Elk hunting in the West is priceless. The crisp clean mountain air. The smell of sagebrush and pine trees. There is nothing better in the world. The mountains are pristine and beautiful but they are also a challenge for any elk hunter out there. So I put a few tips together to help you get in shape for elk hunting.

To be in shape for elk hunting, your cardio game needs to be on point. Along with making sure your cardio is well-conditioned, your legs must also be conditioned. You can work on both of these crucial fitness necessities by doing exercises like lunges, and walking on the stair master for 5-10 minutes at a time.

The goal of course would be to increase these exercises to longer periods of time. Let’s take a little closer look at elk hunting fitness requirements.

The terrain you will face elk hunting

The mountains from Montana all the way down to New Mexico are big and steep. Elk love this terrain as it allows them to live the solitary life they enjoy. It keeps people and developments at a distance, and very few people think that hiking into the mountains is a fun idea. Why? Well, because it’s hard. But for us hunters, the challenge is what makes an elk hunt such an adventure. If it was easy, everyone would do it.

The Rocky Mountains are going to require you to hike up and down some steep terrain. This will get your lungs huffin and puffin. Heavy breathing and burning quads is what I think of when I think about elk hunting in the backcountry.

Endurance exercises to get in shape

To get you prepared for the upcoming elk season, ideally, you would want to get into a regular exercise routine all year round. But at a minimum, I would start exercising at least 2 months before the season. I would focus on 2 key areas, your leg muscles and your cardio. To work on these 2 areas reference the below exercises.

Stair steppers (Gym)

Stair steppers or stair climbers is the machine in the gym that has 3-4 visible stair steps on it. It will be over near the treadmills. Jump on that bad boy and start slow. Try and keep walking on that machine for 2 minutes straight. Then increase to 3-5 minutes at a time.

In your peak, you should be shooting to stay moving on the machine for 10 minutes straight. This exercise will work out your leg muscles and cardio at the same time. If you only do one exercise in the gym, this is the best one to prepare you for elk hunting as it does the best to mimic an actual mountain.

Speed is not so important in any of these exercises listed as hunting is not a speed game. You need to take your time on the mountain and be sure-footed.

If it’s your first time in the gym in a while you can start on the Treadmill.

Treadmill (Gym)

On the treadmill, you want to jump on and get warmed up just by walking on a flat incline for about 2 minutes. Once the blood is pumping, now it is time to increase the inclination gradually. Increase to 5% incline and step it out for 2-3 more minutes. If that is difficult enough, then just keep walking at that pace and incline.

As you get more comfortable a good goal to strive for is an 11% incline for about 10 minutes. If you crush these goals, then increase incline and speed at your discretion. This exercise is going to help with cardio more than leg muscle conditioning, but both will get worked to some degree.

Lunges (Home, Gym)

Since taking gradual steps up a steep mountain is what you will encounter while elk hunting, lunges are a great exercise to do to prepare for the season. There are many different ways to go about this.

Body weight lunges would great for someone who is not a regular exerciser or wants to work out at home. Shoot for 10 steps at a time. Take ten steps, alternating your legs in front of you, then lunge it back.

If you want to take it up a notch, then you can add weight to your lunges. Dumbbells work great for this. Grab a comfortable weight in each hand, and start doing sets of 10 lunges at a time. Aim for 4 sets of 10.

Stay fueled on the mountain

Water

Keeping enough fuel in the tank is important when elk hunting. Elk hunting requires a lot of calories to be burned. But first, let me start with the importance of staying hydrated. You need to be pushing fluids all day long. I know that when it is cold in the morning hours, you may not feel thirsty, but you need to make it point to take out the water bottle every hour and drink half a bottle of water.

Since water can add weight to your pack, you can just bring one sturdy water bottle and carry a water filter pump with you to stop at freshwater sources in your hunting area to filter fresh water. This would be ideal. As the day wears on, you will want to carry some electrolyte packets with you and mix them in your water as well to help you replenish your electrolyte levels.

If you are hunting high on mountain ridges though, and you know there will be no water sources there, then you have to double up on the water bottles or carry a camelback water pouch to have sufficient water for a full day of hunting.

Food

To replace all the calories you are burning hiking up those mountains, a calorie-dense nutrition source like a Cliff bar will help keep you fueled throughout the day. They are small and compact and don’t hardly weigh anything.

I have always preferred this type of quick nutrition. However, I know some hunters out there like to carry a little camping stove with them to heat up a proper meal on the mountain as well. If this is your approach then there are some great ready-to-heat-up meal options out there like Mountain House adventure meals.

Here are some links to recommended resources to help you out with staying fueled and hydrated on the mountain:

(Pinetrees and solitude may earn a commission from affiliate links in this article.)

Tips: Closing in on the elk

You will have to keep in mind, that you will have a pack on your back when hunting in this steep terrain. Move up the mountain in short spurts. Take a good 20 steps then stop and breathe. If you get to a place where you suspect elk might be hanging out, make sure to catch your breath before stepping into that area. There is nothing worse than trying to get your scope on an elk and you are huffin and puffin.

Another quick tip on the subject of backpacks. A tight pack is a light pack. You want to keep the pack as high on your back as possible. The load should actually be 90% supported by the waistband and only 10% from your shoulders. Make sure both are firmly secure to your body. If either one of these areas gets too loose, you will start working a lot harder to manage the weight and tire yourself out.

So there you have it folks. Get in shape, stay in shape, and stay fueled. If you do these things, you will be set up for success for the upcoming elk hunting season.

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Getting Fit For Elk Hunting: 3 Exercises For Elk Season