Traditional approaches to elk hunting revolve around daily hunts conducted from a “base” camp. Rise early, hike (or ride) to distant elk, hunt, go back to “base” camp. This approach involves a lot of counter-productive effort — there’s a better way.
Eddie Claypool
Hunting with your “camp on your back” is a much better all-around approach. Here are some of the reasons why it could pay off for you. You don’t have to worry about being lost from, or returning to, base camp every day. You can spend the night wherever darkness finds you — hopefully, very near game. This allows for much less “back-and-forth” hiking (especially in the dark of the morning and evening) from base camp to the game. You expend much less energy hiking and can go to bed earlier and arise later.
Many has been the night — while bowhunting rutting elk — when I’ve been awakened at my “spike” camp by bugling bulls. On a couple of occasions, I’ve climbed out of my one-man tent at first light, sneaked a short distance away and then arrowed a bull before sun-up … while many other hunters were probably still yet hurryingto get to their hunting spots!