Hunting with camp on your back?

[elkdreamer78!]

I would like to hear some of the pros and cons of hunting “with camp on your back”. Who actually hunts this way day in and day out? Do some just spike out for a night or two before returning to base camp? How does it work for guys that do this regularly or consistently?
I have had opportunity to hunt elk 4 times now with my bow. I have not harvested an elk yet. There has been a learning progression.
I will be returning to a familiar area for my 5th trip in September.
I have always worked from a base camp, returning each evening. I use a SeekOutside Revolution frame with a Merlin for my day setup. This has worked well for me. Maybe it is the “romance” of having camp along or too much YouTube but I am entertaining trying it this year for a night or two.
My plan is to use a wingspan pocket to stuff my sleep system in to have it along. Then the Merlin continues to be my daypack. I weighed my pack setup with the Merlin and wingspan today without food or water at about 20lbs. So figure maybe 25 to 28lbs with food and water.
I believe I have a partner this year that would be willing to try camping out also. Not sure if I am trying to talk myself out this or into it but definitely would appreciate input either way.

 

[WeiserBucks]

I don't do it because I don't have to. The elk I hunt are not in the deepest, darkest wilderness known to man 37 miles from a road.

 

[rclouse79]

Early on, I would go in geared up to stay out for the entire hunt. After a while we started to realize the elk were either there or they weren’t. I had enough trips hunting out of a base camp with no action that I naturally moved away from it. Now I lean towards having a light pack and if there don’t appear to be elk in the area, head back to the truck to try the next spot. It seems this approach has led to more action.
That being said, I stumbled across one honey hole last year that is just far enough in that I will probably spend the night next season. Camping out is just fun to do every so often.

 

[cfdjay]

I don't confine myself to either but I make my options both. As said above, if the elk are in an area thats conducive to one way or the other, that's how it'll be. I would expect your pack to be much heavier if your going to spend 3 or 4 days living and sleeping out of your pack.

 

[5MilesBack]

Even if I pack in I don't carry camp on my back all day while hunting........unless I do one of my point A to point B hunts where it might take me 2-3 days to get from point A to B.

 

[SIR_34:16]

We spike camp for 3-4 nights then come back to resupply and either go back or switch areas. Elk hunting is about covering ground and you can do that a lot faster without weight on your back.

 

[SoloWilderness]

I am 50/50 on this. I may hunt with camp on my back up to 1st season, after that it's too much gear to tote around, and I'm not covering nearly as much ground. Early on, I would rather carry camp than have to climb 3 miles and 3000' back up a 60% slope to my high camp. I try and plan loops that will cover a couple major drainages, and I can stay with the elk instead of feeling like I need to cut a hunt short to get back to camp. I hunt steep canyon country and it's cliffy, and dangerous to hike in the dark too much. I got tired of having to climb back out of a canyon to get camp and drag it back down. Ideally, we park a truck at the high camp access, and another at our low camp access, then we can work down the canyon system. I also am usually hunting heavily pressured OTC country, where the first 1-4 miles are completely crawling with hunters, and recreationalists. So we have to go deep to not be bumping into people constantly. They also tend to push all the elk into the canyons, but it can be a half day hike to get from one side of a major drainage to the other. Camp on my back gives me flexibility. I may drop camp for a day or two to work an area, then move on if the spot I'm in isn't getting me into elk easily.

 

[GunsAreFun]

I always have the gear but so far have found elk close enough to the truck that it didn’t make sense to do it very often so it is area and elk dependent.

25-28 pounds is very light. If you can actually pull off 25 pounds, I’d first like to see your gear list. Secondly, that’s light enough that if you are in good shape, it wouldn’t make much of a difference to carry that around honestly. I train with 66-86 pound packs so by the time I go back down to my 30-32# backpacking weight, it feels like nothing is there.

 

[Team4LongGun]

There is a "mystic" appeal to hunting with camp on your back, but for me that was year one and lesson learned the hard way. Once you get in 5+ miles with a heavy pack, and realize there are no elk, now what? Basecamp with the ability to spike out once you get into elk is the way we hunt now.

 

[Kyle C]

Just depends on where I'm at and what I'm hunting. Anytime I'm in idaho I find myself backpacking in, but I never do in Oregon. For me if the spot I want to be at by mid day is more then 6-7 miles in I'll probably do a overnighter or multiple nights if there are multiple basins to check out that far in. Most that front country is easier to hunt when doing 10-15 days.

I will however say that backpack hunting is much funner and always enjoy it more then hiking our to the truck every afternoon. Some peace in knowing that I can camp wherever I end my day at each day.

 

[chindits]

I always backpack hunt but I never hunt with a camp on my back. I backpack in my camp one terrain feature away from my hunt area. I hunt with food, water, and the rain gear/clothes in my pack to make it through the night if I get in a jam be it bow season or 4th rifle.

Since I don’t hunt with a camp on my back, I always pack all my meat off the kill site that same night. It might take a day or two to get it back to camp from the secondary location. Horns last.

If my hunt area is a bust, I’ll move camp to my next location in time to be hunting that evening.

I usually know where the elk are in my hunt area before I go in that season. If I’m moving camp the area got busted or something went wrong. It happens. In that case I don’t mind because I usually learn a little bit more about that country and I don’t have to suffer a pack out.

My long hunts are 10 days bow season and my short hunts are 5 days arriving the day before 4th rifle. I don’t like easy but I have limits due to age and solo hunting.

 

[RustyHazen]

I hunt almost exclusively with camp on my back. Reading everything lately, I guess it’s not cool, anymore. I love hunting dark to dark, and never worrying about where I am, or getting “back to camp.” I’ve done a bunch of planned 8-10 day hunts. Hopefully, I kill something before it gets to that point, but it’s nice to know I can keep rolling, if need be.
I think it’s important to note two things. One, if you have really light, quality gear, it doesn’t need to be miserable. Even with that much food, I’m usually only in the mid to high 40’s. And that’s just at the beginning, before I start chowing down.
Two, admittedly, I KNOW I will get into elk. That comes from many years hunting the same spot, and the knowledge and confidence that comes with that. If next year my spot turned into a ghost town, I’d probably do shorter stints in new spots, till I found more elk.
Bottom line, I like solitude, and in the right situation, I have found success and solitude exclusively BECAUSE I hunt with camp on my back. YMMV.

 

[mtblackdog]

I did this for years when I was younger. I loved it. I could work traveling bulls for days like that. Im a traditional self bow hunter. And it takes alot of patience. Killed my biggest bulls this way.

 

[Jaquomo]

We spike camp for 3-4 nights then come back to resupply and either go back or switch areas. Elk hunting is about covering ground and you can do that a lot faster without weight on your back.

I cover rhe most ground with an F150 and a daypack.

 

[lintond]

I’ve done base camp, spike camp, and carried camp.

I like that I don’t have to hike in/out in the dark when I’d rather get extra sleep. However I also don’t love packing up tent & such in the morning. Particularly when it’s wet. So it means I often end up spiking. I love backpacking and default to that hunting even though I know a lot of very successful hunters don’t do it that way. Probably my happy medium is 3-4 days then a shower at the truck to refresh.

I adapt to wherever I’m hunting and typically pack my gear so I can be flexible.


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[Indian Summer]

I don't do it because I don't have to. The elk I hunt are not in the deepest, darkest wilderness known to man 37 miles from a road.

This. If you WANT to do that’s fine. But most places it’s not necessary and you’ll get beat up way faster than if you had a base camp to regroup at.

You might consider a spike camp. Backpack your gear in and set camp but don’t haul it all over the mountain.

 

[elkdreamer78!]

This. If you WANT to do that’s fine. But most places it’s not necessary and you’ll get beat up way faster than if you had a base camp to regroup at.

You might consider a spike camp. Backpack your gear in and set camp but don’t haul it all over the mountain.

I think after reading the different perspectives this probably what I will do. We are not going super deep. In the past we have camped at the truck walking in 2.5 to 3 miles to the areas we have found elk. I think my main goal is to reduce that morning and evening walk.

 

[elkdreamer78!]

I always have the gear but so far have found elk close enough to the truck that it didn’t make sense to do it very often so it is area and elk dependent.

25-28 pounds is very light. If you can actually pull off 25 pounds, I’d first like to see your gear list. Secondly, that’s light enough that if you are in good shape, it wouldn’t make much of a difference to carry that around honestly. I train with 66-86 pound packs so by the time I go back down to my 30-32# backpacking weight, it feels like nothing is there.

I was probably a little light with my estimate considering 2.5 liter of water is 5lbs. Though I am pretty satisfied with how I have been able to shave off weight of my stuff over time. I believe I could probably be in the 30 35 lb range.

 

[TheHammer]

Typically I pack in from the truck 1.5-2hrs before light and return in dark. If in the elk the first couple days. Staying mobile if no elk are found. Once the pressure pushes them all, then I set up for 3-4days back. Hike in a couple miles, set up camp. Hunt from camp. And if I’m on them keep camp there, if not move camp to the next drainage. If nothing go back to the truck and relocate.

 

[Beendare]

Its exhausting to carry your camp around…I prefer spike camps.