My biggest focus currently is this... "how can I plan and prepare now to maximize my time on the mountain." That leads me to thinking of all the things that I have experienced over the years that have come up or happened that have cut my time short while hunting... you know, all those little things that pop up that cause you to be back at camp, headed into town, or even headed back to camp early.
First, vehicles. I have been stranded by dead batteries in both vehicles and ATVs. Those were fun experiences and gratefully none of them left me in too big of a pickle.
I always carry a Stanley portable jump starting kit that also doubles as a basecamp USB charger for phones and other devices. My parents got me one of these several years ago and I don't go hunting or fishing without it... for the most part it's functioned as a big phone charger but there have been a couple of occasions where we've used it to jumpstart an ATV or vehicle. I will also probably try to borrow a small generator just in case. I will be carrying chains for all 4 tires of my little 4WD Ford Escape (that's right... no big pickup truck for me just yet, and I've found that I can easily take that little Escape into places that really bugger up bigger vehicles paint jobs!). I'll plan on doing some maintenance work on my vehicle through the summer and probably even take it into Les Schwab before I leave to have them do one of their pre-trip checks just to make sure there's nothing super crazy potentially going on. I'm still unsure if I want or need to take ATVs. I am planning to drive out to the main area I have been e-Scouting sometime this summer to check it out, I will make the final decision on the ATVs until I see if they would be necessary.Second, base camp. One of the biggest differences that I want to have between my hunt in September and my grandfather's hunt back in 2014 is I want to me mobile. My grandfather set up an elaborate basecamp... a huge canopy with a kitchen underneath, multiple sleeping and food tents, a small latrine tent... it was quite comfortable.
However, because we had put down such deep roots in that campsite there was no desire to explore other areas that were any farther than about a 30 minute drive from camp, and if we would have not been seeing elk and wanted to move to another area altogether it would have taken hours to break camp, move, and set everything back up again.
For my hunt I am prioritizing mobility. I am willing to sacrifice many of the creature comforts of that elaborate camp for the ability to pull up stakes and move without hesitation. My vision for basecamp will be a good sized tarp strung between trees protecting a simple "kitchen" that includes my small Lifetime camping table (sadly this Lifetime 8190 Portable Camp Table is no longer in production although a similar table is made as a "tailgating table"), small 2 burner propane stove, a high output single burner stove from Camp Chef , and an old canning pot. My intent is that in the event that we decide to move that it would take less than 2 hours to break camp and get everything packed back in the vehicle and be on the road headed to our next spot. We will have a simple dome tent for sleeping and all coolers will likely be kept under tarps/blankets outside, I don't want to have multiple tents and things to have to take down. But I could definitely see having a couple hammocks strung between trees to relax in during down time.
Lastly, I have been thinking a lot about food and food preparation. I do not want to spend a whole bunch of time at camp preparing meals. I have had good luck with what I call "grab & go" type stuff for breakfast... granola bars, fruit & grain bars, donuts, fruit... stuff that is easy to grab as soon as you wake up, throw it in your pack or pockets and eat it when you have 10 seconds to sit down later in the morning. For lunches I'm thinking of just doing deli sandwiches and making my own elk/deer/pronghorn pastrami for the lunch meat. Either that or getting a couple of the pre-made deli sandwiches from Winco and splitting those between everyone. I guess I'll have to see how many roasts I have left in my freezer come September and if I'll have enough meat to make my own lunch meat. Lunch is still very much a topic that requires additional thinking before I make up my mind. My plan for dinners is to make them beforehand, with the help of my wife, and then portion out the meals into vacuum sealed bags that can be thrown into a pot of boiling water to heat them up. When we return to camp we can fire up the Camp Chef burner as soon as we get back and throw the meals into the water to heat up, then we can go get changed, and by the time we get back to the kitchen area our dinners are already in the process of getting heated. Most of the meal ideas I've had involve either rice or pasta... grilled chicken fettuccine alfredo, mongolian beef stir fry with rice, maybe even a little salmon chowder if I have any left by then! I'll just have to pay attention to what meals my wife makes that would work well being bagged and vacuum sealed then reheated.
I'm actually having a lot of fun thinking about these logistical type things and discussing them with Doug and Cody.
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