Where do you stay when you hunt & fish?

[Guy Miner]

Do you hunt from home? A camp? Perhaps stay at a "hunting lodge" or ???

I've the good fortune of living in an area where tolerable mule deer, elk and bear hunting can be done, right from home. Many seasons I've just stayed at home, leaving early in the morning and returning late at night. It's worked out real well before, and is certainly comfortable.

I've also stayed in backpack camps - a little lighter on comfort - and everything else!

In big wall tents, carried in by horses.

From my truck, using the family camp tent:

And even in lodges a few times. Although small, this cabin was pretty doggone comfortable!

I'm not sure which is my favorite. Am growing more fond of hunting or fishing from a comfortable cabin or lodge, but have no aversion whatsoever to tent life, even a backpacking tent. Where do you stay, and how's it working out for you?

Guy

 

[muleman]

Yes to all the above. I don't to much backpacking any more but I have all the gear. I have a wall tent set up that my hunting partners used to call the Taj Mahal - nice and very comfortable. I only use the wall tent when it's at least a week long hunt. The back of my truck for weekends.
The most comfortable place was the Lodge in Namibia.

I could really get used to staying there!

Scott

 

[Richracer1]

This is my home away from home, sometimes 10 days and once around 18 days.

 

[R Flowers]

Well Guy, I guess I have tried most of the same setups. About the only thing I have not tried is backpacking. I am 63 and even at 20 it did not appeal to me.

I too have hunting close enough that a lot of times it is just a one day from home, leaving in the dark and probably getting home in the dark too.

I have hunted from wall tents in Wyoming and other places.

I have hunted from motels in Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado, Texas, etc. I have hunted from friends homes in Montana. All these were pretty sweet deals.

I have been going to New Mexico for 7 or 8 years now to hunt antelope and the folks there have a great lodge we stay in (But nothing like the one above in Namibia).

On the other hand, my dad and I and a few select friends have been hauling our tents and ice chests, and cots, etc. up to the same mountain for the opening day of deer season for 42 years straight. We have had to move the camp due to a new wilderness designation, but we have camped on that same mountain all these years. As we get older, we tend to bring more "stuff" but we are still at it. No, we do not get deer all the time, but we get a few deer and black bears off of that mountain and we would not miss it for anything. It is at 8000 feet elevation and we have been snowed out a few times, but we keep coming back.

 

[cloverleaf]

Used to hunt from home..... When I was growing up there was as much public land within 20 miles of the folks place as any county in the state of SD. We could go "west river" for muleys in a 18 hour day. Slept on the living room floor st the wife's uncle a time or two for antelope.... I was younger once... These days I sleep in the super 8.... and hunt my father-in-laws land in MN. Over the years Ive slept in back seats, pick-up beds, a canvas castle, under a canoe a time or two and under the stars. Not necessarily all hunting trips though. Good times. CL

 

[IdahoCTD]

I stayed in a tent just last night trying to kill a bear. I've also spent many nights by myself back packing in somewhere. Some were in a tent and some were under the stars.

I stayed in a pretty nice place in South Africa while I was there. That is the only guided hunt I've ever been on and we actually spotted more game than the PH's.

I've stayed in wall tents hunting moose and caribou in Alaska and a few hunts here in Idaho. I generally stay in a camper now unless I'm back packing in somewhere but some late seasons, when it's really cold out, I'll stay in a hotel. I don't tend to hunt one area for more than a few days at a time so it's easier to move around with my camper.

 

[Elkman]

Started with a wall tent, then a camper. Have stayed with the camper now for many years. I still back pack in on occasion, and am planning a backpack hunt in Idaho this fall. The ground is getting harder however as the years go by.

 

[6mm Remington]

Ten to twenty degrees below zero by myself for a few days.

Not quite as cold. Pretty cozy actually. Camp stews cooked over the fire each night tasted great! Put two sheets of tin foil about 14" long on top of one another. Spray with non-stick cooking spray and put two nice sized pats of butter on the foil. Make two or three meatballs with burger and a couple with some type of sausage. I like my game sausage such as Italian, German, or some other sausage to make a couple with that also. Put those on the foil with cut up pieces of potatoes about bite size, carrots, onions, peppers, celery, mushrooms, and anything else you might enjoy. Garlic salt and pepper and you are good to go. Wrap them up completely folding the foil over. Place on a grate over the coals when the wood burns down, 20 minutes per side and dinner is done! You have them pre-made in a cooler and there's no messing around. No dirty pans to clean.

A little rough even for me. It was -20 and never got warmer. I had 3 sleeping bags, blankets, and a couple pillows. Brrrrrrrrrrr

My goat hunt this year. I had an absolute ball. No goats, but a great time. What gorgeous country.

Goat hunt again. Not real cold, but awful windy and the air was so heavy with moisture it cut to the bone. It was wet.

Don't have any pictures on photobucket of my 21' camper (hard wall tent!). That's pretty nice to stay in too. I usually pull it over antelope/deer hunting, and same with elk hunting so I don't have to drive back and forth on the elk hunt. It's about 70 miles one way from home so by the time you drive to get there an hour before light and hunt until way after dark, by the time you get home it's late and it really sucks. Pretty nice to turn on the heater and have a nice warm camper to dry out in and to recharge your batteries. Only bad think is my buddies always seem to fall asleep first.........and they snore! :twisted: I've never stayed in anything as nice as the camp in Africa. That is special.

My son Jeff and I stayed in the Bannack State Park one time and brought our own tent, but found out you could rent the tee-pee to sleep in, so we did. That was pretty cool and a lot of fun. It was nice as you could stand up and move around a lot.

 

[Guy Miner]

Scott - that African lodge is really something. Wow!

David - way too cold for this fellow... Brrrrrrr!

 

[owenv]

 

[Oldtrader3]

We normally stayed in a "camp" on a friend's 40 acres of undeveloped land in southern Utah, complete with mountain stream. We had a cook tent and a fire pit (washing machine-SS bowl) as the center of the camp and parked several campers around the cook tent area in a circle. We also had several 4WD vehicles and usually went off to out respective hunting areas in pairs or three to a vehicle evey morning which were 5 to 20 miles or so from camp.

We were fortunate to have at least one older guy each year who did not hunt much and watched the camp during the day to keep an eye on our stuff plus any hung and bagged game which we had in the creek bed. I really miss this camp and several of the guys there are passed on now but it was fun for the 20 years that it lasted. I am glad that I got to participate for the years that I did.

 

[Guest]

Much of my hunting is close by the house. I've day-hunted most all my life, with the occasional camping weekend for hunting, or staying at a friend's cabin or hunt club lodge. My current lease is about 20min from the house, so I just sleep in the guest room, set my alarm for 4a, and I'm in the woods in plenty of time, even stopping to grab a cup of coffee from the quick-stop at the base of the mountain. I'll maybe try camping up there some this fall with a friend, just for the experience of being out there longer. All the camping I've ever done to this point is "truck camping" where I could get close enough to either park at the campsite or haul stuff in from the truck in two or three trips.

My son is a Scout (about to be Second Class for a brief period, the First Class), so we're getting into backpacking a little bit in the coming year. Bought packs, a hiker's stove, and a lightweight tent, just have to find a deal on sleeping bags and pads that are light enough to carry, now. First try on that will likely be on my hunting lease, as well, as I can drive up and get stuff if it all goes haywire.

 

[tecumseh]

For weekends and back country hunting I'm using a Cabela's XPG ultralight tent. I use my Cabela's 4 man Alaskan guide dome tent for week long hunts during the rut and gun and muzzleloader seasons.

 

[alaska100]

We lived in the country outside El paso most of my life and was able to hunt mule deer and pigs from home rather easily

Now we are in the same situation in Alaska, as Moose, Black Bear, Brown Bear, Caribou,and Wolf can be from home, but Elk, Sheep, goat, would be from a tented campsite and deer from a cabin

 

[SJB358]

I am like most others. I find myself squatting in a tent or Bill's camper. Both of them suit me fine though. I am pretty open to sleeping just about anywhere the elk and mule deer are at!

Sean, you are a lucky devil. I would be beside myself to have that kind of hunting opportunity. I hope you are able to capitalize on it some this year buddy! Gotta get that 30-06 tuned up!

 

[Richracer1]

This is my home away from home, sometimes 10 days and once around 18 days.

From this location, I have taken several cow elk, 2 bull elk, a bull moose, and 3 muleys all with in a mile. The bull moose was taken a 100yds from the fire pit.

 

[FOTIS]

here most of the time

 

[DrMike]

I stayed in a small tent I packed in for quite a few years. I used an old wall tent I picked up for a song for several years. More recently, I've stayed in Gil's trailer. In years past, I found that lodges catering to European tourists during the summer months were happy to provide a bed at a very cheap rate; and most threw in a breakfast at the rate. Mostly, however, during the past decade and a half, I just get up early and drive out to the hunting areas. There, I find ample game to satisfy the most discriminating hunter.

 

[SJB358]

here most of the time

Awesome picture Fotis! I had the same truck for a few years...

 

[Guest]

That's an awesome old F250, Fotis. About a '73 or so? Wish I had one like that right now...except for the fuel bill. Of course, it can't be much worse than my Titan. Great trucks are never good on gas!