excersize preperation for hunting season?
 

i was just wondering since we never talk about people who are not in the shape that they SHOULD be to hunt effectivly.

what are some of your routines pre season or during the season? i like to run all year long, however i dont get a chance to run all year long. and im not a distance runner just a mile a day or so. just to keep the old lungs in check. but about may ;) right around my birthday i hit the row machines, untill i get pretty good at it.. this helps with holding full draw.
then i use a 15 pound weight and hold it straight out in front of me as if i were holding my bow, thsi helps steady your bow. i hold it for as long as i can or untill it burns. then i work on my traps, and lats, this helps with climbing the trees ;). how many times have we all had a hard time getting up a tree? i know i have. then about the time 1 month out i start running hills... so i head off to paytons hill ;):D for those of you hwo know what hill that is. and run iup and down that for a month till i get used to moving up and down the ridges of where i will be hunting. this helps when yoru dragging that "MAKESTIC, MASSIVE BRUTE" out of teh forest up and down ridges :D

however i did injure my rotator cuff last year and have had to do much more physical theropy, which i think has helped prepare me early for this season. the biggest thing is the back muscles. you would be surprised how many muscles you use in yoru back while drawing the bow. just to keep your body stabalized... but i think the key to always being ready for the hunt is stretching, you want to stretch out all your muscles, before and after the hunt. this especially key for elk hunting, i went last year and i realized that kinda hunting is not for the out of shape. many others on here will attest to the strenuous rigors of hunting, and how important it is to be in PEAK condition for this.

good luck fellow hunters and lets hear some imput

RE: excersize preperation for hunting season?
 

If I were going elk hunting then I would most certainly get into shape. However, I don't elk hunt and I don't get into shape and I am a pretty smart guy and I have yet to figure how being in better shape would have helped my hunting. I can not think of one single experience where pysical conditioning was a factor in my bagging an animal. It helps when dragging a downed animal but still a non-factor in my opinion. For a great deal of my hunting career I was in excellent shape but not so much anymore. I am more successful now than I have ever been. I just don't see how physical conditioning could play a factor in my style of hunting (white tail tree stand hunting). Could you elaborate on some of the ways that a hunter in excellent pysical condition has an advatage over a hunter that is not? Maybe you can point out some things that I have over looked.

RE: excersize preperation for hunting season?
 

Silent IM glad you brought this up. one example is just plain helth reasons. but the other example would have to be this, if persay you were to FALL out of yoru tree (PURELY HYPOTHETICAL) and you hit the ground hard, a more physically fit person someone Who has been conditioned will MORE than likley have a better chance at getting help or avoiding more serious injury... now again im saying this with NO medical PROOF, but just common sence, i dont have any findings or writings that would BACK my babblings up, BUT i think that if say my best friend who isnt in BAD health but isnt in as good as shape as me where to get injured, or hurt during a hunt (ie fall out of his stand) i would more than likely be in much better shape or my injuries from that drop would possibly be less significant than his. I guess what im saying is not as much the HUNTING persay as it is the actually chance of injury. obviously coordination and age come into play but like i said i think a more physically fit person woudl sustain less serious injurys does that make more sence?

RE: excersize preperation for hunting season?
 

I am a fitness director and I am sure you don't want to here me rant and rave about the many ways being in good physical shape can help you be a better hunter. Me being a avid bowhunter I have some clients that I personally train that came in just so they could strengthen their shooting. After 6 weeks many of the people I have trained have gone from shooting a 50lb draw bow to a 70 lb bow and shooting that 70 lb bow with ease. Ever draw on a animal and have to hold because it hung up behind a tree. Beeing physicaly strong and able to hold your bow steady will have a big effect on how steady you are when it comes time to release your arrow. Not only have many of these people gone up in draw weight but their groups have became much tighter due to added strength and steadyness with their bow. One of the first things I do is have the person I am trainging bring their bow to full draw and time how long it takes before they start to shake. It would blow your mind at the difference in time from the start of their program to the end before shaking occurs. I could go on and on but I am sure you guys don't want to here it. So in short being physically in shape can help your hunting in many ways.

RE: excersize preperation for hunting season?
 

Tex,

I would be very interested to hear all the ways that it can help me. I haven't touched a weight in 5 years and although I hunt with 70lbs I can draw well over 100 lbs. I drew a Sampson the other day that maxed out at 92 lbs while I was setting down with my feet off of the ground. So, I don't really see where excercising is going to help me in that regard. If anything having the ability to draw that kind of weight is a liability because the temptation is always there. Holding the draw for and exteneded period and shaking also not an issue. I got a radio, a cell phone, a 4-wheeler, and friends so dragging has never been an issue. I trust God to do what ever his will is if I happen to fall and get injured, which by the way I don't personally believe has anything to do with physical conditioning. I hunt with a couple of guys that are in fantastic shape and they are good hunters but they don't kill more game than I do and probably to the contrary. The absolute best without a doubt bar none bowhunter that I have ever known is a guy in his late 40's with a potbelly. This guy is a legend in his own time. He has killed more big dder than all of the rest of the guys that I have ever know put together and he kills them year in and year out just like clock work and has done so for the last 25 years. His ability to consistently is one of the most aww inspiring things that I have ever seen in my 30 years on this big rock. But, there is know way Tim could jog a mile. He can walk all day long but you don't have to be in any kind of special condition to do that. Of the 5 best bowhunters that I have ever known only 1 works out and he is 4 or 5 in that list. I guess I am failing to see you guys point. I am not saying that it's a bad thing because it certainly isn't. However, it certainly isn't a necessity.

RE: excersize preperation for hunting season?
 

Silent I am not saying it is a must for people but it certainly does help. Your buddy that has a big pot belly and is a great hunter when he is sitting in the hospital with a heart by pass on the menue and is no longer able to hunt. That guy that is now 4 or 5 on the list is going to still be killing deer. Not wishing anything bad on your buddy but just a example of what can happen down the road. That is great that you are able to pull and handle those draw weights but the average hunter can not and being physically strong does help them a great deal. Go for a elk hunt in the mountains and then tell me being in shape does not help a hunter.

RE: excersize preperation for hunting season?
 

Daystalker I know exacltly what Paytons hill is:DYears ago I trained to try out for a semi pro football team here in northern IL,and used the same idea.Walter was a great man.Anyhow I have for the most part always trained to an extent but not a riggorous as I did a few years ago.I don't run anymore but do a two mile vigourous walk lift free weights and do a couple hundred crunchers about three times a week.Sadly though I haven't done much of any of these the last 5 weeks because of a broken leg:(These excersizes help to keep youre heart somewhat in check when that critter get's within bow range:)Bill D>

RE: excersize preperation for hunting season?
 

I agree on both parts Silent&Tex.It is not a prerequisite for harvesting game,Yet if you do hunt mountain terrain or want to have the staying power or endure extreems like tempeture,long stalks,staying on stand all day because youre back doesn't hurt from having a pot belly or beerbelly in my case:Dholding steady and possibly patiens I believe being in decent shape is a big help and does not hurt at all.It also can be a big help even if you hunt some of this flat lpublic land in Illinois where you have to walk in for ever, and drag a critter out cause they don't allow you to bring in any wheeled carts or anything like that.Bill D>

RE: excersize preperation for hunting season?
 

I know that in WI many years more hunters die of heart attacks then gun shot wounds. This happens everywhere from getting excited over seeing the "Monster Buck" to dragging the deer out. If they had been in better shape they may not have had the heart attack in the first place and most certainly would have had a better chance to survive. Maybe you should tell their families that being in shape makes no difference. I'll bet they would disagree.

RE: excersize preperation for hunting season?
 

I try to jog for 20-30 minutes about 4-5 days a week year-round. Before hunting season I do pushups and situps 3 days a week. It makes getting up and down the tree a little easier.

RE: excersize preperation for hunting season?
 

I dont need to work out....................i am already a stud! No, but i like to walk and drag stuff around becuase anybody can shoot an animal, look at T-bone on monster bucks he is a fat boy and he kills em on a regular basis, now dragging one out on your own is a whole other story! The better shape your in the better, some people are outta shape and get offended by this topic and say "nah, how does being in shape help?" Us in shape fellas know the benefits.............;)

RE: excersize preperation for hunting season?
 

I gotta tell ya TurkeyFan,a while back I was hunting the Shawnee downstate where my bro lives,and killed a large doe,He had to help me drag this critter across a creek twice and up a 35 deg inlcine for about 1/4 mile or more to the truck. We are both in pretty good shape, and I'm a bit larger then the average man and we had a hellava time.If I didn't excersize some throughout the years and wasn't in decent shape,and didn't have my bro help,I may have had to quarter that critter:DI actually had an idea though if he wasn't around to help.I carry parrachute cord in my paqck and a tree saw I would have cut down some 1-2"dia trees, and built a game drag and lashed verything together.I know that area up there in Wisconsin is a lot like the Shawnee.Bill D>

RE: excersize preperation for hunting season?
 

I stated that if I went elk hunting then pysical conditioning would play a major role. However, in my kind of hunting (treestand whitetail) it plays absoutely none. IMO


Actually, I have read a couple of studies lately that say that being overwight has very little to do cardiovasular disease, blood pressure, etc. The study citing that some people can be overweight and still be physically fit. Just, because someone has a pot belly doesn't mean they arent' fit. Also, just because someone doesn't jog doesn't mean they aren't fit. I think we have all known people that didn't "work out" that could walk or work "in shape" people into the ground. Also, my grandfather lived to be 92. He smoked and ate fired pork chops and eggs and sausage and would eat the fat from everyone at the tables steak and at 80 he could work most 20 year olds to death. So don't you think that maybe that's a generalization and not really a hard and fast rule and therefore has little merit in this conversation?

RE: excersize preperation for hunting season?
 

Not have Merit in the conversation. Wow take a good look at what you just wrote if you wan't to talk about Merit.

Grandfather took in ten times the amount of fat tha he should.
Smoked cigarettes
Never worked out
And could work circles around half the fit twenty year olds

Silent do you think that is the norm, or maybe just a statement that has no merit.

RE: excersize preperation for hunting season?
 

Again Silent Assassin, it makes for a stronger marriage.

RE: excersize preperation for hunting season?
 

I sincerely doubt it is the norm. However, the statement was made as a rebutal to the generalization that you made that because the guy that I mentioned had a pot belly that he was going to have a heart by pass. It's sterotyping at it's finest. I was not making generalizations but rather offering anecdotal evidence to discredit your generalization. However, I will galdly admit that you are correct and apologize for arguing to the contrary if you would like to provide some statistical evidence corrorborating your theory that every middle aged man that has a pot belly or doesn't work out, is going to have a heart bypass.

Also, I am still interested in exactly how the gentleman that I mentioned earlier, who has understanding of whitetail deer and how to hunt them that defies reason and logic, is going to benefit by jogging a couple of times a week.

RE: excersize preperation for hunting season?
 

Being over weight: Increases ones risk of developing coditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, stroke,gall blader disease,cancer of the prostate and colan.

What excercise can do for you:
1. Improve blood circulation:
Hunting benefit: Able to sit longer in cold weather with out having to come down because of cold.

2. Improve vision and hearing
Hunting benefit: Be able to extend shooting time because of better eye sight in low light situations
Able to hear better and not be suprised by approaching animals

3.Improve decision making ability.
Able to estimate range of animal more precisely
Make better decisions on shot choice and timing.

4. Improve sexual performance
Wife happier so you are then allowed to spend more time in the woods. In return spending more time learning about deer. <<<{ Week but true}

5. Improved flexibility
Able to make shots in odd positions such as behind a tree or awkward stance.

6. Excercisers feel sick almost 30% less than non excercisers
Allows more days in the woods and not in bed sick

7. Excercise increases concentration capability
Allowing you to make better shots

" Every Archer would benefit from strength training and Archery Strong is a excellent program that will improve your shooting performance.
" Loyd Brown U.S. Olympic Archery Coach 1996&2000

Inactive people are 2x more likely to develop coronary heart disease.
"James M Hagberg" [University of Maryland]