Neweboarhunter,

You say elk hunting, so I assume that will be in the western states where hardwood fuels are typically hard to find. Softwoods don' t burn as long. We have switched to propane for our sleeping area; however, we still use a wood burning cylinder stove for the kitchen/social area of our camp as it is very pleasant to have a wood stove for ambience and its ability to heat a large area quickly.

I concur with what has been written with relying on the stove front damper versus the flue damper (although we have and use both). However, my results have not been much different from yours --- about two hours per load of pine or aspen and more if you use coal but still not reliable for a " warm and cozy" for all night.

Overall though, it' s not too big a deal (unless you have the Mrs. along) as you can use the wood heat during your waking hours to heat/cook/dry clothes/get ready for bed and then retreat to your sleeping bags and go cold thru the night or if that is not acceptable, then.....

On an eight hour night stoke it at bed time, and then someone will have to get up and tend it three times, set an alarm and a rotation. Hunter #1 gets up and tends the fire, resets the alarm and gives it to hunter #2, etc. not too much of an inconvenience (especially if you' ve been elk hunting you will go right back to sleep) and then fourth time it is wake up time anyway.

Just a thought,
EKM