It’s summer and fishing season is in full swing. A couple more months and hunting season will be starting. Rather than hunt and fish the same spots over and over, consider traveling a bit and finding somewhere new. You can do this on the cheap and camp to save money. Going on large and exciting out of state hunts is always fun, but you can travel easily to new spots to hunt or fish. All you need is time off from work and some basics. I’m going to walk you through my setup and how I travel on the cheap to new areas to hunt.
Eating Cheaply
Eating out can quickly get expensive when traveling to a new area. By bringing food with me on a trip I can save a ton of money and time. A good camp stove is essential. I tend to use a small backpacker stove that runs on white gas. Each day of my trip I will plan on eating 2 freeze-dried meals for lunch and dinner and oatmeal for breakfast. All of these foods provide a hot meal and can be cooked with just boiling water. I am a big fan of Mountain House freeze-dried meals. You can get them around $6 each and they taste great and provide a ton of calories. If you have a dehydrator you can prepare some of your own dehydrated meals like chili, pasta, and more. Boiling water heats them up and brings them back to life.
Camping
Camping is essential when traveling to hunt and fish. Hotels are a major expense and add up quickly when out of town for multiple days. Invest in a solid tent or car camping setup and it will easily pay for itself in just a couple nights. I tend to use a lightweight and relatively small backpacking 3 season tent for most trips. It provides adequate ventilation in warm weather, good weather resistance, and is big enough to unwind and read a book after a long day in the woods. Unless you will be in an area with high winds, extremely low temperatures, or heavy snow you probably don’t need a 4 season tent. They can quickly get expensive and most of the time you can get by with a 3 season tent and a good sleeping bag. Speaking of sleeping bags, I am a big fan of a down bag for most scenarios. They provide an excellent warmth to weight ratio and can pack down very small. The one area that down does not excel is if you will be in a very wet environment. Knowing that rain will be an issue you may want to opt for a sleeping bag made of synthetic materials that will dry faster than down.
Conclusion
You don’t have to be stuck hunting in the same areas all the time and you don’t have to spend a fortune on guided out of state hunts. Driving and camping is a great way to hunt some new areas and have an adventure while still sticking to a budget.
