Elk Shape Part II – The Pack Out

Anyone who has been hunting elk for even a short amount of time knows that elk hunting is hard work. You often cover miles of rugged terrain in less than ideal conditions. You are constantly exhausted, carrying a pack full of gear along with your weapon. You work extremely hard before finally having the opportunity to take aim at your target and finally getting a change to put an elk on the ground. Then, once the excitement begins to subside, you consider the overwhelming size of the animal before you and say, “This is going to take a lot of work.”

The irony is that anyone who hunts elk knows that the task of finding and harvesting an elk is only the beginning. All of the work you just put in to fill you tag was a mere warm up for the task that lays before you. All of those miles that you covered to get to that elk will be visited again and again as you make the same trip multiple times to pack all of the meat out.

In Part I, we discussed the need for excellent cardiovascular and muscular endurance and covered how to train for it in order to properly prepare for the hunt. In Part II, we will discuss how to train for the heavy pack out.

This is an excerpt from my most recent article on goHUNT. For the rest of the article, click here.