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Archive for September, 2011

Trials, Tribulations, & Triumphs

23 Sep

     Our Elk/Mule Deer Excursion…

     Bodies were tested, mental toughness was challenged, emotions were extreme highs and lows, but we were focused with a few things on our mind: antlers, meat, and fun. We put our blood, sweat, and tears into preparing and training for the unexpected.  Which in this case included an encounter with a 7 foot black bear less than 15 yards away.

     We arrived in Denver at noon and had a four hour drive ahead of  us with intent to get there well before dark in time to hunt.  We didn’t rent a four door full size truck or a full size sports utility vehicle. We rented “Vicki”, a black  Ford Crown Victoria with a light that flickered oil change due. So, if we flew by you with the windows rolled down jamming out to an Alabama CD, that was us. We were loaded down to the max with a slight tilt leaving the front end higher than the back.

Here is a Picture of Vicki when we dropped her off.

     We made a couple stops to pick up some supplies and it was not long before we started seeing mule deer and pronghorn antelope on the side of the road as we winded through the mountains toward Slater Creek, Colorado. Slater Creek is just outside of Baggs, Wyoming, which is about 45 miles away. Our first stop, dropping John off at Long Mountain to get on some mature mule deer seen tucked in along the sage brush the previous morning. JD and I headed down to the house where we met up with Pat, owner of Snake River Outfitters, to go and call some elk spotted on a mountainside just behind the house.

     Pat Grieve, the ultimate elk calling master, gets an answer from a mature bull after he bugles a few times. We have not even been hunting for 10 minutes and a bull is on his way letting out a few light bugles as he approaches. Pat lets a few more bugles vibrate through the aspens mixed in with some cow calls and out steps a nice mature 5×5 on top of the ridge about four hundred yards away. We only had about 30 minutes until it got dark, so we decided to leave him alone and come back at first light the next morning.

     Meanwhile, John was having quite the encounter himself. He had two giant mule deer, one scoring in the 180′s and the other well into the 200′s sending a burst of adrenaline through his veins. The property John had permission to hunt had specific instructions to only harvest a mature “silver class” mule deer scoring just under 180, so he had to pass on these monsters. To pass up on such an amazingly trophy sized animal would have been tough for any hunter, but John was still thrilled to have experienced what a Boone and Crockett mule deer looked like in person. We were all pumped up and discussed the next days game-plan over dinner, one that would have us successful on day one of our six day hunt.

     So excited, as you could imagine, sleep was last on my mind. I knew the following morning I was going to see and hopefully get a shot at the mature bull previously sighted. I finally fell asleep around midnight with the cool mountain breeze blowing through the screen door I left open. At about 2:00 a.m. I was awaken to bulls bugling from all different directions around the house. I went out on my back porch and listened in awe for 20 minutes or so hearing one after the other sound off. I remember saying to myself, “I can’t believe this is happening”.

     Our alarms sound off at 5 a.m. for us to get up and get ready for our first  full day of hunting. Eggs are cooked, coffee is brewed, and I believe our adrenaline is already flowing. We all packed our previously made Hunt Strong jerky in our packs along with water to ensure us we will be properly fueled for the hunt. We all split up going our separate ways, each with a guide from Snake River Outfitters.

     I was paired up with Brian who was no stranger to calling in bull elk. Brian is a die hard hunter from Utah, which is where he spends his fall hunting the backcountry. As we approached the ridge where we saw the big bull the previous afternoon, there were already several bulls bugling. With the wind in our favor, we began our climb up the steep mountain and it didn’t take long before I could feel the rush of lactic acid through my quadriceps as I approached the bugling bulls. Once we got to the top, we sat down under a scrub oak in the sage brush and began calling. There were elk everywhere answering back including a few bulls. Where we sat, we could see one huge mountainside covered with a forest of aspen trees. At the top of the adjacent ridge, I spotted a cow elk followed by guess who, the big  5×5 bull. He was hot on her trail not letting her get out of his sight. As she topped the ridge and headed back down toward us, so did he, bugling the whole way. The picture below is of him as he bugles from the high mountain ridge.

     I knew for sure, he was mine. At about the same time, JD, who was hunting the other side of the mountain placed a perfect shot on a nice mule deer sending about  six cow elk barreling over the ridge, taking the big 5×5 with them. The next time I saw him, he was walking away from me at over 2oo yards following his herd of cows. We tried and tried but the wind direction was not in our favor to continue on after him. The weather began to turn for the worse with a storm rolling in so Brian and I decided to take it back to the house. 

 

     When we got back to the house, I was advised my workout was about to begin by hauling out JD’s big muley. I was not only pumped that JD harvested a nice mule deer, but I knew we were having fresh back strap for supper. Backpacking mature animals out of the Colorado backcountry is one reason why I train to hunt. I couldn’t wait to get down and see JD’s success. The heavier the load, the fewer the trips we were going to make, waisting no time.  Below is a picture of me enjoying the workout packing out JD’s mule deer.

 

 The weather continued on raining and lightning leaving us with the decision to wait it out, at least until after the lightning stopped. It was not long and the weather began to clear up leaving a couple of rainbows making for a great picture. How about this for irony?? John said he was going to shoot an elk where the rainbow ended. Little did he know! We got ready and headed into the backcountry. I headed back up to the original ridge where I hunted earlier to see if the elk were going to head back into the Aspens to bed and Jd and John went towards the front of the property to glass the mountainside.

      We agreed to meet at up after dark back at the house regardless if we were successful or not. I got back before they did and started grilling  backstrap from JD’s harvest. I was anxious to hear if they had any luck and once I saw the look on John’s face as he came up on the porch, I knew the answer. John was very confident about his shot, but he did not hear nor see the bull crash. We ate our supper and decided to go out and look for him, which was about two hours later from when he shot the bull.

     JD stayed on the one ridge as John and I crossed Slater Creek towards where he shot the bull. We walked very carefully up and down the ridge looking for signs of blood. The terrain we were looking and walking through was about twelve foot high and very thick, making it tough to track exactly where the bull was standing when John hit it. I stood upon a big rock shining down, there were 2 eyes looking back at me about 15 yards away. I immediately called John over to take a look. I knew it was one of two predators, either a mountain lion or a black bear. John held the light on him and I picked up a rock and threw it in his direction to get him to leave, but he refused too. We did not have any intentions of shooting this predator, because we were not in harms way nor did we have a bear or mountain lion tag. After the seventh rock, it eased away making little to no noise at all. Both John and I looked at each other and decided it was best to come back at first light when we could see better for we did not know if there was more than one.  As we drove back to the house that night, we all agreed it was too coincidental the predator would not leave the area. We just knew for sure it was down there eating John’s elk.

     After a sleepless night for John, we all got up early the next morning and headed our way down toward John’s bull. We marked the spot where we saw the predator and made our way down the ridge. Sure enough, ten yards from where we saw the predator, layed John’s 5×5 bull elk. He was laying on his back with his guts opened up. John made a perfect shot just behind the shoulder and the bull did not go more than 30 yards. The picture below is how we found John’s big bull.

 

      We were able to cut away a lot of the brush and flip him over on his belly to hide what the bear had done for pictures. It was a mature 5×5 with great mass.  After talking with Pat that morning, we confirmed it was a black bear. Pat had seen them throughout the area just recently. What did we do? We got a bear tag. You can’t blame the bear for what he did, it’s just their natural instinct. We salvaged what we could for meat and packed him out back across Slater Creek. It was only day two of our hunt and John still had a mule deer tag burning a hole in his pocket.

     For the next couple of days, JD and I hunted hard for bull elk while John was on the prowl with guide Jesse, the Road Hog, for a mature  muley. We all covered miles on end daily up and down the mountains. We saw a lot of cows and some bulls, but nothing worth putting a stalk on. John, however, finally got the  green light on a mule deer. It took both John and Jesse a long stalk over the biggest mountain in the area to get to him, but thankfully John was in shape to get the job done. The deer was quartering away and John threaded the needle through the last rib exiting his neck. John’s first mule was a nice 4×3.

     I was feeling the pressure as we got down to the last day of our hunt. It was either now or never. Pat came with us to call, and did I mention, he really knows how to call. He had them bugling everywhere. The first bull to come in was a small  4×4 which I passed on. I decided before I left , I was only going to harvest a mature bull elk or a cow for meat if it came down to the wire. Well, the wire was getting thin. We saw a decent bull about nine hundred yards away and started stalking the ridge after him. As we made our encounter, the bull elk ran across the road twenty yards in front of us knocking down everything in it’s path forcing us to change plans.

     There was one area Pat wanted to try before we called it quits. We walked about a mile through the aspens before coming up on a ridge. Pat sounded off a couple of cow calls before he bugled. He didn’t even get the bugle out of the tube before the most enormous bugle with a deep growl at the end bugled back. We all looked at each other, raised an eyebrow and said, “That’s got to be a monster”. We immediately checked the wind direction to make sure that we were downwind from the bull. Within seconds, we had a calf and a young spike bull within ten yards of us trying to figure out what we were.

     Everytime Pat would bugle, the mature bull would answer back making a bee line for us. He just knew another bull had trespassed his domain. I saw the bull 200 yards below and he was coming to fight. I only saw him for a split second before he dissappeared below the ridge I was sitting on. And a split second was all I needed to see. My heart began to beat out of my chest because I knew this bull was coming fast. He tops the ridge just below us at 19 yards behind a bush and lets out one more bugle. We are so close I can see steam coming out of his mouth as he scans the ridge looking for his competitor. He takes one more step exposing his vitals and that is what I came to Colorado for. The big bull runs about 3o yards and expires right next to the road. It could not have been planned any better. Last day, last hunt, that is usually how it works for me.

       Later that afternoon, we went into town to pick up the meat where we took the bull to be processed and caped out. On our way back, we still had one more elk tag left, so we glassed the mountainside and the meadows as we headed back to the house.  As we were glassing, I decided to take some pictures along the way. I just happen to take a picture of where John shot his bull and not even two seconds later, JD  and John yell “BEAR”! Without a second to despair, John and I rushed out of the truck and ran down towards him. By the time we got to where John took his shot, the bear was gone. Imagine the story if John shot the seven foot bear, the bear who ate his elk. When I got home, I began going through all of the pictures and sure enough the bear was in the picture I took. Look closely at the picture below.

     We all had a great time with many laughs along the way and memories to last a lifetime. I can’t wait to get the big bull home and on my wall. Thanks JD for the opportunity and it would not have happened without you buddy. Special thanks to Lethal, the best odor eliminator, for helping us get in range.

Thanks to Havalon knives for making game cleaning easy.

And a HUGE thanks to Pat, Jesse, Aaron, and Ian with Snake River Outfitters for putting us on mature game. You guys Rule.

     If you are interested in harvesting a Colorado mature monster mule deer or a bull elk, give Pat a call @1-800-219-7116  or (307) 383-7838. You can also reach him by email @pat@snakeriveroutfitters.net

Check out all of our photos below……

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Gas Mask, Weighted Vest, & A Ton of Stairs…….

07 Sep

    

     Every year I compete and have placed in the top 5 climbing stairs of high rises, also know as a vertical road race. Anyone who has ever climbed stairs knows how challenging this can be. Why do I climb? Climbing skyscrapers is no different than battling the elements on a stalk for big game. It takes extreme muscular strength and endurance along with mental toughness to be competitive at these races. I am an athlete and a hardcore hunter who trains to hunt so that I can Hunt Strong. I train hard because you never know how you will be challenged on a hunt.

     We will be Colorado bound in just over a week battling thin air at 9,000 to 12,000 feet high for trophy elk and mule deer. So climbing stairs is for sure part of my training regimen. The stair wells are not ventilated, nor do they ever get cleaned. They are filled with dust particles, mold, and who knows what else. Typically, after I climb these stairs, I develop an intense cough lasting for a few days. The American Lung Association runs these vertical road races and they title them “Fight For Air Climbs”, just to give you an idea.

     A friend and I went down to the The Bank of America Building in Downtown Tampa, FL., which consists of 42 floors, 84 flights, 912 total steps, and is 577 feet high. This is the tallest building in Tampa and it is also where one of the “Fight For Air Climbs” is held. We completed three climbs with less than 10 minute breaks in between. To give you a better idea, three climbs equals 126 floors, 252 flights, 2,736 steps, and 1,731 feet high.

     To challenge my body even more, I chose to climb with a weighted vest and a gas mask. Why? While on the hunt, I will always have a backpack loaded with gear, food,water, and not to mention my weapon. The reason for the mask is to restrict the amount of air being taken in training my body to perform efficiently with very little oxygen. This is exactly how I will feel on a spot and stalk at high altitudes. I also completed all three climbs using my only my legs because there are no side rails in the backcountry.

 

     Was it tough? Absolutely, but completing this challenge gives me the confidence I need to take on the elements. My legs and lungs were burning, especially on the final climb. I will continue to train hard so that my upcoming hunt will be easy. Hunt Strong!

 
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Posted in Operation Elk, Stair Climbs, Training

 

A Little R & R Goes A Long Way

06 Sep

    

     Getting enough rest after exercise is essential to your performance, but many still over train and have guilt when they decide to take a day off. The body repairs and strengthens itself in the time between workouts, and continuous training can actually weaken the strongest athletes. There are limits to how much duress the body can tolerate before it starts to breakdown and risks injury. As we all know, injury can be a hard obstacle to overcome and may set you back further in your attempt to be fit for the hunt.

     Monitor your workouts and paying attention to how your body feels and how motivated you are is extremely helpful in determining your body’s need for rest and recovery. The greater the training intensity and effort, the greater the need for planned  rest and recovery. Today, was a day of rest for me especially since I have a tough training session ahead of me tomorrow. Stay posted!

 
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Keeping SHOULDER’S STRONG…

05 Sep

      In today’s session, I added shoulders to my arm exercises. I focused on my triceps and biceps first before shoulders. I completed a total of three sets, ranging from 9 to 12 reps, alternating between the two groups of muscles, performing three different exercises to target each group. For example, supine (palms up) dumbbell bicep curls followed by a triceps press-down using a rope on the cable machines.

     Aside from looking great, your shoulders are involved in just about every movement you do including while you are on the hunt, so exercising them will make daily functioning that much easier. If you don’t shoot your bow on a regular basis, you might struggle & experience some shoulder sorenss when you jumped back into practicing before the upcoming season. We all know as hunters, the more strength you have in your shoulders, the easier it is to draw your bow. So by participating in some shoulder exercises, you will gain strength and avoid the worst, injury. Your shoulder muscles are fairly small, so you may not be able to use as much weight as you can when training your chest or your back. That being said, ease in to your shoulder exercises using light weights.

     Shoulders, also referred to as deltoids is divided up into three groups: Anterior, Medial, and Posterior.  Anterior refers to the front of your shoulder, medial deltoids is the middle muscle, and poster deltoids is the backside of your shoulder. All of which must be conditioned because they are all firing as you draw back your bow and hold. I performed three sets of each: over-head shoulder press, lateral, frontal, and posterior raises ranging from 9 to 12 reps with moderate to heavy dumbbells.

     In the pictures below, I am challenging my core by balancing on a stability ball and strengthening my medial deltiod by performing a lateral raise using dumbells. The first picture represents my starting position while the second picture resembles the ending position. My torso is in the upright position maintaing proper alignment throughout the lift.

 

     How many of you have ever been unsuccessfull on a hunt because you could no longer hold back your bow at full draw? What was the ending result? I am guessing you either had to let it down ending your hunt or maybe you simply made a bad shot because your sight was shaking too much due to muscle fatigue.  Training your shoulders will strengthen your overall draw poundage on your bow and lengthen the amount of time you may have to hold it back while waiting on an ethical shot. Don’t let your lack of training cost you a chance at a mature animal. Hunt Strong, Train To Hunt

 
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Posted in Operation Elk, Training

 

HIT The TRAILS….

04 Sep

    

     After my warm-up, I spent 15 to 20 minutes going through my stretching routine to loosen up my sore muscles from the week’s training. I spent about 20 minutes performing core exercises and then it’s off to hit the trails. Just behind our gym, there are miles and miles on end of power lines filled with thick brush, sugar sand, cactus, and the worst…… sand-spurs. I started my run today at 12:30 p.m., the hottest time of day as you can see by the picture below. Not only was the sun beaming, the humidity was at 95%, almost like breathing water.

    The high country out west will present some challenges I am not conditioned to, so I have to train my body in the most extreme conditions I can. Taking trips back and forth to places of high altitudes/thin air can be expensive, not to mention time consuming. Running through thick brush, to soft sand, and up and down hills forces my body to adapt; engaging muscles not normally used running on solid ground or even a treadmill. Every now and then I  get poked by a sand spur, but I continue concentrating on my footing. It does nothing more than ease my mind of the struggles I am really experiencing.

       To train for your next hunt, add a trail run once a week into your schedule for your cardio. You will be shocked at how tough they can be and may experience some soreness the day after. Every now and then I have a client who is a runner, one who runs races on a designated path of asphalt or concrete. Their body is accustomed to the same type of footing on every landing.  They can run long distances and be okay the following day with little to no soreness. I put them on a trail for 3 to 5 miles, and if they have never ran them before in the past, you can bet that my ears will be ringing the following day.

      As hunters, we never know exactly how we will suffer, but I can tell you from experience, we will. Whether its from cuts and bruises or the hunt itself making us feel like the biggest failure on earth. There are no guarantees on any hunt, but that’s what make this incredible sport so interesting. Preparing for a hunt can be a challenge in itself such as training, shooting, visualizing, etc. The more prepared you become, the greater the odds. It’s you versus an animal that knows the terrain ten times better than you with ten times the keen senses. We try our best to predict the unpredictable, with our hunts concluded by a grin on our face, and our hands wrapped around the horns or antlers of trophy game, but we all know we are not always successful on every journey. Challenge yourself everyday to gurantee that your body will be ready. Hunt Strong, Train To Hunt.

 

 
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The Loaded Stair Master! Talk About Muscular Strength & Endurance….

03 Sep

     At the end of my second leg workout of the week, a friend and I tag teamed the StairMaster rotating every 10 floors as fast as we could go.  At this particular gym, they refer to this machine as “THE BEAST”. One day a week, I load up my backpack with weights, drive one foot in front of the other, battling the continuous release of lactic acid throughout my muscles gasping for air along the way. It does not take long before my mental toughness kicks in. I just keep picturing a bull at the top of a mountain and I am competing against another hunter who also drew a tag for that  same unit. I focus on keeping good posture; my shoulder, ears, and hips in a perfect line throughout the climb. I also double-step the rotating stairs to gain more distance and to put more duress on my quadriceps, calves, and glutes, for these are the primary muscles firing on an uphill stalk.

 

     If you notice by the picture, I don’t have my hands resting on the side rails to help assist throughout the climb. This  forces me to use my core strength and stabilizer muscles to stay balanced. Just as in the wilderness, there are no side rails nor any type of assistance. It’s just you, your equipment, and desire trying to close the distance on a nearby bull. As I said earlier in this post, I worked out my legs prior to climbing the StairMaster. My overall goal is to suffer, making my body become stronger as it tries to adapt. My legs were already felling like jello, so completing this exercise drives me to the edge.

     Next time you go to the gym and they have a StairMaster, give it a try. Start off slow and continually progress throughout your training. To make it tougher, increase the level first before loading up a backpack with weights. Once you have accomplished this, add some sprints every 4 to5 minutes. Keep your eye on the trophy and focus on where you are climbing. If you add this exercise to your training regimen, I promise you will be more fit for the Hunt. Conquer “The Beast”!

Stay tuned for the type of workout I will be performing next week. It will make this one seem easy.   Hard Work, Pays Off!

 
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Pushing the Limits to Create an Iron Chest

02 Sep

      

     All exercises performed today focused on pushing, in other words, primarily engaging the Chest, Triceps,  and Anterior Deltoids. In the above picture, I am performing a flat dumbbell chest press with my legs straight out at an angle to engage my core suppressing my lower back into the pad. Just like any other muscle, to get stronger, it must be trained from all different angles. I completed three sets of each: flat, incline, and decline dumbbell bench press performing 9 to 12 reps increasing the load on every set. Always choose to target the bigger muscle groups before  the smaller muscles that aid in the lifts. In other words, in this sequence, I focused on my chest first, triceps second, and anterior delts last. In between each set, I performed 3 different variations of 20 push ups to challenge my core along with the fatigued muscles throughout the entire session. 

 

     How does performing pushing exercises help you to Hunt Strong? Imagine you are on a stalk crawling on your hands and knees very quietly, one arm in front of the other at a very controlled (slow) pace. The muscles responsible for you to get into position before rising up and drawing back your bow are your chest, triceps, and anterior delts. Every inch closer to the game being hunted, the higher the chance at success in the backcountry. 

     To finalize my session, I jumped rope for ten minutes to once again increase my cardiovascular endurance to battle the thin air at 9,000 ft plus high. Train Hard, Hunt Strong!

 

 
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Challenging My Core

01 Sep

     Your Core is everything! Just about every movement or exercise done by the body utilizes your core. A weak core could and may lead to back injuries which could put a dampener on your quality of life. Core training should be the centerpiece of any exercise program you participate in. Having a strong core will increase your odds and allow you as a hunter to get in awkward positions to make the right shot when it counts.

     Today’s focus was abs and cardio. The picture above is me performing a weighted hip lift with a corkscrew (twisting my hips) to engage my obliques. To increase resistance and challenge my core strength, I added a 100lb. dumbbell between my feet. The movement is very slow keeping my feet directly over my hips throughout the entire exercise. This was just one of five exercises I performed to keep my core strong. Following my core exercises was 35 minutes on a spin bike with 6 total sprints keeping my heart rate in my training zones. This will continue to improve my overall cardiovascular endurance and will  play a key role while on a stalk trying to get into position to make an ethical shot. The more conditioned you become, the better odds at success in the rugged high country of Colorado. Let the Training Continue. Hunt Strong!

 
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Posted in Operation Elk, Training