Bivvy or basecamp?

[Bullnuts]

Just wondering how many guys actually spend the season with their camp on their back, how many miles they do in a day, etc.

[BarW]

Thinking of doing our first bivy style hunt next year. May still set up a base camp of sorts but will take enough supply's to be comfortable for 2 to 3 nights. Usually we take mules and base camp then spike camp with the mules. Wanting try backpack style hunting.

[planebow]

The area I hunt you can not get far enough away from the road to do a bivy hunt. As I am getting closer to 70 that is fine with me.

[>>>---WW---->]

Boy , I hear that Planebow. Most of my hunts are based from my home. However, I always pack enough gear to spend a couple of nights out if I have to. My pack will average in the 18+ pound range depending on how much food and water I have in it. I always have gear for a warm and hopefully comfortable night out.

Some of my survival gear includes 2-55 gal. trash bags. You can stuff one of them with leaves and grass to make a somewhat soft mattress to insulate you from the cold ground. Also have a (GOOD) space blanket. Not one of those $1.99 el cheapos that Wallyworld sells. And an emergency sleeping bag that when rolled up would almost fit in a pint fruit jar. You'd be suprised how comfy of a camp you can make with just these few little thngs.

Like I said, I'm basically a day hunter from either home or a nice base camp. But I am prepared to spend the night if the need comes along. You just never know when you may have to bed up a herd of elk about dark thirty so you can hunt them the next morning.

[Magic]

Base camp and depending upon the circumstances, maybe a spike camp, but no bivy camp for this "ole" guy. I understand "closer to 70" very well.

[Lefty]

I head out from home Friday evening. An hour or so of evening hunting, tent then get up early to hunt all day then back hoome for Sunday

[Swede]

Normally I hunt out of a base camp, but am prepared to stay out overnight is needed. My son and a young friend want me to bivy next year with them in the wilderness. Based on where they want to camp, I can see a six to eight mile pack out with an elk and no trails if we get one in there. A while back I was asked if I wanted to bivy in Hells Canyon. I said "only if you have an outfitter who agrees to take us in, check up on us every few days and will pack us out." That ended those hunt ideas. This time I have agreed to go without any conditions. Now I am wondering if I should consider going to see a shrink.

[Spike elk]

Base camp here. It is about 5 miles in. I cheat though and pack in a nice camp with horses.

[stringunner]

basecamp, good road system where we hunt so there has been no need to spike camp.

[wapitibowman]

90% of the season with camp on my back. We probably average 3-8 miles per day (8 is a really long day). We usually can only tolerate this for about 3 days though. It is extremely tiring (physically and mentally) to hike all day with 35+ lbs on your back.

Wapitibowman

[dreamhunter]

I was hoping to do a night or two away from base camp but we didn't get it done this year. Everything was pretty close to hunt so it was only a few mile or so away from camp and then back. Plus we had the atvs and those saved a few steps when we used them. Next year I will move on beyond my comfort zone and venture out farther and and stay a night or two away from base camp.

[Bullnuts]

90% of the season with camp on my back. We probably average 3-8 miles per day (8 is a really long day). We usually can only tolerate this for about 3 days though. It is extremely tiring (physically and mentally) to hike all day with 35+ lbs on your back.

Wapitibowman

Do you guys come in for a few days and then go back out?

[wapitibowman]

We hunt Thursday, Friday, and Saturday - 3 different weeks of September usually. We hike in Wednesday night, so we get the full 3 days. If we happen to kill something on Saturday night, we have Sunday as a buffer for packing out.

One downside to having camp on your back, if you do kill something, camp has to come out with you - which could mean an extra trip. The upside, you save the miles walking out/in each day (I hate useless miles). Also, you can get to sleep earlier and wake up later (if you have some animals located already).

Wapitibowman

[Dirty D]

What works best for us is to Bivy until we find our where the elk are, then setup a small spike camp so we don't have to carry everything everyday.

When we are truly bivy hunting, I don't cover that many miles, maybe 2-3 per day depending on terrain and what I'm seeing. And while I hate the idea of strapping into a big bivy pack, I love being able to sleep wherever I want and I don't need to get up early to hike way back into somewhere, where I'll only end up hiking back out after dark. I think bivy hunting "within reason" is a less strenuous hunt.

[ferris bugler]

I am with Wapitibowman. I like to be able to go to sleep as soon as I can't see to hunt anymore and get a couple extra minutes of sleep in the morning. The longest I usually carry stuff for is 4 days. If I try for more my pack becomes too heavy to be quick up and down hills. I would say we cover 5 to 15 miles a day, but the hard part is that it usually involves what seems like 10,000 vertical feet.

[bnsafe]

we did both, set up a basecamp, bivvied out for a couple days, then went back to basecamp. i will prob follow that pattern again

[one_elk]

We do both with enough gear on our backs to spend the night, but we are trying to cover more wasted miles with our scopes and then when we do find the critters of the day we head out for as long as it may take, or till....I can find elk most of the time now I just have to be focused enough to not get side tracked on the way in....but the old guys say that will come with age. ok ok I am 56 where is the focus???

[T/H]

i am always prepared to Bivy hunt but until i can't find elk from my basecamp this is my prefered m/o

[Heartwood]

I much prefer to backpack 30# or less and stay out 3 days. Glass right from bed from a good vantage point. Travel in dark to locate elk then bed down for a morning attempt. Overall less miles of hiking and more sleep. I go light with no stove , filter or tent and eat cold freeze dried meals and jerky.
When it's not to dry for a fire a grouse makes a nice addition for dinner. That said we also hunt from a base as long as were in elk but when locating elk gets tough we can strap on the packs at a moments notice and go deeper.

[buglmin]

Usually, we take horses in. We dont make big camps, and we can move as we see fit.
An interesting note....this fall, we found sevaral elk carcasses north of Pagosa Springs that most of the meat was left there. We took pictures and took F&G in so they could see. This was in September, some 5 to 8 miles in from the trailhead. Now, F&G will be checking hunters packing in on foot, and if you kill an elk, you better have enough meat not to get a wanton waste of big game ticket...

[a3dhunter]

Starting this year I was able to pack around 40 lbs going in with enough gear for 4-5 days, or trim it down to 30-33 lbs and be able to stay 2-3 days with good weather( just bivy sack and bag, no tent).
Depending on the area and what I find, I can come out and resupply or pack out and move to a different area.
I don't have a problem hunting with 2-3 days gear, but with more than that I am heading straight for a location to set up base camp and drop some weight.

[twinkieman]

Both. We set up a base camp,one of our group can not backpack due to phsyical limitations,and the rest of us do both. When we bivvy we go with enough gear to last for 4 days, then we can return to base camp and re supply. We also take mules, and while we have used them to pack in, we prefer to bivvy hunt. When we have an animal down, I return to base camp and get the animals. They are both ridable, so I usually ride one back in to the killsite, and lead the other with my packing gear on the second animal. By the time I return the elk is boned put and ready for transporting. Then we lead both animals back out. We like doing it this way so that feeding and watering the stock doesn't cut into our hunting time. It also enables to end our day wherever we are, and not have to return to a spike camp. We can go anywhere we find or hear elk, and not worry about how to get them out.