for hunting season.” It’s especially important since I now live the 9-5 small city life thays a far cry from the rural homestead and service life I used to live.

Have any of you had a similar experience?
 
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Now at the age of 69 I have to exercise to be able to pull my bow, hike the 30 degree slopes on one farm and drag a queen sized doe up those slopes. I have a 65 year old friend who goes out west every year. He will go to the high school football field and run bleachers for over a month to get in shape. Lifts weights too. He has taken bulls for the last 3 years and one nice mulie. Oh, I forgot to say that he had a double by-pass 5 years ago.
 
daniel craig said:
Disclaimer: this post is not mean to be an ablest dig to those of limited physical mobility and I apologize if it comes off that way. I’m thankful for the ability I still have and I’m no way wish you denegrate or put down anyone.

..........................................................

Let’s face it, there are at least a few of us who enjoy hunting but hate/dislike/don’t care about exercising for the sake of it. Since leaving the employ of my Fathers brother Samuel....I’ve not been great at exercising. I used to run Spartans and all that blah blah blah....Sure, I like to hike and hike often but that is not exactly a hard workout most of the time.

It wasn’t until I met my the other family that I saw and fully came to realize how much easier it is to enjoy hunting and to be successful at it when you’re in decent shape, especially if you’re going to be the experienced/muscles of your hunting group.

I still hate exercising for the sake of it, and I know that might make me mentally weak or whatever but I’ve found a little motivation in using it as way for “prepping for hunting season.” It’s especially important since I now live the 9-5 small city life thays a far cry from the rural homestead and service life I used to live.

Have any of you had a similar experience?
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Having had to fireman carry my friend out of buttes and canyons (along with our rifles and gear) and drag animals out of places they shouldn't have been shot in, I've taken care to keep an eye on my "minimum" threshold, remember, the hunt doesn't stop when you pull the trigger lol!
 
daniel craig said:
Have any of you had a similar experience?
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Similar, but not exactly the same. We've lived out here in the country on a small acreage for over 40 years. There's always hard work to be done, and it used to be that we looked at that work as exercise that helped us stay in shape for backpacking, climbing and hunting.
Things change however. I'm 72, my wife is not that far behind, and we both struggle with some underlying health problems. Consequently, we're thinking we might have to sell out and move to town in a few years because we just can't keep up with the work around this place anymore.
It's not that bad yet though. We still go for walks up and down the county road, this morning we drove about 5 miles over to some rancher friend's ranch to shoot ground squirrels (something we've been doing a couple of times a week for a month now), and tomorrow morning I'm going fishing with a buddy on a great trout fishing reservoir not 25 miles from here. Mowing the weeds out in the pasture and tending to the trees will have to wait.:D
 
Hiking can be great for getting in hunting shape, it just depends where you’re hiking. I live in mountains, and to get ready for the season I hike up them, with dogs and a gun, as fast as we can.

I’ve also been cutting up a large tree that fell in the woods downhill from my house, carrying the logs up hill, then splitting them. It’s all about finding the challenging chores and letting the motivation to get them done be the thing that pushes you forward. When you add in getting in hunting shape it gets you past “it can wait,” because the season is approaching.
 
I ache more from being dormant that from being active. The heat and cold are not as nice to me as they used to be but I am a firm believer in keeping moving.

The more you tell yourself you can’t do, the closer you are to the grave. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen it repeat itself.

Conversely I have seen people that had more business in a nursing home but instead he under a grain truck working on it, chewing tobacco and when you tell them to get up because fire ants are all over them, they spit and say, “ah, they ain’t going to eat much.” and continue about their business.

What you can do outdoors is better than watching TV or even messing around on the Internet.
 
Arkansas Paul said:
I have never done anything special to prepare physically for deer season.
I will admit that every time I start dragging a deer, I wish I would have.
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Me too, but with the COVID thing still going on in pretty much full force in one of the "bluest" areas of my state where I live and work, I have the time during tele-work to walk a good distance with some weight in a small pack. My boss wants us to be "fit" and "in shape" (I thought that as I'm round and "round" is a shape that would count) so walking a brisk mile with about 25 lbs. on my back every day this month and the next several should help this year.

LD
 
Broke both ankles at least twice and have an attic full of crutches, braces, and even a old wheelchair. The old injuries have taken a toll, with age arthritis generally develops in those damaged areas.....prevents me from running like a young buck. Desire for hunting has probably been the best therapy, for nearly 30 years I've learned to ignore pain and limitations. Can still hike a couple of miles to track game, but pay for it later with stiff sore muscles.....and that's OK.
 
Hiking or just walking is never a bad thing, especially with weight like what you would normally carry. A good sling on your gun makes life a lot easier when you are travelling on the "shoe leather express". Where the real challenges start is recovering something like a deer, hog, etc. from whatever crappy terrain it decides to "go down" in. This is where strength, endurance, and hopefully healthy doses of both ingenuity and good equipment come in. Bonus points if you have someone else to help. I have walked back to the barn to get my 4 wheeler to drag a deer out of the woods, and a friend uses his cub cadet riding lawn mower to drag them out of the field behind his house. When we hunt hogs in swampy areas, we keep a collapsible Israeli military combat litter in the truck. Those things love to run into the swamp to die, or run down to the base of a hill covered in sugar sand.
 
earlthegoat2 said:
I keep in shape for the sake of me.

Being in shape for hunting is a happy side effect.
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I’m one of those people who finds it difficult to motivate working out for “just me”. It’s one of the things I miss about the military tbh. You worked out cuz you had to whether you liked it or not.
 
daniel craig said:
Have any of you had a similar experience?
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Definitely.

The most common hunts involve an average of 10 miles / 12 hours of walking a day, in very tough terrain, hunting either grouse, moose or both at the same time. Unless I pick up an extra exercise routine about this time of the year, it'll be a problem. Pulling a 1000lb+(++, gutted) moose carcass out of the woods or even field dressing it for packing out takes things a couple of steps further.

It's really annoying that I don't have time for frequent around-the-year exercise anymore. Only a few short years ago I didn't even have to think about this, now I do. I'm probably getting old or something. :)
 
I ain't what I used to be now that I'm over 60. Up until my late 40's I used to run a lot, but an overused knee required surgery and put a stop to the running.

I find walking hills is the next best thing. I live near the top of a steep hill on a dead end road. From my house to the top, then down to the main road and back is 1.5 miles. None is level with a 600' elevation loss/gain on each lap. I try to do at least one lap every day the weather cooperates and often do 2. I try to maintain the same pace uphill as down and it really gets my heartrate and breathing up. This is the closest I've found to duplicating the feeling I got from running.

I'm a member of a gym, but don't go all that often anymore. Especially lately with the Covid virus out there.
 
I try to stay at about 10%bmi. This makes it easier to handle working in the heat.
What I've noticed recently is that I can do as much as I used to. It just takes longer. Or I take longer to recover.
Chasing a trailer across a field and stacking square bales on it makes for some great exercise.
If deer season was right after hay season, I could throw it out if the woods. Sadly some of that energy is gone by November.
 
Recurve is 54#.
Not bad but need to shoot a bit to get into shape.
Problem is work, lots of banging and bashing, repetitive motion.
So bad Friday my hand is swollen, shoulders, neck and back are jacked up.
Awesome to work and cripple yourself for the two days off.

Do find double britches and diff boots affects mobility and that it takes a fair bit to get used to em.
The restricted movement does affect how my muscles move and it gets more annoying the older I get.

Am less tolerant of hassle or discomfort, even minor.
 
MaxP said:
I try to stay in shape year round, it makes things easier. No doubt not only do you hunt more effectively when you are in shape, it makes the whole experience much more enjoyable.
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The shape I am in is round. However, I hunt multiple nights a week and may do upwards of 2-3 miles of hiking/stalking up and down hills in the dark, hog-rutted terrain (I do have the occasional falls), with about 25 lbs of gear. I hunt with a guy who is much lighter than me and more than a decade younger. I am not slowing him down, so I figure I am doing alright, but no doubt if I lost 50 lbs, I would be doing a lot better.
 
Year round for me. Keeping a decent 'base' all year and then stepping it up for the season seems to work best for me. I lost 70 lbs starting about 12 years ago and can't imagine going back to that limited ability lifestyle. That being said, I will struggle with food the rest of my life. It has to be a daily priority for me.

I sympathize with those trying to make changes. It's tough to do but so damn worth it.
 
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