Practical Hiking Slope/Vertical Gain Limitations While Hunting

MITCHMO said:
I’m 35 and a desk jockey, I run a few times a week in the summer to stay in shape but I’m 150lbs and accustomed to northern Michigan “hills”. I’ve been to. Idaho a couple times and found what I consider to be my hiking limits in elevation with about 30-35lbs of gear. I’ve saved those tracks on google earth as a sanity check while e scouting. I can take a look at the distance vs angle and get back with you.

It may sound stupid, but I found out what I was doing wrong in years 1&2. I went too fast. Take small steps. I’m used to having a giant stride here in Michigan and covering lots of ground. A local laughed at me out there and told me “you Michigan boys don’t know how to walk up hill”. I was trying to go straight up with big steps all the time. I got places fast, but it was brutal. Oh yea that local guy...60 years old and smoking a cigarette as he out climbed me hahahahaha.
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Also I like how we are both holding great lakes fish in a western hunting forum.
 
2020 will be my 4th year out west. I was always a map guy and spent a lot of time in the woods off trail, most of it in thick woods/alders/willow brush, etc. also peat bogs of MN which required some high stepping to get through. But dealing with the vertical while off trail is tough, and I think being able to read the topo and route finding is a big help.

I think I am better than most at navigating off trail, but last summer while scouting I accidentally came up through the purple spot on this map. 40-45+ degrees and it ended up being the worst 200 yards of hiking all year. It was thick trees and required crawling at times. So follow watch the map better than I was that day. 50 ft topo lines can hide a lot.

hike.PNG
 
westbranch said:
2020 will be my 4th year out west. I was always a map guy and spent a lot of time in the woods off trail, most of it in thick woods/alders/willow brush, etc. also peat bogs of MN which required some high stepping to get through. But dealing with the vertical while off trail is tough, and I think being able to read the topo and route finding is a big help.

I think I am better than most at navigating off trail, but last summer while scouting I accidentally came up through the purple spot on this map. 40-45+ degrees and it ended up being the worst 200 yards of hiking all year. It was thick trees and required crawling at times. So follow watch the map better than I was that day. 50 ft topo lines can hide a lot.

View attachment 129325
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Shoot, someone posted a link to those maps before but I cant find it. Can someone post it again?
 
Not sure if this will help you:
-- at work, during my lunch break, I take my pack and it's contents as if I'm going for an overnight, up and down our 5-story parking structure. I'll go up and down for half hour. I started with two rounds. Now, I'm good for 4 rounds. Each way up gets harder on the hips, knees and back. I still need to work on my core to further strengthen it.
On flat, I'm good for 5 miles loop with same pack.

When we vacationed to Honolulu, I had no problem dealing with the switchbacks and elevations of Diamond Head Trails (link)...minus the pack...but, it felt good and felt redeemed on what I'm doing to stay fit.
 
westbranch said:
2020 will be my 4th year out west. I was always a map guy and spent a lot of time in the woods off trail, most of it in thick woods/alders/willow brush, etc. also peat bogs of MN which required some high stepping to get through. But dealing with the vertical while off trail is tough, and I think being able to read the topo and route finding is a big help.

I think I am better than most at navigating off trail, but last summer while scouting I accidentally came up through the purple spot on this map. 40-45+ degrees and it ended up being the worst 200 yards of hiking all year. It was thick trees and required crawling at times. So follow watch the map better than I was that day. 50 ft topo lines can hide a lot.

View attachment 129325
Click to expand...
Ok sounds good, thanks for the input.
 
Ledanek said:
Not sure if this will help you:
-- at work, during my lunch break, I take my pack and it's contents as if I'm going for an overnight, up and down our 5-story parking structure. I'll go up and down for half hour. I started with two rounds. Now, I'm good for 4 rounds. Each way up gets harder on the hips, knees and back. I still need to work on my core to further strengthen it.
On flat, I'm good for 5 miles loop with same pack.

When we vacationed to Honolulu, I had no problem dealing with the switchbacks and elevations of Diamond Head Trails (link)...minus the pack...but, it felt good and felt redeemed on what I'm doing to stay fit.
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Yes that's my plan as well. Walk around town with my pack making sure to hit stairs and as much elevation as I can find. We have some small local hikes that have steep sections so I plan to just go up and down those under load.
 
Too many variables to really answer this question. The human factor, vegetation, soils, topography, etc.
An experienced mountain traveler isn't going to get too worked up about heading up the average 75% (37 degree) slope assuming it's not covered in snow or very loose scree. It's hard work but it's also reality if you want to hunt a lot of the mountainous areas in the west.
Above that is where things start getting interesting and there is a good chance you might start running into cliff bands.

Mileage is even more subjective. A 30 mile day on trails might be easier than 5 miles of bushwacking in the Cascades.
 
Your average mogul course is 20-28 degrees, so there's that.
 
Randy11 said:
This has got to be tongue in cheek right?
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I mean, if you spot and stalk hunt in the mtns, you do often have to consider time and distance. You may not be thinking can I hike 2 miles in 30 min... but you may have to consider if you can cross a basin to get to a herd of elk before it gets dark.

I assume @Bambistew is constantly trying to glass up sheep and then planning long stalks that may take hours or days depending on terrain.

"I have never gave much thought into how far I could hike in a certain amount of time other then the hike in in the dark. "

This seems only to be relevant if you are hunting from the truck, hunting somewhere flat, still hunting, or hunting from a blind or stand.

Time management during a hunt takes some time to figure out, no reason to act like it's a stupid conversation, especially for a new hunter.
 
wllm1313 said:
I mean, if you spot and stalk hunt in the mtns, you do often have to consider time and distance. You may not be thinking can I hike 2 miles in 30 min... but you may have to consider if you can cross a basin to get to a herd of elk before it gets dark.

I assume @Bambistew is constantly trying to glass up sheep and then planning long stalks that may take hours or days depending on terrain.

"I have never gave much thought into how far I could hike in a certain amount of time other then the hike in in the dark. "

This seems only to be relevant if you are hunting from the truck, hunting somewhere flat, still hunting, or hunting from a blind or stand.

Time management during a hunt takes some time to figure out, no reason to act like it's a stupid conversation, especially for a new hunter.
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Context of location is key. In the country @antlerradar is hunting in, if you walk 15 miles in a day, I absolutely guarantee you walked by a number of animals.
 
Randy11 said:
Your point's make sense. I just put much more value in someone's reputation then one sentence. A very, very small percentage of posters on here have the hunting experience that @antlerradar does.
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Far more than I do, no doubt.
But it's more fun to razz someone than politely ask for a clarification ;)
 
wllm1313 said:
Far more than I do, no doubt.
But it's more fun to razz someone than politely ask for a clarification ;)
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I don't mind being razzed one bit.
While it is true that the hunter need to plan out a stock. A stock is not something you can plan out days or months in advance. I was just trying to point out that once the stars disappear in the eastern sky even the most well thought out plans often fall apart. If you are trying to make way points by a certain time you are likely taking your rifle for a hike and not really hunting.
 
I am way out of shape and pot bellied now but when I lived in Colorado, what I did was hike up and down a hill that had a distance of about 500 yards or so. Then I went back down and back up a couple times. Once I got used to that I put a pack on with 30 pounds and then with 50. You should also practice a recon shuffle if you know what that is because you sometimes need to move rather quickly to get in front of where the elk are headed if you can do that and stay out of the wind. The hill I used had a 4 degree slope on the east west direction but 8 degrees on the north south direction. Then before I went hunting, I want on a 5 mile hike in the mountains to test my ability. I am 65 now and no where close to the shape I was in back then. But that is what I did.
 
wllm1313 said:
Far more than I do, no doubt.
But it's more fun to razz someone than politely ask for a clarification ;)
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LOL razing I can handle and dish it out myself sometimes, especially in person once you know me I wished I had more elk experience that I do myself. I consider myself a novice still but I have hunted with some guys that really helped me improve on finding and shooting elks. I have learned a lot from true experts. I have been a deer and antelope hunter all my life since I was 13 and could legally hunt with my dad but I didn't start hunting elk seriously until I was in my 40s. So I definitely want to hear from the real experts myself. Though I did get a nice bull on my first deer hunt. I bought a license and got chewed out by my dad when I turned 16 because he didn't think I was really seeing elk when I was up there before hunting wabbits while the big guys went after deer. I still got a nice four point bull then. Least I thought it was on the big side back then. I am an old guy now, but I can still learn from those who got the experience.
 
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