Winter Tent Camping/Hunting

[Elmo]

Wonder if any of you guys/gals camp out with tents while hunting. I'm thinking of doing so but wondering if it would be too cold and dangerous. I looked at some 4 season tents and they all range in the $400 minimum which is well over my budget. Plus they're usually heavy and bulky for one person to carry in a back pack along with camping and hunting gear. Can I get away with a simple 3 season 1 or 2 person bivy? Or am I just out of my mind? Are there any tent suggestions?

[Doc]

Ha-ha ... this thread puts me in mind with my first deer hunting season (gun) when I spent 2 days on the hill in just a self-constructed enclosed lean-to. We did have snow that week too. No sleeping bag, just a lot of blankets. It was quite an experience. That was my first (and last) attempt to cook and eat a squirrel on a spit over a campfire. I actually survived it all quite comfortably. But then, I was a lot younger then too ..... lol.

I have since taken quite a few winter excusions with a tent, but not the "back-pack" kind that I think you are thinking about doing. So I have been able to take the best equipment for creature comforts, and have been able to drag along whatever I thought I needed because the truck was not very far away.

I never felt in any kind of danger, although I suppose that there is always possibilities of going ill-prepared and running into some difficulties with hypothermia, pneumonia, and such.

I'll bet there are books on winter camping/hunting that would give you some good tips and maybe even some kind of check-list to make sure you are properly equipped.

[Paula]

If you think you will get alot of use out of tent then spend the money and get a good one. Don’t sleep on the floor get a cot, and also a heater and you should be good.

I use to leave and kind of go out of town for hunting and always wanted to stay in a tent. Now I stay home and it only takes 10 min to drive verses and hr.

Edited August 15, 2012 by paula

[Culvercreek hunt club]

You don't need a heavy tent if you are talking about a few day excursions. I have done it many times in snow in a nylon tent. Get one that is free standing, and vented with a fly. condensation is a killer and it can be almost like rain in there...lol. the tent isn't the important part as long as it is water reisitent. I would put my money in a very good sleeping bag and a full length self inflating air sleeping pad/mat

[hunter]

Elmo, there are quite a few trails with lean-tos you can hunt from in NY. If you bow hunt I would go then as it will be less crowded and you can test yourself out before it gets cold enough to kill. If all goes well you can return in winter. There are also outfitters who provide the tent experience with a stove if that interests you. I know Land and Camps ( Christmas ) used to offer an established ADK tent site with private land to hunt. It wasn't cheap but if shared by three other people it would be reasonable. When I started hunting I would always camp but found I had to spend too much time and energy camping and less hunting. Now, I prefer the comforts of a cabin or lodge but by all means go make those memories.

[Nomad]

I hunt Montana,like many guys out there its in a wall tent with wood stove.Some nights its been down to 6 degrees outside warm and toasty inside but you gotta feed the small stove every 3 hours.

Yes a good bag and pad for around here. Now I use cots in the wall tent with wood stove,but with out a heater I prefer the ground as its often warmer then the air. A cot means colder air will be under you . If you use a heater then a cot may be more comfortable for you.

Go for it some folks prefer winter camping, no bugs, no crowds, your camp fire may burn down 2 feet though....

[mbucks27]

There is a good deal on camofire right now on a nice tent just thought i would share. I have also been looking into a good tent for using when hunting since i will most likely be hunting ohio this year and camping on state land.

http://www.camofire.com/

John

[Paula]

I say cot because on ground your getting the dampness from ground no matter how good the sleeping bag, and air mattress i think the air in it holds the coldness. i always had a stack of blankets to put on mattress. never used a heater, had a old coleman but never used it. i have never used a cot just figured it has to better than the cold ground.

[Meat First]

Elmo your out of your mind. Well maybe just a little. Used to do this 30 years ago (crap im getting old!) and it was fun until one night the heater we used must have melted some snow and I woke up face down in puddle of freezing water/slush. But if your a glutton for punishment I would buy something with two rooms, one for cooking and another for sleeping. Whatever you do keep the lantern away from tent wall for this is how our old tent met its end; thankfully. Also buy a cot! Good luck

[Elmo]

Without property, lodge, or cabin, my hunts are limited to driving out in the middle of the night, hunt all day, then drive back at night. This limits my hunts to public land an hour or so from the city. For the most part, I will most likely be hunting alone this season. I want to be able to stay in the woods and hunt deeper but within affordable means. I figure back country camping would allow me to do so.

[Meat First]

If your hunting/camping alone you really are hamstrung in choices of equipment and I see your dilemma. Small tent, roll up matt and small propane heater that doubles as a stove is what your looking at. One man can only carry so much. There are lean-toos in roscoe and margaretsville on state land I can point you to which are about 2 1/2-3 hr drive from bronx. Hunting there is no picnic though lol

Edited August 15, 2012 by Meat First

[WNYBuckHunter]

You could also stay at a motel nearby the area you want to hunt.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Wuss!!!!..lol

[phade]

Cheap local motel...much easier and much less stress. I do this when hunting Ohio. $210 bucks for the entire week and the room has a fridge/microwave.

[NFA-ADK]

I camped at the end of long lake with nothing but a 3 man 3 season tent for 2 guys, no camp fire. We put the tent in the lean-to, colman stove for cooking only. 1st night we had rain that turned to snow with about 6-8 inches of snow in the AM. Jack frost visited the inside of our tent. Boy that was fun, 1993/94?

If you get bad weather you can not have a good enough tent!!! I can not stress how importiant staying dry in a down pour is, or being able to get a fire started in that same rain... When I go back solo I do not bring any stoves or heaters as the wieght is just to much. A wood fire will keep you warm and allow you to cook with a mess kit, just make sure you can do it in any conditions!!! Sleeping bag is VIP, I don't care what tent or cot or mat you use just make sure you bag is rated for the coldest weather you can have and remember to bring extra clothes to change into or to add to keep you warm on the hardest nights...

Survival equipment, GPS, maps, whisle, Personal locator beacon if you feel the need. I bring extra boots, hat and neck warmer, thermals and a extra large 1 piece suit for those really cold days. Knife, saw, string, rope, flash lights(more than 2 of the same brand), extra bat, sun screen(snow reflects),gun/bow arrows/ammo, fire startes-multiple types. Water purifier with good filters, containers to hold the water. A good back pack and day pack... User polypropylene or fleece based clothes they dry fast, wicks away moisture and keep you dry and warm.

Stow your food safely, while out hunting you never know what animal might come into your camp site and miles back you need that life line!!!

In so far as it being cold, depends on mother nature... Danger is realative to how prepaired you are. If you over prepair the dangers are minimal in any situation. Go unprepaired and you might make the next installment of the DEC lost and found or the book # 2 on surviving the moutians.

[Dinsdale]

Wonder if any of you guys/gals camp out with tents while hunting. I'm thinking of doing so but wondering if it would be too cold and dangerous. I looked at some 4 season tents and they all range in the $400 minimum which is well over my budget. Plus they're usually heavy and bulky for one person to carry in a back pack along with camping and hunting gear. Can I get away with a simple 3 season 1 or 2 person bivy? Or am I just out of my mind? Are there any tent suggestions?

You are going to pay for quality equiptment that is lightweight; it's worth every penny.

Buying once will be cheaper in the long run....ounces count when everything is on your back.

Learn how to field dress and dismember an animal for transport in the field.

You can do this!

eVent bivy.

Good sleeping bag/pad

Tarp.

[Dom]

I have done alot of winter camping and found that moving blanket's have worked great for padding/bedding.With the right equipment you should have no issue's except getting lost in the Adk's,Not to be a wise ass but if you can't read a compass then you need to learn.The compass is most important in my opinion.

[oblivitar]

I was just looking into doing this myself and was thinking the same thing.....how the hell am i going to carry all that stuff on a backpack with my hunting gear?! Then i seen how other people do it....they just put everything on a little sled and drag it on the snow, nice and easy.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Wuss!!!!..lol

Well it sounds like he just needs someplace to sleep so he can hunt further from home. A motel room is cheap and easy. Camping is fun and all, but I like my boots to dry overnight if Im going to be in them all of the next day lol. The only time I would tent camp in the winter would be if there was no other choice lol.

[hunter]

I started using a sled last year for hunting. Pop up blind, heater and bucket to sit on. Hopefully a deer to take out. Not as easy as it looks. Fine on flat ground. A little harder uphill. Worse down. Found a longer rope to let the sled go down first was the best way. PM sent.

[Elmo]

I was just looking into doing this myself and was thinking the same thing.....how the hell am i going to carry all that stuff on a backpack with my hunting gear?! Then i seen how other people do it....they just put everything on a little sled and drag it on the snow, nice and easy.

Oohh..sled. That's a nice idea.

[Elmo]

Now why didn't I think of that?

Edited August 16, 2012 by Elmo

[Ford]

Well it sounds like he just needs someplace to sleep so he can hunt further from home. A motel room is cheap and easy. Camping is fun and all, but I like my boots to dry overnight if Im going to be in them all of the next day lol. The only time I would tent camp in the winter would be if there was no other choice lol.

This will be the biggest problem. IMO....Something to dry out your boots. Because if it gets cold, and your boots are damp, thats it.

If you can get the right equipment, I think it is doable.

[sweet old bill]

Had a great buddy Gerry Gardner of Johnson city NY, we camped out for the first week of gun season. He had made a pull tram with two bike frames. It packed two tents, a stove for what befcame the cook tent, two ground covers for uner the tents, 2 5 gal water jugs, two bows, two guns and about 4 sets of hunting togs for each of us, as well as a full 1 1/2 of food supply. I was the horse to pull the thing with Gerry being the learder. It worked just fine, up hill he would have to get in back and help push me up the hill. We went about 3 miles off a major NY highway. One of the best hunts ever for me. Nothing like cooking a full deer leg in a slow cook setup, with fresh carrots, mushrooms, and let it cook all day while you hunted and then come back at night,and have dinner with a cold beer and look at the stars. It did take me a full two days to get so I was warm in the sleeping bag, I found I had at first to many togs on in the sleeping bag. I found it was better to be just in my underware. Over the year we had lots of hunts, some from our camp in South Osetlic ( Outdoor forever ), to shooting in lots of NFAA shoots. I sure miss my hunting buddy who was taken to early with cancer. Gerry Gardner was a Lt of firemen in Johnson city. god bless him

[Doc]

We went on a self-conducted wilderness moose hunt in the Northern Ontario province in Canada. Trying to get deep into an area that was absolutely remote posed some of the same problems you are asking about. This was not exactly winter, but it sure got plenty cold (29 degrees complete with a skim of ice on one of the rivers) and all that was between us and that weather at night was the walls of a tent, and a sleeping bag. We never did feel a bit of discomfort.

The discussion here of modes of transport brought up thoughts of another method that may work out for you on certain kinds of hunts. We used the available waterways to get us back into places where no one goes, and the canoes carried all the gear we wanted to transport. We were required by law to use an outfitter so we rented a place at his camp and then immediately went off to do our own thing, miles away. We drove for a few hours on some gosh-awful dirt roads, and then launched a small motorboat pulling two canoes (there were 4 of us). We went to the end of one lake and then a 150 yard portage into another lake and then went to the other end of that one. By the time we were done, there was not a single sign or sound of any people or civilization. We had almost a year to plan this hunt and everything went great. No canned goods, everything was dried food. Also, the walleyes were very cooperative. Everything went off without a hitch including getting a small bull.

So if you can arrange your hunt along any sort of waterway (lakes, rivers, large creeks, etc.), there is nothing better than using a small boat or canoe to haul whatever you need. Cold weather gear is so much better today than it was back in '86. So survival in super-cold situations should be no problem with enough careful planning and attention to detail.