Preparing your body for hunting season

By David W. Rowell, for The Montana Standard - 09/20/2007

A unidentified man shows how to do bicycle leg swings to help prepare the body for hunting season. Photos courtesy of David Rowell.

By May you’ve probably pored over the new regulations for any changes. By June you’ve already applied for those coveted draw-only hunting permits. By August, the family knows where to find you in the department stores, because they’ve just started to carry hunting supplies again and you’re checking out the latest range finders, scent elimination clothing or anything else that might increase hunting success, comfort or safety this fall.

When the seasons seems so close, yet still so far away there’s some important preparation to do that most hunters neglect.

A hunter may be equipped with the latest gadgets and doo-dads by September, but if his body is ill-prepared it may be all for naught.

Most of us know that we need to get away from the roads in order to beat the odds of killing an elk. The farther away from the roads we get, the more draining the terrain and gravity become on our bodies, let alone moving a huge animal if we are successful.

Unfit hunters also put themselves at great risk for heart attack. High altitude means less oxygen is available, the basic need of all muscles, including the heart. The work required to hunt and move an animal is an unforgiving test of the heart muscle’s health status. Under a doctor’s advice, increasing cardiovascular strength through a walking program will go a long way to preventing a heart attack out in the woods where medical rescue is going to be long on coming.

Now is the time to start getting fit for the hunt. The earlier you can start preparing your body, the easier it will be to simply enjoy being out there among deer, elk and other wildlife, even if you never take a shot. The sights and sounds of big game country are breathtaking and serene, but it can take on an ugly hue in the eye of the beholder whose body is aching and sore, limping along with a half-hearted, dutiful and dulled sense of determination.

When establishing your fitness plan for hunting season, think about preparing your overall body, not just your legs. I admit to falling down at least once during most hunting seasons, but the more fit your body is, the easier it is to recover from or even avoid a slip with nothing worse than a chuckle.

During a hunt, I remember watching a fit hunter rolling down a snowy slope. He came out of it upright, brushed the snow off a little and checked his rifle to find that it was completely unscathed through skillful arm movements during the “controlled roll.” Good balance and body control on poor footing requires general overall fitness.

Carrying even a small amount of gear around all day can be done much easier with a body that has been strengthened by experiencing similar physical stressors before hand. Even a light backpack can take enough strength out of weak shoulders to make it difficult to hold a rifle steady or draw a bow smoothly.

Since hunting requires walking, start early putting one foot in front of the other. If you haven’t been doing much, start out with short distances and increase the time spent making tracks over several weeks or even months. If you can hike on terrain similar to what you will be hunting on, so much the better.

Walking for fitness will certainly prepare your heart, lungs and leg muscles to a large extent.

A hunter must not only prepare to walk farther than day-to-day life requires, he or she may need to prepare to walk on slanted surfaces for long periods. A hunter’s calves or thighs can soon begin screaming for mercy, if they haven’t been strengthened to handle the extended stretch of going uphill or the harsh contraction of putting on the brakes on the way down. Even walking across a slant can put tremendous pressure on the leg muscles. Walking in deep snow requires us to raise our knees much higher than we’re used to. Prepare yourself in order to avoid being the hunter left in camp with an overuse injury.

The following simple exercises can be done a few times a week with little investment of time and no formal exercise equipment.

Stair steps Find something about six to eight inches high to step up on. Alternate your legs up and down for these stair steps. Don’t over do it. Listen to your body. If it begins to feel like “too much, too soon,” stop and do some more later in the week. If you’re pretty fit to begin with, you might be able to start out at 10 minutes and build to 15 minutes or more.

High bench step A high bench step up, because of added height, is a little more demanding than a simple stair step exercise. Add this one after you have been doing some walking and stair steps for a couple of weeks. For this you’ll simply need a stable bench or dining room type chair. The goal might be to do as much as three sets of ten on each leg, but start out with what you can handle without getting too sore and build up each week. As you repeatedly step up with one leg, while you’re up there go ahead and raise the knee of your other leg until that thigh is parallel to the floor. With a little practice, you will develop better balance by using your arms as natural counter weights. Complete an entire set (five to 10) on each leg before switching. Start with just a few of these. They can add up and cause soreness rather quickly.

Bicycle leg swings Add some bicycle leg swings. Put one hand on the wall or the back of a chair. Move your leg forward, down and back around as if riding a bicycle, but in an exaggerated circle. This sounds and feels easy at first, but start out doing three sets of 30 or less on each leg. Over several weeks, work up to as many as three sets of 50 on each leg in a minute or so for each set. You’ll be surprised at how much easier propelling yourself forward for long periods becomes after doing just these three exercises for a while.

Bench dips To prepare your upper body for the demands of carrying a rifle and retrieving an animal start with some simple bench dips. Sit on the edge of a bench, chair or couch with your hands on the front edge next to your legs. Move your feet out away from you until your backside slides off the seat and your weight is on you heels and hands. Now raise yourself up and down in front of the couch with your arms. Again, start out with a few and work up to three sets of 10 or more.

Ab crunches I like exercises that I can do while lying down. Here’s one of my favorites. Lay on the floor with your hands on the side of your head. Squeeze your abdominal muscles and lift your head and shoulders off the ground a little without arching your neck. These Ab Crunches don’t have to put “six packs” on your stomach to make you more fit for hunting. Build up to 30 to 50 of these. A stronger stomach will aid in protecting your back.

Back extensions Now turn over on your stomach and put your hands on your temples. Raise your shoulders and head off the floor just a little and you’ll be using the area that these low back extensions will be strengthening. As always, just do a few at first to see how your body responds. We use our backs more than we realize just to walk upright. We’re reminded of that fact when our low back area gets tense after walking in elk or deer country all morning.

Push ups If you’re not used to doing full-length pushups, start with knee pushups. Do some of these, building up gradually as always, to strengthen your chest, back and arms for the demands of moving yourself, your equipment and, hopefully, a heavy trophy animal across unforgiving territory. For advanced pushups, elevate your feet a little and keep your legs straight.

Consider adding simple press exercises, raising something with a little weight to it over your head repeatedly to strengthen your shoulders. When you raise your rifle, your aim will be steadier with the added strength.

For bow hunters, add the use of an inexpensive stretch band to mimic the same kind of pulling motion with repeated sets. Your draw will be easier and smoother if you do these two or three times a week.

Add these simple exercises to regular walking sessions, preferably up and down hills, and you’ll be amazed at how much easier the experience of stomping through hills and deadfall, even in knee-deep snow, can be when you raise your overall fitness level a little.