Mikepal, Buddy you have a point... lolz...
Mikepal, Buddy you have a point... lolz...
I did a trip a couple years ago with 10 guys in a custom canvas tent. Was about 16x24. It had a wood stove and a kitchen in the front, worked out very well.
This spring we did our bear hunt out of a cabelas alaknak 12x20. I would highly recommend this tent. It took about 20 minutes to setup/take down and although there was only 4 of us there was a ton of room for us, our gear and a wood stove. It got down to about -7 at night and the tent stayed toasty warm.
Look on the used market (as with anything), we found this one NIB for $1200.
I find when you are putting a decent number of guys in a tent that cots are a very helpful piece of gear. Not just for sleeping, but for organization. Everyone has a designated area around/under the cot and as long as they keep to their areas you can keep from creating a disaster zone situation.
Foam ear plugs are amazing at what they do to allow you to sleep, don't leave home without them.Quote:
Originally Posted by MikePal
We've used a two tent system for a few years with great success. I'm looking at investing in the Cabela's bighorn III tent for my crew, as the number of guys are shrinking with older guys in the group staying at a near by lodge this fall. I've only got 4 guys now roughing it in the bush - the tent will work well for winter camping trips pulled behind the sled as well. Two tents are the way to go for sure.
We cook all the food for 10 days at home and freeze it in zip lock or pot
and on hunting trip just have to defrost and heat up ,
all the food stay frozen in home made cooler 4.5 in isolation
For breakfast bacon eggs and veggies mixed up freshly prepared
Quote:
Originally Posted by roffey
I'm not sure where you can get them anymore, but we used to buy a crap load of mil-surp 'Meals Ready to Eat' (MRE). They used to make a civvy equivalent called 'Magic Pantry'. Excellent meals, enough food per day to keep a soldier fit to fight and tasted real rather good.
Lugging in coolers of fresh food was nice but not always convenient, especially if you were boating or flying in.
Now a days it's a comfy warm seat at the local greasy spoon down from the cabin for a plate of eggs and bacon before they head out for the day :)
You can usually find MREs at milsurp stores,if not,any higher end camping/mountaineering gear store has similar modern civy meals,Mountain House and Backpacker’s Pantry are a couple of brands that comes to mind.
I’ve lived on Mountain House and a JetBoil for a few days on a backcountry elk hunt,it was really good and tasty and filling/large portions.
Scored a few boxes of milsurp MREs x10per box also many years ago,I packed one or two of those on day trips,overnighters,and week long hunts for the next several years,they last forever....sorta?They are mostly pretty good,usually include a dessert,cookies,chocolate etc as well.
Last several years I’ve started prepping for hunting trips in August,make extra portions when I’m cooking supper etc,and freeze them in those tinfoil bread pans with the waxed cardboard lids,you can pick them up at Dollar Store etc dirt cheap.
Stuff like pasta dishes,lasagna,chicken and rice,sausage and beans,pork chops mashed potatoes,shepherds pie,frozen stew etc.....long day of huntng I don’t know about you but I don’t feel like cooking,just throw one of these frozen meals on the wood stove and you are eating a good hearty meal in a 1/2hr,I take them out of the cooler to thaw earlier in the day when I remember too,lol,and they heat up even quicker.
I’ll tell ya,a JetBoil is an awesome luxury in any hunter’s pack,make a nice stick to your ribs hot Mountain House and fresh hot coffee in the middle of nowhere,anytime any place in just a few minutes.
I normally hunt from dark til dark and don’t return to camp or truck til well after dark most days.I used to think I was pretty tough suffering through 10 hour days of deer hunting in -30C eating half frozen sandwiches and slushy Gatorade,cold pepperonis and cheese...not anymore!
The only downside is the smell and yummy aroma you create,I don’t like to fire up the coffee or cook a Mountain House in my ground blind/tree stand etc....unless I’m bear hunting,lol....but for a hot mid day meal in between locations,find a nice sunny spot out of the wind and take a break from the -30,even build a small campfire to warm up for 1/2 an hour during lunch....hard to beat it!!
That said though....I’ve even had deer walk in from upwind that I could have shot while I’m cooking lunch....can’t say I’ve ever shot one of them,only because they were does or smaller bucks that I wouldn’t shoot anyhow...but I still don’t like to cook and stink up my primo locations where I’m in serious hunt mode.
In my younger days, I used to fight forest fires. I was part of a 5-man crew and we regularly stayed in canvas tents - they were made by Woods. IIRC, there were different sizes with the largest ones being 10 X 16. Each of us had a pack sack for our gear - which included a sleeping bag and air mattress. Even in a tent of that size, there wasn’t a lot of room - once guys started unpacking their stuff. We also carried 2 canvas tarps with us. One for a fly to keep condensation out of the tent and to moderate the temperature in the tent. The other tarp was for a floor which helped keep our gear dry as well as keeping the bugs, snakes, and rodents out.
Canvas is heavy and bulky but more durable and warmer than nylon. They don’t breathe very well so it can get smelly in them. Normally, if we were in the bush for extended stays, we would have to do a reset: remove and air out everything, sweep it out, and tightened things up.
I have many fond memories of living in a wall-tent, but also some not-so memorable experiences of being stuck in some -holes too LOL,
Years ago, we used two wall tents facing each other. We took tarps and a roll of heavy clear plastic. We cut poles and built a kitchen area between the two tents. Both had wood stoves. It was a great setup for many years.
We put plastic on the ground with a tarp over that. Slept on foam, which was warmer than the cots.