Hunters don’t often think of themselves as athletes. They should. Especially if they are preparing for a big, hard hunt. Athletes approach their training differently in the weeks leading up to a big event. Hunters need to adopt that approach. So, we’re going to talk about it.

That approach is called a taper. 

And it could be the best thing you do for yourself before hunting season.

What is a Taper?

If you fly fish, you’ve used tapered leaders. Nylon, fluorocarbon, what-have-you, starts at a thicker diameter and gradually decreases in diameter until it terminates in a thin section of tippet. You can visualize that. Hold that visual. 

Think of your regular training volume as the thick end of the leader, and your taper, well, as the point at which the leader becomes tippet. The amount of training shrinks.

There are a few ways to approach it. 

You can cut training volume, which is the total amount of time, number of sets and reps, or number of miles. You can cut training intensity, which is the difficulty of the training. Difficulty breaks down in a few ways. It could be how much weight you’re carrying on a ruck, the terrain or incline of a ruck, or the speed of a ruck. The same applies to running and other forms of conditioning—without the ruck, of course. As for weightlifting, intensity is the amount of weight lifted.

I fed you all of the potatoes before giving you the meat. A taper is a purposeful reduction in training.

Why Should a Hunter Taper Before a Big Hunt?

Fatigue masks fitness. Write that down in your diary tonight before you say your prayers. Even if you’re still making gains, you’re carrying residual fatigue from your training. This limits the amount of fitness you’re able to access. We need to get rid of that fatigue before you hit the trail so you have full access to all of the resources you’ve built with training. 

In simple terms, you need to let your body catch up and fully heal before a big hunt while also maintaining your fitness. That’s what a taper does for you.

Who Should Taper?

Well, let’s start with who shouldn’t taper.

Hunters who are heading out for easy hunts, such as a laid-back pronghorn camp, don’t need to taper before they head out. The cost of doing business isn’t high enough to worry about cutting back on training. This is also true of folks heading out on a string of day hunts instead of a full week or two-week camp.

That’s also true for hunters who haven’t consistently trained. There are two reasons why. First, if a hunter was inconsistent all year, but found consistency leading up to hunting season, they likely need to keep building fitness up until go time. That’s not to say they shouldn’t cut back a little bit the week before, or take a couple of days off before they put boots on the ground. But they don’t need a full taper. 

Second point. This is in the case that the hunter has been inconsistent all year, even during the pre-season. They haven’t accrued enough residual training fatigue for it to matter. And cutting back on training, or taking time off, only reinforces their bad habits. Don’t be naughty.

Now, who should taper?

Hunters who consistently train year-round, have done a pre-season training build up, and are going into a hard backcountry, backpack, or mountain hunt. These folks have built enough residual fatigue for it to matter, and they are on the eve of doing something that requires all of their fitness.

How to Taper Your Training Before a Big Hunt

A true taper lasts about two weeks. 

The first week is a reduction in training volume and/or intensity that amounts to about a 30% cut. Week two is a 50% cut. 

In most cases, it makes sense to cut training volume while keeping training intensity, especially conditioning intensity, the same. It’s mostly volume that builds hunting fitness, and at this point in the game, the fitness work is done. It just needs maintenance. That’s where intensity comes in. Intensity maintains fitness while the volume cut eliminates fatigue.

How about we look at an example?

Two-Week Training Taper Example

Alright, before we talk about a taper, we have to outline normal training volume. Let’s say a hunter is two weeks out from a 10-day, backpack, archery elk hunt.

Up to this point, they’ve strength trained two days per week, maintained four hours per week of aerobic training, and done a single high-intensity conditioning session per week. 

Strength Training Cut

I might contradict myself here, but stick with me.

This hunter could cut strength training volume and intensity, or just volume. At this point in the year, strength training volume isn’t super high to begin with. So, it’s often fine to knock one set off of each exercise while keeping weights in the same place. However, there are cases when it’s wise to cut both. If they’ve done a lot of pack work and are feeling the fatigue, cutting back strength training intensity and volume could help. 

But, if the hunter were to knock back by one set on the first week of the taper and two sets on the second week of the taper, that typically works just fine.

Conditioning Cut

This is simple. Spread the cuts across the week. Look at the total time spent conditioning, and cut it by 30% during week 1 of the taper. We start with their current volume. We’ll call it five hours since they’re doing aerobic work for four hours along with a high-intensity session. So, they’d condition for a total of 3.5 hours during the taper’s first week. They’d knock time off of each session to account for that.

Then, they’d knock another 20% off during the taper’s second week, taking them down to 2.5 total hours. They should feel very spry by the end of that week.

To Taper or Not to Taper…

You know who you are and which camp you fit into. If it’s time to taper, follow the above guidelines. But don’t go tapering if you know it’s unnecessary.