by John Layman, Richland, WA.
Hitch up the fifth wheel and lets get up to the hunting area. I wish! While we would all like to have a huge fifth wheel or travel trailer to hunt and camp from, most of us have to face the realities of a limited budget. For 20 years now I have been hunting out of a tent. For the past 3 that has included elk hunting in the snowy hills of Washington State. These experiences have provided some special opportunities that the guy with the 19 inch color TV in his fifth wheel will never know. Most of my experiences with tent hunting have been good. The others have all taught me something that have made me a better camper. Each year I revise my list of things to bring to include those one or two things that we forgot. Now, its very uncommon to find something that isn't on the list.
Three years ago I planned the greatest Elk hunting trip of all time. This was my first year elk hunting and my hunting partner was equally virgin. As beginners, we knew our chances of bagging an elk were slim, but, you never know. We did all the right things, we planned our trip well and did as much scouting before the hunt as our work schedules would allow. On each scouting trip we saw elk in large numbers. We picked a great hunting spot that would surely produce an elk for each of us. When the big day came, we packed my truck to the rafters of the canopy. The weather man predicted a little snow, but we were ready for it.
As we approached the Blue Mountains a light rain began to fall. The temperature was in the mid thirties. We pulled up to our planned camp site and sat in the truck while a major downpour covered the area. After an hour, the rain showed no signs of letting up and we figured we had better get the tents set up. The rain gear was packed tightly in the box closest to the cab on the bottom of the stack (of course). We had no choice but to set up camp in the warm jackets we brought for hunting. We brought two tents, one monster tent for eating, cooking, and playing cards and a smaller one for sleeping. As it turns out, this was a stroke of luck. By the time camp was set up, we were soaked to the bone. We went into the largest tent and cranked up my 10,000 BTU heater, had dinner and some hot tea, and played cards for the rest of the evening. When we ran to the sleeping tent the rain storm still showed no signs of letting up.
On opening day the alarm went off at 4:30 as planned. We were pleased to hear that the rain was no longer beating against the tent. We got dressed and opened the zipper to head for the cooking tent for breakfast. About 4 cubic yards of snow (maybe a slight exaggeration) made its way into the tent. About the time we got to sleep the rain must have turned to snow. What a grand day for elk hunting. We tromped through about 6 inches of snow to get to our breakfast. Fortunately we camped at the bottom of the hill and planned to drive to the top each morning and afternoon for hunting. Again my 10,000 BTU heater made breakfast a little more pleasant. The coats that were soaked through the day before were almost dry. They would have to do.
On the way up to the spot we had picked for hunting on that sunny, dry day about 2 months past, my two wheel mini pickup got stuck 11 times. As my truck near missed almost everything within rifle distance from the road, we said more prayers than on the past 52 Sundays combined. Just as we were nearing our hunting spot, we were stuck once again. We began to push her out of the ditch again when a heard of elk ran across the road about 100 yards away. By the time we got the rifles out of the truck and loaded, they were long gone.
All and all, we had a great week of camping in the snow. We saw deer, bear, mountain goats, and every variety of small creature available. Just no more elk. Once the ice cycles melted from the arm pits of our coats, we were fairly warm. We had all the conveniences back at camp and, other than freezing on stand each morning and afternoon, we had a fine time. My list of things to bring camping was short only one thing that year, dry weather for setting up camp. That list is attached. It think you will find it helpful on your next camping trip, whether your are hunting or not. If you like the list, you can download it in Excel or Lotus format. This way you can customize it to your needs. Best of luck and good camping.
You can email me at: finl001@owt.com
E-mail:fin1001@owt.com
John Layman
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