Anatomy of Our Hunting Camp

For a few years now, we've been able to pull together my dad, his three brothers, and me for elk hunting. I'm the youngest by a lot, so my role is to try and bring back an elk for the camp. The old guys do their best, too, and my dad has killed an elk each of the last two years. But their real joy is the camp. They love setting everything up, cutting the firewood, and constantly plotting about improvements for next year. They've got a system which is so regimented that I'd prefer to be out scouting while they set up, but it's best to stick around and contribute.

[the last bit of packing up in NM before leaving for CO]

[arriving in Colorado]

We have a 14' x 16' canvas wall tent with a homemade, enclosed veranda off the front. Inside there are four cots (and five people - guess where I sleep..), a stove, and two tables for cooking and food preparation. The bottom is lined with a tarp and there are hooks hanging from all the tent frame bars to hang clothes and boots on (I hang my boots from the peak of the tent so they dry out each night).


My uncle Barrie is a former logger and all the old Clumpner guys love wood cutting about as much as they love elk hunting. Without fail, we always cut about twice as much wood as we need (don't worry, we only take dead trees). And every year, I start complaining when we're halfway through our wood cutting and already have a month's supply.

[about one-third of our supply for a week's stay]

[this is hazy because my cold lens fogged up when I came inside the warm tent]