Late season hot tent sheep hunting tips

[Elite]

Hello everyone, I am a resident in Alberta Canada. This year I am wanting to do a late season sheep hunting trip from October 25th-31st. I have hunted sheep a lot in August and September but never this late in the year. I have purchased a titanium stove and a small tipi. I am looking for tips and tricks on how to stay warm and hunt. Some issues I can think of. How do you keep your feet from not freezing when stoping to glass? Best way to keep your boots from freezing at night? Does the ground inside the tent become a complete mud mess when the stove is burning hot? Do the stoves work good to cook on? I would like to get all the needed gear and have it well thought out before October so any help would be appreciated!


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[Wapiti1]

You might check with the Seek Outside guys, or check their website. They have several hot tent videos that have a bunch of good info on winter camping. Kifaru probably has some info too.

My experience has been the flat top stoves are good for cooking, and the tube stoves are not as good. Getting wood can be a problem if there is deep snow.

I've never had the ground thaw out in the tent. Suppose it could happen, but hasn't. I've camped on snow as well, and you just need a ground tarp.

Pay attention to venting the tent for condensation, or it will rain on you a lot.

I wear Hoffman pacs in deep snow and cold. My feet stay warm. When I stop to glass, I loosen my laces. This helps keep blood flowing and it will keep your feet warmer. Boot blankets are an option. At night, I pull the liners and put them in my bag with me. I also keep two sets of liners.

Be mindful not to overheat the boots if you use the stove to thaw them. Treating the leather prior to the trip will keep them from freezing too solid for a while. I know some folks will heat water and put it in Nalgene bottles, then into socks and then into the boots each night before bed. The hot water dries the boots. Never tried it, but it should work, and you would more than likely have non-frozen water the next morning as well.

Jeremy

 

[Nickb_00]

I too am doing my first late season hunt in the end of October this year. Things I have found are guys will gather a few rocks and put them under and around the stove. They run the stove hot before going to bed. This heats the rocks so that when you choke your fire down they will stay hot and the radiant heat is supposed to keep the chill out. I have not tried this yet but I'm guessing it will work better on the smaller tipis. Also read guys will heat Nalgene bottles to put down at their feet for the night.

 

[Wapiti1]

I too am doing my first late season hunt in the end of October this year. Things I have found are guys will gather a few rocks and put them under and around the stove. They run the stove hot before going to bed. This heats the rocks so that when you choke your fire down they will stay hot and the radiant heat is supposed to keep the chill out. I have not tried this yet but I'm guessing it will work better on the smaller tipis. Also read guys will heat Nalgene bottles to put down at their feet for the night.

Yes, sleep with any water you want liquid in the morning.

Jeremy

 

[Elite]

Thanks for the tips so far guys. I am also wondering what everyone uses to attach gear to the top of the tipi to try and dry it out? Like pants and a jacket? Has anyone put there jet boil right pot right on the stove? Would bringing a separate pot and pan combo be worth it? I would like to cook on the stove some nights to get away from dehydrated meals every night. Any one have any good food ideas to cook in a pan?


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[Elite]

What does everyone use for wood processing for the stove? Want to stay light as possible


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[*zap*]

SO recommends a small saw and a good knife for batoning.

 

[tdot]

Take a synthetic quilt, throw this over yourself when you stop to glass, it keeps the wind/snow off you and helps to keep your feet warm. Bonus is you can throw it over your sleeping bag to really boost it's temperature rating. I have a 40 degree Apex synthetic quilt that is about a pound, and it takes my -5*c bag down to a -15*c.

Take food with alot of calories and eat before bed, a full stomach will go along way to keeping you warm.

I've settled on taking a ground sheet of some kind, I find it keeps the tent warmer, drier and allows gear to dry faster. I've been trying the Matty Mcmat face from Seek Outside, and if you have the space, it's 100% worth it.

A solid, lighter option for a dedicated wood prep knife.
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B00J6W92LG/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_8?smid=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&psc=1

 

[Elite]

Take a synthetic quilt, throw this over yourself when you stop to glass, it keeps the wind/snow off you and helps to keep your feet warm. Bonus is you can throw it over your sleeping bag to really boost it's temperature rating. I have a 40 degree Apex synthetic quilt that is about a pound, and it takes my -5*c bag down to a -15*c.

Take food with alot of calories and eat before bed, a full stomach will go along way to keeping you warm.

I've settled on taking a ground sheet of some kind, I find it keeps the tent warmer, drier and allows gear to dry faster. I've been trying the Matty Mcmat face from Seek Outside, and if you have the space, it's 100% worth it.

A solid, lighter option for a dedicated wood prep knife.
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B00J6W92LG/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_8?smid=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&psc=1

The quilt bag is a good idea! I probably bring mine along also, I was also thinking about bringing a sheet of tyvek as a ground sheet. Does anyone else know I knife that works well for batoning wood? That one is on back order


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[bcimport]

A silky folding saw is worth the weight so you can feed the stove bigger wood than you can break by hand. The quilt for glassing is also excellent. When it starts getting real cold I carry insulated booties that I put on when I stop for more than a half hour or so. I’ve had limited success boiling in a jet oil type cup on top of my wood stove but I can get things warm that way.

 

[tdot]

Flat bottom Ti cups are better on stoves, imo. The Jetboil fins keeps it too far away from the heat.

I'm thinking sheep meat is just about the best thing you can cook in a pan
On my most recent Elk hunt, my hunting partner kept making dehydrated hasbrowns (from Costco) w/ cheese. It was way tastier then Mountain House and almost as kight

I tie a some small carabiners (that I carry anyways) to the top of the tent pole with prussik loops, the can hang cloths from that. I'll also string a clothes line from the same prussik loops down to a tent peg I stick in the ground, inside the tent.

 

[Elite]

Thanks for all the help so far! What does everyone like to cook on the stoves? Looking to maybe bring my small 6 inch titanium frying pan and was thinking about bringing some tortillas and some cheese and dried salami. Just to change it up instead of mountain house every night.


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[Elite]

One more question about the actual hunt tactics.

I am planning to hunt a area that borders a national park and is a wintering ground for sheep. I have scouted it out in July and found a large band of rams. They were on some small hills with a lot of good grass feed. The area does get very busy with horse riders and hunters in the summer. I am wondering if I should focus on the large steep mountains that make the border and hope I catch one coming out of the park or if I should focus on where the ewes usually are? There is some forest that was burned a few years ago that the ewes hang out in and a lot of lower elevation hills with grass on that the ewes feed on. Do rams show any interest in the ewes that early in the rut? (Last week of October) Would the rams be heading towards the quality feed? I have hunted sheep a lot but not this late and have been on a quest for 6 years to find a legal ram. Any help would be appreciated


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[Xavier]

One more question about the actual hunt tactics.

I am planning to hunt a area that borders a national park and is a wintering ground for sheep. I have scouted it out in July and found a large band of rams. They were on some small hills with a lot of good grass feed. The area does get very busy with horse riders and hunters in the summer. I am wondering if I should focus on the large steep mountains that make the border and hope I catch one coming out of the park or if I should focus on where the ewes usually are? There is some forest that was burned a few years ago that the ewes hang out in and a lot of lower elevation hills with grass on that the ewes feed on. Do rams show any interest in the ewes that early in the rut? (Last week of October) Would the rams be heading towards the quality feed? I have hunted sheep a lot but not this late and have been on a quest for 6 years to find a legal ram. Any help would be appreciated


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Hey, was following your thread and was curious how did your hunt go??? Did you end up with a ram??? I’m looking to put a late season kit together. This information was super helpful.

 

[bcnorth]

Flat bottom Ti cups are better on stoves, imo. The Jetboil fins keeps it too far away from the heat.

I'm thinking sheep meat is just about the best thing you can cook in a pan
On my most recent Elk hunt, my hunting partner kept making dehydrated hasbrowns (from Costco) w/ cheese. It was way tastier then Mountain House and almost as kight

I tie a some small carabiners (that I carry anyways) to the top of the tent pole with prussik loops, the can hang cloths from that. I'll also string a clothes line from the same prussik loops down to a tent peg I stick in the ground, inside the tent.

any pics with your drying set up? I run a lite outdoors tp tent and had the cylinder stove but switched to a flattop so i can cook with Ti pot or cup. Dry in clothes with two guys is not easy!

 

[keller]

Also looking for pics of drying clothes boots...