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Who sleeps in their hunting truck?


Grouse
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24 minutes ago, Nomad said:

Sure the wife was out of control so I left and slept in the truck in a nearby parking lot .

 

BTDT.........'cept it wasn't a parking lot.  Drove down to my buddies to hunt gobblers unplanned.

Edited by Lawdwaz
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When I use to hunt state land I would sleep in the front seat of my car or truck depending on what I owned at the time.  I would bring the dvd/tv combo that you hangover the seats for kids. I would watch movies and fall asleep. I use to also keep a small nylon hammock in my vehicle and set that up in the trees and sleep.

I spent many years driving back and forth 90 minutes each way Saturday and Sunday mornings and got sick if it. Sleeping in the vehicle was much better.

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Prior to a couple nights in the   central Adirondacks last fall, it had been about 10 years since I spent a night in the truck, prior to a morning hunt.  The temperature outside dropped down to the twenties those nights.  Much to my surprise, the furnas fired right up and held it to a perfect 67 degrees inside.

The most important thing to have in your truck, is a furnas with a thermostat, if you need to sleep in it when it is cold out. The furnas in my previous camper lacked a thermostat, and I can't recall a single comfortable night in that during the fall.   It was always too hot or too cold inside, when I woke up in the morning.   

Getting a good night's sleep, is the first ingredient in a successful hunt.  I did not kill my first Aditondack deer  until about 11 years ago, when I bought this camper.  I stopped using it for a stretch, after my in-laws built a house up there (with a good furnas).

20210302_205541.jpg

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I slept many many nights in the back of my buddies dad’s truck back in the early 80’s through the mid 90’s.  Then my own truck too from ‘83 till ??

Almost always for spring gobbler hunting.  Sometimes we’d sleep 3-4 nights at a time back then.   Great times!  Any roadside creek would provide an ample supply of bath water.   We were always told Ivory Snow soap was good for the water system?!?!?!

Breakfast at the truck in the dark then later morning we would stop and have a big breakfast the dinner was usually started with a barley sandwich or three.  :)

Wolc and Tacks both know the family I hung with then from Clarence Center.  

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I suffered in a pickup for a year's, then progressed to an AWD van that has a folding bed frame I made that fits over the middle bench seat, topped with a memory foam mattress.

If it's chilly out, I mount a Mr buddy heater on a frame I made that fits between the front seats.

With it set on low in 20-30 degree temps, it will heat it up to 65 degrees with the thermo electric fan circulating the heat, properly vented of course.

I also have a carbon monoxide alarm as back up to the heaters low oxy shut off.

After coyote hunting all night or deer hunting all day, it's nice to be able to rest in comfort, then get up and drive away.

 

 

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I've done it more for turkey and fishing than deer hunting. As much as sometimes it can feel rough, I look back on those trips positively. 

With the advent of quick up tents, sleeping in the truck is probably going to be rare. I did pick up an air mattress for the back of the 4Runner that is cut and angled for it with the rear seats down. I also picked up molle panels and a cross shelf to get items up off the floor for more space. Should work well for quick overnight only trips to Ohio this fall if things pan out. For midwest...I'm all about the tents at this point since we're there for a few days/week.

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18 minutes ago, phade said:

I've done it more for turkey and fishing than deer hunting. As much as sometimes it can feel rough, I look back on those trips positively. 

With the advent of quick up tents, sleeping in the truck is probably going to be rare. I did pick up an air mattress for the back of the 4Runner that is cut and angled for it with the rear seats down. I also picked up molle panels and a cross shelf to get items up off the floor for more space. Should work well for quick overnight only trips to Ohio this fall if things pan out. For midwest...I'm all about the tents at this point since we're there for a few days/week.

How's the late muzzleloader season in Ohio?

I'm thinking about going down there this year the first few days of January and hitting some state land.  I'm just in the beginning stages of looking into everything.  If I go I'll sleep in my truck and keep the trip as cheap as possible.

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 ive slept in the truck after fishing before.  We had the bright idea to leave after work for the St lawrence and fish all night then drive back.  But slept in the truck for a couple of hours so I could make the drive home.  

But might do this if I got a maine moose permit.  At least for a day or two.  Depending on the area i got permit for and what might be available etc.  If it was far on a back road area and no place to stay local i would prob sleep in the truck before i slept on the ground in a tent. 

otherwise i would rather find a spot within an hour and get a good sleep in. 

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49 minutes ago, phade said:

I've done it more for turkey and fishing than deer hunting. As much as sometimes it can feel rough, I look back on those trips positively. 

With the advent of quick up tents, sleeping in the truck is probably going to be rare. I did pick up an air mattress for the back of the 4Runner that is cut and angled for it with the rear seats down. I also picked up molle panels and a cross shelf to get items up off the floor for more space. Should work well for quick overnight only trips to Ohio this fall if things pan out. For midwest...I'm all about the tents at this point since we're there for a few days/week.

Lots of Subaru Outbacks set up, like that . There’s mollies that are cut to fit the rear windows . Pinterest has lots of good ideas.

Well, I’m off for this years first shed hunt , your finds got me motivated !

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Spent a few nights in the parking lot at Oak Orchard Waterport Dam in the early nineties and quite a few nights asleep in the vehicle at the various pools of the Salmon River in Pulaski and Altmar.  Remember waking up once freezing in Naples for opening day of trout.  Had some good times doing that when I was younger but haven’t done it in over 15 yrs. 
Never spent a night in the truck to go hunting as I always had spots close by to hit up with gun or bow.  

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1 hour ago, Red said:

How's the late muzzleloader season in Ohio?

I'm thinking about going down there this year the first few days of January and hitting some state land.  I'm just in the beginning stages of looking into everything.  If I go I'll sleep in my truck and keep the trip as cheap as possible.

It's antlered only as of last year - on public anyhow. Private it is both. 

There is more pressure than one would imagine on public for that season. Mostly because other nearby states are closed and its "something to do" if you will.

Don't let that deter you. Going out of state is liberating. We have good hunting in WNY no doubt, but its hard to describe once you get into even better ground. Ohio a producer but alot more competition due to proximity to eastern states.

Admittedly, I'm wore out hunting here. Small parcels, tons of hunting pressure, and a TON of work just to maybe get a crack at a 130" once a year or a 4.5 yo and sometimes that one encounter doesn't come. It really gives you perspective when you hit those states and people are absolutely underwhelmed with 120s and 130s gets a mild reaction if its more than an 8. A 120" typical with a bow is our standard for NYSBBC. Literal Meh reactions. And then you hunt it and understand. Inches and big deer are not the end all be all, but the experience is much much better. hard to put words to it, even when you come home empty handed.

Edited by phade
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