Hunting Shelter?

[SingleShot]

Question to those who have tried different means of staying in the bush for 2-3 or more weeks:

If you could choose any system of shelter, what would your years of experience steer you towards? There are many options, the main ones being wall tents, campers, holiday trailers and modified contractor trailers?

Sadly, I think security is an important factor in this day and age. A wall tent might only be suitable if you are far enough out that anyone who crosses your camp respects that everything you have you need. Campers and trailers will only keep the curious out and a lowlife will get what he wants.

I would like to put something together over the summer to be comfortable in the bush for extended periods and have some peace of mind when absent all day. Kind of leaning towards modifying a contractor trailer. Any thoughts, ideas or shared experience would be good to hear.

[RiverOtter]

I've done wall tent on the ground, wall tent on an 8x16' flat deck with steel tube frame, small travel trailer, and canopy with small wall tent at the back.

Wall tents are great, but unless you're going for a week or more, the set up and take down is a pain in the ass. Not to mention, if you head out after work and arrive at "0 Dark-Thirty", setting up in the dark sucks.

Right now, I'm looking for a 14-16' cargo trailer to rig out with removeable bunks and somewhat of a kitchen and small wood stove. Enough room for 2 quads end to end, and still have some storage up above and along the side(s). It'll need a front door to access the bunks for a midnight crash spot, without having to unload all the rigging. Another thing I want to add is tube sockets to stand tarp poles into, along both sides, to make extra "dry space" a simple process. If extra space is needed for a longer trip, a 10x10 Wal-mart type pop up canopy with wall kit can be added to the back or side door. Got lots of idea's, just need to find a trailer to unleash them on.......:-D

[Hunterguy]

Go to the heading Inside pics of the Lodge, by hunterguy tried tested and very very comfortable.

[warnniklz]

A quick scout before the season. Build a timber frame. Slap plywood on the roof and lower half of the walls. Plastic on the upper half of the walls (need some light), a pot belly stove and some metal sheeting for reflecting heat. From there jut start adding and upgrading.

[goatdancer]

Question to those who have tried different means of staying in the bush for 2-3 or more weeks:

If you could choose any system of shelter, what would your years of experience steer you towards? There are many options, the main ones being wall tents, campers, holiday trailers and modified contractor trailers?

Sadly, I think security is an important factor in this day and age. A wall tent might only be suitable if you are far enough out that anyone who crosses your camp respects that everything you have you need. Campers and trailers will only keep the curious out and a lowlife will get what he wants.

I would like to put something together over the summer to be comfortable in the bush for extended periods and have some peace of mind when absent all day. Kind of leaning towards modifying a contractor trailer. Any thoughts, ideas or shared experience would be good to hear.

Any unit that has a door could be subject to illegal entry. The only way to guarantee security is to have an armed guard 24/7, unless the sucker falls asleep on the job. If you camp in an area that has lots of scumbags around, you just have to take your chances.

[rcar]

I have tried pretty everything over the years and I have never found the perfect setup but my preference is a good tent trailer with a beefed up suspension for rougher roads. This provides the most confort and the least amount of pissing around for set up and tear down. No matter what you bring, break in is always a concern. I put the quad in the box of the truck when I need it and tow the trailer. They are light and easy to get through tight spaces and roads with low branches.

From base camp, I will use the quad or just hoof it and use my backpack setup to get to the area I want to hunt. Having the tent trailer is a very nice thing to come back to in the event of really bad weather, not to mention heat and a dry place to cook. Also having an awning is great to sit under in the rain instead of being cramped inside.

[tuffteddyb]

Best thing we found so far is our flatdeck trailer,and load our camper on the front and the suzuki samuri behind.
If we want we throw the boat in the tow vehicle and we going.
If we get something it goes int the tow vehicle,get home,drop thetrailer and off to the butchers.
Works well for us anyhows.

[416]

I've done wall tent on the ground, wall tent on an 8x16' flat deck with steel tube frame, small travel trailer, and canopy with small wall tent at the back.

Wall tents are great, but unless you're going for a week or more, the set up and take down is a pain in the ass. Not to mention, if you head out after work and arrive at "0 Dark-Thirty", setting up in the dark sucks.

Right now, I'm looking for a 14-16' cargo trailer to rig out with removeable bunks and somewhat of a kitchen and small wood stove. Enough room for 2 quads end to end, and still have some storage up above and along the side(s). It'll need a front door to access the bunks for a midnight crash spot, without having to unload all the rigging. Another thing I want to add is tube sockets to stand tarp poles into, along both sides, to make extra "dry space" a simple process. If extra space is needed for a longer trip, a 10x10 Wal-mart type pop up canopy with wall kit can be added to the back or side door. Got lots of idea's, just need to find a trailer to unleash them on.......:-D

I've hunted out of an 18' one and it was hardly big enough for more then two guys and camp. Works great to load the tracker or side by side in as well as all the camp gear. Be ready to do something with the ceiling as condensation during the fall hunting season is a PIA. Always thought some sort of quick screw together plywood addition off the back for the kitchen and wood stove with the trailer for sleeping would work well.

[BCBRAD]

I've used trailers , campers wall tents over the years. Much prefer the wall tent. If you are worried about security, just don't leave any valuables around.such as really good knives , firearms, jewelry. In our camp there is just basic camping stuff gathered up over the years, pots pans , blankets ,cots.

Walk away stuff such as generaters, powersaws, quads, and the like are locked in the cargo trailer. People come steeling still have to navigate the road out and that could get tricky, plus a trail cam for license numbers and a sign that says 3 trail cams watching you find all three.

[SingleShot]

Great to get all this input. Thanks to those that replied and keep it coming.

From my perspective, I think BCBRAD's thoughts might suit me best. I'm liking the idea of a wall tent as they would be more spacious, no issues with condensation, well suited to a wood stove, easy to add a mud room and area for cooking outdoors and you would certianly have the feeling of camping/roughing it which for me is half the fun. This way a guy could get a smaller trailer and beef up the clearance and security so as to serve two purposes; haul gear and secure the saws and quads etc when not attended.

Never occured to me to set a trail cam on the road in to camp and post a sign saying " If you've made it this far, smile, I've got your picture".

I've had two bad experiences with lowlifes and for me to put much effort and planning into a "holiday" it would be really discouraging to get burned again. I do realize you can't stop them, however you can discourage them and I think BCBRAD has some excellent thoughts.

[RiverOtter]

I've hunted out of an 18' one and it was hardly big enough for more then two guys and camp. Works great to load the tracker or side by side in as well as all the camp gear. Be ready to do something with the ceiling as condensation during the fall hunting season is a PIA. Always thought some sort of quick screw together plywood addition off the back for the kitchen and wood stove with the trailer for sleeping would work well.

I'm not big on group hunts, so gearing toward 2 hunters is where I'm at. I've used the 10x10 Wal-Mart shelter(With wall kit) as a kitchen several times and they work well, and I'm thinking they'd make a good addition to the rear of a cargo trailer. A wood stove is a must and are about the best answer to condensation issues I've found. What's left in the morning for dampness dries out while we're off on the morning hunt.

At least with a cargo trailer, if it don't work out as planned for a hunting rig, I've got a tonne of other uses for it.

[HarryToolips]

drop the ____ and tent it:-D

[300winmaster]

http://tipitent.com/

I've been hunting with a tipitent for 10 years and although its not for everyone I can say that I'm really Impressed with it. Takes about 30 min to set up,it's very weather proof, very light (i own the outfitter and it weighs about 20 lbs) and you can have an open fire inside, although I use a 23000 BTU kerosene heater and I it works a lot better;you can control the amount of heat you want and It doesn't smell. You can put pulley's at the top and hoist your wet hunting cloths up where it may only take an hour or two to dry. The tent has an amazing ability to withstand high winds and I've used it in tempuraturs down to -25 all the time warm and cozy.If you haven't seen them they are usually on display at the outdoor show at Tradex. They are expensive and like I said not for everyone, but the friends I've taken hunting said they where impress and would consider getting one, so definitely worth looking at.

[akyne]

I've used trailers , campers wall tents over the years. Much prefer the wall tent. If you are worried about security, just don't leave any valuables around.such as really good knives , firearms, jewelry. In our camp there is just basic camping stuff gathered up over the years, pots pans , blankets ,cots.

Walk away stuff such as generaters, powersaws, quads, and the like are locked in the cargo trailer. People come steeling still have to navigate the road out and that could get tricky, plus a trail cam for license numbers and a sign that says 3 trail cams watching you find all three.

I have to agree with all of this. I've been hunting out of a wall tent for the past several years now and while the set-up and tear-down is more involved than a trailer, once it's all set-up, it can't be beat. Campers and trailers are ok, but they're a little too cozy for my liking. Wall tents afford plenty of elbow room, which is not to be underrated when you're spending several weeks with the same guy(s) in close quarters. A good canvas tent will breathe and with a woodstove, even the most rain-saturated clothing is dry within a few hours. We've never had a problem with security but we also don't leave behind anything of significant value when we head out for the day. If the thief is so desperate that he needs to steal the stove or my dirty gonch, he can fill his boots.

[The Silent Stalker]

Two of us went into a nice spot last fall and found a guy all set up at the end with a camper in his truck. He was using a dirt bike actually and had a nice camp set . We walked past his camp and I saw a sign on the door saying if you can read this, I've got your picture so smile. I thought that was pretty cool and now will be using it to protect my own camp. Oh, camp is a 26' trailer with queen bed in back, toilette and shower and will sleep three guys ok. It seems way bigger, once you start throwing everything in, space goes fast. If I am somewhere I can't take the trailer, it's 4 season tents to sleep and 10x10 canopies with walls for general area.

[Brez]

Wall tent. Too many reasons why.