East Coaster Driving Out West for Elk Hunt

[MallardSX2]

A guy I know went to Colorado with a few of his friends and lost EVERYTHING to thieves at a hotel. They even took their sleeping bags. They thought that the locks on the truck cap would keep out the riffraff.....lmfao.

Buy yourself a cheap dedicated (lockable) enclosed hunting trailer. Replace the bearings and put good tires and bearing buddies in it, get you 2 good spares and take your grease gun with you.

Put a motion alarm in your truck if you stop at a hotel. Its the ONLY way I will stop. I have alarms all over my truck when I stop. If someone if going to even touch the truck, someone is going to notice....The wind actually set them off one year in Nebraska...

I get crappy fuel mileage pulling my stuff to Colorado in an enclosed trailer, but I don't worry about anyone stealing my stuff.

 

[Buckshotaz]

Didn’t see the state you were going to, but if you do take your Honda, check with the state to see if there’s any license or permits needed for ORV

 

[Laelkhunter]

Best way to stay awake that I found is every hour or so, stop and get out of the vehicle and walk around for a minute or two. This awakens me better than coffee, etc. Also I eat sunflower seeds. Pop a handfull in your mouth and spit the shells into a cup. This really works for some reason, it keeps me wide awake, but after prolonged use, my mouth gets raw. AND of course 5 hour energy or monster energy drinks, but after drinking those you will have to stop every hour or so (at least I do), and this is when my first tip comes in, getting out and walking around.

We used to drive straight through from New Orleans to Chama every year. 24 hours straight. It got to be a real pain. When we finally arrived, we were so exhausted it took us a day to catch up. Now we stop about half-way (Quanah, Tx) and get a good night's sleep, wake up the next morning and arrive in Chama much fresher. OP has a considerable distance further to drive, so I would definitely plan to stop and get a good night's sleep. Bring the optics and guns into the room with you, and on the way home, bring in the antlers too.

 

[np307]

Me and a buddy have done NC to WY several times. First few times we drove straight through but we finally decided it was really pushing our luck too much, especially because the timeframe usually puts us in Nebraska during the middle of the night and that's a brutal section to try to stay awake driving. Last year we decided to find somewhere with a coffee shop, slept in the truck from around 0100 or 0200 to about 0530, grabbed a cup of coffee and got back on the road. It was way more manageable.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

This is two weeks of food and hunting equipment including a wall tent in my truck last fall. All valuables go inside covered up with gear bags and sleeping gear. Out of site, out of mind. Stay in nicer hotels in nice towns. Do reviews to avoid sketchy locations. We didn't need a UTV and drove all the 4wd trails in our unit. For piece of mind, bring guns, valuables inside the hotel.

Every have issues with the cooler blocking your license plate? I don't use a hitch rack often but when I do I pull the plate and wire it to the hitch rack, but it's a pain and I'd rather not. One time I took the rack off and drove around for two days with no plate until I finally noticed I'd forgotten to swap it back.

 

[Tator98]

Didn’t see the state you were going to, but if you do take your Honda, check with the state to see if there’s any license or permits needed for ORV

Good advice. I’ve got a permit/sticker coming in the mail.

 

[OKHunter84]

My advice would be to second guess everything you're bringing. You won't need five pairs of pants and three different jackets. You won't need a ton of regular clothes. I've brought too much stuff on most trips I've went on, especially the first couple.
If you and your friend are going to hunt together then double check redundancies in everything that's not essential. I've done several solo trips but the furthest being 900 miles, maybe a little more. If I was looking at a 2500 mile trip then an enclosed trailer might be the ticket. Double axle would be preferable with a block you could pull one tire up on if you have a flat, a floor jack, a good hitch lock and might not hurt to have two spares. Get a good set of chains and make sure they fit beforehand. I have a hard folding tonneau cover on my tundra and helps with peace of mind if you need to go in a gas station. Taking all the guns and optics, maybe even the hunting packs in the hotel room is a good idea. Park in front of your room. With that distance you're going to need good ice chests or research somewhere to freeze your meat for you before you head back if you harvest something. You'll need to boil your skulls as well.

 

[manitou1]

Hi y’all,

Planning my first trip hunting out west as a non-resident this fall. I’m looking at about a 36 hour 2500 +/- mile drive. I’ve purchased a new 3/4 ton crew cab long bed 4x4 gas pickup this spring. I will be going with one other guy who can also drive. Looking for some advice from others who have made a similar trip.

We would like to bring with us one four wheeler and of course will have all our gear. Trying to figure out how to get all our stuff out there without getting it ripped off in a motel or truck stop parking lot. It seems like theft is rampant along the interstates these days. I’ve had a camper shell in the past and liked it, but obviously that doesn’t work with a four wheeler. We don’t want to drag a trailer out there. Thoughts on something like the decked drawer system with the four wheeler on top? I’d imagine I’d want to cable/lock the four wheeler and anything else exposed to the bed.

I appreciate any thoughts or advice. Thanks

Spend a few hundred bucks on an aluminum tri-fold tonneau and take the trailer… or haul it all in to the hotel at night.

I have done both ways. I do 17-18 hour trips alone straight through too on multiple occasions.

I would never leave anything of value in my vehicle at a hotel in today’s world.
I always keep my optics and weapons easily accessable to grab to keep in the hotel at night. Locks won’t stop a meth head.

 

[manitou1]

Me and a buddy have done NC to WY several times. First few times we drove straight through but we finally decided it was really pushing our luck too much, especially because the timeframe usually puts us in Nebraska during the middle of the night and that's a brutal section to try to stay awake driving. Last year we decided to find somewhere with a coffee shop, slept in the truck from around 0100 or 0200 to about 0530, grabbed a cup of coffee and got back on the road. It was way more manageable.

The nice thing about SD, NE aand KS is that if you doze off you will only end up in a pasture or corn field a little ways.

 

[Headwaters]

Every have issues with the cooler blocking your license plate? I don't use a hitch rack often but when I do I pull the plate and wire it to the hitch rack, but it's a pain and I'd rather not. One time I took the rack off and drove around for two days with no plate until I finally noticed I'd forgotten to swap it back.

No issues as of yet but our state requires front plates too. I know someone from a one plate state that saves money on tolls with a cooler mounted on his hitch rack. Pay by plate doesn't work on him. LOL

 

[Dakota Dude]

The nice thing about SD, NE aand KS is that if you doze off you will only end up in a pasture or corn field a little ways.

Unless you find a telephone pole. Don't ask me how I know.

 

[il_cop]

Reiterating someone's comment...

Unless you know exactly where you're going to set up shop to get on elk, scrutinize everything you bring or your trip may quickly become about packing and unpacking as opposed to finding elk to kill. Hard to be mobile or motivated to be mobile with a bunch of stuff. There's already logistics to be had in elk hunting, be conscious of adding more complexity.

Also +1 to leaving the four wheeler behind. No need and just another thing to think about.

 

[DanMan]

Best advice is Don't Stop in Albequerque NM!

 

[NRA4LIFE]

You must haul ass to average 70 MPH over that long of trip.

 

[Fullfan]

We have never had any problems yet. Drive from Pa to Idaho the last 29 years. Always just drove straight through w 3 guys. Now we stop 1/2 way and spend the night. I use several tactacam cell cams. one in the back seat facing the trailer, one under the truck by a wheel, and one under the trailer. I know 20 seconds after someone is poking around the rig.

 

[timekiller13]

I have a 3/4 ton crew cab. Myself and dad, our gear all fits in the backseat. Yes it’s stacked but it fits. ATV in the bed (if we bring it I’ve only brought it twice in 6 trips out west). ATV in the bed does make things a little tighter. Also, for security purposes, I just removed the battery from the ATV while traveling. Not as easy to steal something that won’t crank.

In all the trips I’ve made out west and to Midwest for hunting, I’ve only had one time where things were stolen out of the bed of my truck. I broke down in Louisville, Ky a few years ago. I limped to a hotel in downtown. I locked everything that would fit inside the truck and took expensive items into the hotel with me. Only thing that wouldn’t fit was an empty cheap cooler and a deer cart. Next morning both of those were gone.

 

[Jstumbaugh]

Uhaul rents 6x12 dual axel trailers for about $25 a day. We pulled one from NY to CO a couple years ago and brought way too much shit with us.

 

[fatlander]

You’ll probably bring way too much crap for your first trip. The first trip a buddy and I took, we had a crew cab f150 absolutely loaded to the hilts and a hitch hauler to boot for two dudes. Pack like you’re going on a back pack hunt, even if you’re car camping. As others have said, you’re probably going to need to be mobile to find elk unless you’re lucky and the first dart you threw at the map has elk. All that extra crap hampers your mobility. Bring weapons and optics into the hotel room. Leave the four-wheeler at home.

We can fit 10 days of gear in a Tacoma for 4 dudes. You should have no problem with a 3/4 ton crew cab for two guys.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mojave]

I’d like to drive straight through but I don’t think we can safely. Probably will need at least two stops, either sleeping in the truck or motel. Any tips for staying awake driving?

DOT used to publish statistics for coast-to-coast drivers. The odds of getting killed in a auto accident in that situation was about 20% for memory. Home retired military. I always stay on military installations when I travel coast to coast if I can.

 

[bz_711]

If you're prepared to bring two elk home you likely need at least 3 - 150QT coolers...starts to get hard fitting those and 4-wheeler in truck...but could maybe get creative with a hitch haul and one cooler on the wheeler. I agree it might require a trailer if bringing an ATV.

Overall, I don't see any benefit to having a 4-wheeler. A SxS possibly, but even then...you'll just be using the same roads/access as everyone else with an ATV. So many camps have ATV's that you're better off just being on foot closer to road where nobody else parks. I say SxS as they can get 2 guys more quickly up rugged jeep roads...4 wheeler with 2 guys is slow going and way too bumpy for me.

Good Luck either way!