3rd Rifle Camping and Logistics

[DoveBlaster]

Me and a buddy are heading to Central Colorado for a 3rd rifle Mule Deer hunt. We have been hunting archery elk for the past 8 years and decided to burn a few points and chase mulies with rifles this year. I'd like to think we have camping in September pretty dialed but mid November seems like it could be a whole different beast. I'm looking for recommendations on the following;

Stoves;
We have been running msr pocket rockets and toaks 750ml pots. Should we look into something like the MSR Whisperlite and white gas or inverted isobutane with a large 2 liter ti pot?

Tire Chains;
We will be in a stock 2023 4x4 F150.

Floorless Shelter/ Stove;
We have been running a floorless seek outside shelter/ occasional stove in September and have had good luck. We had snow one year but already had the tent set and didn't have to set up on existing snow. What's the best process of setting up a floorless on snow?

Water Filtration;
The sawyer squeeze has been our main/ only water filtration system. We have had some freezing temperatures but never sustained freezing over the course of the week and have heard of some horror stories of frozen filters. Should we look else where or keep the sawyer in our pocket?

If there is anything else I'm missing please chime in, we are open to suggestion and want to hunt hard all week and not deal with things that could of been easily avoidable.

 

[Jstumbaugh]

Following. Great questions. September camping is generally pretty simple. Hopefully some guys with more experience in "winter" camping can chime in,

 

[fngTony]

Yes on chains.

For stoves, are you using a tent stove that is going to be a huge comfort/survival item? For the backpacking type stoves just keep the canister warm and don’t let the burner frost over. White gas can be a bigger battle than dressing a toddler for school, save that for non hunting trips. Expect longer cook times and get or make a heat shield.

 

[feanor]

Bring aqua tabs for water purification as a backup. You should always have them in your pack anyway. You can always boil too, depending on your style, or if time allows.

 

[Hnthrdr]

I hunt mulies in 3rd rifle often, I’m not positive of your unit but in general (weather dependent) bucks are typically hanging in the 7-9k range so you can hopefully not be super high. Which should help. Most decent sized creeks shouldn’t be completely frozen definitely have a way to keep your filter warm or have a back up way to filter. they will freeze hard especially at night if , but then again we get a good cold front which I always pray for and it can get pretty rough to be camping in. Are you planning on packing in or camping near the truck?

 

[Nickofthewoods]

To me it sounds like you are planning for this to be a similar hunt to your archery elk experiences in September. I would caution against making too many parallel assumptions based on that. We don't know what unit you will be in but as @Hnthrdr just mentioned the deer will likely be lower in elevation already, either in the rut already or close to it. You could probably truck camp this one.

 

[Hnthrdr]

This is my opinion so take it for what it is worth (Not much ) for the current dates of 3/4th rifle best to be very mobile, cover ground, find does. That is the recipe for success. This year it’s the 11th to the 17th or so, rut should be rocking the last few days. feed in central co is great, I’d guess does will be fat and may cycle a little earlier. Also call me crazy but from just anecdotal evidence I have a feeling this fall/winter will be cold earlier. Willows were turning already and a few of the aspens are getting a few yellows, this weekend. Typically these trees aren’t turning till mid to late sept. I may be full of it but it has been wetter and cooler on average this year

 

[Poser]

Elevation matters in 3rd rifle. If you are at the wrong elevation, it will be an absolute ghost town. You need multiple plans for multiple elevation profiles.

The nights and early morning can be bitterly cold, so some warm glove options, puffy pants are nice too. Gaiters can be essential. Footwear can be tricky as you’d love a pair of insulated boots about 50% of the time and curse them the other half. I wear mountaineering socks and tie my boots a bit looser, then change over to hiking socks once it warms up. I sometimes use OR X gaiters for glassing if it is frigid.

I have a double wall titanium thermos that I add additional insulation to using 2 beer coozies. Pricey, but real nice.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Good call, I have some coozies for my Nalgenes that I found on line that are a little lighter than a double walled, but the top will still freeze if you aren’t careful

 

[dneaster3]

Great questions and super helpful info so far.
Following.

 

[DoveBlaster]

Yes on chains.

For stoves, are you using a tent stove that is going to be a huge comfort/survival item? For the backpacking type stoves just keep the canister warm and don’t let the burner frost over. White gas can be a bigger battle than dressing a toddler for school, save that for non hunting trips. Expect longer cook times and get or make a heat shield.

I have an older Kifaru ti tent stove that has been used in the past to boil water/ heat up cheese stick tortilla quesadillas ect. Was curious if the upright isobutane stoves will work or freeze up while on the move/ heating water for lunch etc. I have some older Coleman white gas stoves and know how big of pita they can be that’s when I took a gander at the inverted isobutane stoves. We usually have some rolled up foil in the kit for a wind shield, sounds like that will double as a heat shield this year.


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[DoveBlaster]

I hunt mulies in 3rd rifle often, I’m not positive of your unit but in general (weather dependent) bucks are typically hanging in the 7-9k range so you can hopefully not be super high. Which should help. Most decent sized creeks shouldn’t be completely frozen definitely have a way to keep your filter warm or have a back up way to filter. they will freeze hard especially at night if , but then again we get a good cold front which I always pray for and it can get pretty rough to be camping in. Are you planning on packing in or camping near the truck?

Would like to pack in for a few days and move if needed. Since neither of us have prior experience in the unit we’re going to stay mobile and not get locked in on one area.


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[ScreamingPotato]

I haven't read the other replies yet, but I'll lay out wife and I's 3rd season hunt last year. We used our coolers with heat packs to keep our stuff from freezing. 3 of the 7 mornings we woke up to negative temperatures, the other 4 were all single digits and two of the days we had 30+ mph winds most of the day with active snow. We never needed snowshoes though so that was a plus. If you're in a floorless you're gonna need a lot of wood for that stove. We had a blast, and put in many miles a day on the boots, but it wasn't easy. I always have chains but we didn't need them this trip, the area we were in wasn't terribly rough, though the truck did at one point drive sideways for 1/4 mile before I could snap it back on track. If the weather turns out similar, you're probably going to want insulated water bottles and need to blow water out of those filters immediately if you don't want them to freeze up.

Having said all that, it might be in the 40's the whole time you're there too, never know lol.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

Would like to pack in for a few days and move if needed. Since neither of us have prior experience in the unit we’re going to stay mobile and not get locked in on one area.


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I really would advise against this plan unless you are packing into lower country, but most low country in the State is fairly accessible by road negating the need to pack in anywhere. There are exceptions of course, but if you are planning to pack in (as in up) to wilderness/high country you could end up losing the first few days of your hunt before figuring out that most of the deer have all gone lower to rut. Just trying to help you, as this is the impression I'm getting from your plan. Below is a link to a recent similar topic. Good luck and of you haven't already, check out the Colorado hunt atlas for deer migration route info for your area.

Second season Colorado gear suggestions

After stalking Rockslide and all the different forums I have finally decided to pull the trigger and get an account. Me and my hunting buddy have drawn a second season Colorado tag and are doing a backpack hunt for 6 days. I have looked at historical weather data for the area we are hunting and...

rokslide.com

 

[Hnthrdr]

Would like to pack in for a few days and move if needed. Since neither of us have prior experience in the unit we’re going to stay mobile and not get locked in on one area.


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Highly suggest against packing in, especially if you are not familiar with the unit. I would suggest speaking with biologist/ warden for said unit. And asking smart questions like elevation bands or the type of browse the deer will be looking for mid November and plan accordingly. I love packing in elk hunting in sept, but I stay mobile in Nov. especially if I don’t know the area. Glass and move is the name of the game. Find does and camp on them

Should have read Nick’s comment above before I wrote this haha dang echo chamber I. Here, but if you want to pack good luck I will say that if you can find a buck in the high country that time of year, good odds that he will be a BOAL/ toad/ stomper

 

[Steve O]

Elevation matters in 3rd rifle. If you are at the wrong elevation, it will be an absolute ghost town. You need multiple plans for multiple elevation profiles.

The nights and early morning can be bitterly cold, so some warm glove options, puffy pants are nice too. Gaiters can be essential. Footwear can be tricky as you’d love a pair of insulated boots about 50% of the time and curse them the other half. I wear mountaineering socks and tie my boots a bit looser, then change over to hiking socks once it warms up. I sometimes use OR X gaiters for glassing if it is frigid.

I have a double wall titanium thermos that I add additional insulation to using 2 beer coozies. Pricey, but real nice.

Can I get a pic of that thermos setup?

 

[Juan_ID]

I went to Colorado 3rd season for the first time last year, wasn’t an area you’d need to pack in as there was plenty of access from forest service roads for day hunts. I bought a Kodiak canvas flexbow tent for that trip alone and it was awesome. Couldn’t imagine a much better tent for a hunt like that, very easy setup and tear down when you need to move which we did a few times in just 3 or 4 days. Temps dipped down to about 10* at night in Colorado at around 8k feet with 8+” of snow on the ground when we got there. Not once were we cold, we used 2 buddy heaters with big propane tanks and used them from the time we got to the tent in the evenings til we left for the morning hunt with the vents and doors cracked open. We slept on cots which I just sleep better on, couldn’t imagine sleeping on the ground on a hunt that late if you don’t absolutely have to. To better answer your questions as a complete newb to 3rd season Colorado.

1) those stoves ought to work fine I would guess but I don’t have much experience with them over days and days of below freezing temps, maybe consider taking a small bbq grill and buddy heater in case you don’t end up packing in.

2) 100% take tire chains and a couple sturdy shovels and maybe even a pick-axe. (We did not have chains or a real shovel (forgot them) and luckily had some guys stumble into us when we were in a pickle and helped us out.)

3) I’d highly recommend a floored shelter, it warmed up enough last year during the day that it would have been a sloppy mess in a floorless shelter. We would have gotten by but the floor was really nice with a thin carpet on top to keep the toes warm when bootless in the tent.

4) take several cases of water to keep in the tent to stay thawed out. Again this is one of those things that would have been a major pain if we had planned to filter water. Just one of those things that was nice having cases of bottled water in the tent to use on demand.

All that said is there any particular reason you are planning to backpack hunt? I’m all for it, but just think if there’s no reason to I’d keep your options open. Best of luck on whatever you decide to do!

 

[mcseal2]

I'm following also. I'm hunting 2nd season this year with a buddy. I agree with a lot of what was said. We plan to have backpacking gear along, but Plan A is a mobile truck camp.

 

[joelski]

I'd echo what other people have said about chains - always better to have them and not use them than to not have them and need them.

If you do decide to backpack in somewhere, sticking your fuel and water bottle(s) into your sleeping bag is a good little tip I do when I'm out in the winter. I usually just toss them in the bottom of my bag and that keeps the water from freezing and the fuel from being extremely cold and slow for cooking in the morning.

 

[*zap*]

Why is a white gas stove a pia?