How important would you rate fitness in your turkey hunting?

[TauntoHawk]

If you're in the mountains and need to out work others ie public land it certainly helps to be in better shape than others. Honestly for hunting a much simpler routine is all thats needed to see the benefits.


I enjoy working out it, running, lifting, rowing, bike it's all a hobby/passion secondary only to hunting. I have a 400sq ft gym at my house that sees use 5-6 days a week.

I also want to be able to help make my kids be better at the sports of their choosing not just try and keep up with them. If my daughter wants to run cross country or my son needs to add strength for football I know how to help with that, I don't want to be a parent talking about what I "used" to be able to do.

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[Howie g]

At 55 years old I try to stay in decent shape not only to chase gobblers or drag a buck deer . Chasing my 3 year old and 8 year old kids around also !

[Bowguy]

I don't even think about if for hunting. I've been into it for over 40 years now,  I'll get up at 2-3 if need be if that's what it takes to work out that day and it's at least 6 days week. 
Mind mindset is so set on this when I had surgery and couldn't walk I took my wheelchair over speed bumps in the parking lot of rehab place just to be physical. Bear in mind I couldnt even feed myself my dexterity was so bad. My mother had to bail me out of bushes more than once but all I knew how to help myself was go. Before surgery I even had veins showing in my quads. Fellas working out could help/save you in the woods or at home.  Just another part of life needs to be done. Turkey hunting imo can only benefit from it

[Bowguy]

At 55 years old I try to stay in decent shape not only to chase gobblers or drag a buck deer . Chasing my 3 year old and 8 year old kids around also !

God bless ya bud. Hope mama is young n sprite too!!

[RiverBuck]

At 55 years old I try to stay in decent shape not only to chase gobblers or drag a buck deer . Chasing my 3 year old and 8 year old kids around also !

I'm 51 with a 5 year old...Getting old and out of shape isn't an option for us.

If it's hunting season, I'm hunting. It's been that way my entire life and learned early on the importance of staying fit. It's not uncommon to walk several miles up the foothills chasing birds and more during bow season chasing bucks to get away from everyone else. Besides the fact living healthy and working out feels better, hunting keeps me in shape.

The replies haven't surprised me... but I'm still waiting for Mr. Buffet Killer to chime in. I see him every season driving the dirt road calling out the window of the truck.

[Happy]

The replies haven't surprised me... but I'm still waiting for Mr. Buffet Killer to chime in. I see him every season driving the dirt road calling out the window of the truck.

I call opening day around here "the fat boy 500". There's a lot of dudes driving the roads trying to find an easy one close to the road.

[aaron]

Extremely important.  Not just difficult terrain and long walks, but surviving the grind of 2 months of 3-4 a.m. wakeups and still being able to feel Good and get out after it.  Most guys fold.  And a lot of that has  to do with health and what kind of shape you're in.

[tazmaniac]

Extremely important.  Not just difficult terrain and long walks, but surviving the grind of 2 months of 3-4 a.m. wakeups and still being able to feel Good and get out after it.  Most guys fold.  And a lot of that has  to do with health and what kind of shape you're in.

Exactly...  more of an 'endurance' fitness.  I find it very rare that I have to ramp up my heart rate to 150bpm to make a speed run around a bird to get into position.  But being able to slog all day long for miles at a slow pace, repeat day after day, still be able to do it at 200ft elevation or 7000ft elevation, and do it for 8 weeks straight on limited sleep is key... for most, not fitness, just torture.  For us... heaven.

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[Dtrkyman]

I killed birds last year ranging from 4 miles from the truck to a couple hundred yards.  I maintain fitness year round and always ramp it up just prior to any hunts!

Been rucking 25lb pack lately, will ramp it up to 35lbs, have a mountain I hike 10 minutes from the house, short but steep, I rotate that with longer less intense hikes.

I put on some crazy miles last year in Colorado, late season and quiet birds, saw some pretty country and virtually no humans!  Finally killed a bird on the last day of season on a gravy hike into water hole. Prior to that I bet I put on 35 miles!

[J-Shaped]

Very important, but for life in general, not just hunting. I've never been one not to hunt a spot due to difficulty to get to or difficultly in retrieving game. In fact, I love spots that the average person won't go. Killed many nice bucks in places where a single obstacle or difficult retrieval made the difference between mediocre hunting and excellent hunting. I hope to be able to continue to do it for a long time.

[310 gauge]

Where I hunt there's not a lot of opportunities for slipping around to get in front of a bird because our woods are way too thick for that style. Mainly we hunt fields where they are ultimately going to feed and hunt where we may have roosted one from the afternoon before. My walks in are only from 400 to 1500 yards on flat ground without any artificial light. Nothing really sexy or demanding about this style but I do try to drop ten lbs. or so and walk around the neighborhood more often. I also give myself time enough to stop a couple of times if I start to break a sweat while walking in. No way I could keep up with some of you, but still manage to get my share on my Browning seat with Mrs. Glenda's cushion and the patience I have acquired after 47 years of marriage! Y'all have a great & safe season!

[Big Jeremy]

It's important, but I try to maintain an active lifestyle all year. I run a mile about once a month to make sure I can still do it in a respectable time without stopping...that's the extent of my running.

Turkey hunting doesn't test my fitness as much as deer hunting. Dragging out a deer, pulling it in the sled, or hauling out a butchered deer strapped to my pack is what tests me more than anything. A few years ago I got a buck back to my truck and could barely get it in the bed because I was so exhausted. Finally made it work, but those hints test me more than any turkey hunting ever has, and several turkey hunting days  have been 10+ mile days. Not frequently, but it happens if you chase all day sometimes.


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[Zobo]

     There both important but for me calling is more important. It's really at the heart of why I turkey hunt. If turkeys didn't respond to calling, I wouldn't turkey hunt. I'm not very out of shape but I dont need to hike much and I never stalk, I'm strictly a call 'em in guy. So unfortunately for me,  I lose very little weight during the season.
     For those that have to hike the mountains then you need to get in shape but ultimately that's an added benefit to you. But I also like the fact that disabled hunters can and do regularly participate in turkey hunting through skillful stationary calling. What a great American game bird!

[GobbleNut]

As it relates to age, I will just point out a few things you youngsters have to look forward to...   

The thing that I have witnessed in myself and others my age is that I really started to note a difference in my physical abilities starting around age 65.  Up until that point, I could still do most all of the physical aspects needed for hunting,...walking long distances, climbing steep terrain, and other physical exertion,...pretty much like I had all of my life.  I was just gradually getting a bit slower at it.

Since 65, I have noticed significant changes in my muscle strength and endurance,...and have seen the same in my hunting buddies that are my age (we are all in our early 70's and have all been fairly active physically all of our lives).  We have also noticed a change in our mental attitudes about things.  We sometimes have discussions about the "pro's and con's" prior to going to a distant gobble nowadays that we would never have had a few years back.

Having said that, we are all capable of climbing steep terrain at 8,000-9,000 ft, elevations and walking several miles when needed in the turkey woods.  Yes, it takes longer to get there, but we still can if we actually decide to do it. Often, overcoming that mental part of asking ourselves,.."is making the effort to get to that gobble important enough to us to do it?"...is the most difficult obstacle.  For the most part, the answer to that question is still "yes", but the debates about it seem to be taking longer nowadays...   

[husker]

I could care less about the fitness of the bird.  As long as he's got a beard and spurs he's a champion to me.  LOL!!