Bad Weather Hunting? You Need the Right Gear! - Part 2
Posted by admin
We arrived at hunting camp at around 4:00 on Friday. The sun was just beginning to set to our west. The sky started to get very dark and the wind began to howl from the northwest. We had to set up camp fast because it was going to get dark soon and a possible winter storm was heading our way. I was in charge of pitching the camping tent while the others looked for the firewood.
After about 20 minutes the tent was pitched and my friends were walking up the trail carrying armloads of firewood that they found lying on the forest floor. My friend John said that they saw three big bucks in the valley as they searched for the wood. He said they ran straight to the south side of the woods jumping an old dry stream. Now we knew where we were going to start our hunt early the next morning.
Before we could think about hunting, we had to get a fire started because the storm was approaching quickly. We built a simple fire ring out of big rocks then built the fire and got the rest of our stuff unpacked and put away. As soon as we got the fire going to a roaring blaze it started to snow very hard. It was really cold out so we decided to leave our sandwiches in our picnic backpack and barbecue some juicy strip steaks. Since John had just bought new bbq tools, he got to do the honors. Besides, nobody in our hunting group will ever complain about John’s cooking. He really is the master of the grill.
The snow began to build up very quickly. In a little over an hour we had two inches on the ground. My new four season camping tent was holding up to the weather conditions very well. Soon the steaks were done and we could get into our tent and enjoy our dinner. We grabbed the cooler out of the back of the truck and headed for the tent for an evening of storytelling, food and beer.
As we ate, the snow and wind got even worse. The tent was shaking hard but we weren’t worried. I was very happy I bought the four season tent instead of the three season one I had thought about. If I had gotten the three season tent, we would have either cancelled the trip or we’d have been camping in the truck. A little while later the dinner and beer were just fond memories and it was time to climb into our sleeping bags and get some sleep. The alarm clock was going to go off early because tomorrow we would hunt!
Please come back soon for part 3 of this story about my bad weather hunting trip. In part 3 I’ll tell you the story of the hunt and the huge buck I shot that day.
Winter Hunting - Heck Yes
Posted by admin
Don’t you hate it when you have a camping trip planned and the forecast calls for lousy weather? Have you ever postponed a hunting trip because it was too cold or rainy? I don’t have that problem anymore. Last November I decided to go to deer camp with some of my friends. We made our plans a couple weeks ahead of time so we’d have plenty of time to get our camping gear ready. As opening day of deer season got closer, I kept an eye on the Weather Channel and the prospects didn’t look good. The forecast was for a cold and snowy weekend but were sure it wouldn’t keep us from bagging our deer.
You see, I had postponed too many hunting trips in the past and recently bought a four season family camping tent and some thermal sleeping bags to stop it from happening again. The camping tent sleeps up to eight so I knew we would have plenty of room for the five of us and our equipment. I also knew we’d be protected because the four season camping tent is built to withstand all kinds of bad weather.
As Friday got closer, I packed all my supplies knowing that we’d be going camping as planned. Not only that but hunters without the proper camping gear would be canceling their trips. Fewer hunters in the forest would mean better hunting for us. Also, doesn’t it seem like the deer know exactly when hunting season starts? Well, maybe because of the bad weather they wouldn’t hide quite so carefully.
The weekend finally arrived and we packed our camping equipment in the car and headed for the woods. All of a sudden I realized that we forgot the picnic backpacks with the food for our first day in it. We don’t cook on Friday because by the time we arrive at camp and set up our tent, it’s too late to bother cooking. After the first night though, we take out our barbecue tools and grill up dinner on our portable grill.
Finally we hit the road. I couldn’t wait to get to the woods and set up our camping equipment before the bad weather set in. For me there’s nothing better than a weekend at hunting camp with my best buddies and the anticipation of the hunt to come. Stay tuned and I’ll tell you how we did on our winter weather hunting trip.