Spike Camp Distance

[cnelk]

There's been a few threads lately about spike camps for elk hunting.

Ive done it a few times, but sometimes I struggle as to what distance gets the greatest benefit?
Im curious as to the distance from base camp/truck your spike camp is?

1 mile? 2 miles? 4 miles?

Then there's the risk/time factor of packing camp out when the elk are blown out

 

[Coveyleader]

1-3 miles for me. The benefits of being back there out weigh not being there 10 to 1. Not even close.

 

[5MilesBack]

It just depends on how much of a morning hike I want to cut off. 1-2 miles is pretty easy to get back into before light in the morning, but if there are more options beyond that I might choose to set up a spike camp back there. The other thing is.......is how much huntable terrain I'm having to hike through in the dark to get back there by first light. For those cases I might choose to set up a camp only a mile back to forego pushing the elk out of there on my hike in.

But in general I'd say 1-5 miles. I use spike camps much the same way I pick day hunt sites. If I want to hunt a particular area for 1-2 days, I'll pack in and do that. But then I'm back out and on to something else after those days. Quick insertion......hit it hard.......then back out to somewhere else if it doesn't put a bull on the ground.

 

[Poser]

I have some spots that are 4 hours to go 1.5 miles. Other spots, I can cover 4 miles in under 2 hours. Assigning mileage isn’t so easy: on trail, off trail? How many feet of elevation? I think of it more in time and energy : how much time and energy will I expend going back and forth Vs camping?

 

[Ucsdryder]

3 miles. Less than that you might as well just hike in the morning of.

 

[Coveyleader]

3 miles. Less than that you might as well just hike in the morning of.

Very few guys can, and will do that every day for a week straight. Each morning they will arrive later, and later.

 

[Northpark]

I have some spots that are 4 hours to go 1.5 miles. Other spots, I can cover 4 miles in under 2 hours. Assigning mileage isn’t so easy: on trail, off trail? How many feet of elevation? I think of it more in time and energy : how much time and energy will I expend going back and forth Vs camping?

This! I’ve got one spot that is a 3-4 mile hike with very little elevation gain or loss. I day hunt that spot. It’s an easy 45 min to an hour hike. I’ve got another spot that is only 2 miles but about 2000’ of elevation gain to get in there. I spike camp there because it takes me 2 horrible hours to get there.

 

[Ucsdryder]

Very few guys can, and will do that every day for a week straight. Each morning they will arrive later, and later.

There’s a reason the archery success is where it is.

 

[5MilesBack]

how much time and energy will I expend going back and forth Vs camping?

I have one spot that I used to hike into in the morning, it was all up hill and a good 3+ miles. But someone closed an old 2-track right in the middle of an aspen field and put up some FS signs on it. Now it's an extra 2+ miles to get in there so I haven't even hunted since then. I'm really doubting that it was the FS that closed this 2-track. It dead ends just 2+ miles up the trail so there is no reason to shut it down where they did. If anything they should have shut the whole thing down where it comes off the road. There are no other spurs like this that were shut down......only this one. I'm thinking it was the outfitter that hunts that area.

 

[Skerhunter]

I think it depends who you are and the terrain, like others have said. If spiking out any distance keeps you in elk, to me it's worth it! I may have to pack into a spot, where a local maybe able to hike in/out every day no issue.

 

[Coveyleader]

There’s a reason the archery success is where it is.

True, but I always smile when I see the camps with all their comforts, etc, 1-3 miles back from where the elk are. I will be on the elk long before they even know where they are. You can't put a value on hearing bugles at 3-4 AM knowing where they're at long before sunrise.

To each their own, and it's true, there is a time to camp, and a time to pack in. Early season spike camps to me suck. It's the only time I will walk those extra few miles as I'm pretty much in ambush mode and the elk are quiet.

 

[Ucsdryder]

True, but I always smile when I see the camps with all their comforts, etc, 1-3 miles back from where the elk are. I will be on the elk long before they even know where they are. You can't put a value on hearing bugles at 3-4 AM knowing where they're at long before sunrise.

To each their own, and it's true, there is a time to camp, and a time to pack in. Early season spike camps to me suck. It's the only time I will walk those extra few miles as I'm pretty much in ambush mode and the elk are quiet.

Agreed! There’s a lot you’re assuming as well. How many of these guys are putting their spike camp in the wrong spot, screwing up the next day hunts due to wind, travel corridors, etc. I do enjoy waking up an hour before shoot time and being in my spot with plenty of time due to spike camping, rather than waking up 3 hours early! I just hate killing an animal knowing I have 3 miserable loads of meat, PLUS having to go get my spike camp for trip #4!

 

[Coveyleader]

That's all part of the learning process figuring it out. You burn the elk, you learn from it. In several of my spots I'm hunting elk 2 minutes out my tent and can do so for 5 days without messing it up. With that being said if I don't kill an elk in 5 days, I'm ready for a break anyways. In the end for me, a spike camp has so many more pro's than con's that we've just barely discussed.

No need to pack your camp out if you think about it........

 

[RyanCmns]

I don’t think of it as a spike camp I just pack in. Last year went in a 2 days early didn’t hear anything so 1st thing the next morning I went in another 2.5 miles or so found water and wallows setup camp on the opposite ridge that night elk were all over after opening morning all they yayhoos pushed them in deeper wound up 12 miles in with the elk


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[3forks]

Lot of variables, like others are mentioning - but for me it depends on whether its my every other year draw unit or if I‘m hunting one of my OTC spots.

In my draw unit, its a 5 mile hike with 3500 feet of elevation gain to get to an area that gives me access to 4 different basins. There’s an outfitter that that operates in there, but no one hunts too hard and I’ll just a hunt a different basin if he’s got clients in there. I generally haven’t seen many other hunters in that area, so I’m not too afraid to commit to that area.

It takes quite a bit of work (for me at least, and I think I’m pretty fit) to get into that area so I plan to stay a while when I’m in there. After the hike in, I just don’t have the power and speed to navigate that high country and make the moves I sometimes need to until I’ve recovered a little the day after the hike in.

If it’s an OTC area, it’s completely variable based on the amount of hunters and how much pressure is in the area. I wouldn‘t want to make a 5 mile hike into an area and find many other hunters or that the elk are getting pushed higher or further back.

OTC areas, I’ll start closer where I’ve been into elk before and move to another area if there are many other hunters.

I‘ve tried to use the pressure of other hunters to get ahead of where I think/know the elk will get pushed to, but the backpacking hunting trend of the last few years has resulted in a lot of hunters just spiking further back.

 

[Poser]

Another factor not mentioned here is that I often just enjoy getting back in there and camping in the backcountry with simple enough setup that my concerns are primarily focused on hunting without too much concern for logistics. There’s something to be said for the mindset of going in and staying in overnight or longer. A warm bag, comfortable pad, some good food (on a single night hunt, I’ll often pack in a giant burrito and a beer), maybe a wood stove if it’s really cold. What does the truck have to offer that makes the round trip effort worth it? I still have to make coffee and breakfast and it would be the same breakfast anyway.

 

[timekiller13]

I have found no reason to spike camp where I elk hunt. Further than 3 miles you start getting into the outfitter and horse camps, and all the other guys that decided to spike out. 1-2 miles in, I see no people, see no camps and I see elk. But, each area/unit is different. If I found a spot that warranted me spiking out, I would do it.

 

[wannakillabigbull]

My favorite spike camp is only a little more than a mile from my basecamp. But it's straight up 1200 feet mostly off trail with a swampy creek crossing at the start.

 

[StopMakingSense]

I stopped spike camping for Archery elk and just keep camp on my back. Settle down for the night where I want to be in the morning. I found myself all too often walking back to camp during the last 30 minutes hoping I'd see an elk when I damn well knew they'd be transitioning else where or staging.

As far as rifle, yeah I definitely spike camp with my Cimarron DCF and a stove.

 

[mtnbiker208]

the better question would be, how far from your hunting area do you put your spike camp? 5 minute walk, 15 minute walk? you get the idea.