Western elk hunt camping method

What is your typical Western elk hunt camping method?

  • Backpack hunt with camp on my back, camp wherever I want every night

    Votes: 20 14.8%
  • Backpack into back country, set up a spike camp and do day trips from there

    Votes: 68 50.4%
  • Camp at truck and do day trips

    Votes: 93 68.9%

  • Total voters
    135

RCB

WKR
Joined
Apr 1, 2018
Messages
366
Location
CO
I'm curious about how y'all approach Western elk hunt camping. Backpack hunt, spike camp, truck camp, or anything else. Obviously the general answer is "it depends", but I'm looking for what you tend to do most, or what you prefer.

You can pick as many options as you want. If you do all three just as often as the other, click all three.

If I've left out any obvious choices, let me know. Or feel free to elaborate in the comments.

I'm a new hunter, and have only done truck camping. So far.
 
Last edited:

Beendare

WKR
Joined
May 6, 2014
Messages
8,247
Location
Corripe cervisiam
You guessed it...all 3.

It depends on where you find them...and the best way to do that is lace up your boots.....

Then we decide whether a spike camp or main camp is the ticket.


...
 

Pigdog

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Sep 20, 2019
Messages
237
Location
Oregon
I’m probably 75% camp at truck/my cabin, 20% spike camp and 5% backpack hunting. Spike camp hunting is hands down my favorite though.
 
Joined
Feb 17, 2013
Messages
2,254
I picked base camp from the truck and day trips from spike camp. I hunted my area from the base camp for 5 years before I settled on a spot worth packing a camp into. I’ll try to get two hunts in from my high camp. If I kill a bull and pack it out the place needs to settle down for 3 days before I take my partner up to hunt it. So I hunt low for just a couple days, then to spike camp, then back down, then up for a second solo spike hunt whether it’s me or him.

I would never just start packing a camp into a spot that I hadn’t already hunted and knew for sure there were elk there making my time and effort worthwhile.
 

WTFJohn

WKR
Joined
May 1, 2018
Messages
358
Location
CO
All three, plus day hunts from the house. I like to backpack & spike camp the most, it allows for some creature comforts (bigger shelter, wood stove, etc..) that bivy hunting doesn't and also can help get away or ahead of other people if you know an area well. Truck camping is the same shelter, but I bring a larger kitchen setup and other extras. Bivy hunting is usually done early season if needed, with the same tarp setup I use to turkey hunt/scout/hike/fish/etc... in the spring & summer. As the weather turns colder I switch to a Cimarron & SO stove.

Where you want to hunt, the weather (both before and during the hunt), and where the animals actually are will dictate what the best setup is. What you use for September archery rut hunts will be different than what you use for a mid November hunt with 14" of snow on the ground and more on the way. What season/weapon are you hunting?
 

PistolPete

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Dec 6, 2019
Messages
185
I like to bivy - I think it’s more effective, plus I enjoy the freedom. I am a fairly obsessed ultra lighter for that purpose too. But you have to watch out, because it’s easy to get too far back.
 
OP
R

RCB

WKR
Joined
Apr 1, 2018
Messages
366
Location
CO
Where you want to hunt, the weather (both before and during the hunt), and where the animals actually are will dictate what the best setup is. What you use for September archery rut hunts will be different than what you use for a mid November hunt with 14" of snow on the ground and more on the way. What season/weapon are you hunting?
I’m mostly just asking out of general curiosity. I appreciate reading folks’ rationale for how they choose between one method or the other.

Most of the country I’ve hunted so far has enough road access that you’re almost never more than 5 miles from a good road. Usually within 3. That’s easy day hiking distance, so that’s what I’ve gone with. That being said, cutting 4+ miles round trip from the daily hiking “commute” might be worth doing a few nights in a spike camp. Would make it easier to get to good glassing spots before sunrise, for example. Might try that more in the future.
 

Elk97

WKR
Joined
Feb 14, 2019
Messages
767
Location
NW WA & SW MT
Almost all day hunts from a camp trailer. Would do more spike camps if there weren't so darn many bears in the area.
 
Joined
Oct 5, 2018
Messages
1,890
Location
Colorado
My preferred hunting styles seem to be ever changing and I should make a graph. Starting long ago it was wake up early, drive to a spot and hike in the dark then return home. Next it trended toward backpacking and ultralight nomadic backcountry hunting. Now I have Llamas and go primarily for hunting from a spike camp. I suppose someday I'll have a camper parked at the end of a dirt road.
 

Westy35

FNG
Joined
Mar 29, 2017
Messages
72
Location
Bozeman, MT
I am probably 90% bivy. Nice to be in with the elk at dusk, in with the elk at dawn, all without having to hike back and forth to the truck or camp.
 
Joined
Sep 29, 2019
Messages
9
I am probably 90% bivy. Nice to be in with the elk at dusk, in with the elk at dawn, all without having to hike back and forth to the truck or camp.
I agree. Your always in elk country with eyes and ears out. In some ways its easier you dont have to get up as early to drive to your spot and your in the sleeping bag earlier and you you dont have to hike in and out through the dead area near the road. That being said the only ways it is easier is if your on elk
 

SweenJob

FNG
Joined
Jun 28, 2019
Messages
8
Location
Castle Rock, CO
Get to know the area you are hunting and change your tactics based on that. Listening for bugles at night during archery season helped me learn a lot about where the elk like to be. When I started elk hunting in CO, I used to hike in 4+ miles and gained a couple thousand feet of elevation to set up camp because everywhere I read and everyone I talked to said to get far away from people. I saw elk but not as much as I would have liked to. I still hunt the same area and I have harvested 3 elk the past two years within .5 miles of my camper. I typically get into small groups of elk every morning during archery season and bigger herds in the rifle seasons. I have to hike my ass off in the morning to get above them but this type of hunting has worked for me in my area.
 
Joined
Jun 15, 2017
Messages
414
Location
Wyoming
If it's a deer hunt, backpack hunting is just a heck of a lot more feasible. You can almost get an entire deer and camp out on your back in a single load without killing yourself. It also seems they are a little bit more reliable for finding in a spot consistently.

I've camped on elk only to find they've walked two miles closer to my vehicle since I set up a back country camp. I've killed them from a spike camp and then had to pack all that crap out too - was worthwhile to have reinforcements available and a hunting partner that was a glutton for punishment, and even then it was a grueling day. For those reasons, unless I'm going 5-10 miles deep, I prefer to truck camp and just get used to hiking quite a ways every day. Elk hunting is really just glorified sadism after all....
 

Poser

WKR
Joined
Dec 27, 2013
Messages
5,033
Location
Durango CO
Almost exclusively a backpack hunter. I like to be close to where I’m hunting and hiking back and forth expends a lot of time and energy. I also just enjoy the adventure aspect of going out and staying out. Aesthetically, I like to be out there “in it” and minimize things that distract from being focused on hunting such as camp chores etc while maximizing sleep.
 
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