Hunting Camps
We have to have a one week or more hunting camp almost every year to help fill the freezer and just to get away too. Our hunting camps have varied widely in size over the years depending on where we go and how many of our friends join us. Camps usually consist of our camp trailer and a tarp building cook shack. The cook shack is 10’ X 20’ so it is also large enough to double as a spare room for one or more of our friends to sleep in. We also set up a table to eat at in the cook shack along with all the coolers full of food and beer. Although we save the beer for the evening or when we are skinning an animal as alcohol and guns do not mix. The families also join us for the weekends when they can so it really is a family and friend-oriented trip. My son usually joins us for as much as possible and still get a passing grade in school (College now) and now Jessica is old enough and big enough to start going.
There are many factors I consider when choosing a hunting camp site that are completely different from our summer time camping spots. Summer camping spots are geared towards only having fun at a river or riding around. The fall weather extremes create many factors to consider to camp safely in the woods and picking the wrong spot could turn everything bad quickly. First, I find a spot that will not flood in heavy rains and that spot also has to have a slight slope for drainage so we don’t end up in the middle of a lake. River bars are definitely out as they can go from average flow to flooding in a few hours overnight while you are sleeping so your camp trailer becomes a drift boat instead. Secondly 75 MPH+ windstorms frequently happen so finding a spot sheltered from the winds and yet with smaller trees that won’t blow over onto your trailer, trucks, or other things is extremely important. The tarp building can act as a large kite too so it needs to be really sheltered and tied down good with large steel ground stakes.
After site selection we usually set up camp on the Wednesday before the opening Saturday so that all we have to do is show up Friday night, turn the heater on, and get some good sleep before starting to hunt Saturday morning. We hunt grouse before the season starts so that doubles as scouting trips for what is usually an elk camp. My kids and I are all enrolled Quinault Indians so our tribal hunting season is much longer than the state’s seasons, but some of our friends are not Indians so we time our camping so that we can hunt and hang out with our friends. We usually have a fairly good idea where the elk are or aren’t before opening day so we don’t waste as much time looking for them.
We bring the quads and gator with us as we can access many areas that you cannot get a truck into and they make great packing devices when you do get an animal. The weather extremes in the fall make for some cold and wet riding conditions so just resign yourself to the fact that you will most likely be wearing raingear for the entire trip. A couple of good thermos bottle of coffee is another good thing to pack with you on the quads so you can take a break once in a while to warm up. We always have survival bags with us but we also take a few extra MREs with heaters along just in case we can’t go back for lunch because we are either chasing after elk we just saw or because we just don’t have time to go back for lunch.
There were a few years when we just couldn’t put the full cross-country effort into the hunt as both my friend and I were recovering from injuries so walking all day in rough terrain just wasn’t going to happen because we physically could not do it. Most years we will do a lot of walking to find animals so this was the exception for sure. I prefer the old-school method of going through the woods using a compass and aerial photo. The batteries will never go dead and the tree canopy or ridges will never block the signal on your compass unlike GPS. Having good compass use skills is extremely important in the woods and you do need to at least learn the basics. I had to learn how to use a compass and aerial photos as part of my timber trespass job so I taught my kids the basics and also incorporated a little more compass use time into the hunter education classes that I taught. GPS is great to have and today’s units are great too, but I personally do not want to have mine or my family’s lives be reliant on batteries and an electronic device with a lot of chips and diodes inside.
We keep the meals simple with hamburgers, brats, steaks, bacon, eggs, and potatoes since hunting camp mainly consists of all the guys. The idea is to have lots of fun instead of spending a lot of time cooking and cleaning. We had a Camp Chef 3 burner stove with a two-burner griddle so almost everything is cooked on it or on the barbeque box that goes on top of one of the burners. I got smart many years ago and bought a propane “Y” so I could run the stove and a lantern off of one tank after removing the check valve inside of the “Y” so you could use both connections at once instead of only one at a time. We also have a 2-burner stove that connects to the propane quick connect on the trailer, but the griddle is too small for us at hunting camp when we have two or three or more of us hungry people.
Grouse and Chanterelle mushrooms are also a main course at some point during the trip. We pass up shots on many grouse fearing that we may spook some bigger game, but eventually we do find a grouse in a spot where we are not concerned about that so we can shoot it so we can have a fresh dinner. Chanterelles are sautéed in garlic butter for a side dish and that is about the fanciest meal we will make during the entire week besides maybe some chicken fried deer steaks. The tarp building makes an excellent place to set up the stove so all of the cooking mess is outside the trailer so you don’t have to worry about cleaning up any spilled food or splashed grease. Another benefit is that the camp stove heats it up really good while you are cooking and we have a propane tank with two Mr. Heaters on it to help heat it up more if needed. Having the table to eat at in there keeps even more of the mess outside.
We usually bring lots of extra drinking water so we don’t run out in the trailer. We found water jugs with spouts that fit perfectly into the trailer’s water fill connection so we stocked up on those. We can usually find a pure water source somewhere around if we need to so we don’t worry about running out during the hunting camp trips. This also gives us water for showers which is important during the week so we don’t stink each other out. Most of our cooking is done on the griddle or on the barbeque and we use paper plates so there are very few dishes to do throughout the week.
Of course, chasing elk or whatever prey you are pursuing through the woods is the primary reason we are there so we take the daylight hours very seriously when we are on the trail of the animals. We do allow ourselves an extra hour to get out of the woods before dark just in case we bag an animal on the way out or get slowed down on the trail somehow just to be on the safe side. The last little bit of daylight is used along a timber edge where the shadows won’t set in as fast as they do in the timber so the last bit of time isn’t wasted.
The areas we hunt offer many scenic views that just cannot be captured with a camera. We took a few of these pictures over the years and because we are hunting, we really didn’t stop to take too many or the best photos so you will get an idea from the ones included here. Besides the forests and mountains there is also the stars and moon to look at on clear nights. It is hard to beat a nice relaxing campfire on a frozen night while kicking with some friends. Some years we will luck out and get several animals and other years we just get grouse while having a great time with friends and family. Either way spending time out in the woods is way better than sitting in a chair behind a desk in an office.
About The Author
