Antelope camp

[Bhill552]

So hopefully my son and i will be drawing our antelope tags for wyoming. All previous hunts have been hotel based but thinking of camping this time. Not much camping experience so wondering what problems im not thinking of. Already worried about water and keeping ice. Also trying to decide tent vs pop up camper. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks

 

[LCH]

I've done both, tent and camper. I'm actually just as comfortable in my Kodiak Canvas and my cot as I've been in the campers. Also saves money on fuel on long trips.

For water, I fill several 5-gallon buckets with lids for non-potable.

Coolers, I use old juice jugs cleaned, filled with water, and frozen. When the ice melts, I have more drinking water, in addition to the bottled water I bring.

I've never had much trouble keeping ice in the fall, maybe a trip to town every 3-4 days to replenish.

 

[rjlefty3]

I basically did this last year. I bought a couple gallons of water and used that. As long as you're not backpacking in the weight isn't an issue. It wasn't really cold, but was good enough. The temps can get hot during the day but usually cools off pretty good at night, so you can cool your water off a bit that way. As for ice, I didn't worry about that as I wasn't far from a town and could have the meat on ice in an acceptable time. I thought dealing with ice and keeping it on hand was more of a hassle.

 

[NoWiser]

No need to worry about either. For your drinking water grab a few gallons of water at the grocery store or buy some cheap water jugs to fill up at home. For ice fill a couple of coolers up with frozen milk or orange juice jugs. Keep the coolers that they are in closed and covered with a blanket and you'll be ready to cool the meat off when you need to. Since you can set up camp next to your vehicle it's really no more difficult than camping in your back yard at home. Use the money you save from the hotel to get an extra couple of doe tags.

 

[wytex]

Make sure your tent can with stand WIND. Weather is always a concern in Wyoming. The wind will blow and it may very well snow any time of the year. We can usually last over a week on 10 gal. of water in jugs. We take one cooler for just ice and don't open it till you need the ice.Frozen jugs work great for keeping it in block form. We have done both pop up camper and wall tent. One year wind came up and blew the sides walls out of our popup camper. If you set up in the shade bring a chainsaw.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Good advice above. Go block ice, not cubed and keep the cooler out of the sun.

Only thing I'd add is if you use a camper, make sure the water system works. You can haul a lot of water in a fresh water tank.

 

[JohnCushman]

Get a luggable loo and cabana shelter for it...dropping a deuce in the sage brush sucks :W:

 

[glass eye]

I like Spartan camps that I can fold up in seconds and not be confined to one spot. This was my archery antelope hunt in AZ.

 

[JDH]

Get a luggable loo and cabana shelter for it...dropping a deuce in the sage brush sucks :W:

This was going to be my comment. Not very many trees to lean against. I actually cut a hole in an old metal folding chair and attached a seat. Used a blind I already owned as a shelter.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I like Spartan camps that I can fold up in seconds and not be confined to one spot. This was my archery antelope hunt in AZ.

I'd really hate to roll off of that tailgate in the muddle of the night.

As for ice I've never had a problem keeping it for over a week od antelope hnting in temps that were 80-90 during the day. I fill a 150qt Igloo with as many blocks as it will hold, in my case it is 30 blocks. Just keep the cooler in the shade and don't open it until you need to cool down your antelope.

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

Good advice above. Go block ice, not cubed and keep the cooler out of the sun.

Depending on your cooler (ie: if it has a gasket or not), putting some duct tape around the seem between the lid and body, will keep the wind/air from moving in and out which will melt your ice faster.

 

[Bhill552]

Thanks so much for the quick answers. So im no longer worried about ice or water. What should i be thinking about or planning for.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Depending on your cooler (ie: if it has a gasket or not), putting some duct tape around the seem between the lid and body, will keep the wind/air from moving in and out which will melt your ice faster.

I gotta try that. The new Coleman sucks at holding ice. It's usually gone inside of 24 hours.

 

[iaengineer]

If you add a small amount of dry ice to your blocks of ice or frozen jugs of ice it will it will reduce the temperature of your ice to way below zero. If you seal up your cooler good and not open it should add a few days to your ice.

 

[Gr8bawana]

Thanks so much for the quick answers. So im no longer worried about ice or water. What should i be thinking about or planning for.

Just get your animal skinned and at least quarted as soon as possible and in the cooler and you will have the most delicious table fare there is.
Unless you are pressed for time don't shoot the first buck you see. I always like looking over as many animals as possible and just enjying the hunt. I find antelope hunting very relaxing, no need to climb up the mountain in the dark for hours, nice temps once the sun has gone down sitting around the campfire with a cold drink.
Good luck on your hunt and take lots of pics to share with us.

 

[dk17hmr]

Having spent several nights sleeping in tents in the desert and mountains of Wyoming, get up off the ground with a cot or a really good pad. Temp swings during antelope season can be rough, 80s to 90 during the day and 30s to 40s at night. Not a big fan of nylon tents anymore unless I'm carrying it on my back, Kodiak Canvas is the way to go. I have a Kodiak pickup tent takes a little while to set up but by far my favorite tent.

Menu plan and bring what you need to prepare meals and have a plan on how you are going to clean up your trash. Figure out how you want to take care of business when nature calls. Take a shower at a truck stop you will be in good shape.

 

[Rodzilla]

Here are pics of my last antelope camp in Central Wyoming (I went Solo in early September, weather is usually still warm, but you still could have big swings in temperature, rain and snow). I had blue skies and 80 degree weather. I miss my little Toyota - had to see it to get a suv that fit the family.

 

[JohnCushman]

I make meals ahead of time and freeze them flat in ziplock slider freezer bags. It helps with cold storage in the cooler, and they thaw out over the course of the day if you pull them out in the morning. If you like eggs, scramble a bunch of them at home and put them in a storage container and just pour out what you need each day. Eggs are a pain in the butt to store in a cooler and the cardboard gets wet and falls apart on ice, and the container will stay cold and avoid that problem. Ramen is a great hunting meal and you can add sausage or precooked grilled chicken and veggies to it for some actual nutritional value. Frozen mixed veggies work great for that. canned food makes a lot of trash to haul out, so soups and beans and whatever you would have in a can, empty into a small container and you can take them home and wash them and reuse them. I have a set of containers that are strictly for hunting/camping.

 

[glass eye]

X2 what JohnCushman said. Another option is to put your cooked meals in vacuum sealed bags and when it's time to heat them just put the unopened packet in boiling water, this way you can eat it right out of the bag or dump it onto a paper plate and you don't have to clean pots & pans.
Also, if you do take canned foods and you if you make a campfire at night, put the empty cans in the campfire and when you are ready to come home fish them out of the cold ashes and this will eliminate having a bag of stinky cans dripping juices.

 

[Bhill552]

Thanks again for all the responses. Still cant decide tent or cheap pop up camper but atleast youve convinced me we can do it outside a hotel.