(?) for Hunters that Camp while hunting:

Birdman2 said:
I am working on a modified pop-up now. I will insulate the floor and put a "gizmo cover" over the sleeping area. I have a double Mr. Buddy heater that I will use. Also thinking about electric blanket, as I have a generator. We are going to boondock a lot. I just don't like sleeping in a parking lot with gravel when I am outdoors, lol There is so much BLM land etc where you can camp with great scenery.

Oh we will also use wool blankets under our bed. I think lots of little things done will keep us comfortable under 30 degree weather.
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I had a stall mat layered with a packing blanket , 2 thin camp mattresses side by side, another packing blanket, and then a sleeping bag. I spent one night on the floor of an old school house with just a single camp pad and a sleeping bag. Gosh that’s was uncomfortable
 
BrownDogsCan2 said:
I had a stall mat layered with a packing blanket , 2 thin camp mattresses side by side, another packing blanket, and then a sleeping bag. I spent one night on the floor of an old school house with just a single camp pad and a sleeping bag. Gosh that’s was uncomfortable
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I have an air mattress from REI (Pricey) and it is very comfortable. It will be on the top of a 4" Queen mattress pad. Very good combo. I am going to insulate under my mattress pad, which is on top of a metal lid over the camper. I'm thinking of going with at least 2" foam insulation board, with reflectix insulation wrap underneath that. I am thinking of using the wool blankets as a base, then mattress cover, then flannel sheets, then down comforter. It is hard to move around in sleeping bags.

My little camper will go anywhere, so I am trying to make it extremely comfortable.
 
I've never really camped while bird hunting myself. I planned on doing some back packing on a Wyoming Blue Grouse hunt but the cold temps up at elevation and bad weather killed that idea so I stayed in a motel and drug around camping gear for 10 days in my truck.

Turkey hunting I've camped a ton. Black hills, Nebraska and Kansas. Just a tent, no camper here.
 

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I have camped a couple of times while Ruff Grouse hunting. I would like to start camping while Pheasant hunting also. Its nice to camp within a few minutes of where you are going to hunt. Spend more time around campfire than behind the wheel.
 
Nugent said:
Pop up pick up camper, and hard sided pick up camper.I much prefer the hard sided, over the pop up.Much warmer in winter. Motels are nice, I must admit. I do stay at motels a lot.
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Another thing about pop up campers is they have no insulation, and they have loud fans. I liked the heater in my hunting buddies 1978 cascade pick up camper. We hunted late December for 30 years. That Cascade was a great little 8 ft.camper. It needed a 8 ft. 3-4 ton.
 
I just got a 4 Runner and will be using that, a sleeping bag and a plug in cooler for overnight camping so I can get to the hunting spot the night before and not have to travel for hours then get set up. I expect this to really expand my weekend range.
 
Good news. I posted up on thread on Expo. and there at least two companies that have down quilts rated all the way down to Zero....50, 20, and zero. Pricey but hey makes camping in the cold alot more tolerable.
 
I've only camped out a couple times while pheasant hunting, but I routinely camp out while on fly out big game hunts. You can get sleeping bags that are good to minus 30 and than some. I've slept soundly below zero in a good bag in a tent. However at some point you have to exit the bag be it in the morning or to take a bathroom break at 2 AM and than it is damn cold. Frozen boots are very miserable in the morning. That said I am eyeing a little travel trailer for hunting next fall. Lots of towns have free or cheap city parks. I don't need a shower every night and I have to get supplies in town and gas anyway. Will see how the trailer works out. If not there are always motel rooms, although some I've rented are worse than tent camping.
 
TryAgain207 said:
I just got a 4 Runner and will be using that, a sleeping bag and a plug in cooler for overnight camping so I can get to the hunting spot the night before and not have to travel for hours then get set up. I expect this to really expand my weekend range.
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Camping does save a lot of money.It isn't that great, unless you have a big camper.These guys who are paying 35 dollars fir a box of pheasant loads, aren't camping in a tent. That's for sure.
 
TryAgain207 said:
I just got a 4 Runner and will be using that, a sleeping bag and a plug in cooler for overnight camping so I can get to the hunting spot the night before and not have to travel for hours then get set up. I expect this to really expand my weekend range.
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That's really roughing it!
 
Alaskan swamp collies said:
I've only camped out a couple times while pheasant hunting, but I routinely camp out while on fly out big game hunts. You can get sleeping bags that are good to minus 30 and than some. I've slept soundly below zero in a good bag in a tent. However at some point you have to exit the bag be it in the morning or to take a bathroom break at 2 AM and than it is damn cold. Frozen boots are very miserable in the morning. That said I am eyeing a little travel trailer for hunting next fall. Lots of towns have free or cheap city parks. I don't need a shower every night and I have to get supplies in town and gas anyway. Will see how the trailer works out. If not there are always motel rooms, although some I've rented are worse than tent camping.
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I've never paid a dime to camp. That defeats the purpose of it. I just pull off in the ditch out in the boonies with that pop up.Ive never been hassled.
 
I’m not camping to just save money- we have camped on or near land we’re hunting and also have stayed at KOAs or State campgrounds, nice for the kids at the end of the day to watch tv or have WiFi.
 
I camp from summer to late season winter. I fly fish in mountains the summer months. I hunt big game out west and bird hunt the midwest in fall to late winter. Over the years , I've gone with tents to RV's to getting a room(if its a short trip that doesn't have time restraints getting out in the field). . I really like being as close to my designated area as I can-it adds to the experience. My latest camping "fix" is an rv cargo trailer conversion. I run a generator for power. I installed an RV roof A/C & heat unit on the roof. It has a microwave, coffeemaker, small disc TV and a tabletop propane stove top. Everything is stationary which gives me alot of versatlity based on my needs. The small R/V's ive had in the past are too fragile for off road two tracks in the mountains. They are heavier and therefore much more expensive to pull-might as well get a room. I can pull this trailer @ 17 mpg with a 1/2 ton diesel. I've been in thunderstorms to blizzards in this thing! I've had it in windy minus degree weather with no hiccups or discomfort. I forgot to mention-the walls and floor are insulated. It is super temperature efficient. I have a ramp on the back that allows me to roll a 4 wheeler into it when I am biggame hunting. I've been known to put the aluminum dog kennel or transit kennels with dogs in at night and still have enough room for me to sleep. It also provides a storage option to keep all or any other added gear under lock and key. One of best parts of public birdhunting in it too is that you are very mobile. This past season in ND while chasing huns and sharpies-our first location to the final location was in the neighborhood of 2-300 miles one way. This eliminated alot of downtime and money driving back and forth. If I choose to pull into an Rv park-I have a outlet/fusebox installed to just "plug in". Also has several 120 outlets in the walls. The R/V parks are super cheap!Alot of $20/$30 a night with shower house included all over the midwest. Our Texas summers are super hot-my girls would rather sleep in this than a tent:D. I also use it on the "deer lease"during season. I've been using this thing for the last 4 yrs and its been great. I lent it out to a young couple with a baby and elderly member that lost thier power here in the north Texas snowstorm recently. Sorry for the so long post-I hope it answers some of the OP's questions and maybe give some other ideas towards his project.
 
Birdie. I agree with a lot of what you said. I would not camp to save money. Being able to stay close to where you hunt would be very convenient, lot less driving during the hunt. Typically I drive 900+ miles before getting to decent hunting ground. For me it will make the trip better in a lot of ways.
 
I love camping...motels are a last resort..
Have had half a dozen truck campers over the years. Mostly pop ups, but a couple hard sided as well. Am currently in possession of 2 pop ups, both set up on trucks and ready to roll.
Quick story...One April, I was on my way to alaska...like always, I put some serious time in the driver's seat....this particular day, it had been about 19 hours and maybe clocked a 1000 miles....pulled off into a gravel pit for the night, just a short 1/4 mile off the highway. I usually go further off the highway, but in this case I was pulling a trailer.
Settled in for some much needed rest, but woke up in a couple hours cause I was getting cold....listened to the fan on the furnace blowing what sounded like air slowly leaving an air mattress....hmmmm , that's not good. Jumped up and dashed to the cab of the truck.....tried to fire up the dodge diesel...nope, nothing there...WTH.....
Being a problem solver, I immediately went to work heating up some water to put over the batteries, thinking that would spark some life into them....4 potfuls of hot water later, I would like to say all was good......not so...
so April in the Yukon isn't exactly spring...it was probably in the high single digits...screw this, I,m going back to bed. doubled up on the sleeping bags, threw a blanket over the dogs and tried to get some sleep....but just layed there, plotting my fix...
Wasn't very warm, so I said screw it...going to implement the fix.....
Fired up the burners again and made a big potful of killer coffee....put on all my extra clothes, grabbed the jumper cables, 24 oz mug of Joe and headed for the hiway.....it's about 5 am on a Sunday morning in the yukon.....any guess what the traffic count is ?
It's cold...it's quiet, and I'm about out of coffee.....it's been at least an hour....then I hear it...a faint roar off to the east....way off to the east, but it's getting closer......finally I see him....doing an honest 100, closing fast....
I step up to the road, arm extended with jumper cables hanging, empty coffee cup in hand.
This guy goes ripping by so fast...does he even see me....probably doing 110....200 yards later, I see the brake lights come on and back he comes....yee haw
Rolls down the window, gives me a strange look, and says..."mate, you need a boost"
Jump in...it's an x police car, and yes, he was clocking plenty north of 100.....just got off a night shift and was headed home..
we b.s. , while I get my batteries charged up....ol dodge fires up after 10 minutes or so....damn, I'm happy now....

Moral of the story....don't jumper your camper battery to the truck mains AND do remember to turn the fridge OFF of 12v when you go to bed....
 
Besides jumper cables I also have a 2000 Honda generator—and to keep it simple a also carry self contained a battery jumper unit for a quick jump if needed and no never use the vehical battery for camper power
 
Yeah, love those honda 2000's....At one point I owned 11 of them for my business.
I modified the fuel caps to run off 6 gallon marine tanks and ran them in parallel....unfortunately, I didn't think to take one along on the trip I described..
You do know you can get a set of cables and go straight off the generators 12v ports for charging ? Off the top of my head, I think it's an 8A output...
 
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