OK Guys- I could use a little advice here.

This year, we decided not to drive the hour every morning to our hunting grounds and then hike 2-3 miles back in the wilderness. We decided to get out to Idaho a couple days early, pack in 5-7 miles and set up a base camp.

We will be hunting near the sawtooth range of Idaho for the first 8 days of rifle season. We plan on setting up camp near a stream in the valley, so that the water masks our noise somewhat.

Is building a fire bad news at this kind of location. Will the smoke, etc...alert nearby game? I'm really new to this type of hunting and would appreciate some advice from your past experiences.

thanks

YES, YES, YES!!!

Having a camp fire is a really enjoyable part of camping. BUT, you are not camping, you are hunting! So many times hunters will camp in the middle of the hunting area so they don't have to hike so far from camp to hunt. Then to top it off they have a camp fire and cook greasie foods outside. All they do is stink up the woods around them. Then they wonder why they had to hike 5 miles from camp just to see an animal. If you are going to be camping close to where you plan to hunt, then try to camp on an opposite ridge or canyon from your hunting area.

The other complaint is that they use scent cover up, but still get winded by game. They think that if they can't smell all that smoke on themselves, then the game won't either. WRONG! No matter how much cover scent you put on, the animals are still going to smell the smoke that is on your close, skin, hair, boots,etc..

The best thing to do is to use a propane heater and propane stove. There stillis a little bit of smell to them, butits better than smoke smell.

BM

I didn't think that smoke was neccessarily a smell that animals associated with hunters. In fact, I believe that it has been used to cover scent.I figure it's the noise and other smells and disruptions that disturb the normal environment. However, sounds like a good idea to camp in the next drainage over or on the back side of it.

I've heard both sides of the fence but mostly I've heard that smoke spooks game. I wouldn't know because when I'm hunting I've always avoided getting the smell on me as we never have a fire during hunting season. Just propane. I don't wear my hunting clothes in camp anyway.

I have to chuckle at that one. Last year I was hunting a new area and drove as far as I could and set up my little truck spike camp. From there I would pack in a couple miles to an aspen hammock where I had seen a nice bull and a couple cows at dark-thirty so I backed on out of there and planned to go back b4 sunrise. I then went back to my camp and made a sandwich and a bowl of soup and made a campfire (right near one of Lewis' and Clarkes camps). I was making a raquet going in and out of the truck and not concerned about noise and was justhaving a good ole time. I went to bed and the fire burned itself out. I could hear bulls all around me after it got dark, I couldn't sleep hardly because of the antisapation.(sp?) After a moment the bulls were getting closer and closer and very vocal. These herds had come so close too my truck I could hear the bulls cloaking and the snot running out oftheir noises. They were just about on top of me. It was so noisey that I couldn't sleep. They were bugling and screaming their dang heads off all night. This happened for several nights in a roll and then they just shut up, but they were still there.
You go figure???
Bobby

I wouldn't use a fire on a spike camp, but would in a main camp. I would just put the main camp in another drainage that you plan to hunt. Spike camp would consist of either MRE's, or propane heated freeze-dried food, depending on how long you will be out in a spike camp, and if you could weigh the differences. As far as the smoke spooking game, I believe it does. But for different reasons than they associate the smell with humans. I think it is because fire is a natural occurrance, and the elk naturally run from fire to escape death.