Lark Bunting
New member
- Sep 14, 2016
- 710
...But there is a truck set up in every wide spot in the road. What do you do?
You pull into "your" spot to set up elk camp...
- Thread starter Lark Bunting
- Start date
I have thought about this and have never had to use a backup spot, yet. My plan is to backtrack along the forest service road from my preferred camping spot until I find a spot. Going further down the road does not yield any new spots. This Forest Service Road has steep terrain of both sides and very few pull offs. This motivates me to head out of town by 9 am the day before opener and be in camp by 1 pm. So far, this has worked. Last year, the rains helped for the other weekends. Kept people away.
My last resort backup camping spot is a huge area where lots of people camp which accommodates campers and tents. The downside is driving to my hunting spot everyday 20-30 minutes and using up gas. The plus side, is having other hunters to chat with about the day\'s events.
If you are going for opening weekend, which again this year is Labor Day weekend, try to leave ASAP on Friday for your spot. Traffic will be heavy because it is Labor Day weekend and opening weekend for elk and deer. Check cotrip.org for road construction delays.
Sometimes there are level camping spots that aren\'t right next to the road, but hidden in the trees. In those cases, you just need to have your truck parked on the side of the road so other vehicles may pass. You may need to carry your camp 20-75 yards to that level spot in the forest.
My last resort backup camping spot is a huge area where lots of people camp which accommodates campers and tents. The downside is driving to my hunting spot everyday 20-30 minutes and using up gas. The plus side, is having other hunters to chat with about the day\'s events.
If you are going for opening weekend, which again this year is Labor Day weekend, try to leave ASAP on Friday for your spot. Traffic will be heavy because it is Labor Day weekend and opening weekend for elk and deer. Check cotrip.org for road construction delays.
Sometimes there are level camping spots that aren\'t right next to the road, but hidden in the trees. In those cases, you just need to have your truck parked on the side of the road so other vehicles may pass. You may need to carry your camp 20-75 yards to that level spot in the forest.
Lark Bunting
New member
- Sep 14, 2016
- 710
Absolutely it is, that\'s why I put \"your\" in quotes. It\'s everyone\'s land.\">>>---WW---->\" said:
To the rest, how far away do you consider moving if you know others are in the area? 5 miles? 2 miles? 1/2 mile? It could be hard to tell if there are hunters in the area, (one side of a road or the other) based one vehicle; could be four people, could be one.
The forest can absorb a number of hunters in many directions. Getting away from other hunters during the hunt can be as simple as hunting at least 0.5 mile from the road.
Your camping spot is what is your comfort level. If you don\'t want their noise to disturb you, setup camp a distance that works for you. That may be 1/4 mile or 200 yards. I have camped <1/4 mile from other people and never saw or heard them while hunting or while in camp. These are camps with 4+ people.
At one parking spot in my GMU, each morning, 3-5 vehicles park there. We all get swallowed up by the forest. I have only once seen other hunters 0.5 mile from the road. It was opening weekend at 8 am 0.5 mile from the road when they were walking dead smack through the middle of a meadow. It was like they were out for a Sunday stroll. :roll:
For the hunters I gave a ride to one year, they popped out of the forest near my camp. I never saw them while hunting. Their camp was 0.5 mile down the road from mine. I may have driven to a different spot that day to hunt. I only hunt from camp about 50% of the time.
Use your best judgement. I am sure you will choose the right spot.
Your camping spot is what is your comfort level. If you don\'t want their noise to disturb you, setup camp a distance that works for you. That may be 1/4 mile or 200 yards. I have camped <1/4 mile from other people and never saw or heard them while hunting or while in camp. These are camps with 4+ people.
At one parking spot in my GMU, each morning, 3-5 vehicles park there. We all get swallowed up by the forest. I have only once seen other hunters 0.5 mile from the road. It was opening weekend at 8 am 0.5 mile from the road when they were walking dead smack through the middle of a meadow. It was like they were out for a Sunday stroll. :roll:
For the hunters I gave a ride to one year, they popped out of the forest near my camp. I never saw them while hunting. Their camp was 0.5 mile down the road from mine. I may have driven to a different spot that day to hunt. I only hunt from camp about 50% of the time.
Use your best judgement. I am sure you will choose the right spot.
I pretty much hate seeing other people anywhere around me, so I keep driving. My hunt is all about solitude and my area is big enough that if I try hard enough I\'ll find it. Nothing against other people, in general, but I look forward to my alone time in the woods.
cohunter14
Administrator
- Jul 10, 2017
- 5,345
\"mtnmutt\" said:
This... I have never been in an area where I couldn\'t find a decent camping spot with some space away from other hunters, and I have hunted some very populated units. It does help to get there earlier, but it is not necessary. I don\'t care how many camps are in an area though, simply because I know once I get 1/2 mile off of the road, chances are I won\'t be seeing anyone. Make sure you have a backup plan, but it shouldn\'t be a problem if you know of a few different spots.
A couple years ago we had a group of weekend campers pull into our camping spot and set up. It was hugely aggravating, mostly because they parked their vehicles right in front of where our archery target was set up and there were about a million other places to camp besides right on top of us. Being hunting season, though, I don\'t think they counted on my big diesel pickup to start up at 430 every morning and idle next to their camper. They were there for the weekend and then pulled stakes.
