Pop up camper hunting

[Brad]

I may be crazy, but I want to trade a decent fishing boat for a pop up camper, and I want to start going to public areas a few hours away and hunting area's I have never been. I want to better myself as a hunter (especially bowhunting), and I feel that getting out of my "comfort zone" will do that. Its easy to fall into a pattern on grounds you know well, and I want to stay on my toes and learn to adapt to new areas/conflicts. Does anyone (especially Wisconsinites) do this each year and if so, is it as rewarding as I picture in my mind, or is this just a waste of time and money. I have the internet and a strong desire as my # 1 tools and feel that this is enough to be successful.

[Zap]

I use a slide in old slide in camper.

[GLOCKMASTER]

I may be crazy, but I want to trade a decent fishing boat for a pop up camper, and I want to start going to public areas a few hours away and hunting area's I have never been. I want to better myself as a hunter (especially bowhunting), and I feel that getting out of my "comfort zone" will do that. Its easy to fall into a pattern on grounds you know well, and I want to stay on my toes and learn to adapt to new areas/conflicts. Does anyone (especially Wisconsinites) do this each year and if so, is it as rewarding as I picture in my mind, or is this just a waste of time and money. I have the internet and a strong desire as my # 1 tools and feel that this is enough to be successful.

Brad with just 18 months left till retirement I'm looking at doing the same thing. I've also been looking at this from Jayco.http://www.jayco.com/php/products/lite.weight/trailer.php?id=272.

[muddy]

With those sorts of amenities you can hunt with me any trip Zap!

As long as you don't snore OR I remember ear plugs.

[Zap]

What amenities?

[Southern Man]

Nice Zap. A man couldn't ask for more.....

[BackWoodsHunter]

Loving the flat screen....wondering what a truck camper like that does to a guys mileage though? Is that a killer on the gas? Is that a 1500 or 2500? Probably only gets about 15mpg anyways eh?

[Zap]

89 2500 with a 350/3 speed standard.
Ten with or without camper.

But a 100 mile radius gets me 6 OTC buck tags.

[ttsbuck]

Brad I have a 28 ft travel trailer. We take a couple hunting trips each year. My favorite is a bow hunt on public land. Being able to camp where we hunt is fantastic. I spend a few days alone then my son will join me. We tried a pop up but found it difficult to hold heat. With the hard shell trailer I have its much more comfy. Its warm, has running water and shower. I pull it with a half ton pickup and get about 7 mpg. I would advise renting something before you buy. That way you can figure out what works best for you.

[Brad]

My dad has a 24 footer that I have access to but it has to be pulled with a 3/4 ton van and it just guzzles the fuel. I have a ford escape that I just love but it can only pull 1500 lbs so Im pretty much limited to a pop up. I think I would rather the pop up because I can go to further away places with the fuel being crazy anyways. There is definitely a convenience factor in the longer units being all set up and easier to heat though, thats for certain.

[DEERSLAYER]

I have a pop up I bought for hunting. It's getting sold as soon as I get around to it. Once it gets down around 40* using a heater results in condensation covering the canvas on each end. It forms water droplets everywhere waiting to rain down with any sudden movement or if you bump into it.

[bowhunter15]

This year I will likely do some camping/hunting, though without a pop-up. Either stay at nearby campgrounds in tents and drive a short ways to the hunting spot, or hunt state forests where dispersed camping is allowed anywhere in the forest, bringing in nothing but hunting equipment, and a pack which has a tent, sleeping bag, food, etc.

[BigHunt]

nice looking good

[BackWoodsHunter]

My dad has a 24 footer that I have access to but it has to be pulled with a 3/4 ton van and it just guzzles the fuel. I have a ford escape that I just love but it can only pull 1500 lbs so Im pretty much limited to a pop up. I think I would rather the pop up because I can go to further away places with the fuel being crazy anyways. There is definitely a convenience factor in the longer units being all set up and easier to heat though, thats for certain.

One thought would be to invest in a quality rain fly/canvas shelter of sorts and sleep inside your vehicle. Set up the rain fly with one of those cooking stands/equipment and it would be a good spot to keep all your gear, prepare meals and keep things dry. Getting dressed in the morning and getting ready would be slightly less convenient and on colder days it may be painful but it would definitely be affordable. Last yr during gun season I had a jeep cherokee sport I slept in it with a space heater running off the cig lighter. It was pretty nice in there I slept like a king.

[kenn1320]

Zap your setup looks to comfy and Id be late for the woods waking up to a breakfast like that. I used to have a F250 Diesel 4x4 with a slide in "pop up" style camper in it. I "thought" it would be awesome, but turns out it wasn't. "IF" anybody is going the truck camper route, get one like Zap has that is always up. I thought I would save a bunch on fuel being able to lower it, not sure cause I didn't have a standard one to tell the difference. However when I wanted to pack the truck for the big trip, there wasn't much area to pack, since the top was down you didn't have storage where the beds and seats would be. You had a tiny walk way and closets/stove/fridge on both sides of it. Then when you wanted to sleep for the night, you had to crank it up. When you got up in the morning and wanted to hunt a few miles down the road, or run into town, you had to crank it back down. What a pain! You all might laugh, but I use a mini van and its the cats azz! I know, I know, soccer mom vehicle, but until you have one you wouldn't understand. I can throw all my gear in it and its locked better then a pickup with a topper on it. All my gear is dry and I can get to it in a down pour if I want and never get wet doing it. I hunt with my little brother and we pack it so that we have a single spot to sleep. It was set up that way, so one of us could sleep while the other drives on those 16hr trips. When we get to our destination we use a tent. We had been using a summer time dome style tent and setting it up so the wind was not hitting the door (as best we could). We then cover it with a huge tarp which helped cut down on the wind, but admittedly not great. We use good -20 bags on cots and use no heat. We sleep great and in the morning when the alarm goes off its "HIS" job to fire up the buddy heater. 5 minutes later the tent is plenty warm to get up and get going for the day. Sure a 5th wheel trailer or hotel/cabin would be better, but when your hunting on the cheap, nothing beats my mini vans 16mpg and a tent. This year I bought a 9x12 canvas tent and that should work that much better. Maybe one day we will invest in a wood heater and have heat all night, but I don't see that being needed. We found a local motel that will let us shower for $5 each, if we get there early before they clean the room. We don't get to shower every day, but when we feel the need, its worth the drive/cost for the convenience. It works for us!