Hey all,
Thanks for having me here.
I plan on hunting public land antelope in WY in Fall 2020 and am reasonably confident in getting a tag in an area that has approx "2 miles from the road" amount of public access, not much more.
As a whitetail hunter who's really only been hunting a few years, my gear list for a hunt like this is getting rather extensive and expensive. In particular, because I am a buy-once-cry-once kind of guy.
I am looking for you to help convince myself that on my first ever antelope hunt it is ok if we hunt from the truck each day, possibly bringing along a Ozark (walmart) tent for nights with a low wind forecast but not sweating it if we don't use it much. I don't want to drop $400 on a tent when I would rather drop $1000 on a SeekOutside Redcliff or 6-man Tipi, but I feel like that with my gear costs already getting expensive I can spend the $1,000 maybe a year later when I realize I loved Wyoming Fall 2020 and will be going back as often as I can in order to go after elk/mule deer/ antelope. I think with the size of the public land areas where we are going to try to get tags in the draw (with 3-4 people and applying for 30-100% doe-fawn draw odds in units that are not public limited, at least one will draw a tag, and I'm going with that one even if I do not draw) it won't be a super hindrance to "truck camp" plus it will let us learn more areas faster by utilizing the truck to get to different public land access points within the 1-2 units we draw tags in.
Like I said I do already own a cheap-ish tent that I've camped in and I would probably like to set it up outside the truck and camp under the stars if the weather cooperated but I would understand it's limitations. Plus it weighs 20-30 lbs so certainly not hiking anywhere with it.
It is really unlikely I'll get together $2K in the next 10 months and these are the items I think I already want to add to my gear (looking at the amazon wish list i've put together)
WY ONX hunt chip
Vortex 10x42 Binoculars
First Lite puffy jacket, FL Klamath hoody, and Vapor Stormlight Rain jacket (I already have first lite 2 x base layers pants and shirts, socks, and Sitka pants with kneepads)
MSR Pocket Rocket 2 stove
TOAKS titanium 650 pot
Thermarest Prolite Apex Sleeping Pad
Outdoor Vitals Summit 20F Ultralight Backpacking Mummy Down Sleeping bag
That right there is $1300 and when I throw in a few other incidentals like a shooting stick/binocular rest setup, binoc harness, bags of Mountain House, fuel, leather gloves and such like that (not to mention if I get lucky on the random and draw a buck tag in addition to or instead of a doe tag) I think it might be a good idea to stop there and wait another year on the Seekoutside tent.
Thanks for having me here.
I plan on hunting public land antelope in WY in Fall 2020 and am reasonably confident in getting a tag in an area that has approx "2 miles from the road" amount of public access, not much more.
As a whitetail hunter who's really only been hunting a few years, my gear list for a hunt like this is getting rather extensive and expensive. In particular, because I am a buy-once-cry-once kind of guy.
I am looking for you to help convince myself that on my first ever antelope hunt it is ok if we hunt from the truck each day, possibly bringing along a Ozark (walmart) tent for nights with a low wind forecast but not sweating it if we don't use it much. I don't want to drop $400 on a tent when I would rather drop $1000 on a SeekOutside Redcliff or 6-man Tipi, but I feel like that with my gear costs already getting expensive I can spend the $1,000 maybe a year later when I realize I loved Wyoming Fall 2020 and will be going back as often as I can in order to go after elk/mule deer/ antelope. I think with the size of the public land areas where we are going to try to get tags in the draw (with 3-4 people and applying for 30-100% doe-fawn draw odds in units that are not public limited, at least one will draw a tag, and I'm going with that one even if I do not draw) it won't be a super hindrance to "truck camp" plus it will let us learn more areas faster by utilizing the truck to get to different public land access points within the 1-2 units we draw tags in.
Like I said I do already own a cheap-ish tent that I've camped in and I would probably like to set it up outside the truck and camp under the stars if the weather cooperated but I would understand it's limitations. Plus it weighs 20-30 lbs so certainly not hiking anywhere with it.
It is really unlikely I'll get together $2K in the next 10 months and these are the items I think I already want to add to my gear (looking at the amazon wish list i've put together)
WY ONX hunt chip
Vortex 10x42 Binoculars
First Lite puffy jacket, FL Klamath hoody, and Vapor Stormlight Rain jacket (I already have first lite 2 x base layers pants and shirts, socks, and Sitka pants with kneepads)
MSR Pocket Rocket 2 stove
TOAKS titanium 650 pot
Thermarest Prolite Apex Sleeping Pad
Outdoor Vitals Summit 20F Ultralight Backpacking Mummy Down Sleeping bag
That right there is $1300 and when I throw in a few other incidentals like a shooting stick/binocular rest setup, binoc harness, bags of Mountain House, fuel, leather gloves and such like that (not to mention if I get lucky on the random and draw a buck tag in addition to or instead of a doe tag) I think it might be a good idea to stop there and wait another year on the Seekoutside tent.