Wyoming Elk Hunt

[MontanaMax]

Wait until you've been married 30 years and the kids are gone. Your elk hunts will be seen as a vacation for her!

[engfish]

Scoot, it's time for me to weigh in with all the others. One thing I've learned from past reads is to wait until I'm sure you're finished. The other "rookies" haven't learned that patience yet.

Personally, I was exhausted from walking all those slopes and beautiful terrain vicariously in my one night of reading. I, too, am curious to hear what you do get ready for a trip of that kind. I've spent some time at 9,000 feet and I needed a gondola to get to where I wanted to go. Even with skis on my feet, I was exhausted halfway down the mountain the first day until I got adapted to the thin air. I don't know how many people have ever exercised vigorously in elevations over 4,000, but it is a humbling experience. You're an athlete to take on these types of hunting trips.

Thanks again for sharing the exciting adventures of your Wyoming hunt, the stories of time afield with your brother and buddy, and the wide assortment of pictures to put us right out there with you guys. How many years until you start taking those kids of yours out West?!?

Let us know when you start writing your Relationship Column here on the forum..."Happy Wife--Happy Hunting Life."

Time to start chasing deer locally with those kids!

[Scoot]

I, too, am curious to hear what you do get ready for a trip of that kind...

How many years until you start taking those kids of yours out West?!?...

Time to start chasing deer locally with those kids!

Hi engfish, thank you for your kind words! Regarding your question about getting ready- every year I get older, it gets tougher humping it through the mountains! I work out at a gym 3x/week all year long and that keeps me in decent shape. When I am heading out elk hunting I add in several things- in addition to the gym workouts, I run, bike, and do weighted pack workouts through at least June, July, and Aug. I usually start to ramp down these workouts at the end of Aug and try to take at least 3-4 days off before I take my trip. I usually hit it really hard for the last half of July and most of Aug, with an average of 5 workouts/week during that time. I wasn't in good enough shape on my first elk hunt and it was a real eye opener! A flatlander can never really train enough for this type of hunt, but I've never made the mistake of going in as unprepared as that first time.

I seriously thought about having my parents bring my son on this year's trip. However, he'd have to miss both school and football. I didn't want him to miss either and he didn't want to miss football. I don't see that changing for about nine years at a minimum. I'm hoping that maybe next year we can draw ND muley tags and I'll try get him out West that way over MEA.

I've been chasing whitetails since the day I got back from WY! As soon as I got home my son pushed me hard to get in the stand with him! It was tough, but I managed to take him out right away. Since then we've been getting several of his classmates and friends out too. I've also been helping a neighbor's daughter get set up to hunt this year- she's improving all the time and hopes to get a chance at a deer before this year is done. Hopefully...