I'm new but I would say the location and time of year would largely dictate the decisions. For example, if there are a ton of roads in your unit that make getting in and game retrieval easy...that's a factor. If you are in monsoon weather you may not wanna be in a tent with this outside.

If you are in Colorado elevation and weather can be a huge factor. Sometimes a spike camp is the only way to get on a herd in the morning but other times it's nice to have a hotel or motel room with hot water and A/C in August. I would say the unit and the time of the hunt would largely dictate what options make the most sense. Are you in the heat? The snow? How much gear do you have? Can you lug it all? How many guys in your group? Lotsa factors to weigh.

 

Good points. I can live without AC and a shower. After hiking and hunting all day, you're going to stink regardless! I'll probably be doing this solo, early archery season so August/September.

Awesome pic!

 

Where? What are the seasonal norms there? How minimalistic is your camp gear? After hiking all day you will stink unless you have a shower and A/C. LOL

 

We have 3 guys, my brother, brother in law and me. All are from Wisconsin and in our early 30's. 3 years ago we decided we are going to do an elk hunt every 2 years. We hunt in a pretty physically demanding area. With 2 hunts under our belts we have chosen to hike in about 3 miles and set up camp with all our gear on our back for a 7 day hunt . About 70lbs. We all have lightweight 1 -2 man tents, sleeping pads and sleeping bags. We try to go light, but don't try to make ourselves miserable either. Food: lots of bars and bagels for breakfast. Mountain house and Ramen for lunches and dinner. It's roughing it, but it's really not all that bad.

You can find used equipment in the classifieds and on Ebay so it won't break the bank either. Contrary to popular belief, you don't need the latest greatest high price equipment to do a back country DIY hunt.

Do it once and you will be hooked! 2 years is too long!

 

Me and my crew hunt here in CO every year from a base camp (2 wall tents, one for sleeping and one for cooking).
I noticed long ago that getting deep in the woods is not required. Most out of state hunters don't venture much further than 500 yards from the road.
Most spike or drop camps go in approx 5 miles from the road. This untouched area, 500 yards to 5 miles from the road is great hunting and we kill elk every year.
Also makes hauling out a qtr easy on the body. Our 5 man crew can usually get an entire elk processed and off the mtn in 3-4 hours, one trip.

 

Thats a good post with good info.

Starting point; the Co dow maps page has a lot of info showing you where these animals are located. Then a guy can fly it on GE from different angles to get a feel for the place. I did that on a Co Elk hunt in a series of drainages in U76 and when walking up the trail it felt like I had been there before.

Then there is no substitute for boots on the ground...assessing hunter pressure and just finding the elk as its always the 80/20 rule; 80% of the elk are in 205 of the country...or even worse in many cases! The other thing to consider in all of these western states is; if its a wilderness area- its a magnet for hunters. Hunter pressure will be the #1 factor you have to deal with in Western OTC areas. Don't waste time in areas with old sign...keep moving the elk will be in pockets...don't stop until you find them.

 

This is what I am wanting to do BAD. I am just starting with my research into Western hunting and have my eyes on CO, WYO and ID for Elk. There is tons of info here to learn from but IMHO its harder to figure out what is a good starting off point? I've never hunted out west but I am dying to do so.......I'm not asking for anyone to hold my hand at all but as a rookie western hunter..........School me! LOL

SORRY OP.....not trying to hijack your thread!!

 

I base camp in a nice wall tent with my Dad and some other family. It's pretty luxurious, but I feel like I'd have more success if I spike camped or was more mobile.

 

Matrix, no worries! I know Im not the only one thats looking for info but doesnt know what to ask and where to start!

Terps, Im in VA Beach. Stationed out of Norfolk. If youre up by Frederick, Im familiar with your area. Ive been stationed up in Dahlgren, VA for a few stretches.

You guys are quickly convincing me to spike camp it. I was heavily leaning towards the tarp/bivy backpacking idea, but my wife just told me she wants to start doing some backpacking during the summer, and she would never sleep under a tarp. Figure I might as well try to knock out 2 birds with 1 stone and try to get the best of both worlds with a lightweight 2 man tent spike camp that I can pack up and move after a few days if I need to. Hoping to keep things under 60lbs, under 50lbs with a little finesse (aka sacrifice!).

 

Thanks Hoythews, just trying to gain any info we could all use! Your not far at all from me, in fact I work in Norfolk, where are you stationed at? I use to work at Airlant....

 

Used a seek outside bt-2 this season backpacking with a friend + 2 dogs and then had a palace for solo hunting. Great lightweight shelter option.

 

When I first moved to Colorado, I looked at going into the wilderness areas but I did not have the time to take a week off. So, I started looking at areas with a lot of private property and other barriers. I find it better to have a few of these spots and then have a plan A, B, C and D. Elk move a lot and if you use all of your time and energy packing into an area that the elk have moved out of, you are screwed. This is especially important when hunting around private land, because sometimes you have very small pockets to hunt in and sometimes the elk do not cooperate. My previous elk hunting experiences were on LE units in Utah and I have honestly seen bigger bulls here in Colorado. The bigger bulls are very skittish and hard to find, but they are here. I just hope I can get good enough to get one, some day. Thank You for your service and GOOD LUCK!!!

 

If you are going solo, I would not recommend going more than five miles deep, unless you have a packer lined up. Other will disagree, I guess they are more hardcore than I, but the pack out should be at the front of your mind when you are hunting.

No point in killing something if you can't get it out in time...

 

Good point on judging your ability...but I've been in canyons 3/4 mile deep that took me longer to get out of than a 5 mile trail.....depends really.

I still maintain a guy can pack a lot more a lot further than he thinks...shoot it, you will get it out.

 

You can get an archery mule deer tag over the counter here in Arizona for Jan-Aug-Dec for a good price. Endless opportunity to spike camp in some amazing country.

 

This is an option as well. I would also like to do a backpack Mule deer hunt! Arizona/Nevada would be a cool place to do this.

 

Play your cards right and you can hunt a unit that holds mule deer and Coues deer as well.

 

Hoytthews,

Try all of the options and see what you like. The majority of the time I like to hunt with all of my stuff on my back. I do this for two reasons. One, I can cover much territory, and can stay out longer. More importantly, I go out solo to be SOLO. I do not want to hunt with others (unless I bring them along). I hunt the early seasons the majority of the time. My base weight for everything but food and my bow is 25-35 pounds.

Get your wife out on some backpack trips before you buy too much gear. She may surprise both of you and enjoy the tarp. But it will give you both a chance to see what your "needs and likes" are.

 

Im not opposed to going with a partner or a small group, but I dont have hunting buddies here in VA, and my old friends in Michigan that I used to hunt with need a ton of heads up before they can commit to a trip like this, and I can barely give myself a weeks notice on something, let alone plan out a detailed trip for someone besides myself! Thats why Im trying to be ready for whenever the opportunity comes around.

Im leaning towards a spike camp with the ability to go lightweight and backpack it if thats what the situation calls for. Looked at a few of the Tarptents, and the Stratospire 2 can be used as a tent or a tarp. Sort of the best of both worlds and at a decent price point.

 

Base camp. Like to take it slow for hunting.

 

I'm writing this as we drive home from our second unsuccessful otc hunt in Colorado.

Last year we had big intentions of backpacking deep into the wilderness area we hunt then hunting from there. We quickly realized this was a horrible mistake. Not only did we have no idea what we were getting into with the elevation, but we also had zero direction as to where to setup and hunt. We wasted more time worrying with camping and backpacking than actually hunting. I bet we all got less than 10 hours of sleep the whole week between freezing our asses off and just being flat uncomfortable on those inflatable pads that move around like crazy. Obviously this greatly diminished our ability to hunt.

The other thing we quickly learned was although we were hunting a wilderness area, it had alot of trail systems and roads wrapping it so access is actually pretty good despite being a tough soon of a ***** terrain wise. We also discovered tons of places to setup a base camp that you can actually drive to then hunt from there.

Fast forward to this year, we brought a wall tent and a stove and slept on cots. We slept WAY better and spent no time worrying about what we did and didn't have. This in turn allowed us to hunt way harder and since we had the truck we were able to really explore the area. It took us about 4 days but we eventually found elk and they were within 2 miles from a trailhead.

So in my opinion, either truck camp or go prepared to stay at the road your first year. I think unless you know your unit or have first hand info, it's ignorant to waste time backpacking in. I know that might go against all the high and mighty carry it all on your back guys, but it's my opinion. Learn your unit before deciding whether it's necessary to invest a ton of money in backpacking gear (like I did) to only find out you didn't need it.

Another point is alot of guys (myself included) are squeamish about sleeping on the ground in a tent in the middle if nowhere. If you can't stomach sleeping 7 days out there, don't even think about it. You can't do something as physically demanding as elk hunting high altitude mountains with no sleep. You will quit, I promise. So that is another consideration.

Long story short, backpack hunting provides alot of unnecessary distractions about gear and non sense that you shouldn't be worrying about when you are just starting elk hunting. Elk hunting is hard. You need to spend all your time focusing on learning where they are and what their habits are.

 

backpack hunting provides alot of unnecessary distractions about gear and non sense that you shouldn't be worrying about

Satchmo,

Your main point is excellent. Too many people are trying to pack in because they think they will find the magical land of milk and honey, where elk and deer roam untouched. Or, they saw a Youtube video they thought was cool. You are correct, they need to concentrate on the hunt. You really do not need to get more than 1/2 mile to a mile from a road to weed out the large majority of hunting pressure.

As an ignorant (you must have heard about me from my 16 year old), high, and mighty backpacker :wink: ....I like to get away from the people. I am not distracted by my gear. All of my backpacking items are tools. Just like my bow, arrows, and broadheads. Just as I know where my broadhead is going to hit, I know how my gear is going to perform. I know this because it has all been tested before the hunt.

 

man beendare should write a book, really enjoy reading the post, have learned alot from the information shared, I have my note pad handy when on AT

 

Theres barely any deer in AZ so you might consider hunting elsewhere...Also, thank you for your service...lol.

 

I've done both base camp and spike camp and prefer the spike camp option. Never done the bivy thing as I have no desire to carry my food for the whole trip around with me all the time. I also don't think I would be as effective hunting every day with a heavy pack on my back. You don't have to pack in 5 miles to spike camp. If I can save myself a mile by spiking out I will do that. That cuts down on the walking and gets me an extra two hours of sleep. By about day 7 I hate the deadhead walking in the morning and night with a basecamp.

If you want to "bivy" out for a night or two from spike camp you can also do that. Saves hunting with a 60# pack on your back.

 

Just be prepared to hunt both ways and go with the situation you come in to. I agree with Mez after doing this a few years (unsuccessfully) even taking a mile or two off a hike is worth it.

We spike out as needed but mostly hunt out of a base camp.