Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Let's talk about camp

I'll be heading to Colorado for my first backpack hunt this fall with a new member here, Slip Sinker. We'll be living out of a Shangri-La 4 for 4 days and 5 nights.

What are some minor details or little tricks you've picked up along the way as far as managing your camp? Does anyone have any tips to make life in camp easier or more comfortable?

How close to where you're going to hunt do you camp?

Any advice on keeping critters out of the food? I'm assuming a dry bag hung with 550 cord from a tall tree limb is customary?

Do I need to worry about little mice and or something eating my down bag while I'm gone hunting?

If we get to our area and there's snow on the ground, what do you floorless tent guys do? Pack it down and set up camp or try to scoop it all out of the way?

Yall have been a world of help already, I'm just trying to get a jump on the learning curve.

Never yet done the snow thing.... Can't comment but have used my paratipi on all trips so far.

We hunt in the area of the elk, where we can sometimes see them in the same meadow we camp below.

We keep the food in the paratipi in a dry bag, no issues, its all sealed MH type food and I've not worried about bear either. IF worrried about them, IE AK and such it stays away a bit... either tarped or hung if possible.

Down bags stay out in the PT on top of the mats which are on top of a survival tarp. No issues there.

Interested on the snow comments.

With a fall hunt you will most likely want to clear the ground if you get snow. It's just not going to be cold enough to keep it as a base in the fall. The sun will likely get the tent warm enough in the afternoons to generate a swamp in your tent is you don't clear it off. It needs to be pretty dang cold with a deep base of snow for packing to work well.

We just keep the grub in a dry bag in the tent. No problems yet. I'd be sure to know where you'll be getting water and to take at two filters and drops for double back up for the water. If you're both taking backpacking stoves, it's a very good idea to make sure that each use the same types of fuel canisters.

If it's good and sunny, try to air your sleeping bag out in the sun for a couple of hours. It's nearly as good as washing it.

Blue.....
OMG, I'm humbled talking to a nubie at backpack hunting (there is so much to tell). My experience pales in comparison and degree to a Rocky Mountain Man, but I try!!
Have a marvelous time and tell us all about it.
Don

Yeah there's a bunch to tell, a lot to hear on my end.

Any advice is welcome.

I figure if I come back without frostbite and don't become bear food, well then it'll be a success.

Take twice as much whiskey as you think you need

BlueDreaux:

Are you including a nest in that Shangri-La 4? The debate regarding floorless tents vs double wall tents with floors is always smoldering on this site. There are zealots on both sides. I'm on the side of the debate that favors double wall tents.

You might want to consider setting up a 10'x 12' Siltarp so you can wait out a rain or snow storm under the tarp and not be confined to the tent. Under the tarp is a good place to dry wet clothing.

I camp close to where I hunt but I setup in a concealed location and keep quiet

I've never had critters bother my sleeping bag, but once I did have a marmot chew through the tent door to get inside. So now I store my food in a bag hung from a tree and I leave the tent door unzipped.

At night, I put my rifle in a silicone gun sock to keep the dew off of the steel.

KC

Make damn sure there is a good water source(s).

I've been high and dry and it near killed me.

Another thing I've done in the past is to pack each day's food (everything you plan on eating that day including snacks) into individual gallon freezer bags. Just pull one out a day and eat your way through it.

To add to Dan's advice, Nalgene makes a great container for the libations. Also, if you're not used to going for a few days without showering, baby wipes will come in very handy.

take a tarp to hang out under if it is wet. square tarps are much more versitile than 8x10. i use a 12x12. cover anything left outside in case it snows. take your water inside at night in case it freezes. turn it upside down and cover so you got water in the morning.
carry a ziplock bag with a 3 ft of weed eater line and some patches soaked in oil. wipe your rifle down every night and push a patch through it or it will rust. you can push out snow or mud with the line if you fall and dont have tape on your muzzle.

-Always survey your campsite for dead timber, and camp out of reach of anything that could fall on you

-If it snows, you can either dig down to dirt try to drive pegs. If the snow is deep enough, pack down a foot print for the tent, let it set up (40 minutes) then use homemade pegs from small branches and sticks.

-Always carry more than one source of fire starting ignition, and some vaseline cotton balls.

-Wear long underwear to bed. You'll sleep warmer, you won't be as cold getting up in the morning, and you'll keep your body's oils out of the bag.

-Cotton kills, so wear wool or good synthetics.

-Don't store food inside your tent or backpack. Hang it in a tree------away from camp. 550 cord is too bulky for hanging food, so I use mason line (also sold as decoy line). Mice can ruin your gear, but bear can ruin your week.

Wow, thanks for all the help so far...

A swamp in the tent would be a bad thing, and a hard lesson to learn on a mountain.

We've got a water filter and drops for backup. I'm bringing a small wood burning stove for cooking-like a Kifaru / Ti Goat, but homemade. I'm thinking about bringing a small alcohol stove as a backup, any thoughts on that?

I don't have the nest for the tent. I considered leaving the tent door unzipped in case a little critter was overly curious, to avoid having a critter sized hole chewed through the wall.

I've thought about getting a GoLite poncho that I can use as a tarp if too. Not sure that it'll happen though. The weedeater string is a good idea, just stiff enough but light and packable too.

And I've got baby wipes on the list. I'm not real fond of smelling funky if I can help it.

It's not as much for the smell as it is for the baboon butt that one can 'earn' on a backpack hunt...

I would strongly suggest bringing two filters and the backup drops. I've been on one trip where the one filter failed and it made for way more hassle than packing a spare would have been. If you're planning on cooking on a woodstove, I'm guessing the same cookware would work over an open fire so you should be fine. However, a small stove/with 1 canister wouldn't be bad insurance. I've had stoves quit as well. Ramen's hard to cook with no hot water...

Baboon butt!!!HAHAHA...TFF...

Sterno is cheap and works. There's also coghlan's camp heat. They both make cheap camp stoves that work with any brand of canned fuel. Here's a link to the Sterno Stove on Amazon. It's been around forever and works.


Another option would be the Sportsman's Space Blanket . It can double as a tarp and you have your emergency blanket. It's a lot sturdier than the cheap space blankets. Basically a tarp with reflective material on one side.

You can make a little deal out of an old coke can to put on your food drop line to keep rats/rodents out. I just got back from the tetons and a lot of the people had them on the deals they were hanging their bear vaults on. I don't know what you call them maybe someone can come up with a name so you can see one.

Be aware that propane may not work in very cold temps. I've had the propane hose ice up and also the propane would not vaporize in the morning, but it worked fine in the afternoon after heating up all day in the sun. For high altitude and cold temps, white gas is my choice. Alcohol fuel will work ok, but liquid alcohol, like a Trangia stove, may be hard to light. A couple squirts of lighter fluid, like for a Zippo, in the alcohol will make it work fine.
The baby wipes is a great tip, but they can be expensive. A&D Ointment works very well, too. Use them. Sure saves a lot of grief. Changing underwear before getting in the sleeping bag and changing socks at least every day, twice a day is better, will also help to avoid chafing and blisters.

I've decided this thread needs pictures...not of the monkey butt, of camps.

Anybody got any pics of a tent on a mountain they want to share?

Mice can be a problem some years and not others. One year my partner had mice chew the straps on his Moss tent and his (only) bow string for his longbow. Bring a few mousetraps and some peanut butter for bait if you're worried about that and set 'em around the tent.

Get a big water bladder/bag like this one in 6L so you can store lots of water in camp and only filter once every day or so, it's a time-consuming daily chore that eats into hunting time:

http://cascadedesigns.com/MSR/Water...ment-And-Hydration/DromLite-Bags/product

You can hang these from a tree limb and use the spigot to pour, very handy. If you get one get the large-diameter extra spigot, the stock spigot is too small.

Drink lots of water and let your partner drink the whiskey for the first few days. He'll sleep in while you're up early hunting and you can get him to help you haul your elk out instead of vice-versa.

If you've got a good sleeping pad, snow can be great for leveling an area to sleep on and covering up rocks.

As far as how close to camp to elk, you'll hear a lot of different opinions, stories about guys shooting elk right from the tent and so on. I've had them walk through my camp too, but, given the choice I wouldn't set up too close to where I expect to see elk, or too close to areas they may use at night.

I've camped in areas where I've seen elk right near camp the first evening, then seen 'em a few hundred yards away the second evening, then not seen 'em at all near camp for the rest of the trip. At the very least I'd camp below them so that the thermals in the morning, evening, and at night carry your scent the other direction.

Advil and Cytomax are your friends when humping loads in the backcountry.