Stashing Spike Camp Gear

[mtnmutt]

I am considering stashing some spike camping gear in August.

How do you stash your gear?

This is gear only, such as, tent, sleeping pad, stove and small cooking pot. It will be there up to 6 weeks.

At my base camp, squirrels have a bad habit of chewing my tent\'s webbing. How do you protect it from animals chewing on your gear?

 

[Swede]

Mutt, I have left camps out in the forest while hunting for over a month. I have had Pine squirrels chew through plastic, such as my outdoor shower. Toilet paper makes great squirrel nests I suppose. I don\'t think they use it the way we do. If you can find a steel can large enough, you could take it in on a pack frame. I would paint it flat brown and brown and green. A couple of steel waste paper cans, secured open end to open end with duct tape might work, if you can\'t find a good can with a lid. A small garbage can with a lid would work if you are man enough to carry it. I suppose I could carry one a couple of miles before I wimp out. :lol:

 

[mtnmutt]

Great. Thanks.

I have a turbulent history with squirrels and my car camping tent. So far, my backpacking tent has only had guylines chewed. I am spending yet another weekend repairing my car camping tent. This makes the 3rd time. I thought I outwitted them by stacking rocks at each buckle webbing corner. They love the webbing.

Stashing gear isn\'t worth the risk.

 

[AaronJohnson]

Not sure what the advantage is to stashing the gear? Generally one trip in and one trip out for me. I would rather play it safe and have everything knowingly intact when I arrive. My off work hunting time is too valuable to risk losing a day to tent or other gear malfunction.

 

[Deertick]

Not sure what the advantage is to stashing the gear? Generally one trip in and one trip out for me. I would rather play it safe and have everything knowingly intact when I arrive. My off work hunting time is too valuable to risk losing a day to tent or other gear malfunction.

Me, too.
I flirt with the idea of stashing gear every year. Last year I actually did it. But I was worried the whole time. What if a bear found it? I ended up taking \"extra\" in with me anyway, so it didn\'t save me much.
Nonetheless, I\'ll likely keep trying to make it work. It\'s an attractive idea for camps that spend part of the time elsewhere. Next year, for example, I\'m thinking of doing two half-weeks instead of one full week. Leaving stuff there will save a lot of time.
Well, unless a bear gets into it!

 

[cnelk]

I stashed gear last year and its still in the tree I hung it in... I hope!
I haven\'t been back.
Now I\'m torn if stashing is the best practice.
Maybe if you are fully committed to that spot I would say MAYBE.
If not, keep it with you, take it in and then take it out, when you leave or get it later.

Man I wish I had some of that gear right now that\'s hanging in that tree....

 

[Swede]

I think it would be fun to take in things like a small shovel, tent, stove, propane and cooking/eating gear and have them in a couple of heavy duty garbage sacks, and bury them. Take your trail cameras in too and hang them where you like. When you hike in for your hunt, all you need to carry are the perishable items you need, hunting things, and a change of clothes.

 

[Don K]

What is the law regarding leaving this for long periods of time? Reason I ask I was in the Colorado Wilderness last year and came across a gear stash from a Outfitter and it had not been used in a long time. Huge pile of tarps, axes, saws, all kinds of stuff in a pile and sitting there for a long, long time. My thoughts are they should have to take the stuff out after season is over instead of just letting it sit there and turn into a garbage pile.

 

[Swede]

Don, I don\'t know for sure what the legal limits are. I believe it is legal to set tree stands out a week before and keep them until a week after the season where I hunt. Garbage left in the forest is a problem. I have no issue with stands or caches put out this time of the Summer, as long as they are gone reasonably soon after the season. If someone arrives at a camp site or water hole first, we can\'t run them off, even if we have a cache or tree stand there.

 

[Don K]

I am with you Swede I think its no big deal to put stuff out and retrieve it later. I was there the third week of September and this stuff had not been touched that year, and maybe even the year before. You could see it was a old outfitter camp they had a old corral that was used for horses (it was half fallen down). This pile was about 4 to 5 miles in and looking at the condition of the stuff I bet it never comes out unless someone decides to pack it out on their horses as the tarps where very large and canvas.

 

[JohnFitzgerald]

Wrap your gear in a plastic tarp, then sprinkle it with lots cayenne pepper. After that, stack wood on top so it\'s completely covered. Sprinkle more cayenne pepper on the wood stack. The tarp keeps the gear dry, the wood will stop the small critters from chewing, and the cayenne pepper will keep the bears away.

Stash it away from the main traffic trails.

My 2-cents.

 

[Swede]

I worked until retirement for the Forest Service. It never ceases to amaze me what people will dump or leave in the forest. That is one of the reasons much private land is now closed. The worst dumpers are the locals. I have found mattresses, and meth lab trash, bear bait stations are left with their stink, and the 55 gallon barrels. Tires, filters and appliances are thrown out. Permanent tree stands litter the country where I hunt. I guess they think it is cheaper to dump in the forest than to take it to the local land fill. In other words, I agree with you Don.