Long Term Fatigue

[Swede]

Elk hunts can tire even the best conditioned hunter if they hunt long and hard enough. Usually most hunters are good for a few days, but they soon realize that long days, short nights and hikes over some pretty tough ground is tiring them out. Those groceries you make by pouring water in a bag don't help that much either. So what do you do to keep your energy and performance up? Do you get worn out and discouraged and let your guard down, or can you stay alert as long as you should?

Even 20+ years ago a tree stand helped a lot at times. I was lighter and worked in the forest, so I was in good shape. On days I was in the office I exercised or went on a hike after work.
I like a good meal at least once a day and a comfortable night in the sack. If I get too tired from too much work, I will sleep in. I am mostly wasting time if I am too tired.

[saddlesore]

I don't have that many problems.Even didn't years ago when I hunted young and stupid. A person needs to hunt smart.

Camp low so your body regains oxygen you used at higher elevations. Have good bed that lets you sleep. That isn't one of those 1" foam pads either. Take a nap midday. Make sure your bed stays dry and work to keep yourself dry also. Stay clean.Even if you sponge bath,use soap and water, not a few disposable Handi wipes.

Eat well,don't vary your diet very much from what you eat at home. Agreed about those meals that get eaten out of a plastic bag. I did that last week for four days as I was pressed and only had one pack mule. I felt like I was starving and I had meals that were suppose to be 2.5 servings each.

When you get back to camp at night take two aspirins and a few Tums first thing. You can't sleep good if you hurt and your body is acidic.

Drink a lot of water and stay away from any alcoholic drinks.

Of course, anything that involves stirrups and cross bucks help a bunch.

[cohunter]

Naps! For me elk hunting is my best chance all year to get away from the daily grind. A nap is also a great way to get away from the daily grind. A nap in the woods is most excellent. Mine are mostly unplanned, but totally enjoyable.

[cohunter]

But there's also no way I'm missing out on being in position for that 1st hour of shooting light.

[Lefty]

Things that never use to hurt now do,.. Just last month my doc told a lot of things change as we get older and I needed to face the reality
Saddle sore has a great list,.... maybe from experience , I agree with it all except maybe that last comment,..

Maybe I am not so thrilled my daughter unloaded a $100.00 10-year old gelding in the small pasture that had been abandoned for 7 years where it was boarded.

I always heard of other trappers burn-out . many fur trappers just petered out after 2-3 weeks I never had a problem for many of the reasons Saddlesore listed

,.... A person needs to hunt smart.
,...... Have good bed that lets you sleep. That isn't one of those 1" foam pads either.
,.......Take a nap midday.
,......Make sure your bed stays dry and work to keep yourself dry also.
,.......Stay clean.Even if you sponge bath,use soap and water, not a few disposable Handi wipes.
,.......Eat well,don't vary your diet very much from what you eat at home.
,.........When you get back to camp at night take two aspirins and a few Tums first thing. You can't sleep good if you hurt and your body is acidic.
,..........Drink a lot of water and stay away from any alcoholic drinks.

Of course, anything that involves stirrups and cross bucks help a bunch.

[Indian Summer]

All the answers you'd expect to see are here. Hunting smart helps your body for sure not to mention your overall success.

But don't forget to surround yourself with good people. A good partner will help keep things upbeat and both of you will be more likely to stay motivated by feeding off of each others positive thinking. Fatigue is a combination of physical and mental effects so don't forget it's not just your body that needs taken care of. My partner has to have at least some sense of humor. Otherwise he might not like me by the end of the week.

As far as food goes.... I start with a nice steak dinner. Then I go to Mountain House and those double serving ones fill me up and put me right to sleep. Then if there is a town anywhere nearby about mid week or so I'll run in and eat like a king and have a drink or three before going back to the regular program. The key for me is to make sure I like the particular meal selections. Elk camp is no time to decide if you like a bland bag of chicken and yucky mashed potatoes or getting heartburn from chili-mac. I'll eat chicken ala king and beef stroganoff early in the trip and again later over trying to have a variety with a few I don't care for. I also like the freeze dried ice cream sandwiches and better yet the Neapolitan.

Also.. a little music, blues in particular never hurts. Decompress at night!

[Indian Summer]

Sidenote: I'm looking at a 26 foot toy hauler. I won't take it out this year but in the future I will and when I do the menu will definitely change. I'll be using the refrigerator freezer and the grill a lot. I'll be eating elk meat!

Although I will still have Mountain Mouse meals because when you need to eat and you know you are about to fall over and sleep like a rock nothing is faster and easier with zero cleanup. That is half the benefit of eating those types of meals.

[twinkieman]

We rotate the cooking chores in our camp, the night you cook, you don't hunt. It's a forced rest period when your the cook. Some of the guys, have their wives prepare meals, that they freeze, and all they have to do is warm it up. I like to cook, and I will cook in a dutch oven, or my camp chef oven. We eat very well, get a break every 4 or 5 days, and this recharges us pretty well.

[Indian Summer]

Don't hunt is not an option! That would cause me mental fatigue and severe anxiety attacks. If I'm beat upon any particular day I just plan an easier hunt route. If I was really smart, and a bit older maybe, I'd have a treestand hung so I could hunt with confidence no matter what. Your posts make me bite my lip and think Swede. But I ain't older yet!!! Or uh.... any smarter.

The way we do meals at the annual muskie fishing marathon week is that every guy has 1 night to provide dinner for everyone for. We have 6 guys in the cabin. Like hunting we are in pairs so that means each pair basically has 2 night where they can do what they want. they can grill or use the crock pot. Whatever they want but they will ask everyone else when they think they will be back at camp and if they need to bail out early to have things ready for everyone else then they do. Works out great. Also if it's my night to cook my partner will help me with any cleanup so nobody ever cleans up alone. Actually though we have a great group of guys and usually a couple other guys jump in and make cleanup a breeze.

The nice thing is that the other nights of the week you don't have any responsibilities. We love that.

[TurkeyBowMaster]

Great topic. I slept in one morning on my first hunt and I cost me some quality time on one of the better days. It would be better to a do a tree stand hunt a day or two to build up energy. Cold calling for 30 minute sets every couple hours is another way to get rest and you will still be hunting. Stand hunting in the evening might be another method. Lots of ways to controll the pace while still giving yourself a chance for success.

[Osprey]

I think this sort of depends also on how much sleep guys are used to getting as well. If you don't get up early a lot with less than 6hrs sleep and then all of a sudden your Elk hunting and going to bed later getting up early it will hit you pretty hard. Honestly I could get 3-4 hours of sleep each night for 9 days and hunt hard all day each day I would be tired as heck but I would be hunting hard every day all day I can just push myself through it and perform just the same. However I try and eat at least 3000 calories on my Elk hunts and a lot of weekends I get up early and don't get a lot of sleep. taking naps when you can helps too. Lately I've been Steelhead and Salmon fishing on weekends getting about 3-5 hours of sleep before heading out trolling. On days the lake flips and I cast from shore I would cast all night like sun down into about 10 am trying to get kings then take a few hour nap mid day repeat. I think I'm lucky to get 6 hrs most days I get out for any of my hobbies. Hunting season for me in fall lasts 6 months then 2 months turkey in spring so 8 months a year every weekend you get used to the little sleep thing. Then the other 4 its fishing. Its the whitetail season that last 3 months here and the sept through feb goose season that really starts to wear on me over long term. Elk hunting takes its toll too and I think sleeping in one day if one starts to really wear down will really help out. I do it sometimes for Deer and just do an evening hunt instead of morning and evening although during prime time or good weather for anything I just suck it up deal with it I'm out there rain, shine, sickness, tired, i don't really care pain is temporary.

[lamrith]

I think this sort of depends also on how much sleep guys are used to getting as well. If you don't get up early a lot with less than 6hrs sleep and then all of a sudden your Elk hunting and going to bed later getting up early it will hit you pretty hard. Honestly I could get 3-4 hours of sleep each night for 9 days and hunt hard all day each day I would be tired as heck but I would be hunting hard every day all day I can just push myself through it and perform just the same. However I try and eat at least 3000 calories on my Elk hunts and a lot of weekends I get up early and don't get a lot of sleep. taking naps when you can helps too. Lately I've been Steelhead and Salmon fishing on weekends getting about 3-5 hours of sleep before heading out trolling. On days the lake flips and I cast from shore I would cast all night like sun down into about 10 am trying to get kings then take a few hour nap mid day repeat. I think I'm lucky to get 6 hrs most days I get out for any of my hobbies. Hunting season for me in fall lasts 6 months then 2 months turkey in spring so 8 months a year every weekend you get used to the little sleep thing. Then the other 4 its fishing. Its the whitetail season that last 3 months here and the sept through feb goose season that really starts to wear on me over long term. Elk hunting takes its toll too and I think sleeping in one day if one starts to really wear down will really help out. I do it sometimes for Deer and just do an evening hunt instead of morning and evening although during prime time or good weather for anything I just suck it up deal with it I'm out there rain, shine, sickness, tired, i don't really care pain is temporary.

Great point and sleep is a little concern for me as I am typically a early to bed early to rise type. Morning hunt will be a minor change, but the evening hunts are going to run me past my normal crash time which is then going to cascade into dragging the next morning. The saving grace might be that I actually have a pretty much caffeine free diet, and my hunting partner has coffee every morning. I will take advantage of that to kick me up and out of camp in the mornings. Then I will also be packing on the protein foods to keep energy going thru the day, as well as carbs. Probably try and take advantage and crash in camp mid-day as well..

[njdoxie]

Yeah I get bad tired, because I'm too excited to sleep, even though I take stuff for it...... I try to nap, but often feel like I'm missing something and can't relax, so I wind up sleeping in a day or two to recover....lol I spend way too much time in camp during daylight....I violate the cardinal rule "you should never see camp in daylight".

[Indian Summer]

Days are really long in archery season compared to gun, especially late gun. Sleep is crucial. The older I get the more I hate mornings. So one big key are those mid day naps. It's a no brainer in archery. You might miss something but you have to weigh out the pros and cons. If you are tired your senses aren't as sharp and neither is your decision making process. Even if you don't actually fall completely asleep take the nap!

[Tigger]

One thing we have done is not kill ourselves on the way out. Last year my dad went along as camp cook and he wanted to leave at 3 am for our drive out to WY (16 hours). I nixed that idea right away. Arriving at elk camp exhausted is a poor way to start out the week in my opinion. Better to arrive well rested for the week.

[Indian Summer]

One thing we have done is not kill ourselves on the way out. Last year my dad went along as camp cook and he wanted to leave at 3 am for our drive out to WY (16 hours). I nixed that idea right away. Arriving at elk camp exhausted is a poor way to start out the week in my opinion. Better to arrive well rested for the week.

I have friends that always want to leave in the middle of the night like that. To me that is a total disruption of our natural sleep cycle and there is no way I will ever do that. I am not a nocturnal animal.

On the other hand I get pretty excited as I get closer to them thar hills and I will keep driving late into the night. But that's more natural. Also there is so much to do when you first get there so I know that early on it will all catch up to me and I'll go to bed super early a few nights to get back on track. But the 3 am departure... NOPE! 6 or 7 yes definitely.

Is it just me or do we all get to bed late the night before we leave running around with obsessive compulsive disorder checking and rechecking all of our crap? Ugh! Every year I say that won't happen and it always does. 35 years man.... this year that is NOT going to happen dangit! It can't because I'm driving solo. No rest for the wicked on this year's commute.

[Swede]

I totally agree with I.S. on the need for a good rest. I don't get up at 3:00 AM or 4:00 AM to get to a stand in the dark. I will be out at first light to call or go to my stand. I will hunt in my stand until dark in the evening. The percentages are much better that way, and I rest well too.

[saddlesore]

Every elk l hunt I go on,we leave home at 5AM . Mostly to beat the traffic going around Denver at rush hour. Curios though, if the need to get up at 3AM is there. Why not leave a day earlier. I would hate to drive into elk camp the evening before opening day.

While actually hunting, we usually get up at about 3:30 Am. Feed the mules, which gives them about an hour to eat. Then have nice breakfast that fills us up. Then saddle up and leave camp about 4:30-4:45. The hunt area is about an hours ride away. Then 20-30 minute walk to where we will hunt. That puts us in the area about 15 minutes before it starts to get light. No hurry and there is always a little problem that might hold us up a few minutes.

That first 15-20 minutes of shooting time is the most important time of the hunt in my opinion.At first light the bulls might bugle once and then shut up in ML season which is usually just before rut. For the 2nd rifle season here in CO bugling is about done with. During that season, we are catching the elk as they get pushed by other hunters working their way into their hunting areas after it gets light. By the time they get there,the elk are gone.

Very seldom do we hunt in the evening. Elk spotting is almost non existent . Where we hunt,they don't move until after legal shooting hours have long gone.. We have tried that enough thru the years to know it's true. Years ago we did shoot a few elk later, but I learned that I didn't like to process an elk in the dark and I wasn't about to let one lay all night and do it the next morning So either rifle of ML season,we are usually in bed right as it is getting dark giving us 7-8 hours sleep. Your body adapts to a different routine very quickly.

[Osprey]

I agree with not killing yourself on the way out. For a while I did a few waterfowl hunts to North Dakota with 6 friends who wanted to overnight the 14 hour drive arrive just prior to sun up set up and hunt day 1 by mid day of day ONE when we always scout in the afternoon 4 of the 6 were napping and it was like that for several days. Myself and one other guy were stuck doing all of the scouting for at least 2/3 the trip since the whimps that had the great idea of doing the overnight thing couldn't handle it. My trips out west for big game I know I'm going to be physically and mentally beat on so I like to arrive rested and pumped. Generally I start driving after work around 4-5pm drive about 6 hours stay at a motel 6 or whatever is cheap get about 7 hours of sleep wake up around 6 which cuts my next day into around a 12-14 hr drive arriving right near my unit. Then I wake up around 6-7 am drive into the unit to my starting point get settled into camp and usually done around 1-2pm. Last year due to limited vac I missed the first 1.5 days of CO 3rd rifle I chose to hunt through the end instead of opening day for multiple reasons weather pressure and elk have already been harrassed for months. I still didn't kill myself to get out there just took it like I normally would and arrived midday got into Elk first evening. In my unit the evenings seem to produce the longest movement about 3 hours vs mornings about 1.5 hrs before bedding. Finding one in the open at anytime is difficult though as I only saw elk in open 2 times one of which came home with me. I actually packed in a couple miles one to get away from most day hunters but also since I was in a good central location I could hit more good areas than I could hunt in the entire 3rd season with the benefit of cutting my walk to and from camp by mnore than half giving me more time to sleep less energry burned each day walking. Although waking up to single digit temps in my -40 bag each morning in the tent was the price I paid for that luxury, I guess I really tested my wiggys bag on that trip. I don't know the exact temp some mornings but my eyellashes froze together the morning I shot my bull which was kinda weird never had that happen before.

[Lefty]

,...... So one big key are those mid day naps. It's a no brainer in archery. You might miss something but you have to weigh out the pros and cons. If you are tired your senses aren't as sharp and neither is your decision making process. Even if you don't actually fall completely asleep take the nap!

When it was 90 plus degrees on my desert elk hunts I would tend to may my way back to camp. But a few hot days tall sage or lava rock( and a few times a nice cool cave)
In the forest there is way too much elevation between me and camp. So I find a place. my naps arent long but I may find 3- 4 locations where I sit for 30-45 minutes.
I also camp and keep quiet and am in elk area. ( when solo hunting) More than 1/4 of my hunts ( generally Friday night and all of Saturday) I often awake to elk. I now use the excuse Im in moose and grizzle country so Im not walking around in the dark for hours.

If you are tired your senses aren't as sharp and neither is your decision making process

40 years ago a friend said something to this manner "when you fish muskies you fish them as if you only get one cast. You make it your very best cast, you work the bait ( jerk baits at that time) the best way possible and you are totally prepared for that strike at any moment."
While Im not that intense elk hunting, those words of advise changed the way I do many things.

[Ryan Conkle]

All great points' and I can definitely agree on a nap/sleep and also having a hunting partner as a reinforcement. My hunting partner is also my neighbor and we are constantly preparing for and talking about our hunt all year long, which then turns into us constantly feeding off of each other and motivating each other to keep hunting hard on every day that is feasible to do so!

[saddlesore]

There is nothing like taking nap in a secluded meadow. If it's hot you crawl back under some aspens, cooler, you lay out in the sun. Raining, finda big pine and crawl back under it wrapped in a pauncho. Wake up without the foggiest notion where you are. Got to love it. A fellow can sure get the knots out of his rope if he don't forget why he is out there in the first place

Just bought my 2nd elk tag for this coming fall

[Buzzy73]

Maybe I can't relate to you guys doing the travel thing but I love to get out early and be exactly where I want to be an hour or more before first light especially during the rut. I love having 3 or more directions to head after locating bulls early and watching the truck lights headed up distant roads when I'm already within a few hundred yards of a herd.


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[oldnovice]

Days are really long in archery season compared to gun, especially late gun. Sleep is crucial. The older I get the more I hate mornings. So one big key are those mid day naps. It's a no brainer in archery. You might miss something but you have to weigh out the pros and cons. If you are tired your senses aren't as sharp and neither is your decision making process. Even if you don't actually fall completely asleep take the nap!

I am with you on this one. Especially if you are hunting challenging terrain. Nothing worse than being badly fatigued and falling down a rocky slope or such! I would rather take a couple of power naps during the day than risk injury. At my age, and only having one kidney, injuries that would be survivable for the younger guys could be fatal.

[Indian Summer]

Buzzy I think most would agree that being there at first light... and even an hour before light is priceless. It can be your only opportunity to know what is where and how to plan your day. But THE worst thing in the world, and I've done this on many elk & turkey hunts, is to be soooo tired that you can't hold your eyes open for 30 seconds when the sun is coming up. OMG that is so freakin depressing! What you do in the day or two before that sunup is what we are talking about.

So instead of leaving at some ungodly hour from say Pennsylvania and driving like a madman all the way to be there at sunup on a given day isn't really as good as getting the proper amount of sleep, but still getting an early start, showing up at camp at any random hour, setting camp, organizing your gear etc, and then if you have time just hike up to a nearby vantage point, or maybe even toward your number one spot, and seeing what happens. That isn't a hunting day it's just a bonus day.

For people who live at or below 1000 feet it's also an acclimation day. Let's not forget that right. If a guy drives from the coast of Maine and runs up the side of Pikes Peak there's a good chance he will be in the tent at first light for half the hunt with a screaming headache and a weak stomach.

Bottom line is treat your body right if you intend to hunt hard AND enjoy it.