Elk Camp | Camping Tips from Old Timers

As soon as I saw the bright yellow Tamarack, I knew we were back in elk country.  It felt good to be heading back to elk camp.  I year older, 1 more child at home and the same giant goal – bring an elk home for the family.

It was different this year though.  My dad was getting older and even talked about his last elk trip.  Many of the old timers were not there this year.  Don had major leg surgery and Bill was out after a battle with cancer.  Others had already given up because of low numbers of elk in the area.  There were still three old timers left that would be at camp to tell some of the old stories.

Rob, Dean and Doug were there for the week.  My goal was to glean a little camping knowledge from these old timers with over 200 years of camping experience.

Many of their initial tips were ones I had laughed about before – “Don’t eat yellow snow” and “at my age you never trust a fart”.  Although these are definite words of wisdom, I want to share a few tips that can help you next time you are out camping.

I will also mix it up a little this week and add our meal plan from the trip and finish up describing the clothing I wore to stay warm and dry in the snow and cold rainy weather.

Oh yeah, in case you were wondering…..We didn’t get an elk this year, but still had a great camping trip!

6 Old Timer Elk Camp Tips

Backlog on the campfire

If you are camping where fires are allowed, then the backlog tip is one you should try out.  You are going to need a decent sized campfire pit  for this one.  The basic idea is to find a massive log that you can put on the back of the fire once you have a good bed of coals.

The log acts like a fireplace and reflects the heat back out towards you.  As more of the backlog burns, more heat pumps out.  Many times in the morning there will still be enough of the backlog left to stoke a new fire without a match.

Prepare meals at Home

This comes from the KISS idea or Keep It Simple Stupid.  Instead of cooking huge meals while at camp, prepare them at home so they can just be heated and ready to eat.  This was so nice for us because we would be out hunting and hiking late and the easy preparation gave us a quick meal.

Make the kitchen Comfortable

We had a very clean and organized camp kitchen area including a high powered stove.  We had a functional fold out camp kitchen and all of the basic supplies to make it easy.  We also had big canvas tents that had wood stoves and plenty of room.  Even though you don’t have to go to this extreme it is nice to put some time into setting up a comfortable base camp.

Wool is still king

There are so many synthetic materials out there that it’s easy to forget about wool.  These guys used wool before there were synthetics and still use them today.  I wore a pair of wool pants most of the trip and was comfortable in warm and cold weather.  Wool is one of the warmest material and stays warm even when wet.  Whether its socks, pants, jackets, gloves or a blanket, wool is still a great choice camping.

Fortified Hot chocolate

This is what Rob calls hot chocolate mixed with a shot of Crown Royal.  I am not a heavy hard alcohol drinker, but a hot cup of this on a cold day changes everything.  Try it out next time or leave a comment below if you have an equally good mix for a cold and wet day.

If it aint broken….

Well, you know the rest.  These guys grew up out of the depression era and still live their lives from the affect of their parents.  They had the same backpacks, tents, guns and knives for 30, 40, 50 years and more.  Their thinking is that if it still works fine there’s no reason to throw it in the trash.  I am following this motto as well.  I have a hunting backpack that is getting close to 20 years old, and although I have thought about getting rid of it, I still hold on.  Here’s a link to the company, although my pack design has been upgraded.

Meal planning

I asked a question of Facebook recently as to whether everyone would like to see me post more camping tips or camping recipe posts.  The response….. both.  So, now that we have a few tips covered, here is our meal plan.  The recipes from this list will be posted over the next month.

Our first meal at camp was Mom’s Easy Minestrone soup.  All ready prepared at home so we just had to heat it up on the stove and we were eating a nice warm meal.

The next night was deer steaks, spuds and corn.  Another easy meal and cheap since the deer came from deer hunting just a month previously.

We had meat loaf on night 3.  Thank you Rita!   Amazing meat loaf is all there is to say.  All ready prepared.  We just put the tinfoil block on the barbecue and we were good.

Spagetti for night 4.  Already pre made like the others so we just added a little water and heated it up.  Put the garlic bread in tinfoil and on the barbecue and we were eating in less than 15 minutes.

Pheasant was the final meal and came thanks to a little bird hunting before the elk hunt.  Dean made a nice basic marinade with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Camping Clothing

It was rainy and windy on the first day then it warmed up.  Then snowed and then rained again.  Then snowed again on our final day.  All the while I was hiking miles out in the we woods trying to stay warm.  I want to give you a quick glimpse into the clothing I was wearing to stay warm and comfortable.

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links through the Amazon Associates Program. At no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase through my website.

• Boots:  Asolo Fugitive GTX
• Socks:  Cabelas mid weight wool
• Long underwear:  Patagonia bottoms and tops
• Pants:  army issued wool pants
• Jacket:  midweight columbia fleece
• Second jacket:  north face fleece vest
• Mid layer:  Polypropylene hoodie
• Waterproof gear:  columbia gortex bibs
• Waterproof jacket:  Army issue gortex jacket
• Gloves:  mountain hardwear medium fleece
• Hat:  fleece stocking cap and orange hunting cap

The great thing about all of this gear is that even though I did sweat at times, once I stopped, the fleece and polypropylene dries quick.  There are many different brands and styles but this should give you a feel for how I stayed comfortable.

Conclusion

This trip was about elk huniting.  But, it was just as much about elk camp and the camping trip.  About the old timers and tradition.  About friends and family.  We will be back next year and ready for more stories.

I hope the tips and information here help you think a little bit about why you go camping and who influences you.  These amazing people won’t always be here so find your old timers and get outdoors with them.  Thank them for the knowledge and wisdom they share.  Who’s your old timer that influences your outdoor experience?  Leave their first name in the Reply below area.