Great read BB. I will say this, your a bit more anal about your preparation than I am.
The one thing I did that has made things a lot more enjoyable for me is the little pop up camper I bought a few years ago cheap due to hail damage. It works great and has been on a number of Ruff Grouse hunts with me when I go east to hunt them with my step son. God I love those hunts with him. Its about the only time we are able to get together for any length of time and everyone of them are memorable. You will find that out when you finally get to hunt with your son out here.
The pop up camper only has one problem and that is low ground clearance. I really need to change the axle and go to bigger tires on it and then lengthen out the tongue so I can put a drop tongue on it due to the more height it will have. With the extra ground clearance I can get back into more places without risking bending the axle on it due to rocks. I sometimes just stop at a rest stop when I'm traveling and park in the area's for trucks and pop it up and go to sleep for the night. Doesn't cost a thing to do that. It also has a huge amount of storage for coolers and extra's. I like to find a place for a base camp close as I can to my hunting area and work out from there. I have used it a lot even for weekend deer hunting as you just pull into your camp area and pop it up and your good to go. Plus I don't look like a 4wheel Elk going down the road.
and I can get everything off the roof. Thats a PITA getting that stuff off. Your right on a BIGGER TRUCK. I picked up a Ford F150 Super Crew with the 5.5 box and a topper to go on it with side windows that open up to access things in the front of the bed. It has gun storage shelf at the front for very easy access. I like to keep the cab clean as my dog usually rids behind the front seat with half the back seat up. Leaves room for a third person if needed. Have done that with 3 labs in the back seat and step son up front with me. Gets kind of crowded if one of the dogs are grumpy LOL
What I found was the hardest to do on trips like your taking is taking enough water along. At higher altitudes I find I cannot drink enough water and started taking cases of bottled water to cover that but it really bulks up fast. 3 cases though will usually get me though the week even using it for cooking. The rest of the water I need I can get from a steam and boil enough to use for dishes and washing and other needs. Two or three of the 30lb bottles will get you through a week for the furnace if your out of camp hunting all day and shut off the heat. Usually isn't hard to find a place that will fill them for you either out in this country or trade you out with filled ones. I don't like having to take chain saws and gas and oil as it always seems to make a mess and if I am just going to have a camp fire I can cut that with an old cross cut saw. Batteries are easy to keep charged for lights if you have a couple solar panels. Not good on very cloudy days though.
Something I found that also works great are some of those solar powered lights for along the driveways they sell cheap. Most will stay charged up and run all night and a couple of those around camp work great for those 3:00Am forays out to find a tree to water.
And last but not least, sleeping in a warm bed with a mattress sure makes the next days hunt a lot better on the disposition.
By the way, I have a lot of respect for those horseback hunters. I use to do that. I went from a progression of small 4 season tent to a wall tent and hauling horse after a couple of those trips I will never do that one again. Talk about work. I have a lot of respect for those people.
I hopefully can retire this next year and plan on doing a lot of hunting. This method for me will be one way of doing it without killing myself doing it.
By the way, if your coming through this next season and are in need of a good nights sleep and a shower, give me a email. Your more than welcome.
