I did not grow up as a serious hunter. But since moving to Texas, hunting has become a much bigger part of my life. Most of the hunting I've done involves taking a side-by-side to a blind about 150 yards from a feeder and waiting for a deer to walk out. That's fun, it's a good introduction to the hobby, and it's easy to quickly find success. But that's not the type of hunting I really enjoy. I want the grind. I want it to be difficult. I want to feel like I accomplished something hard other than just getting some meat in the freezer. I want to do a real western-style mountain hunt.
Elk, aoudad, backcountry miles, heavy packs, camping, glassing, shooting from field positions, and being self-sufficient enough to handle problems when they come up.
That kind of hunt is not something I want to stumble into unprepared.
So this summer, I broke my preparation into three main categories: fitness, gear, and shooting. Fitness has been the biggest focus for me personally, as it's the one that needed the most improvement, but all three pieces work together. The goal is not to become some elite mountain athlete overnight. The goal is to take as many unknowns off the table as possible before I ever step onto the trailhead.
Hunting Fitness Routine
The biggest piece of my summer training has been rucking.
A few times a week, I'll load up my hunting pack, put on the boots I plan to wear in the field, and start walking. Luckily the Austin area has a ton of hiking trails of varying difficulty. Some are very simple and mostly flat, others involve massive elevation changes and are more akin to mountain climbing, so I get to train in a variety of terrains. My neighborhood even has a nice hiking trail that goes around a small lake; it's about a 2-mile loop. I might get a weird look from time to time as I'm wearing full hunting garb walking past someone just taking their dog for a walk, but so be it, there are 400+ inch elk to hunt.
My ready-to-hunt pack weight is right around 40 pounds. For shorter training sessions, I'll sometimes add a 45-pound plate to simulate packing out meat, like an elk hindquarter. That brings the total pack weight close to 90 pounds, but only for short periods. The military recommends keeping pack weight to a max of 45% of your body weight to avoid injury — that's a good rule of thumb to not overload yourself.
The point is not to punish myself. It is to prepare my body for what the hunt may actually demand.
One of the worst things you can do is wait until you're stepping onto the trailhead for the first time to also be the first time you're putting your boots on. Your gear needs to break in, and walking into the backcountry is not the place to do it. Don't wait until the first morning of a hunt to find out your boots rub, your pack doesn't fit right, or your shoulders start screaming after the first mile. That is how you end up with blisters, hot spots, sore joints, and a miserable hunt.
Rucking has helped me build conditioning, but it has also helped me test my gear in a real way. I know how my pack rides. I know how to shift the weight around. I know how much water I need to walk 5 miles in the heat. I know how my boots feel after a few miles. And I can make adjustments now, at home, instead of trying to solve those problems in the field.
The key is to build up slowly. You do not need to throw 90 pounds on your back and suffer through it on day one. Start by walking around the block with no extra weight. Then add distance. Then add a little weight. Over time, work toward being comfortable for a few miles with your actual hunting setup.
Along with rucking, I'm also doing weight training two or three times a week. I'm not training like a bodybuilder. I'm focused on functional strength: legs, core, back, and shoulders. The areas that matter when you are hiking, carrying a pack, and trying to stay stable under load.
Camping and Hunting Gear Testing
The second part of my summer routine is gear testing.
I do not want the first night of a hunt to be the first time I figure out how my tent sets up, where my sleeping pad fits, or whether I actually have enough room inside for my pack and rifle.
So every few weeks, I'll set up my sleeping system in the backyard. Tent, air mattress, sleeping bag, pillow, and the rest of the camp setup. Sometimes I'll sleep outside just to make it fun, but the real purpose is to learn the system.
How fast can I pitch the tent? What if it's windy or rainy? Where does my gear go once I'm inside? Can I fit everything? Is there enough room? What is annoying? What needs to change?
I do the same thing with my pack. I pack it like I would for a real hunt so I know where everything goes. I know what needs to be easy to access. I know what can be buried deeper. I know how the pack carries when it is loaded the way I actually plan to use it. That way I'm not searching for gear — I know exactly where everything is, there is no guessing.
I've also tested my stove and eaten some of the dehydrated meals I plan to bring. That may seem small and silly, but again, I do not want surprises in the backcountry. I would rather find out at home that I hate a meal, packed the wrong fuel, or don't like the way something works. So I've stocked up on Mountain House Lasagna and Pasta Primavera, and eat them occasionally when I'm camping out in my yard for fun.
The more I test now, the more confident I'll be later.
Shooting Practice For Hunting Season
The third piece is shooting.
I try to get behind the rifle at least once a week, but that's not always live fire. I do a lot of dry fire, just building positions and trying to get stable in awkward situations. My goal is to be confident beyond the distance where I would actually take an ethical shot. If I think my real-world ethical range is 500 yards, I want to know the rifle, my data, and my ability are solid farther than that, closer to 700 yards.
That does not mean I'm planning to take a 700-yard shot at an animal necessarily. It means I want margin. I want confidence. This way, when a big old bull elk steps out at 350 yards I don't get buck fever — I know I can make that shot because I've done it literally hundreds of times.
A big part of that is learning the DOPE for my rifle system. I know how much elevation I need to dial for any range from 100 yards out to 850 yards with my primary hunting rig. If I can accurately range an animal, I know I can make a clean shot. I've pulled the trigger enough to not have to worry about it.
And I do not just shoot from a bench.
Once the rifle is zeroed and I have time behind it, I start practicing from field positions. Prone, kneeling, tripod, bipod, shooting bags, awkward rests, and anything else that might resemble a real hunting situation. In the field, there may not be a perfect place to set up a tripod or a perfectly flat prone position. You may be using a pack, a rock, a tree branch, or whatever support you can find.
The more I practice those positions now, the less rushed I'll feel when it matters.
Show Up Prepared Enough To Enjoy the Hard Parts
That is the theme of this whole summer routine: build confidence before the hunt. Fitness, gear, and shooting all come back to the same idea. I want to know I can do it, that way I'm focused on finding animals, and not wondering how I'm going to do this, or if I'm in good enough shape, or if I can make the shot. I can. I proved it all summer long.
I want my boots broken in. I want my pack dialed. I want my tent setup to feel automatic. I want to know my system, my rifle, and my limits.
A western hunt is still going to be hard. That is part of the appeal; it's type 2 fun. But the goal is to show up prepared enough to enjoy the hard parts instead of being overwhelmed by them.
