When potential clients called the now-retired Colorado elk hunting operator to discuss horseback elk hunts in the San Juan Mountains, they often asked if he could guarantee at least one shooting opportunity.
His answer rarely changed:
“If you don’t arrive in good shape, I can’t even guarantee you’ll have a good time.”
Every Western guide has at least one head-shaking story about clients who show up poorly equipped. Maybe their arrows are an inch too compact for the bow, or they’re wearing shoes straight out of the box, or they’re carrying a scope that’s still in the box.
However, these same guides typically contain many more stories about clients who end up on the PUP List (Persons Physically Unable to Work).
Altitude sickness restricts some hunters from camping for the first or third day. You shouldn’t expect to be immune to altitude sickness if your only experience at high altitude is the inside of a commercial airliner.
If you have never hunted in the Western Highlands, visit your doctor a few weeks before your trip and ask about medications such as acetazolamide, nifedipine, and dexamethasone. All lowlanders react differently to low oxygen levels, especially above 9,000 feet. Altitude sickness affects even the teenage, powerful, and physically fit.
Guides also tell many stories of clients who are in indigent shape and have difficulty following them more than 200 yards from camp or the saddle of a horse, and who spend every other day or two at camp recuperating.
Yes, sturdy boots and a quality backpack are imperative when hunting elk or mule deer in the mountains, but they won’t be much apply if you’re stuck at camp.
Fitness doesn’t have to be high-priced
However, you can get into the best shape of your life without spending a lot of money. Fitness doesn’t require any special talent either. All you need is persistence, commitment, and regular workouts. But don’t put it off.
“Start now, not Jan. 1 or next summer,” said Denise Cox, 65, who is known as “Barbie the Pack Mule” because she regularly hauls backpacks full of meat to lend a hand her husband, Kurt, as he bowhunts elk in the Colorado mountains.
“No matter how many steps you take today, add more tomorrow and more the next day,” Cox said. “And every step you take, make it a giant step so you can climb logs and handle steep slopes when you’re in the mountains. Even if you live at sea level, walking on the beach every day is great exercise. Your feet sink into the sand, and your ankles get stronger from all those adjustments and compensations. Hunters need to build strength, balance, flexibility and endurance. And if you want to hunt in the mountains every year, make fitness a year-round goal.”
Cory Calkins, 35, wouldn’t argue with that. Calkins guided hunters for 14 straight years out of high school. He spent his first year in Colorado, then got involved with a Montana hunt operator who regularly took hunters on horseback 10-plus miles into the Bob Marshall Wilderness. If COVID-19 hadn’t affected guided hunts in 2020, Calkins likely would still be working in the mountains with horses. Instead, he took a “regular” job in Bozeman three years ago as a content coordinator for MeatEater.
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Calkins advises hunters to know what they’re getting into well before they arrive. Never assume that the tour operators will tell you everything you need to know.
“A group of guys from Los Angeles came one year and didn’t realize they were coming on horseback,” Calkins said. “They just assumed they were coming in a car or a truck, and the organizer assumed everyone knew you couldn’t ride in Bob Marshall.”
Expect a challenge
Calkins said only one thing is certain: “Any mountain hunt will be physically demanding, even grueling, so you have to be in the best physical condition you can be,” he said.
Stu Osthoff, 67, of Ely, Minn., has guided elk hunters in Colorado’s Comanche Wilderness since 1999, often at elevations of 10,000 to 12,000 feet. He said his clientele ranged from gym rats to marathon runners to guys who could barely walk the length of a wall tent.
“We do our best to make sure everyone can hunt elk, no matter what condition they’re in,” Osthoff said. “One guy who was huffing and puffing in his tent got an elk near camp. Others got an elk near his horse. Those things happen, but I wouldn’t count on it. The better your condition, the more hours you’ll hunt and the more options you’ll have.”
Calkins said skilled hunters are more likely to get the most out of a hunt.
“I usually saw two types of clients,” Calkins said. “One group trained for months. They hiked in their boots for practice, often with a full pack. They could handle 90 percent of what the hunt threw at them. Other guys showed up after hiking a week or two before the trip. A few of them got lucky and got a kill from an accessible location, but most just wanted to get in better shape. I’d walk into the cook’s tent one morning and my clients would never show up. They’d sleep and hang around camp all day. Guys who don’t prepare rarely come back.”
Eight Tips for Hunters
Here are eight other tips from Cox, Calkins and Osthoff:
• Buy the best boots and packs you can afford. If you hunt in high, steep terrain, choose boots with a 10- to 11-inch shaft to prevent twisted ankles. Visit a store with trained staff who can lend a hand you choose the right boots and pack. Once you buy them, live in them and regularly wear the pack when hiking around town.
• If you hire a guide or have one assigned to you by an organizer, be prepared to tip in cash, especially if you shoot an animal.
The minimum tip for a guide is 10% of the hunt cost, or $100-$200 per day. Don’t forget the camp cook and packer either. Tip the cook about 5% of the hunt cost and bring at least $50 for each packer.
• Avoid blisters on your feet by making sure fresh shoes are well broken in by mid-summer. If a blister does appear, don’t ignore it. Treat it, tidy it, and cover it with a plaster or larger dressing.
• Driving to the hunt helps you gradually acclimatize to higher elevations. Try to spend at least one full day at 5,000 to 6,000 feet before heading to camp. Most people need about three days to physically adjust to high altitudes.
• Buy good quality binoculars and get ready for many hours of observation.
“A lot of guys practice forever with decoys and cow bugles, but I kill more elk with binoculars than I do with decoys and bugles. I hunt in pretty open country and from high points, especially in the morning,” Osthoff said. “Most guys have trouble finding elk because they don’t spend enough time watching when the elk aren’t talking. They move before they really scope out the area.”
• If you plan to do a do-it-yourself hunt, try to stay two weeks or more. A week is rarely enough, even if you’ve been there before.
“It can take days to find a moose,” Osthoff said. “Moose are not predictable from day to day or year to year. You usually have to search the area with your eyes and your feet.”
• Apply sunscreen to your ears, face, and neck; be prepared for emergencies. Bring a whistle, first aid kit, emergency blanket, kindling, 50 feet of string or rope, and a personal locator beacon or similar device.
• If you are single and want to find a lifelong partner, focus on archers hunting moose.
“The traits I admire most in people—kindness, honesty, strategic thinking and a strong work ethic—are common among bowhunters,” Cox said. “They’re not lazy. They’re naturally planners and executors. They finish what they start.”
