base camp recommendations please

[stevef1sh]

Hello all, new to the board here. I just had arthroscopic knee surgery last Tuesday so I have had lots of time to spend reading prior posts and I am impressed on how friendly and helpful everyone is. My son, 15, and I were extremely lucking to get drawn for the Idaho 40-1 late buck hunt in the Owyhee. Since we have always hunted close to home here in Washington we have never had the need to hunt out of a camp. So this will be all new for me and a little intimidating. I have put together a shopping list and would like some input from you all. Note that We will be very cramped for space so I need to stay small and economical. i drive a 97 cheve ext. cab with a short box, so not much room. Maybe I will need to find a small utility trailer. Heres my list.

1) 10x12x5 wall tent, very small but cheaper and easier to heat. Yakima tent has a plain jane 12oz untreated for $305, sunforger for $447, 9 piece angle kit $150

2) Mr. Heater Portable Buddy Heater. I don't want to mess with a wood stove and fire wood. I figure I can use this along with propane camp stove evenings and morning and count on extremely warm sleeping bags.

3) Camp Chef 2-Burner Stove & Griddle Combo from costco $130

4) sleeping bags- Slumberjack Kodiak Sleeping Bag - 7 bags in 1 $200 very bulky or Cabela's Alaskan Guide Model® Mummy Sleeping Bag -20 for $240

5) Cots or air mattress? I have a nice air mattress but cots are probably the way to go.

Any essentials missing here?

Thanks, Steve

[Eagleclaw]

list looks good but use cots over air mattresses. a cot wil get you off the ground so you'll stay warmer.

[Bobberman]

welcome to ifish!

Wall tents are great, but I think for a small camp there are better alternatives in synthetic. Don't forget a distribution tree so you can run all those propane devices of a large tank.

[baltz526]

cots with 3 to 4" foam pads, and pillows. not many daylight hours in november, a wood stove is recomended. 12oz canvas with a polt tarp over it. the frame angles can be bought a lot cheaper from cover me tarps, just google them. they are called high pitch they run $5.50 and $6.00 each with good shipping fee. your set will be $51 plus aroud $20 for shipping

[baltz526]

unit 40 rut hunt is one of the top muledeer tags in the US almost impossible for a nonresident draw. i tried 5 years for this very tag and hunted the general tag each of the 5 years with 5 bucks to show for the tag. the general tag is a foked horn tag, 3x2 with eye gaurds is the largest legal buck. the last year i hunted this unit i killed a 5 year old 22" 3x2 with eye gaurds. it was running with 4 other bucks, 1 was big. in the same few square miles i have seen a 36" 3x3 a 32" 5x5, my uncle saw a 40" monster the same year i shot the 22" and i found some old sheds from one like him. elk sized bases. you should be real excited to draw this once in a lifetime muledeer tag.

[huntercgr]

1) 10x12x5 wall tent, very small but cheaper and easier to heat. Yakima tent has a plain jane 12oz untreated for $305, sunforger for $447, 9 piece angle kit $150


Before I comment on the tent, I'll ask if this trip might be a one time deal. So many options here. There is, or was a wall tent for sale in the classifieds.

2) Mr. Heater Portable Buddy Heater. I don't want to mess with a wood stove and fire wood. I figure I can use this along with propane camp stove evenings and morning and count on extremely warm sleeping bags.


You will want a wood stove. Trust us.

3) Camp Chef 2-Burner Stove & Griddle Combo from costco $130

You can save some money here and get the Camp Chef Explorer for around $80. Fry pan works just as good as a griddle.


4) sleeping bags- Slumberjack Kodiak Sleeping Bag - 7 bags in 1 $200 very bulky or Cabela's Alaskan Guide Model® Mummy Sleeping Bag -20 for $240

I use the big guide model from Sportsmens Guide, bulky, but comfy.

5) Cots or air mattress? I have a nice air mattress but cots are probably the way to go.

Between the 2, go with the cot. Air mattress will keep you cold. I bring a twin mattress.

Any essentials missing here?

[4th_Point]

I just started using a tent stove and its great if there is wood around. I would still consider it. It makes coming back to camp very enjoyable. I like to bring frozen food pre-made (soup, stew, chili, etc) before the trip. Just put the frozen food in a dutch oven and place on the woodstove. You'll be getting warm and getting food ready at the same time. No need to tend a propane stove outside. Plus you can have a kettle of water going for coffee, dishes, or to wash up. You can also buy a water tank, but a big kettle works great and lets you take the water where you want. A tent stove really changes the experience in my opinion. You can hunt hard all day then come back, relax, and get your stuff dry for the morning.

A cot is the way to go. I have an air mattress and the bed feels colder than it should. A cot will get you off the ground, give you storage space underneath (big advantage to me since even a 12x12 tent fills up pretty quick), plus you have a place to sit. So a cot gives you 3 things instead of just 1.

I'll probably get a Roll-A-Cot based on feedback from several people. Fisherman's have them and you can try one out. They are more expensive than some of the other brands but they have a good reputation, are relatively compact, and feel comfortable (for me).

Good luck and have fun on your trip.

Jason

[No Fences]

If it's going to be something you do more than once, which we hope, spend the extra $$$ now. Check out the Cabela's outfitters bed rolls. The Roll-A-Cot is the way to go. And a tent stove for sure. You can get light weight collapsable ones, though I don't have any exp. with them. Good luck.

Or you can save a buch of $$$ and motel it? But that's not as much fun.

[I/P too]

Originally Posted by stevef1sh

Hello all, new to the board here. I just had arthroscopic knee surgery last Tuesday so I have had lots of time to spend reading prior posts and I am impressed on how friendly and helpful everyone is. My son, 15, and I were extremely lucking to get drawn for the Idaho 40-1 late buck hunt in the Owyhee. Since we have always hunted close to home here in Washington we have never had the need to hunt out of a camp. So this will be all new for me and a little intimidating. I have put together a shopping list and would like some input from you all. Note that We will be very cramped for space so I need to stay small and economical. i drive a 97 cheve ext. cab with a short box, so not much room. Maybe I will need to find a small utility trailer. Heres my list.

1) 10x12x5 wall tent, very small but cheaper and easier to heat. Yakima tent has a plain jane 12oz untreated for $305, sunforger for $447, 9 piece angle kit $150

2) Mr. Heater Portable Buddy Heater. I don't want to mess with a wood stove and fire wood. I figure I can use this along with propane camp stove evenings and morning and count on extremely warm sleeping bags.

3) Camp Chef 2-Burner Stove & Griddle Combo from costco $130

4) sleeping bags- Slumberjack Kodiak Sleeping Bag - 7 bags in 1 $200 very bulky or Cabela's Alaskan Guide Model® Mummy Sleeping Bag -20 for $240

5) Cots or air mattress? I have a nice air mattress but cots are probably the way to go.

Any essentials missing here?

Thanks, Steve

I use a Mr Heater, but I also have a Carbon monoxide detector in the tent too. I would recomend a wood stove though, there is always fuel around for them. Just take along a chain saw, mixed fuel and bar oil. go with the cot and foamy. I just got the cot from Hunter Specialties and I love it. I used to use air mat, they always go flat. Archers Afield in Tigard has the Hunter Specialties brand of cot.Good luck and happy hunting.

[stevef1sh]

Thanks for all the recommendations, sounds like I better get a wood stove. Which means I will also need a bigger tent. Probably 12x14x5 is a generator a must? hope not.

Steve

[baltz526]

no generators, just coleman lanterns and battery operated radio and flashlights.

[ehunter]

Bill Monroe had this tent for sale on the classifieds and it would work great for 2 people or 4 but you can use a wood stove or heater and it won't break the bank and is easy to set up not sure if he still has it but we have one it works well.

Eena TT, 14X14

http://www.beckelcanvas.com/products...products_id=12

Excellent condition; used once (last deer season) and held up beautifully under snow load. Even still has that "new tent" smell. Has zippered openings on three sides for ventilation and a stovepipe hole opposite the doorway for a stove.
Ideal for two hunters, plenty of room for three and still comfortable for four.
Can be easily put up by one person.

Comes with a Beckel floor tarp (not the sod cloth) and is packed for safe dry storage in a covered plastic barrel.

$800-plus value for $600. Firm please.

[Opportunist]

Don't go with the untreated canvas, go with the sunforger. The untreated will expand and contract. One of my old hunting partners bought a tent that had the untreated option, so to save money he went that way. His tent would expand and contract so much it would pull the tent stakes during the heat of the day and then be slack at night.

Consider a 12x16x5, you have to weigh the difference in price. A 12x16 is really comfortable for two guys and starts getting a little crowded with three, that's assuming you will be cooking inside.

I bought a generator 4-5 years ago for my wall tent camp, have still yet to use it. Propane lights, wood stove heat and propane cook stove. If you go with wood stove you will probably need to take your own firewood for unit 40, I'm pretty sure it's sage/juniper country.

Cots with 4" foam pads and pillows, just like Baltz said.

Good job on drawing unit 40 that should be a great hunt and good luck on the hunt!

[baltz526]

there is juniper to cut for the stove, but you may need to go aways from camp to get in a good area. i'll pm the area when the map comes