Pop-up camper as base camp

[Joe7296]

I’d be interested to hear about anyone’s experience with pop up campers as a base camp shelter, and pics would be great. A nice outfitter tent with a stove gets pricey and seems like a lot more work. Two weeks of lodging also is money down the drain. This wouldn’t be practical for backcountry stuff but would cover some of the stuff I’d like to do like antelope, western whitetail, etc.

 

[Maverick1]

For what type of hunting, and where? Deer hunting in the midwest, setting up camp in a campground's gravel lot or wal-mart parking lot? Or way back in the mountains, where it seems like very few vehicles ever travel?

Ask yourself what time of roads you plan on taking it down/through. Some pretty easy forest roads, some pretty rough. Ground clearance and type of tire also come into play.

In general, I see more hard sided campers than popups.

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[Justin Crossley]

I’d be interested to hear about anyone’s experience with pop up campers as a base camp shelter, and pics would be great. A nice outfitter tent with a stove gets pricey and seems like a lot more work. Two weeks of lodging also is money down the drain. This wouldn’t be practical for backcountry stuff but would cover some of the stuff I’d like to do like antelope, western whitetail, etc.

I would be worried about wind with a pop up camper for antelope hunts.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

I have an older pop-up Jayco that has served me great. It's small, a 7 footer but has been great for 1-2 people. A couple issues though. When it was 15-20 below in MT one year, with the propane furnace and a small electric space heater to boost I could keep it at about 40 degrees. And the front of the top rotted out (not known), it disintegrated in a bad wind storm one morning.

 

[Traveler]

Pop ups are a good example of a middle ground that isn’t great at anything. If going somewhere fairly easy to get to, get a hard side. Less set up, better in wind. If less easy to get to go with wall tent that fits in a truck bed. Set up for a wall tent isn’t that tough, can be done with one person.

 

[cnelk]

A popup camper is just a glorified tent.

Go wall tent route. No licensing, no tires, easy storage.

I set up my wall tent by myself in 30 min or less.

 

[Coveyleader]

I have had one since the mid 2000s. I only use it for November deer hunts . Hauling to the mountains camping back in the day with kids was fun, now it’s just a hail magnet. My 10x14 Kodiak tent is my go to.


It’s true, I pay registration fees every year and it just sits and waits for WT season. I just put another set of tires on it after sitting so long.


I’m to the point I hate all trailers for atvs, boats, pop ups. Just another tire to worry about.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

Pretty happy with ours. The front gate comes off and acts as ramps, can fit a 4 wheeler on there but I use that whole deck for coolers and generators and the fire pit. It's still just a tent so it's gonna be cold like a tent but the heater keeps the edge off. I set the heater at 40 degrees just to keep our stuff inside from freezing. The water tank and lines usually freeze up so still gotta pack water. It's nice not needing the space in the truck, throw whatever we want in and go. Back bed works great for gun cases and duffel bags and having a propane stove is fantastic for quick coffee while getting dressed. Wife loves the bathroom. It won't go everywhere the truck will but it's gone a lot of places it probably shouldn't have. We physically couldn't fit all our gear for wife and I plus a wall tent in the truck without hauling a flatbed for space so it works out well as a compromise. I keep all the spike camp setups under the couch seats in case we find a place we wanna stay out. Been all over Wyoming and Colorado, handled some good winds and some good snow piled on top. You can throw boxes and gear underneath it to keep the snow and rain off.

 

[Joe7296]

I would be worried about wind with a pop up camper for antelope hunts.

Didn’t think about that part..

 

[Joe7296]

Pretty happy with ours. The front gate comes off and acts as ramps, can fit a 4 wheeler on there but I use that whole deck for coolers and generators and the fire pit. It's still just a tent so it's gonna be cold like a tent but the heater keeps the edge off. I set the heater at 40 degrees just to keep our stuff inside from freezing. The water tank and lines usually freeze up so still gotta pack water. It's nice not needing the space in the truck, throw whatever we want in and go. Back bed works great for gun cases and duffel bags and having a propane stove is fantastic for quick coffee while getting dressed. Wife loves the bathroom. It won't go everywhere the truck will but it's gone a lot of places it probably shouldn't have. We physically couldn't fit all our gear for wife and I plus a wall tent in the truck without hauling a flatbed for space so it works out well as a compromise. I keep all the spike camp setups under the couch seats in case we find a place we wanna stay out. Been all over Wyoming and Colorado, handled some good winds and some good snow piled on top. You can throw boxes and gear underneath it to keep the snow and rain off.

That looks pretty sweet!

 

[Davyalabama]

It is cheaper than a hard side for a reason.

 

[Joe7296]

Ture haha. It seems like as long as I don’t push extremes it will be serviceable? Some of the other pros for some type of camper over a tent is I can more safely leave my dog for the day (lockable and propane thermostat). I don’t go anywhere without him because I’m colorblind and he’s my insurance policy.

 

[Fatcamp]

My wife wanted one. I didn't. So we comprised and got one. It's been interesting no doubt. Our first one was too small, we rebuilt the roof on this one, lifted it with oversize tires, and stripped the inside.

It is so quick to set up. Everything already inside. When it's time to go we can be on the road in 30 minutes. We have eye bolts through the roof for guy lines in the wind.

Overall a great tool.

 

[Fireflyfishing]

Fair weather hunts, sure! Anything else, no way!

 

[Fatcamp]

Fair weather hunts, sure! Anything else, no way!

We have an AC unit, propane heater, and guy line tie outs. We have used it in stupid weather conditions of all kinds.

 

[Weldor]

The best pop-up we had was a old Palamino. 16 ft box with hard sides that scissored in to collapse it. The only material (tent) was on the ends that pulled out for the beds. No lift system to fail or side sidewalls to rot. Cam over spring to raise and lower. I never took any pic's of it. Furnace, stove , fridge, made a great base camp. Sorry I sold that one.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

Didn’t think about that part..

The winds can be creepy. We haven't had any issues and spent a lot of nights in Wyoming but I try to keep it out of the open where it can get directly blasted. It's seen gusts in the 60's and I didn't like it much but it was fine. I haven't done so but I've seen guys cut 1x4's and strap them to the lift arms to stiffen everything up, and of course guy lines. I think mine as is will handle more wind than my Kodiak 10x14 Flexbow but the Flexbow would be less noisy. When I go by myself I take the Flexbow but I'll say it sure is nice to not have to go outside when the ranch beans hit in the middle of the night. The biggest benefit for me is that front deck, like a mini flatbed to haul stuff plus you have all the internal storage. 1000 miles one way driving it sure is nice not bucking wind because it sits low out of the wind, probably would never haul a hard sided camper on the trips we do and they wouldn't be able to get into where we go anyway we'd have to camp way out front with the crowds. One downside is if you're laying over for a quick night stop it sucks to have to crank it up and tuck it back down in the morning, but then a layover with a wall tent isn't quick either. That's the only time I really ever wanted a hard sided is for the layovers.

 

[Agross]

View attachment 840904View attachment 840905

My wife wanted one. I didn't. So we comprised and got one. It's been interesting no doubt. Our first one was too small, we rebuilt the roof on this one, lifted it with oversize tires, and stripped the inside.

It is so quick to set up. Everything already inside. When it's time to go we can be on the road in 30 minutes. We have eye bolts through the roof for guy lines in the wind.

Overall a great tool.

The first line of yer response made me laugh out loud.

 

[LFC911]

The first line of yer response made me laugh out loud.

One is better than ZERO lol

 

[intunegp]

My dad and I hunt out of my pop-up every year in northwestern CO. It's been through countless days of high winds and nights below zero. It has been stuck in the mud and snow, and rattled down bumpy roads for miles. Overall it remains generally structurally sound.

We run the built in furnace and a Big Buddy heater while we're getting dressed in the morning and getting ready for bed. Other than that we dress warm and sleep in warm sleeping bags. When we're running the heaters we close the "partitions" (curtains) to the beds to try and heat a smaller area. We can warm it up enough for the thermostat to temporarily shut off the built in heater if set to 65.

My camper is old, and every year before our hunt I spend the summer addressing last year's shortcomings/issues and every year we create or find new ones. There's almost always some repair that needs to be done, or something that would be better if it was reinforced, or some screws that have rattled loose, or all of the above.

If I wasn't married into a family that does regular "drag our campers to a campground" type camping trips I would have sold it and got a wall tent a couple years ago. I don't know how to describe it other than that it feels disposable. I know using it for hunting puts it through conditions far above and beyond what it was designed for, but it feels like keeping it livable is a constant battle.