Advice from Hunters

[CS1983]

Make friends with folks who aren't lazy and you can always give em a call and say, "Elk down. Need help. Location XXXXXXXX" and they'll know they will get some meat out of it

Or go hunting with (non lazy) friends and they're already there.

Today we are hauling 20L of water a piece (2 of us) on our backs to cache in place so we have less to haul in when the season starts. Minimum pack weight will be 45 pounds today and we'll be maxing out around 10,800'. Gonna be a breather. I'm also going to experiment w/ strapping down two cases of water to the TW200 and see how it handles that since it will mimic carrying out an elk 1/4.

Too bad you're in the shadow of Denverstan, or I'd invite you to come along.

Have you had a chance to get to the mountains yet and really see what it's like hauling even a 20-30 pound pack at 9k'+, much less the weight of an elk quarter?

And just think, if you're 1/2 mile from your vehicle 1 quarter = 1 mile of total walking, then backstraps/tenderloins = 1 mile, and cape/rack (if you shoot a bull) = 1 mile. So if you're only 1/2 mile away from your vehicle you are walking 1+1+1+1+1+1 for a total of 6 miles, 3 of those total miles with perhaps up to 60-70 pounds on your back.

And that doesn't include the physical output for even getting the elk down, dressed, and hung up while you are making those trips back and forth: hope you're in shape!

As for where to start... hrm. I vote Archery mainly because as others have said, you get an entire month with OTC (or draw). A lot of hunting here is spot and stalk. Some "stand" hunting if you find a well used wallow and want to sit on it. Archery is also a year round sport and very fun. If you do that route, save yourself the trouble and start with a good bow. the difference in quality between a pawn shop rifle and a high end rifle ain't much of a difference for most hunting situations. But bows DO exhibit a drastic difference in quality, ability to be tuned well, and shootability when you compare some $400 package and a $700 bare bow. To go a good mid level, you're looking at somewhere around $800-900.

Do NOT buy a bow which is super heavy on the draw weight -- it will result in shoulder injury and bad form until you build up your muscles and form. This is usually determined by the limbs and a lot of the mid-high level bows have poundage increments for their limbs (50-60, 60-70, 70-80). Start lower. You can always order the next step in limbs once you have maxed out your limbs' ability. I don't care how strong you are, you do not use the same muscles as archery employs unless you are shooting a bow. My buddy is a top 10 Spartan Race for his age group, run up a mountain, works a manual labor job type of guy. Former Marine. He's a genetic marvel. He struggles to pull my bow @67# and only recently was able to graduate to 60#. Yet, I've seen women draw 70-80# bows no problem because their form is good and they shoot all the time. I can draw 67, but my form goes to crap on 70.

You can find your draw length by measuring from fingertip to fingertip w/ arms stretched out in a cruciform fashion, but relaxed: measurement/2.5 = DL. Have the archery shop measure this for you.

Here's a good package which will serve you well for years without having to buy new MSRP style prices. This package with all it has would probably be about 900-1200 new. I'd have to price it out: https://www.ar-15.co/threads/170007-...H-For-Sale-650

If you are higher or lower, check the draw length for that model and order new cams to assist (unless it's an adjustable mod). Have the bow shop set it to 40 pounds. Shoot that way for 2 weeks. Then have them go 50. 2 weeks. Consider stopping at 60# and shoot there for a while.