Post by: mburrows on August 23, 2016, 07:06:46 AM
Most of the time we set up our shelter as basecamp near a water source and will move after a couple days if needed for whatever reason. To be honest I dont think weve ever really consider whether our camp should be below or above where we would be hunting.
Post by: boneaddict on August 23, 2016, 07:48:04 AM
Post by: Okanagan on August 23, 2016, 08:09:11 AM
For some high hunts, a good plan is to hunt and bivy wherever you are at dark for two or three days without returning to base camp. I have bivied a few times right on a good spotting scope location and even bivied where I could expect to shoot from come daylight. Usually in such places it is better to ease back from the ridge line or edge break and bivy in a more protected spot and walk a few yards to the view spot before daylight. Higher than game is usually better, but on the other hand, there is no sense in climbing some places unless you KNOW a shootable critter is up there. :)
Personal comfort with being alone, plus how much sleep and shelter systems you need also drive the answer as to whether to carry enough to stay out or go "home." I carry a minimal pad to insulate from ground cold, no sleeping bag and several tear open hand warmers to keep me warm through the night, but I sleep well on a hard deck. An insulating layer, neck gaiter, stocking cap and beathable outer shell are essential, but you will be wearing or carrying them anyway.
Post by: sirmissalot on August 23, 2016, 08:34:21 AM
Post by: mburrows on August 23, 2016, 11:05:14 AM
Good luck this year!
Post by: buglebrush on August 23, 2016, 11:51:51 AM
Post by: sirmissalot on August 23, 2016, 12:09:21 PM
For me it really depends on where I am going, and more importantly how long I will be out there. If I am going for just a couple days I will almost always just carry camp on my back. If I am going to be out there for 4+ days I will always have a base camp, but may carry enough for one extra day always with me in case I get into elk far from camp, and want to stay right there.
Agreed. Having the ability to lay down and sleep wherever you end up reduces your limitations greatly.
Post by: Shawn Ryan on August 23, 2016, 04:23:12 PM
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Post by: badnewskruse on August 23, 2016, 04:51:20 PM
Post by: Fl0und3rz on August 23, 2016, 07:40:47 PM
Post by: JimmyHoffa on August 23, 2016, 07:47:18 PM
Post by: Okanagan on August 24, 2016, 08:17:22 AM
Bivouac. Typically in reference to a bag that you sleep in without other tent or tarp.
Accurate definition, but it is often used in a broader way simply as a shorthand word to mean spending a night in the woods, usually with minimal gear at an unimproved campsite that was not selected until late in the day.
I don't carry a full feature bivvy sack but sometimes will take a minimal Bibler sack meant to slip over a sleeping bag. It is thin material and goes in a stuff sack smaller than two fists. It is a windbreaker and water resistant shell which probably adds 10 degrees of warmth without a sleeping bag. But most of the time I carry only a minimal thin pad and a minimal lightweight tarp I made.
Carrying stuff while hunting creates diminishing returns as its weight and especially its bulk increases. Carrying very much stuff degrades free wandering hunting into backpack slogging.
A problem with tents and tarp-tents is the pre-shaped footprint they require, plus their weight and bulk. Thinking back I recall sleeping on a game trail once and a forest service trail three times over the years as the only reasonably level spot on steep ground, and way too narrow for any tent footprint. Have slept on the uphill side of large fir trees several times on steep slopes, to keep from sliding down during the night, in a goat bed where the top of a talus slope met a cliff face, under a rock overhang several times, etc. Each of our styles is different and OK. Mine puts me too often in places where a tent footprint simply will not work, so I carry a minimal tarp which is infinitely configurable to terrain reality. For such bivvy nights, burrow into existing cover and supplement what is there with your minimal gear.
If you don't sleep well you won't hunt well. Some people cheerfully can't do this kind of bivvy-out hunting and that's OK. Some need more gear than others. I'm only good for a few nights of minimal bivvy before I need a good meal and a good night's sleep at a more full service camp or vehicle. An afternoon nap in the sun will help. But it is well worth it to spend one such night in a spot where dawn will find me in place to shoot a bull or buck!
Good luck this Fall.
Post by: ganghis on October 08, 2016, 07:46:16 PM
Post by: cbond3318 on October 08, 2016, 08:08:06 PM
Even when elk hunting , I have the means in my day pack to lay down and spend the night. A lot of the time my wandering puts me in a place that hiking out and back in in the morning would do more harm than good...
Post by: huntnfmly on October 08, 2016, 08:42:18 PM
Post by: coachcw on October 08, 2016, 09:33:09 PM
Post by: fishngamereaper on October 08, 2016, 09:57:50 PM
Post by: Home Grown Big on October 17, 2016, 05:39:08 PM
Post by: Tbob on December 02, 2016, 11:41:38 PM
Post by: Stein on December 27, 2016, 12:37:32 PM
Post by: Magnum_Willys on January 13, 2017, 08:23:07 PM
I like to base camp.. Makes me hunt hard all day knowing I have warm dry clothes and a hot meal waiting for me when I get back.. Spent plenty of nights under the stars too I suppose, but anymore a nice little light base camp and I'm a happy camper... Er I mean Hunter!
:yeah: Nothing like a lil fire in the stove, fireball, drying off the clothes, shooting the bull with a buddy, nice warm bed. ahhhhh