Posted By: BDB
New Tent recommendationooking at the cabbalas Alaknak - 09/28/21 09:13 PM
I need a new tent for base camp hunting. 12x12 or little bigger. I'm looking at the Cabelas Alaknak or Kodiak lodge. We will only use this once per season and maybe none at all if we pack in for remote hunting.
Note: We just got back from Montana elk hunt. Very tough conditions. My older cheap tent was shredded by the extreme high winds we got. Montana is in the worst drought in history. Temps never got cold (at least for the elk). The wind howled for about 6 days, wolves moved in and we actually saw a herd move over the mountain top and into the next drainage the morning the wolves howled. Every animal in that drainage heard them. Then we got 3 days of snow and thats when the bulls went silent, that was about sept. 12 or so and they never cranked back up....we left sept 25th. Full moon didn't help either. wardens, forest service people and locals all echoed the same problems all over SW Montana. We hunted the Madison and Gravely ranges. very few cows....and I thought that would help us on bulls but they just would not respond or even come in quiet. I called in 1 bull that sneaked in without making a sound and he busted me the caller.
My son got drawn twice on nice bulls but cows and wind would do the damndest thing to ruin it. He was 3 seconds away from releasing arrow inside 20 yards when the lead cow....decided to run out front and got to far downwind of us and smelled us before the arrow was gone. Had a great time, saw BIG moose, blackies, goats, mule deer etc. Saw no Grizz but another hunter shot and wounded a sow with 2 cubs after she charged him. We smelled her a few times and saw her diarrhea poop as she was sick.
I'm taking Montana off the "destination" list as the wolves have devastated the herds in that state. We were in a prime area and a game warden (I finally got checked after 8 elk hunts) told me the herd is down 70% due to wolves. Sad!!
Back to Tents....any other options to the ones I listed please share
Note: We just got back from Montana elk hunt. Very tough conditions. My older cheap tent was shredded by the extreme high winds we got. Montana is in the worst drought in history. Temps never got cold (at least for the elk). The wind howled for about 6 days, wolves moved in and we actually saw a herd move over the mountain top and into the next drainage the morning the wolves howled. Every animal in that drainage heard them. Then we got 3 days of snow and thats when the bulls went silent, that was about sept. 12 or so and they never cranked back up....we left sept 25th. Full moon didn't help either. wardens, forest service people and locals all echoed the same problems all over SW Montana. We hunted the Madison and Gravely ranges. very few cows....and I thought that would help us on bulls but they just would not respond or even come in quiet. I called in 1 bull that sneaked in without making a sound and he busted me the caller.
My son got drawn twice on nice bulls but cows and wind would do the damndest thing to ruin it. He was 3 seconds away from releasing arrow inside 20 yards when the lead cow....decided to run out front and got to far downwind of us and smelled us before the arrow was gone. Had a great time, saw BIG moose, blackies, goats, mule deer etc. Saw no Grizz but another hunter shot and wounded a sow with 2 cubs after she charged him. We smelled her a few times and saw her diarrhea poop as she was sick.
I'm taking Montana off the "destination" list as the wolves have devastated the herds in that state. We were in a prime area and a game warden (I finally got checked after 8 elk hunts) told me the herd is down 70% due to wolves. Sad!!
Back to Tents....any other options to the ones I listed please share