Need Moose Camp suggestions...please!

dannymat

dannymat

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Hamilton, Ontario
Dear fellow CGNers

My buddies and I will have been hunting for about 3 years now, and we're looking to set up a moose hunt camp.
We have a fair bit of property in Northern Ontario, for the first few year we're planning on having a treailer up there that we live out of. We're all in our mid 20's and have no idea in the full scope of work/planning involved in a moose camp.
Any suggestion on ANYTHING would be appreciated, from camp rules/policies that have made your camps successful, to equipment must haves.

Thank-you
even horror stories of things that have happened and how you over came them

Thanking you in advanced
dannymat
 
For starters just make sure you and your friends are organised well before the hunt. Make sure everyone caries their weight and has tasks set out for them. That way nobody will feel like they are doing more than the other guy. For starters all you need is food/water, shelter, a gun and TAGS. The rest comes with time and necessity.

do you ALL own the land??
 
When you have a permanent set up, like a trailer on private property, a lot of what you'll need and want can be sorted out way in advance. Clear brush, toilet facility, firewood and fire pit, hanging rack, secure shed, tree stands, clothes line, picnic table etc.

As Jansey mentioned, a good group of guys, with responsibilities outlined, who will pull their weight is essential.

Limit (not ban) the alcohol during hunting season. If you're hunting hard, you shouldn't have much energy for drinking at the end of the day.

Keep the camp as neat and tidy as possible. A pigsty of a camp reflects on its inhabitants.

Cheers,
DL
 
The land is family property of one of the members, we are all aware that any money invested is only for equal rights to the lodging, not the land it's self
We have applied as a group, and even if we don't get moose tags this year, we are still going to bear hunt, watch for moose, and get a basic set up so that we can reduce the amount of stuff needed for next year

There are 3 of us doing most of the research/pre-lim work right now, 5 in total will be hunting, and full group size/people applying for tags, and eventually hunting will be 7.

The 3 of us(including the land owner) will have veto votes for kicking someone out if for whatever reason we can't stand living with them for a week

We are also having an initial member fee to cover the cost of permanente/semi permanate structures
As well as a much lower yearly maintenance fee

All 3 admin members will have access to financial records so no one can "borrow" funds
 
It is somewhat natural that some people will be the movers in any group, and hunt groups are no different. If everybody is active, they'll all have different ideas - last thing you need is seven different ideas about what the meal plan needs to be! You need some folks who'll be good guys when the time comes but are willing to follow the leader a bit too.

That said of course EVERYBODY has to be sufficiently committed that they will show up for the full time if the tag drawn is theirs, will wake up on time if some party is heading out early to some particular place, will share in the cooking etc. There is nothing more infuriating than having a slacker when the time comes; I'm just saying it will be natural, and maybe preferable to have it be the main three of you who do a good portion of the work.

RG

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camp rules
you cook someone else cleans up
all expenses are shared equaly
you see something needs to be done DO IT
someone needs a hand help out
someone needs something share it
take turns doing all chores
add as needed
 
and, for god sakes. SHOWER please- you guys get more than kind of ripe during hunting season-
 
We used to get robbed. A lot. It is why we eventually got rid of the place. I'd say if you can get a trailer there - stick with that. At least you don't have to worry about it for 10 months out of the year.

Otherwise, an old oil furnace tank makes a great safe. Put "Flammable" stickers on the outside.

A urinal mounted to the back of the camp is better than having guys pee off the balcony in the middle of the night.

A piece of 1/2" plywood with about a million 1.5" drywall screws makes a nice bear "unwelcome" mat.

Build the outhouse downhill and downwind.
 
Here's what I have found so far... the "pre" work consists of before season prep in that you want to find spots for stands and then clear shooting lanes. Other than that you might want to get a spot ready to hang a moose from if you do get one. You want to get a 6" or thicker diameter log, green wood, 10-12 feet in length hung 25 feet or so up between two suitable trees. Get a good rig up in the middle of it to hang a chainfall in the event of getting a moose.

Once camp starts assume that you will have to hang/dry wet clothing every day after getting back into camp. You will find that for 5+ guys you are going to need four feet each way around a heat source to hang/dry clothing.

The food/cleaning/cooking duties can be sorted out by you guys, you are all adults.

In the event you get a moose we generally have 2 people field dressing, 2 people clearing a path to get the moose out of whereever it drops and 1 guy getting a trailer from camp to bring the moose back to camp with. Make sure you guys have rope, lots and strong rope for pulling trees out of the way, a chainsaw and other handsaws for limbs and such. If you are not quartering you will want a trailer capable of hauling a moose.

Once we have our moose hung we generally apply pepper to the moose to try and keep birds, wolves and bears away from our meat. Once we are ready to leave and camp has been packed up, we load a quad on the front of a trailer, drop the moose in the middle and load a quad at the back. This helps to keep the moose out of view once we hit Southern Ontario as well as protect the moose from a lot of road debris.

We get the moose off the trailer once we are back and hang it from the front loader of the tractor in the barn and skin it the next day, quarter it and take it to the butcher.

There's most likely more little things but I can't remember off the top of my head.
 
A duty roster helps

Our deer gang creates a duty roster for each day. While not being on the roster does not excuse you from helping out, the bulk of the days work is the responsibility of the guys on duty. This includes meal prep, cleaning up, hauling wood, water etc. This helps to make sure that everyone pulls their weight. Also we put the menu together the previous year, so you know that you will eat well. One thing that we try to do with the teams is make sure each one has at least one person who is competent in a kitchen on each one. Remember the 80-20 rule applies to most of life, 80% of the work is done by 20% of the team. This is how we try to mitigate that
 
dannymat said:
Dear fellow CGNers

My buddies and I will have been hunting for about 3 years now, and we're looking to set up a moose hunt camp.
We have a fair bit of property in Northern Ontario, for the first few year we're planning on having a treailer up there that we live out of. We're all in our mid 20's and have no idea in the full scope of work/planning involved in a moose camp.
Any suggestion on ANYTHING would be appreciated, from camp rules/policies that have made your camps successful, to equipment must haves.

Thank-you
even horror stories of things that have happened and how you over came them

Thanking you in advanced
dannymat
Click to expand...


Have you guys moose hunted before?

It's a real labour of love. After doing it for almost a decade, I realize why people love deer hunting so much.

Deer Hunting - Pack-Go-Back for dinner

Moose Hunt - Broken Equipment, broken hearts and dreams, extreme labour, MASSIVE planning, disagreements, financial burdons, some members work-some don't etc etc

Would I trade anything for it... NOPE!!

Last year was the first year we didn't hunt do to problems the year before. Decided to take a year off. I'll never do that again!

Moose hunting is a real passion.
But you need the things that someone else mentioned including time and planning. Work needs to be shared by everyone and that's a tough one.
You'll need a group leader in the sence of a go-to guy. NOT a dictator, but one that is well-suited in all facets of the hunt/operations.
Guys have to be comitted. You need to make some camp rules and stick to them. You have to be prepared financially and prepared for broken equipment, in the worst places you could imagine.
We've run our gang in a "democratic fashion". Things require voting if it's not unanimous. New purchases and spending gang money requires 100% in favor. There is a list of jobs and people pick one, and sometimes change it up once in a while.

Here they are:
Group Coordinator - The unofficial leaders position that entails MASSIVE work. It involves coordinating everything, settling disputes, dealing with all legalities/restrictions etc. This job can have a scope as big as you want it to be. Best to define responsibilities together and agree on job scopes.
Treasurer - Everone hates you as you are the one collecting money!! hahaha
Tag Draw Coordinator - Looks after the tags and being in/successful in the draw. (This also includes a LOT of forsight if you are hunting different WMU's. You need to plan ahead. We've always engineered our locations for upcoming years to ensure we have an adult tag.
Transportation Coordinator - Looks after how we are getting there, who's bringing what and possibly lodging
Supplies Manager - Ensures all supplies are procuured and we have everything we need
Minute taker for meetings - Shared by all group members

Keep SOUND records and ensure redundancy/transparency of gang activities
Other than that, it's good to have lists of medical information including blood types. Emergency contacts with family members.

Beit you have a trailer set up, that takes a big load off. (Accomodations can be a ##### if you're running your own camp)

And remember - it's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it! ;)

Good luck!
 
one of the things that you can think about is you buy and drink you own beer or beverage

limiting your drinking to x number of bottles of beer (makes it easier to get up the next day)

plan on making lunches so you spend all day hunting not back at the trailer
you can have lunch at a high spot, relax, chat, what ever because when you go back to the trailer first thing you want is a beer then you never get back hunting that day because that day is gone and the sun is going down

if cold/ snowing a tarp to make a wind break and a fire can make life enjoyable for lunch
 
I agree to most if not everything previously said here. I have hunted moose in camps with as many as 7 guys for a good many years and have found a few items very usefull such as meat hooks,winches,come alongs,snatch blocks,lots of rope,game bags,tarps,generator,recip saw(make splitting a moose easy,) chain saws,lots of knifes and good sharpeners.
There will always be a few guys that are what I call "git er done" guys and they will naturally end up doing probably more than their share, this may be because they have more experience in hunting and maybe their day to day lives or work have them doing practical work and experience that can be shared with a hunting camp. I think sometimes for the less experienced guys they may just need a hint to help or a good natured ribbing to get in on the act in some way. I often say "do something even if it is wrong" ( this can lead to some funny $hit)
 
Damn, I want to hunt in some of these camps! The "gang" I hunt with is a bunch of slobs, eating french fries for supper everyday along with some kind of burnt meat. Getting anyone to do dishes, etc is a chore and frankly its usually easier to do it myself.

After a 2 hour hunt in the AM, they want to "scout" new areas for fresh sign which entails 3 trucks driving around logging roads in single file all afternoon burning up fuel. This despite that fact that we have to scout even when we know we are on the moose (i.e. fresh tracks, seeing a bull moose, etc.).

Showers - well, don't even get me started...

Guys that say they are coming every year, but never show up or pay a single cent towards gear, etc. Taking the afternoon off to drink because their wives won't let them drink at home.

This will likely be my last year with them. 2 of the 3 guys who actually put some effort in have left the group. If things don't improve this year I'm looking for a new gang. Tired of getting skunked because of lack of effort or time in the field.
 
Well the 3 of us that are leading the group take our hunting pretty seriously.
We're doing a surveying trip to our moose camp since even my buddies parents haven't seen it in a good 10 years this week-end

This year we're looking at having mainly a trailer and a generator and a quad
there should be 5 of us hunting, and we're working on getting everything in the trailer in working condition
An out house will also be built

To cover costs of fuel and food and things that we will need for that week, we're going to collect a few hundred from each member (we're basically making sure we'll have way more money than we need), one person will pay ALL the bills with that cash
then what ever is left over we just split evenly again

We have 7 people that have applied for the group, and we're also making this a bear hunt week-end

Like anything I've ever hunted, you learn the most just being out there.

We're all still very wet behind our ears, but we've had some "veterans" join us when we do our waterfowl week-ends, and they usually tend to be fairly impressed with our set-ups and organization

Hopefully in late October once we're back I can start giving out some of our tips and trips
 
daveg01 said:
Damn, I want to hunt in some of these camps! The "gang" I hunt with is a bunch of slobs, eating french fries for supper everyday along with some kind of burnt meat. Getting anyone to do dishes, etc is a chore and frankly its usually easier to do it myself.

After a 2 hour hunt in the AM, they want to "scout" new areas for fresh sign which entails 3 trucks driving around logging roads in single file all afternoon burning up fuel. This despite that fact that we have to scout even when we know we are on the moose (i.e. fresh tracks, seeing a bull moose, etc.).

Showers - well, don't even get me started...

Guys that say they are coming every year, but never show up or pay a single cent towards gear, etc. Taking the afternoon off to drink because their wives won't let them drink at home.

This will likely be my last year with them. 2 of the 3 guys who actually put some effort in have left the group. If things don't improve this year I'm looking for a new gang. Tired of getting skunked because of lack of effort or time in the field.
Click to expand...

That doesn't sound like much fun at all.
 
Most importantly, build it near moose habitat...

Another good idea is to try to build it where there is limited access. The deer camp I go to is at the back end of a cow pasture to access it you have to go in someone's driveway, in through a lane behind some sheds, through the field and then through another gate.

At one time they had access to the highway as well from behind the camp and did have a couple of thefts, since letting the underbrush grow up, they have had no issues.
 
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