23 March Trail Conditioning: Physical Prep for Big Game Hunting March 23, 2020By Joe Cavanaugh Announcements, General Information Black Bear Hunts, Drop Camp, Elk Hunts, Guided Hunts, Idaho wilderness hunts, Mule Deer Hunts 0 Spring is here, and it’s time to step out of the gym and walk trails that match real-world hunting conditions. Or better yet, walk off-trail. Exercising on a treadmill or elliptical offers an effective method of strengthening leg muscles and enhancing cardio endurance, though these machines will never replicate the walking conditions you’ll encounter in the wilderness. Whether you walk foot trails, horse trails, game trails or off-trail, the Earth’s surface where you step is not flat. Increase the grade on your treadmill, you say? I’m not referring to grade or slope. Backcountry trails are full of rocks roots, and logs. Whether or not the trail you follow goes uphill, downhill, or across level ground, your boot soles contact uneven ground, or relatively even spots amongst the rumble which you have chosen to plant your foot. Therefore, balance, agility, and keen eye-to-foot coordination are essential for maintaining an upright position as you walk and search for game. You can read a book or watch a movie when walking on a treadmill—not so on a mountain trail. Try it and you’ll soon be flat on your face. To condition yourself for walking on uneven terrain, you must exercise on uneven terrain. Practice on spending minimal time with your eyes focused on the trail, as you’ll see more game while hunting if you know where your feet are without having to look down every step. Like a wide receiver knows where his feet are as he searches for the ball. It’s always best to wear hunting boot when exercising on trails to fully duplicate hunting conditions. This gets leg muscles accustomed to lifting full boot-weight, which syncs with eye-to-foot coordination so boots clear obstacles. Wearing hunting boots when exercising also develops calluses in the right spots. Get out there and toughen up. Good hunting, Joe Cavanaugh Related Posts Winter Book Review: Elmer Keith’s Big Game Hunting Over much of the country we’re in the dead of winter now, with cold winds, deep snow, and bitter people to deal with. Next hunting season feels so far away. I can think of no better approach to stay focused on hunting and cope with nasty winter weather than to find a warm, quiet place and get absorbed in some good hunting literature; and, no other hunting book is more fitting to the Northern Rocky Mountain region than Elmer Keith’s Big Game Hunting. Post Season Trail Cam Pics Still Plenty of Bears Left for Next Year We had a successful spring bear season this year, taking several nice bears, half of which were color phase. Game cameras show there are still plenty of bears left in our area to hunt this fall or next spring. Idaho Spring Black Bear Hunting The application deadline for Idaho controlled-hunt, spring bear tags is February 15. Fortunately for all of us, most Idaho black bear tags are sold over-the-counter (OTC). This includes tags for units 28 and 27, where Castle Creek and Wild Idaho Outfitters conduct their bear hunts. The reduced-price or “wilderness tag” is good for all of Unit 27 and those portions of Unit 28 within the Frank Church Wilderness, as well as within most designated wilderness areas in the state of Idaho. Hunting with GPS/Map-Devices: Seeing Outside the Box Don’t get me wrong, modern GPS/map-devices, or map apps that make smartphones function like GPS/map-devices, are wonderful tools for the hunter. Being somewhat device challenged, I can only wish I knew how to use them. Some tech-savvy hunters I have run into recently manage to get around in the woods quite well with them. Idaho Big Game Application Season 2024 Let the games begin! This year it seems as though it took almost missing the application deadline and then finding out 2 short weeks later that I drew an Idaho spring turkey tag, to realize, oh, yeah, it is “application season” in the western states and Idaho is not exempt from this seasonal activity. I guess I am showing my age when I can say, “I remember when you just bought a tag and went hunting”. But sadly, those days are indeed behind us now. Here in Idaho, though we are still blessed enough to have over the counter or “OTC” tags available, some zones do require even residents to plan ahead and purchase as soon as they come available. Positive Attitudes and Hunting Success When I met my bear-hunting client a few of weeks ago, one of the first things he told me is that he usually has “pretty good luck on hunting trips like this”. As we all know, luck is a good thing to have on one’s side, but it’s difficult to obtain on-demand. Comment (0) Comments are closed.