Truck Camping

[BGNRSLK]

The bottom line up front is what are some tips, tricks or hell even recipes for truck camping and staying sustained? Water storage? Cooking? Food storage?

Have a late season hunt that I plan on hunting from the truck. It’s a two week season and I really am planning on being there for around 10 days depending on if I can get it done or not. I don’t want to just buy 10 days or more of peak meals cause that can add up quickly.

I’d prefer not to head back into town and the nearest one on substance is probable an hour or so away from where I’m hunting, but it is available to a degree.

Appreciate any help.

 

[long hunter]

If it was me I would buy a good quality cooler ,plan my meals out of real food and ditch the peal stuff even if I had to take one day for a few hours to drive the hour or so you said and re-stock ice and food stuffs. With a bit of pre planing one can live very well out of the back of a truck.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

Freeze dried meal pouches are the most convenient and packable option but definitely not the best tasting or most nutritious. Preparing meals in the field from raw ingredients isn't worth the time and hassle in my opinion. Cooking meals in advance at home and freezing them in ziplock bags is a good compromise between convenience and quality. Chili, spaghetti, pulled pork, brisket, and pot roast are some of my go-to's.

Keeping food cold until consumption can be a challenge in early season but shouldn't be a problem on a late season hunt. Deep freeze the pre-cooked meals and put them in well-insulated cooler when you leave the house...maybe toss in a few pounds of dry ice. Thaw and reheat in camp as needed.

 

[realunlucky]

What's late season? If it's freezing weather you'll need a plan to keep your water from freezing

Sent from my SM-S926U using Tapatalk

 

[BGNRSLK]

What's late season? If it's freezing weather you'll need a plan to keep your water from freezing

Sent from my SM-S926U using Tapatalk

January in Northern NM… lol

 

[BGNRSLK]

Freeze dried meal pouches are the most convenient and packable option but definitely not the best tasting or most nutritious. Preparing meals in the field from raw ingredients isn't worth the time and hassle in my opinion. Cooking meals in advance at home and freezing them in ziplock bags is a good compromise between convenience and quality. Chili, spaghetti, pulled pork, brisket, and pot roast are some of my go-to's.

Keeping food cold until consumption can be a challenge in early season but shouldn't be a problem on a late season hunt. Deep freeze the pre-cooked meals and put them in well-insulated cooler when you leave the house...maybe toss in a few pounds of dry ice. Thaw and reheat in camp as needed.

I have several coolers I’ll be bringing and this seems to be the consensus to cook ahead and reheat.

 

[Wheels]

Most efficient thing I’ve found when truck camping is prepared meals from home, a generator and microwave. It’s fast when you get back from a day of hunting. I take a K cup coffee maker too, only have to run the generator a couple minutes a day to eat well and have hot water or coffee.

 

[TaperPin]

Having a strong propane burner or two is a game changer. Good coolers are a must for 8 days, but I would just plan on eating the extra nice refrigerated foods the first 5 or 6 days until ice melts, but it takes time to clean up. I’d much rather eat anything premade in a good deli case, than freeze dried. I’m a giant fan of all the fruit, orange juice, eggs, bacon, hash browns, sausage and biscuits a guy can eat for breakfast. Compare that to cold granola with powdered milk and dehydrated blueberries.

I just imagined a pan fried ribeye and onions vs Mountain house chicken and dumplings.

Sliced prime rib sandwich dipped in French onion soup vs dehydrated chicken ala king out of a baggie.

Hot homemade chili and taco bar vs dehydrated chili Mac.

I’ve been known to stop by KFC or Panda Express, or both, en route to buy a family meal.

I shouldn’t type when I’m hungry.

 

[BGNRSLK]

Having a strong propane burner or two is a game changer. Good coolers are a must for 8 days, but I would just plan on eating the extra nice refrigerated foods the first 5 or 6 days until ice melts, but it takes time to clean up. I’d much rather eat anything premade in a good deli case, than freeze dried. I’m a giant fan of all the fruit, orange juice, eggs, bacon, hash browns, sausage and biscuits a guy can eat for breakfast. Compare that to cold granola with powdered milk and dehydrated blueberries.

I just imagined a pan fried ribeye and onions vs Mountain house chicken and dumplings.

Sliced prime rib sandwich dipped in French onion soup vs dehydrated chicken ala king out of a baggie.

Hot homemade chili and taco bar vs dehydrated chili Mac.

I’ve been known to stop by KFC or Panda Express, or both, en route to buy a family meal.

I shouldn’t type when I’m hungry.

That’s about how I get when I’m in charge of the grocery run…

 

[manitou1]

When I am camp hunting I hunt hard and find cooking an extreme inconvenience as I am up at 3:30 a.m. and usually get to bed about 10:00 p.m.

I bring easy stuff I can heat on a coleman stove or jetboil.
Ramen with or without egg. We pre-dehydrate green oinion to put in for some "flair".
Spam packets, chicken packets. (Can be added to Ramen too)
Summer sausage and cheese.
Instant potatoes.
Salami.
Tortilla shells for wraps.
Canned stews or the like that can be heated in the can and not require refrigeration.
Potted meat if you can handle it, lol. I do.
A few dehydrated meals.
Notice most require little refrigeration, or none if cool up on the mountains, which is usually the case.

You can pre-scramble eggs and put them in a watertight container. Great to add to ramen too.
Pre-cooked bacon in a container lasts a long time and makes wraps more palatable or can be added to potaoes, ramen, etc.

I do bring few meals in the cooler to break up the monotony, but often don't eat them.

You can pre-bake potatoes and slip them in a ziplock back to take.

I am too tired to cook much or build a fire when hunting the way I do.

I do bring nuts, dehydrayed fruit and berries, jerky sticks and candy bars.

Hydration drinks.

Now, when my wife camps with me in the summers I almost need another trailer just for the prepared meals and ice coolers, lol.
We often bring much of it back home too.

 

[vladkgb]

Last year I hunted 15 days out of my truck. I brought some fresh meals and meals that I didn't have to refrigerate.

For fresh meals I used food saver sous vide bags, you could use freezer ziplock as well, and put things like chilli, pasta or lasagna dishes, taco meat, etc then I boil a bag for 10 mins in a pot to heat it up and serve it on a paper bowl or plate.

For non refrigeration required meals, I brought a stick of salami I got from Costco, pepperoni, individually wrapped Tillamook cheese, baby bell cheese, pitas, tortillas, bagels, mustard, cup of noodles, costco precooked bacon, fatty meat sticks. And my favorites are the tasty bites bags like the Madras lentils, Tikka masala vegetable, and 90 second microwaveable rice bags, which I also boil in my pot of water for 10 mins.

I like boiling bags in the pot method because there's very little cleanup. Washing dishes, or scrubbing pans at night isn't fun.

For lunch, i make pita or bagel sandwiches with mustard and add either salami, pepperoni, or precooked bacon to mix it up, and put one in my backpack every day. Or if I'm lazy I just take some fatty meat sticks and a Tillamook or baby bell cheese.

For breakfast, I use Starbucks Vita packets and MCT oil powder to make creamy coffee, and I'll usually have a Clif bar, because I'm usually driving to a spot and don't want to waste time making a hot breakfast meal.

 

[Packin_packout]

Hopefully this will help...
1. I Have a topper and have welded a frame on the lip of the bed of the truck. Between that frame and the topper.I sleep on a three inch foam mattress. It is a small space, but it stays warm and the mattresses.Thick enough to wear i'm super comfortable
2. Underneath there.I run all my storage for my gear.And a one fifty quart cooler.
3. I have In the bed a twelve volt freezer Running off of some solar panels on top.
4. I usually freeze and bag Meals for the entire trip , so spaghetti sauce, Chili, quesadillas, enchiladas etc. I bring fresh stuff in case I ever make it back to camp during the day.So eggs , bacon tortillas and a few steaks.
5. I have a small two burner propane stove That I use to boil water in warm the food in.
6. Breakfast is jet boil Oatmeal.
7. A pack of dude wipes for getting cleaned up so you don't smell like a goat
8. Depending If it's above freezing or below freezing will park truck in sun to heat up And try and keep water containers from freezing solid.

Agree with Manitou that when I'm doing this.I hunt hard and sometimes it's actually easier to just spike out because I get more sleep. While it's a little harder as far as carrying gear a few extras hours of sleep go a long way.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

I got us a 45 quart Iceco cooler and a 100 watt solar panel, it keeps stuff frozen solid at 0 degrees so no worries about anything spoiling. Pull out your dinner to put in a cooler in the morning then go hunt, mostly defrosted by the time we get back. Truck camping is real food, grilling every evening.

 

[5MilesBack]

Yep, prepared meals ahead of time. Frozen milk jugs will stay cold a long time especially in January. And if they do thaw any, they should freeze right back up if you rotate them at night. I always bring my Weber Q grill so can cook up steaks, burgers, brats, Italian sausage, etc. It gets dark awfully early that time of year, so plenty of time to cook in the evenings. I keep water in a separate cooler to keep it from freezing.

 

[Zdub02]

Vacuum seal home cooked meals of your choosing and heat in boiling water if you want fairly quick cook time and easy clean up. Perfect solution for truck camping.

 

[Poser]

For truck camping, I pre cook a whole bunch of diced sweet potatoes and then just give them a quick a quick toss on the griddle. Cheeseburgers and/or steak are super easy. Minimal cooking for either option. Bagged salads are also quick and easy.

Sometimes, I precook a couple of cheeseburgers, wrap them up and put them in the cooler. That leaves the option to eat a cold meal of cheeseburgers, sweet potatoes and salad if I don't feel like cooking. If I do end up cooking then cold cheeseburgers make a great lunch.

For breakfast, I have boiled eggs, pre cooked bacon +whatever else sounds good, but usually avoiding cooking or prep of any kind.

When out solo for consecutive days, I find it best to always have a very streamlined option available as too many camp chores/logistics is just more to deal with and cuts too much into sleep time and further zaps motivation. -don't really want to be waiting on anything and sometimes, even just warming up the stovetop to heat something up is too much of an inconvenience. When there is someone else in camp, its easier to get more involved with the cooking. Of course, that all really depends on your setup. If you have to stand outside in the cold to cook anything, motivation to do so can easily wane. if you have to setup and tear down your cooking setup every time you cook, motivation can wane. If you have a kitchen setup in a wall tent, then its a different story. Of course, setting up and tearing down a wall tent is a chore unto itself.

Truck camping can certainly be comfortable, but its easy to overwhelm yourself with camp logistics

 

[Still Hunter]

Absolutely Vacuum seal home cooked meals ahead of time. Hard Freeze the food. Stack in the bottom of the cooler, with frozen one gallon water jugs (extra drinking water later). Just open cooler to get the meals out. Eat meals from the top down. Boil water, drop in the bag. Cut 3/4 across the top of the bag dump it. Use the boiled water to clean utensils, and take a quick sponge bath. Minimum Mess, minimum food smells, bag the trash and haul it in a tree 60 yards from camp. Hit the sack. Sleep is much needed if you hunt hard. No wasted time prepping & cooking meals. Hint... Double seal the vacuum bags so they do not open in the boiling water. I even prepare small breakfast packets of cooked hash browns with sausage and/or bacon. Drop in the boiling water as I make morning coffee. Generally take eggs to cook quickly in a small skillet or instant oatmeal and a breakfast packet.
I get the cooking water out of nearby creeks or rivers I cross and haul it up in 5 gallon buckets with screw on lids.
Generally works 9-10 days.

 

[Wireman07]

My season is also 2 weeks here in South Dakota. Normally I bring 2 coolers. 1 for meat just incase weather isn't cold enough, and 1 for all my food. I usually bring everything I like to eat at home. I bring a small gas grill along with a few steaks, ground beef for burgers, brats. Lunches usually consist of some sort of cold meat sandwich. Your definitely not limited on what to bring for food if your truck camping.

 

[Erict]

I have room to spare, so bringing this and the water is never an issue:

Showers out in the Field

I’m giving this a try this year at my truck camp. Just a cheap kitchen sprayer, hose barb fitting, and a 2gal spot sprayer. Will heat up water with my camp stove and hopefully be able to rinse off quick. Another nice option that I’ve used before that a buddy of mine had was a Zodi camp shower...

rokslide.com

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Cook meals that you can vacuum bag and reheat in a pot of hot water, it keeps it simple and low mess. Carry water in plastic jugs vs a water tank. They'll warm up at night with the camper heated and don't typically freeze during the day, if they do they aren't a built in hard to access tank in case they crack.

Jan in NM is all over the map in terms of temps.