bivy for drop camp tundra moose hunt?

Chirogrow

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Do any of you bring bivys in the field? I have a moose hunt in the future planned and will be hunting in the tundra, Last year I had a spider every couple nights crawl on my face and wake me up! ha
 

Jimss

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No spiders in Alaska! Don't forget how many trips it will take to pack a moose out. If hunting Alaska you also have to bring out the ribs. If you are getting dropped off it definitely would be worth having a tent with room in case you get weathered in for several days. To begin with I'd start off with a 3 or 4 season tent that can withstand hurricane wind and lots of rain! Next, a tent large enough for most of your gear, and possibly a vestibule to cook so it's not outside in the weather and bears.
 

Htm84

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No spiders in Alaska! Don't forget how many trips it will take to pack a moose out. If hunting Alaska you also have to bring out the ribs. If you are getting dropped off it definitely would be worth having a tent with room in case you get weathered in for several days. To begin with I'd start off with a 3 or 4 season tent that can withstand hurricane wind and lots of rain! Next, a tent large enough for most of your gear, and possibly a vestibule to cook so it's not outside in the weather and bears.
I agree with most of what you said but Alaska 100% has spiders.

Personally I hate bivys but I know a couple people who use them exclusively. Not for me and really only you can say if you’re cool living in one for 10 days or whatever. If your talking about using a bivy inside a tipi or something I’d say just bring a tent instead. But to each their own.
 
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Have to bring out rib meat. Dont have to bring out rib meat in bones in all units. I wouldn't bivy for any hunt up here. Maybe have one incase you want to spike out for a night but I dont think it would be wise to bivy the whole hunt. Where would you put your extra gear clothes and food while you were hunting?

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
 

mooster

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Yeah I agree no spiders in AK! 15 miles from Artic circle and never seen so many! Sept. 10-20 hunt.
 
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Don't know about the dates of your moose hunt. In many years of chasing moose and caribou in Alaska, I've never wished for a bivy or had a bug problem big enough to bother me. I use a tipi for all my hunts and I pin it tight to the ground. It also has a sod flap which I 'rock' or otherwise flatten down.

This might sound a bit odd: Before dealing with a little bivy, I would bring some permethrin and spray the perimeter of my shelter...and maybe the ground near my bag. Permethrin adheres or persists very well and resists washing off, even in a washing machine. All forms of 6 and 8 legged pests hate the stuff.
 

mooster

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I do keep a SOL Escape emergency bivy in my backpack on my hunts just in case. But prefer to sleep in our tipi, even if there's occasionally a spider on me. tipi also provides shelter from elements for clothes and gear
 

AKDoc

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"No spiders in Alaska" (that was a good joke...well done!) On a spring bear hunt one year we watched an army of the really tiny ones individually float through the air on a single strand of web that they each spun.

I've never used a bivy, even in my tipi. I've sometimes had one with me in the past, but more as an emergency shelter...just too tight for me, and I'm not spider adverse.

There are pretty much always spiders on the inside of the outer shell of my 3 and 4-season tents, and then over the course of a stationary 14-day remote hunt on the tundra, a few spiders ALWAYS make it into my inner tent as well. I suspect they are hitch-hiking on my clothing when I enter for the night...so I'll sometimes feel one on my face/neck when sleeping. I'd bet they would eventually make it inside of a bivy as well in that setting.

I just figure that living with spiders is part of my outdoor experiences up here! Thankfully there are no snakes in Alaska...those I really don't like!
 
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Chirogrow

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Sorry for the lack of information. I always bring a kifaru sawtooth with me and didn't have the issue my first time in alaska but this last time I was camped on tundra and the spiders were every where. I guess I could just put on my mosquito mask to sleep! ha
 

BBob

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If not in a full tent I use a lightweight bivy for bugs down here in the SW desert. The freaking giant centipedes bug me the most. I've seen 5 so far this year.

I have an MLD with full face mesh and many will recommend a Borah as well, either in DCF are 5oz or so. Don't know about the Borah but the MLD has a sewn loop for a stretch cord to tie it off to a tarp or tree, etc... to hold the bivy off your face.
 

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z987k

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Don't know about the dates of your moose hunt. In many years of chasing moose and caribou in Alaska, I've never wished for a bivy or had a bug problem big enough to bother me. I use a tipi for all my hunts and I pin it tight to the ground. It also has a sod flap which I 'rock' or otherwise flatten down.

This might sound a bit odd: Before dealing with a little bivy, I would bring some permethrin and spray the perimeter of my shelter...and maybe the ground near my bag. Permethrin adheres or persists very well and resists washing off, even in a washing machine. All forms of 6 and 8 legged pests hate the stuff.
Permethrin works great. Since it doesn't repel them, it kills them. I spray it on everything I own.

It also doesn't melt nylon.
 
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If not in a full tent I use a lightweight bivy for bugs down here in the SW desert. The freaking giant centipedes bug me the most. I've seen 5 so far this year.

I have an MLD with full face mesh and many will recommend a Borah as well, either in DCF are 5oz or so. Don't know about the Borah but the MLD has a sewn loop for a stretch cord to tie it off to a tarp or tree, etc... to hold the bivy off your face.
Holy mother of god that Centipede is giant! Thats some shit outta Indiana Jones! No way I would be sleeping with out a bug bivy. whew
 

thinhorn_AK

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No spiders in Alaska! Don't forget how many trips it will take to pack a moose out. If hunting Alaska you also have to bring out the ribs. If you are getting dropped off it definitely would be worth having a tent with room in case you get weathered in for several days. To begin with I'd start off with a 3 or 4 season tent that can withstand hurricane wind and lots of rain! Next, a tent large enough for most of your gear, and possibly a vestibule to cook so it's not outside in the weather and bears.

There absolutely ARE spiders in Alaska.
 

Sawtoothsteve

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Chirogrow, In my teepee I use a long wide borah bivy with bug netting for head area. Not restrictive, super light and compact to carry/pack, water resistant for condensation, can be fully zipped if bugs are super bad, helps contain pillow in the night, and most important to me, can be fully zipped to keep the bugs out of my bag the 18 hours/day I'm NOT in it. It's not much for emergency shelter use without at least a tarp, but something like it would serve you purpose I believe.
 

Larry Bartlett

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So a bivvy option works well on some tundra types but not all, IMO. If you're creeped out by crawlers and/or concerned about moisture, you might consider something else. Even with a liner most tipis and bivvys have there drawbacks with insects. gnats and mozzies seem to get trapped well between the liner and tent fabric, but spiders and tundra critters will be contenders.

Consider an Arctic Oven with a footprint. Some tundra is super moist and soggy, especially after rain or snow spells. Finding flat dry ground is often uncertain. These tents are super heavy but well worth it for a 7-day tundra party.

If you go with a single wall bivvy, secure a liner for condensation and bug traps.
 
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