I think I remember this being covered here before, but oh well. My hunting buddies and I will be camping in a wall tent this year for the first time. We normally stay in a hotel but have decided to camp this year. We hunt the 3rd rifle season in Colorado. 3rd season is the first week of November, so it is pretty cold. We don't have horses to pack anything in so we will be camping just off the road in the National forrest. The elevation is around 9000 feet.
Do any of ya'll have a check list on what you like to take? There will be 3 of us in a 14X16 Davis wall tent with a wood burning stove. The guy at Davis tent told us that this size tent will sleep 4 very comfortable. This is going to be our sleeping, and eating tent, could only afford one. If anybody has any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated.
I may have put this thread in the wrong place, if so let me know if I should put it in the hunting gear forum.
Rifle, ammo
License
Hunter Safety Card
Rifle Cleaning supplies/Small kit for .30
Gutting knives
Canteen/Camelback for water
Compass
Maps
aerial photos
2 Army Duffle bags for Gear
Good Small pack(Crooked Creak Outfitters)
Blaze Orange Vest
Small Green Penlight
Small Flashlight
Radio/GPS
sleeping bag
A small tarp
Elk Bags for Meat
Fillet knife (for deboneing elk!)
Water filter/cleaning system!
50 foot Parachute Cord
Survival Kit
Windproof lighter
Firestarting Material in film cannister
Small Flint & Steel
Jerky/Small /folding cup
Bandages/needle and suture kit
Antibacterial
5 ziplocks for holding water
Ibuprofen
Fishing kit
Gerber saw
Mirror
Space Bags(3)
3 Sections of 6 foot 1 inch webbing for slings or whatever
A hygene kit/ towel/ washcloth
Bino's
Spotting Scope????
Scent Free Soap for Hair/Body
CLOTHING
Schnees Boots
Camp Boots
7 pairs of Socks wool
7 pairs of liners
5 pairs of Camp Socks
2 sets of Patagonia"™s Thermal underwear
2 sets of Carol Wise Body Suits
3 Pairs of Pants
Wool Sweaters
Wool Shirts
Camo Clothes & Jacket
Wool Cap
Field wipes
Hoochie mama call
Sun Glasses & Case
3 Pairs of Gloves thermal/goretex
1 pair of Wool Fingerless gloves
1 pair of Elk Leather Gloves
Digital Camera w/ Extra Battery
Camera w/ Film
2 disposable Camera"™s
Camo Felt Hat Brown(well fitting, Bleached Camo)
Phone/Phone Charger
Laser bore Sight for 300 to check for sight in @ camp
Range Finder(800)
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We prove ourselves one hour at a time in the wilderness.
www.gotelk.com 406-722-HUNT
Young guys need not worry about this but if you take any Medications, be sure to include these. Its easy to forget in the excitment of packing for a trip.
Add to the list:
Ember resistant rain fly (with ropes and stakes) with cut out for your stove jack/flue. This will protect your new tent and make it warmer too.
Be sure to set up the tent in your back yard so you know just how everything goes and that you have ALL the parts. Never over tension a piece of canvas with a zipper door in it --- a blown zipper will ruin your day. Remember your camp mates may not care for "your baby" as much as you will.. After setting it up, hose it down with water, let it dry, and then hose it down again/DRY IT again --- this will "swell shut" the holes caused by the stitching needle from when the tent was made.
Take a tarp and landscaping stakes to create a floor. It will reduce (eliminate) sweating and keep the dust factor down AND create a good seal against your sod cloth. A good floor (and floor/tent seal) is the key to a good wall tent. Take a piece of plywood to set your wood burning stove on, otherwise it will likely melt the plastic tarp underneath plus the plywood is good to set hot fire tools on.
Make sure you have a tarp to "lay out" your tent on while you are figuring (and flipping) things out as to which way things go --- no sense in getting a nice new tent dirty before it is time.
FYI, consider taking a black mark-a-lot with you and have whoever was in camp that year "sign in" right on the tent wall (in a given section for that year) and note what they got and whatever other clever remarks they might have along with the year and date. This way, by the time the tent is old and tattered, the walls will literally talk to you about a life time of adventure. It makes great conversation piece for new hunters. A great tradition IMHO.
EKM
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Never Go Undergunned, Always Check The Sight In, Perform At Showtime!
Good judgment comes from bad experience! Learn from the mistakes of others; you' ll never live long enough to make them all yourself!
We also use a 14x16 for moose (4 guys). Matter of fact I leave in 2 days. Make sure every body has a cot to sleep on, we all use the army style ones with the metal frames. All our clothes gets packed in plastic Rubbermaid totes that fit neatly under our cots. Keeps everything dry and mice don't get in them. We also bring a fire extinguisher just in case. As for a floor we have a piece of artificial turf (astroturf?) and we cut around the wood stove and just have dirt under it. For a table we have a 30" by 60" sheet of plywood with folding table legs. Before you use your new tent you should buy some canvas mildew retardent and paint the whole tent with it. This may sound stupid but make sure you bring a shovel to dig a proper latrine. We actually make one beforehand (just a wood box, no floor, and a strofoam SM seat) and save alot of monkeying around that way. We also invested in a set of metal poles for ours, again it saves alot of time cutting trees to set up the tent. With a good wood stove you will be amazed how comfortable a wall tent can be. Nothing else says BIG GAME more than a comfortable wall tent. You made the right choice.
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I don't like people who don't like dogs !
Ditto on the fire extinguisher, good latrine, the plastic totes under the cots (very efficient on space). You are right, nothing quite says "big game" like a comfortable wall tent --- nothing quite like the smell of canvas. As I know you are aware, there is "just so much more to it" than the hunting and the killing.
Good luck with the moose pursuit.
EKM
__________________
Never Go Undergunned, Always Check The Sight In, Perform At Showtime!
Good judgment comes from bad experience! Learn from the mistakes of others; you' ll never live long enough to make them all yourself!
Check List
