Out of state - Trailer/Tent setup

A guy needs options for sure! I run a bigfoot slide in camper which is good for when I am solo and not going too deep. My wall tent is my most comfortable camp. Hard to beat a cot and wood stove. I also run a cabelas 6 man guide tent which I really like. Its big enough to walk around in and set up my comfy cot. A mr buddy takes the chill off before bed and in the morning. Its very weatherproof as well.
 
This is just me but anything more than a state away i no longer bring a trailer. Too slow.
Too many areas limit speed limit when towing to 55mph or less.
More time on the road is less time hunting
 
I use a 10 x 14 kodiak canvas tent for base camp and take my bivy stuff if I find animals too far away from base. Buddy heater in the mornings and evenings if below freezing.
 
I hunt a lot solo and my current go to set-up for late season where I want to remain fairly mobile is a Kifaru 8 man tepee with cot and a stove. If it is not going to be super cold a little buddy heater instead of the stove.

Sometimes just a small three man tent If the weather is not going to be that bad since I usually just eat dinner and go right to bed. I can sit in my truck while I eat dinner with the truck running and the heater on then once I finish dinner the propane heater will heat the small tent space up very quickly while I get ready for bed.

I use a hitch-hauler for my ice chests which allows me to put my 4-wheeler in the bed of my pick-up in case I need it. I can drive my truck to different areas if need be and use the 4-wheeler from there returning to base camp every night. If I need to relocate I can break camp in under an hour.

I also have a RZR on a small aluminum trailer but when traveling long distances during winter conditions I prefer to leave it at home as I can make better time without it and don’t have to worry about trailer tires blowing out, chains, etc. If I am familiar with the hunt unit and roads and I know I can get my trailer to where I want to camp without issues then I might consider taking it which frees up the truck bed for ice chests and gear. Usually though I am driving 10-18 hours for a hunt though and it is one and done. The roads never seem to be as good as they look on a map or google earth once you get there haha! Nothing worse than pulling a trailer down a narrow two-track and not being able to pull off or turn around.

I used to have a toy hauler and take my RZR in that and it was great during earlier season hunts but I still had some pucker moments. When you get there without incident and get it parked it sure is nice though to have all the comforts of home,

It is nice to have multiple set-ups and options so you can tailor your camp for the specific hunt and anticipated weather conditions. As others have said, there is no perfect set-up...BD7C6134-E5A3-4AE8-9BA6-D2A8849AAFC4.jpeg667F6AD8-72C7-457A-BA74-1DCFF877218C.jpegACCB3B32-402B-46E7-ABAC-0AFEAB4D057E.jpegB046B5B8-B08A-434F-9A6D-015FABEDCA33.jpeg
 
Great question and one I have gone back and forth on many times.
For 2 or 3 years I used a converted cargo trailer. Worked OK, but pulling it 18 hours sucked. Also had to be really careful I didn't get trapped on a two-track with no place to turn around. About a year ago I sold the cargo trailer and now have a fiberglass shell topper on my truck and am trying to decide what works better for heat between my buddy heater or bringing my Honday generator and a small electric heater. The temps this winter haven't provided much of a testing ground so far. I still have a 5'X10' utility trailer for pulling the ATV when needed. This set up works good for my hunts which are mostly solo. For me the very best feature is when I stop the truck camp is basically set up and ready to go.
I also have various tents and tipis for other scenarios.
I always enjoy hearing what others are doing.
 
BRoth82 said:
Look into the larger insulated hub style fish houses as well. I'm using mine this year, it's an eskimo 5i so it's 110"x100" inside, enough room for 2 guys with cots and a buddy heater. I use moving blankets on the ground.
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We did the same thing with an Eskimo 989i in late November for Montana deer. Mine is 94"x94". We put an outdoor carpet remnant down, 2 guys, 2 cots. Big buddy heater. I think the coldest it got was about 10 degrees overnight and the big buddy was more than we needed. We had some vents open and used a CO2 Detector. it worked pretty well overall. We had a crew cab truck and topper, managed to stay mobile and comfortable and carry everything we needed.
 
Traveler said:
IMO it’s really hard to beat a Davis wall tent with wood stove or generator/space heater. You can set up a small-medium sized one alone, lots of space, last forever if cared for. More mobile because a truck always goes more places than a truck+trailer. Why the hesitation with a wall tent?
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Main hesitation on a wall tent is setup and take down solo.
 
BRoth82 said:
Look into the larger insulated hub style fish houses as well. I'm using mine this year, it's an eskimo 5i so it's 110"x100" inside, enough room for 2 guys with cots and a buddy heater. I use moving blankets on the ground.
Click to expand...
That is a great idea!!
 
Every year I'm less and less enthused about setting up fancy basecamps, dealing with stoves, etc. The problem is, every year I'm more and more liking the comfort creatures. It has got to the point where three of us need to haul a 6x12 cargo just to haul our wall tent and all camp/hunt gear. If you're pulling that, might as well be pulling a camper/ice house that you can set up and take down in 10 minutes. I'm moving towards that direction. Last year I used a buddy's 8.5x16 Ice Castle a couple times. I don't do much ice fishing anymore, and they are heavier than comparable sized RV toy haulers/campers. Ideally I would get an aluminum 20ft RV toy hauler, if money was no object. I want something that can nicely accommodate 3 men, or wife and two kids.

You already have the camper covered. And will be hunting solo. I would look at truck bed campers.
 
Guys with a roof top on a trailer how does it handle the dust? Seems it would be a mess!

I have been truck camping to stay mobile but it is a hassle in my grand cherokee. Thought about a small trailer but traveling down some of the mountain roads with any trailer seems like a hassle, I wind up in some tight spots!

The ice shelter sounds appealing, I have had my double bull blind staked down and make it through a close tornado on top of a pasture! Probably get one cheap in a month or two!
 
Newtosavage said:
No trailers for me. This 10x10 Kodiak Canvas with a buddy heater setup is ideal, and the tent fits inside my large cooler for travel so it doesn't take up any unnecessary space in my pickup bed. It was about 3 degrees when I took that photo, and I slept great that night.

View attachment 251855
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I think this type of setup would work really great size wise. Im just concerned on how to heat it safely. I would really like to have heat all night when needed, but would be reluctant to run a propane heater all night, even with a CO2 monitor.
 
emmagator said:
I think this type of setup would work really great size wise. Im just concerned on how to heat it safely. I would really like to have heat all night when needed, but would be reluctant to run a propane heater all night, even with a CO2 monitor.
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I understand. You can see in that picture the way I vent the tent when the heater/stove is on. I turn the heater off when I get in my sleeping bag, with just the pilot light on. Any time I get up in the night to go to the bathroom (which is often since turning 50 LOL) I first turn on the heater, then go do my business, then crawl back in the bag and turn the heater off again. Just that little bit is enough for me to sleep very comfortably. It helps to have good down sleeping bags. If you need it to be warmer, then you can run the heater on low, get a KC tent with the built-in ridge vents, and buy a C02 monitor to be safe. Lots and lots of people do this. I've run the heater on low all night twice, but that was before I invested in a better sleeping bag. Now I don't even need to do that.

I think I've seen where KC is making these with built-in stove jacks now. I know some guys have installed stove jacks in theirs, then you can vent a propane heater or a wood stove with no worries.
 
I prioritize mobility and ease. If money were no object, I'd buy an Atlas from AT Overland (https://atoverland.com/pages/at-atlas-truck-topper). I plan to rock the poor man's version this fall and DIY something like Greg (founder of Tehthrd) did here:

If I knew for certain I was not going to be moving camp and was not going to be BP hunting (my preferred method), I'd go wall tent and wood stove.
 
DudeBro said:
I prioritize mobility and ease. If money were no object, I'd buy an Atlas from AT Overland (https://atoverland.com/pages/at-atlas-truck-topper). I plan to rock the poor man's version this fall and DIY something like Greg (founder of Tehthrd) did here:

If I knew for certain I was not going to be moving camp and was not going to be BP hunting (my preferred method), I'd go wall tent and wood stove.
Click to expand...
I've love to have a truck bed setup for the mobility, but at 6'4" it's just impractical. But I haven't given up on the idea. It's really, really nice to be able to stand up and stretch and get dressed in my Kodiak Canvas tent.
 
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