Camping stove and food?

[MidMoElkNut]

This will be my third year elk hunting and every year has been different so far as this year I will mostly be camping alone..... my question is what does everyone use to cook there food on and or how? What food do you bring with you at base camp and while out hunting? Also how do u keep it cool if need be? Thanks!!

[zpd307]

we will be 5-7 miles from the truck. nothing but dehydrated food, candy bars and beef sticks. water will be filtered from a stream and boiled in a little pot by and little alcohol stove. I only need to boil 1.5 cups of water for each meal, which so far takes 4.5 minutes here in mn. will also have crystal light packets for my caffeine addiction....
last year we camped next to the truck. we only brought half of our rations with us. we made plans to go to town halfway through the trip and shower and eat in town. which was only 40 minutes away. we then pick up the rest of our food. our cooler held ice for 5 days well enough. just keep it in the shade. cooked on a coleman camping stove. we had all the luxuries....

[Migolito]

Depends. Will you be camping at you're vehicle, hiking in a little ways, of bivy hunting. I Bivy hunt. So, I carry my camp on my back, set up, and hunt from there. I use a Jetboil and dehydrated food. Breakfast while hunting is either a fast simple hot oatmeal and coffee or powerbars. Lunch is always in the field so Powerbars, jerky, some kinda gorp. Dinner is always hot-Dehydrated (mountain house or homemade) food. I like my jetboil (http://www.rei.com/product/813622/jetboil-sol-stove), however, if you want ultralite look at (http://www.rei.com/product/657906/trang ... king-stove) or (http://www.rei.com/product/873165/ultim ... 3-closeout) or (http://www.rei.com/product/829302/vargo ... wood-stove) or (http://www.rei.com/product/653343/esbit-pocket-stove). These stove are for serious ultralite cooking systems. You just add the utensils you need based on what you will be eating. Keeping food cool in a backpacking scenario is not easy. If you have a lake or stream, submerge what you want to keep cool in a waterproof bag. I use silnylon, but, a heavy duty extra large garbage bag works even better.

[MidMoElkNut]

I will be camping at the truck mostly but might hike in and camp a couple nights if need be.... thanks for the info guys!!

[Lefty]

I will be camping at the truck mostly but might hike in and camp a couple nights if need be.... thanks for the info guys!!

My wife and I have been using one of those cheapo screw on-top of a small propane tank, single burner. easy, small. Cost us $12.00 and works great. We also use it for hot chocolate while ice fishing
http://ads.midwayusa.com/product/694352/texsport-classic-single-burner-propane-stove?srccode=cii_17588969&cpncode=26-379053204-2&ads=&cm_mmc=pf_ci_google-_-pf_ci_google-_-pf_ci_google-_-pf_ci_google

[under H2O hunter]

Ok, you have two separate questions so I'll answer them based on base camping it and bivy/spike camping it.

Basecamp for us is a 14x16 wall tent with three large coolers with one of those coolers full of ice we also have a generator and small chest freezer. We bring a four top stove that I pulled out of an old R.V. I also have a two burner stove. Both are hooked up to a 20lb propane bottle. We bring all kinds of things for food. Hamburger helper, spaghetti, chili, sandwiches, soda, beer, pretty much anything you would make or could make at home without using an oven but we also bring a dutch oven so I guess if you can use one of those your pretty much able to do anything.

Bivy/Spike camp is pretty much dehydrated mountain house meals with water that I steri pen or filter from a spring. Peanut Butter and bacon role up's or PB'J on a bagel or cliff bars. Now if you want to cut some cost down you can use top romine frozen mix vegetables (Put the frozen vegetables in your hydration pack and you'll have really cold water for your hike), and bacon crumbles and cut your cost down to pennies instead of expensive dehydrated meals. You should cook these meals over either a jet boil or MSR style stove like a whisperlite or the international. Now both have their up's and downs. 1st, The jetboil is nice and neat and comes with a pot that connects to a canister of gas. However the bad side to em is that you will end up with lots of gas canister that are 1/4 full because you will end up using some gas but not all the gas and you don't want to run out of fuel while bivy hunting it. Jet boils also boil water without you losing water from evaporation however trying to melt and boil snow in an emergency situation will take a long long time.
Now the MSR style stove is a white gas,regular gas,kerosene stove so you can get fuel for it anywhere in the world, you fill a separate bottle so you will be able to always fill it before each trip and you won't have a bunch of partially used fuel cans. You also have to light a wick and get it warmed up before adjusting your flame. This can be hard to do if it's windy or weather is unfavorable. Both are easy to transport and boil water quickly. The MSR style also requires you to bring along an external pot that will add weight to your pack but you can pick up titanium ones that weight nothing but have their own other little problems. But the bonus to having an external pot is that it can boil down snow much quicker and easier then using a Jetboil. So pick your poison based on need and weight consideration.
Good luck.

[planebow]

We set up 10x10 tent for our cook tent, A three burner Camp Chief stove with a 20lb bottle, have 3 large coolers and a freezer.

[ST52V]

Since it is just you I would buy a nice little stove like a soto. Screw on a can of fuel and you are good at base camp or spiked in. The easiest thing would be cans of soup, stew, or ravioli. Open the lid 4/5 of the way and bend back to serve as a handle and set it on the stove. No clean up and you could pack the stove with you and some moutain house for warm lunches. A small cheap propane grill would also work but it would be only good for base camp. Baked potatoes pre cooked and wrapped in tin foil to re heat while you grill some meat.

[Indian Summer]

Jetboil. Mountain House. Even in a base camp if you do what you are supposed to be doing you'll be so tired the most appealing thing is quick, easy, and zero cleanup. Once in awhile I might make a steak dinner at the beginning of the hunt before the mountains take their toll. I a fan of desserts too.

[Elkduds]

For base camp I prep evening meals, then freeze them in double ziplock bags. Boil water on stove, heat bags in boiling water, pour hot food into bowls or plates. Use hot water to make drinks and wash dishes.

[WapitiTalk1]

Jetboil. Mountain House. Even in a base camp if you do what you are supposed to be doing you'll be so tired the most appealing thing is quick, easy, and zero cleanup. Once in awhile I might make a steak dinner at the beginning of the hunt before the mountains take their toll. I a fan of desserts too.

No doubt Joe; well said. Cooking, cleaning, washing, and storing excessive garbage takes time and effort. I'm a big fan of quick, easy chow and good rest each night.

[elk.addict]

Same here, MH/jetboil in the backcountry. And at the main camp, my wonderful wife has already prepared meals that vacuumed sealed and frozen. Just drop them in boiling water and let them cook, very easy.
We've been planning on dehydrating our own backpacking meals this year, but haven't really got around to it yet. Maybe we'll try it next year.

[N5J]

Microwave and propane stove. We pre-make all our meals (morning and evening meals) and then put them in containers so we can reheat and eat. We take a generator and freezer with us so we don't have to rely on ice. We eat good when we elk hunt!

N5J

[Wapitibob]

Mt House and jetboil.

Bisquits and Gravy isn't nearly as good as it sounds. Pass if you were thinking...

[Gselkhunter]

I hunt from base camp so the tent is loaded. Wall to wall carpet, 2 4" foam pads to sleep on, 2 burner stove and lantern hooked to a 20# propane bottle. Not only do I bring meals prepared[elk stew, spaghetti and so on] I also cook from scratch. But the real beauty of the set up is hot coffee in the morning while I wash in my heated tent.
Well fed and slept makes for a happy elk hunter.

[Duck-Slayer]

For base camp I prep evening meals, then freeze them in double ziplock bags. Boil water on stove, heat bags in boiling water, pour hot food into bowls or plates. Use hot water to make drinks and wash dishes.

X2, I do the same, pre cooked homemade meals rock, I roll my meals in tortilla shells and freeze in ziplock bags, reheat I. Stove of boiling water, also take them on my day hikes and usually are thawed out by lunch time, there are so many diff. combinations it's great,
Matt

[Lark Bunting]

For base camp I prep evening meals, then freeze them in double ziplock bags. Boil water on stove, heat bags in boiling water, pour hot food into bowls or plates. Use hot water to make drinks and wash dishes.

I have been preparing these as well and finally ate some while scouting this weekend. IT WAS AWESOME!

We used paper plates/bowls and burned them in the campfire.

Prep time was 10 minutes and clean-up was 1.

[msd1228]

Throw another stick onto the Jetboil/Mountain house pile. Quick and easy. Heck, a few of em even taste good!

[swmoelk]

Mt House and jetboil.

Bisquits and Gravy isn't nearly as good as it sounds. Pass if you were thinking...

Thanks you just saved me $7 . One of my favorite meals is a cup of rice a few strips of jerky .chopped up and a tablespoon of powdered milk then add seasoning to it . I use salt, pepper,garlic powder and maybe some cayenne powder. Put that in a sandwich bag and it's a good cheap lunch just add it to 1 1/2 cup of boiling water give it a stir and let it soak for 10 minutes.

[MidMoElkNut]

Thanks everyone for the advice and ideas!!!.... last year I used a wall tent for base camp but this year I will be staying in a clean livestock trailer with hopefully a wood stove for heat if I can make it work lol ...... I think for cooking I'm going to use a regular camping stove and a small grill..... not sure exactly what I will bring for food just yet.....