I have been wearing gaffs for almost 25 years for work, not all the time or anything but I am definitely seasoned on them, gaffs require no more physical excursion than any other climbing method once your used to them and have your confidence about you, guys that are new and unsure fighting the process mite get sweated up but once you learn how and get the feel for them its not hard, especially for the short heights hunters are going. That being said you would definitely want to practice a bunch before you ever headed off into the woods. Coming down for me was always the hardest for me before I began rappelling down. Nobody taught me either, like blinginpse said pick an easy tree and practice, its all form.