MT Elk - new to wall tent hunting

[kansasdad]

Great ideas cowboy.....Keeping the TP stored dry and right where you expect it to be. Priceless at 4:30 am.

 

[StHubert]

I find painter canvas tarps are great for the floor... And YES poly tarps get slick as snot when in snow and tracking a bit in...

Wood - dry and not additive type special fire logs as that will build up a lot of soot in the pipe.

Definately do a dry run with the stove... I find loading wood inside the tent - behind or on the side of the stove with minmal 1-2 feet of distance helps keep the wood ready to burn as it dries it out and makes a nice place to prop the boots and socks for a quick dry - just not too long Having that newspaper / thin cut kindlinig is very helpful especially if the red coals run out at night and need to get her rolling again.

A Damper is really nice! Don't ever close a damper completely as it will smoke you out. though you will find in your testing how much - little draft is necessary to keep the smoke drafting correctly as well as a spark arrestor / top for the pipe as that will dramatically reduce smke mixing with the wet and clogging up the pipe. Also the damper will enable the heat to remain much longer over night when your not able to attend to it (sleep).

I use a tarp as an extension to the tent for housing additional wood, chainsaw - (bring bar oil!) cooler / beer ( ) and other essential not necessary to stay in the tent or truck. Take 3 pecker poles and form an extention off the tent.

I have an aluminum long S shaped hook that I hang from the internal peak frame pole... it has about 2 feet in length - to use for hanging a lantern from - far enough from the roof of the tent and accessible to control.

Wall tent camping is great and makes a world of a difference to the enjoyment and comfort of the woods! Best of success in your adventure~!

Sytes, huntfishcamp and I have the best stove out there, made by an infamous stove builder in Montana. I just got it last week actually.

 

[huntfishcamp]

This site is unreal, thanks to all you guys. Elk huntng is the one week that keeps me chugging along the other 51 weeks. All great info! Wonder how many first timers never ask questions and get out there wishing they had done this or had broght that.

 

[Sytes]

Pictures! haha! take pictures!

Been wrapped in the information shared here too much! Some great tips! I can never learn enough - that is certain.

I hope the stove works for you as well as it has for me. Being your first wall tent stove use - PLEASE cut some good dry wood get a good feel for the damper and make sure those legs get locked in place. Haha!

Best of success in your hunt, guys!

What did you guys decide on the stove pipe type?

 

[StHubert]

Pictures! haha! take pictures!

Been wrapped in the information shared here too much! Some great tips! I can never learn enough - that is certain.

I hope the stove works for you as well as it has for me. Being your first wall tent stove use - PLEASE cut some good dry wood get a good feel for the damper and make sure those legs get locked in place. Haha!

Best of success in your hunt, guys!

What did you guys decide on the stove pipe type?

Sytes, I got the 5 inch tapered to 4 inch pipe, with damper, stack robber and the wind rain guard from Kni-co. Thanks for all of your help, as you can tell we are excited about the tent, stove and the hunting trip coming up.

 

[mtlion]

Excellent advice here, I would however have to disagree about the buddy heaters. I camp 12 months a year in my wall tent and sometimes do so where there are no trees for firewood. When this is the case I run buddy heaters off 20 and 30 lb tanks. If you have your tent properly ventilated you should have no problem with moisture and they do indeed heat the tent nicely. Here is a pic from last winter, nighttime lows were -10 or worse and the daytime temp was barely cracking zero. We stayed comfortably for 4 days in the tent.

I would recommend taking the buddys if for nothing else than to supplement the wood stove. I have found that in the morning we are in a big hurry to get out and up the mountain. Turning on the buddy heater for 15-20 minutes while you get dressed and chug down breakfest is a lot easier than stoking coals or building a new fire, plus when you leave you turn it off and don't have to worry about a fire/coals going all day while you are off hunting. I always take a carbon monoxide detector and fresh batteries, cheap insurance I think I paid about $5 for mine at wally world.

That being said if firewood is availlable the stove will have you playing cards in your boxers and can't be beat!

 

[huntfishcamp]

Congrats on getting a bull your first time out. Your buddy by chance didn't track that bull for a mile or so in the snow before you got it?

dont worry about him, he was rewarded nicely with a 50% take on the meat.

 

[belly-deep]

Excellent advice here, I would however have to disagree about the buddy heaters. I camp 12 months a year in my wall tent and sometimes do so where there are no trees for firewood. When this is the case I run buddy heaters off 20 and 30 lb tanks. If you have your tent properly ventilated you should have no problem with moisture and they do indeed heat the tent nicely. Here is a pic from last winter, nighttime lows were -10 or worse and the daytime temp was barely cracking zero. We stayed comfortably for 4 days in the tent.


I would recommend taking the buddys if for nothing else than to supplement the wood stove. I have found that in the morning we are in a big hurry to get out and up the mountain. Turning on the buddy heater for 15-20 minutes while you get dressed and chug down breakfest is a lot easier than stoking coals or building a new fire, plus when you leave you turn it off and don't have to worry about a fire/coals going all day while you are off hunting. I always take a carbon monoxide detector and fresh batteries, cheap insurance I think I paid about $5 for mine at wally world.

That being said if firewood is availlable the stove will have you playing cards in your boxers and can't be beat!

Can you heat a tent with one of the big buddy heaters? Or do you need two, or what?

 

[huntfishcamp]

Thanks mtlion, we might as well bring them, in the AM who wants to be messing with getting a fire going when your always going to be in a rush to get out there, ecspecially since we'll be on public land right off the roads, and like you said you are leaving hot embers in the stove when ur not there...neat pic thanks for sharing

 

[huntfishcamp]

belly deep, I know a big buddy heater barely heats a fish house in the middle of winter, so a 16x20 tent at 9k feet in late Oct we'd each have to have one and it would be for directed heat while gettting dressed, eating bfast, ect, i doubt it would do much for the whole tent...we thought about hanging some batt powered fans to blow the heat down from the stove or propane heaters, anyone ever tried this?

 

[huntfishcamp]

Fyi here was our accomodations last year. The night before was snow-less, we woke up to this. The snow was sliding off the roof, sounded like a bear scratching at the tent all night. Worst night of sleep in my life...so we bit the bullet for the wall tent, i know it will be worth it!

 

[putm2sleep]

Righteous mtlion!, sweet pic. Agree fully. I see you have some bins, as do I to keep your gear... another good tip for ya buddy.
note: After a long day elk hunting, its all one can do to drink a beer, make a fire and even not eating is considered. (Read BigFins story) Our propane heater (about the size of a box fan) has a carbon detector and pilot light....20 lbs of propane and its on baby. Perfect for gettin' ready in the mornin' and great to warm the tent before hittin the rack!

 

[muleguy]

No need for fans if you have a good stove and dry wood-you are going to be pleasantly surprised how nice it can be.
One more safety thing-when you decide on a spot look up all around for dead trees-if you see any that can reach your tent cut them before you put up your tent and use them for firewood and it may save your life in a bad wind.

 

[putm2sleep]

Here is the inside of mine. Had an old military cook tent --- buddies went in years ago and bought me this. After 15 years of elk hunting, its dialed in.

 

[huntfishcamp]

Sweet pic!!, can i ask what material you used for the floor? I bought a poly tarp but i am bringing it back, painters cloth was mentioned, the tent co (Reliable Tent Co) makes a floor too I think, by the way anyone have experience with this company?

 

[Sytes]

Great thread! Tons of new tidbits of VALUABLE info!

A 16x20 is rather large. My friend has one this size (actually I think it is a whoppin 16x24 mess tent conversion)... We had painter canvas cloth tarps and seperated our sleep area from storage seats kitchen area (kitchen area would need to be aware of griz country)
We had our sleep area at the side with the stove and closed it off at 12 feet. It was a WORLD of difference for heat then having to heat the entire tent. In the morning, when we stoked the stove up - we pulled aside the tarps and let it heat up the other side.

I have a 12X14 and don't really need it though at 20' length, it may be worth considering. stitch a few toggles on her and velcro for following one of the center positioned interior frame poles.

I would be intereseted in how the stack robber works - Looking forward to feedback on that. Doesn't that have a damper incorporated into it? I was a bit concerned about restricting the draft with those... Make sure to use the stack robber when doing a test run just to make sure it will work well with the collapisble type stoves - There will always be edges that hold a potential for smoking if the draft is not properly operating. Draft for the flue is paramount to good stove operation - IMO.

edit: WOW! That is a slick setup there putm! 8)

 

[THWAK1]

For light, we use a gas grill propane canister that has an aluminum pole you can attach to it that holds the lantern at the top. You can run it for a long time if your canister is full and then we use a small portable lantern for outdoor use. We also take a folding table and place that in the corner opposite the stove and place the lantern next to it and we place all of our food and goodies on the table to keep them off the floor.

 

[muleguy]

I have had no problems with reliable-they have the best prices imo
They also run sales in the winter until march,located in billings

 

[kansasdad]

putm2sleep: Dialed in is right! Very nice setup.

 

[putm2sleep]

kansasdad: Thanks, it works pretty ok. It's home away from home --- entire elk camp fits in the back of the 3/4 ton.