Eastcoasters hunting out West

[Team4LongGun]

Before I had a place out west, I made one trip and kept my gear (vehicle, trailer, quad etc) in a storage facility.
From then on I would fly out. Save money on fuel but the real benefit was saving the 3 days on each end. Time is money

 

[Gman12]

Also from Virginia. I have driven and flown but I prefer to drive despite the fact that it is 30 hours from my house. Sure you can take more gear but it is the ability to bring meat home that is the real savings for our group. If 2 of 4 of us kill then we can bring the meat home with us in coolers and that saves some big $$$. I flew this past year and killed a nice bull. Had it processed and transported home on a special courier which specializes in hauling meat. It was $6 per pound plus $200 for the head. That was some serious coin and I won't do that again. One year 3 of 4 of our group killed so that was a big savings to be able to drive the meat and heads home.

 

[Cml5895]

From Western NY here. Being someone who likes driving, the drive out can be some of the best times with the right company. Prepare to overpack though. If you have space, you will fill it up the first couple trips until you can really weed out the unnecessaries. Not needing to worry about a rental/lack thereof is one benefit. Obviously, price of fuel under our current administration is a major drawback. I have found that generally in the past, price of fuel for me and a round trip flight cost are pretty close to offsetting. But. you'll have a vehicle to use while you're there.

As for the drive home, it can be a great time to reflect on the trips highlights (or lowlights).

 

[Jhy]

Drive. I’m not made of $$ and to get gear out and ship an Elk back is expensive.

 

[Billy Goat]

I'm a driver.


Takes more time, have done it straight thru solo, but prefer to team drive straight.

 

[FLATHEAD]

I drive, simply because I cannot carry enough gear on a plane to be even remotely comfortable.
Sleeping in the dirt aint nearly as fun as it used to be, and flying has become too much of a hassle.
Not to mention the cost of a rental vehicle.

 

[SoYoCo]

I have only made it west once so far ( but I’m praying for tags this fall ). We drove from PA to eastern MT. Made a stop in Wyoming to pick up a member of our party. Woke up and drove to Dickinson ND. Spent the night so we didn’t have to set up a wall tent in the dark. Made for a lot of days on the road but it beats the 30 hr straight through drive….

 

[Traveler]

Drive, split up the days if you have to. My drive is 27 hours, two days.

 

[tackdriver]

I live in MD, and drive everywhere, solo. In 2021 i hunted Nevada, Utah, then Colorado on my 1st trip for 6 weeks in Sept and beginning of Oct. 2nd trip was Alberta in November, then down to Kansas for a 4 week trip. Then drove to Tucson in January for a 2 week trip to Sonora. I enjoy the solitude of being alone, and enjoy the adventure that starts when i pull out of my driveway. I'm fortunate to have the ability to have unlimited time away from home being self employed and not married. Im 44 years old and i'm going to keep on doing what i enjoy until it becomes no longer fun. Do what works best for you, what your income allows, and what you enjoy. You only live once!

 

[camping1601]

Driving PA to CO for years now. Driving sucks but so does flying.

 

[alex_b11]

I drove solo 18hrs straight to get to my hunt in Colorado this year. Wouldn’t want to run a rental car through the mountains like a did. Making the drive in one shot wasn’t an issue for me on the way there because I was so damn excited I wouldn’t have slept anyways. On the way back I spent the night at a motel.

 

[grfox92]

You have to drive to be honest. You will want your truck with you and the ability to bring extra anything. Travel grill and cook stove. Cooler. Your gun or bow. A target. Extra pair of boots and sneakers. Tent. Sleeping bag and pad. Civilian clothes. The list goes on.

I couldn't imagine flying and then renting a car to leave it at a trail head for a week. Paying for it every day. That's just insane and more expensive then gas.

The first time I hunted Wyoming, I drove from NY to Suix Falls South Dakota non stop 24 hours. Slept in Walmart parking lot for 5 hours and finished the rest of the drive and was hunting by the following morning. Bite the bullet and make the drive.

If it's you're first time hunting out west, then backpacking might not be the right choice. I would highly recommend camping at the truck and hunting from a trail head everyday. That way you can bounce around and find a good area to focus on. Packing in is not a guarantee to get into animals, and you could eat up alot of your time in a very unproductive manner.

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[Mykolaivka887]

Driving the ALCAN highway every winter to big game hunt in the Lower-48 isn't an option for me, so I made the commercial flying option work, even when doing conventional vehicle based hunts, in addition to backpack hunts. With some ingenuity, it's pretty easy to make the flying option work successfully. But, I definitely get what people say about bringing your own vehicle, even though that's not the way I do it.

 

[weekender7]

I always drive. I use a combination of truck camping and backpacking. I set up a base camp, then spike camp out for how many days the sign or sightings say stay. I always go for 2 weeks and have the weekends on each end so I get about 17 days. Usually there are two of us to share the driving and we drive straight through about 28-32 hours.

 

[Glendon Mullins]

I drive, mainly because I dont trust the airlines, I have seen how they handle suitcases, just throwing them around and stuff. Not to mention how they constantly lose people's luggage. That alone is reason enough for me to drive

 

[gtyler1016]

Been out to CO twice from NC. Both times we drove out in two days and we stayed in town about an hour from camp the first time and last time we were in camp on the second day. We just want to get as much time on the mountain as possible since my partner and I have limited vacation time. Both times we have driven straight through on the way back though.

Just me and my partner can get away with minimal gear, I have an f150 with a bed over and everything except the large cooler we took was under that last year. Next year it will all be in the bed.

 

[cusecat04]

Driver here. Have done it solo once and with great hunting partners the other times.
Freedom to bring what I want, extend the stay if I want, etc...
Have a good friend out there now that stores some gear for me, a few bottles of wine is cheaper than shipping.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Fly every time. Burning 4 days of vacation time sitting and staring at a windshield is not an option for me.

 

[bushangler]

Done both, if you have the time drive! If you have to make the hunt shorter because of vacation time or other restraints due to driving then it would be worth flying to me.

Both times I’ve flown people in my group drove and picked me up and both times I said I couldn’t imagine having to rent a rig/fit everything I needed in luggage etc.


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[Tod osier]

Driving the ALCAN highway every winter to big game hunt in the Lower-48 isn't an option for me, so I made the commercial flying option work, even when doing conventional vehicle based hunts, in addition to backpack hunts. With some ingenuity, it's pretty easy to make the flying option work successfully. But, I definitely get what people say about bringing your own vehicle, even though that's not the way I do it.

The post title says eastcoasters. No reason to justify what you do, I love driving to AK, but I'm not doing it in the mid to late fall either!

I'd like to see the price of gas this year on the ALCAN!