Water question

Yell Co AR Hunter

Very Active Member
Dec 10, 2015
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Yell County Arkansas
We are going to camp on BLM this fall. We will be in antelope area 21. It will be 35 to 40 miles to the nearest town. We will be coming from the South up I-25. We are planning on bringing a 50 gallon water barrel. Is there places to fill the barrel? What kind of cost can we expect? Where would be the best place to obtain water? Will 50 gallons be enough for two people for two weeks? Sorry for all the questions but water, shelter, and food are important.
 

Hilltop

Veteran member
Feb 25, 2014
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Eastern Nebraska
Two weeks for an antelope hunt? You can pull it off with 50 gallons but I'm guessing by day 4 or 5 you will be ready for a shower and a trip to town. If you shoot an antelope early in the hunt, it will be difficult to hold the meat that long as well. I would break the hunt up and plan a trip or two to town so you can carry less weight and have a night or two in a hotel in Casper and deliver meat to a processor.
 

Horsenhike

Very Active Member
Nov 11, 2015
668
0
Eastern SD
We got 40 gallons nonpotable free in Newcastle. City provided water spout. Used that for general use stuff. Brought two five gallons from home, and made another seven in frozen gallon water jugs that we used to cool food.

Plenty of water.

I will say, the one gas station we asked at, and offered to pay, refused to let us. Maybe call ahead to the last city you are passing through and find someone. That is what I would do.

We used a water tank out of an RV we found on Craigslist. Worked great.
 

Horsenhike

Very Active Member
Nov 11, 2015
668
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Eastern SD
We boiled some of the water we got in Newcastle to take showers. Rigged up a tarp. Once out there we didn't want to leave. Hotel in Rapid City after ten days felt really strange.
 

Yell Co AR Hunter

Very Active Member
Dec 10, 2015
868
724
Yell County Arkansas
Two weeks for an antelope hunt?
We have 3 antelope tags and a mule deer tag each. I use a 5 gallon bucket with a shower head. Boil water and add it to cool water for a hot shower. I can not go a day with out a shower. We plan on taking a small chest freezer and generator.
When I started putting my list together I realized you have to take a lot of stuff for a two week hunting trip. Heck I might just end up staying.
 

theddguide

Member
Mar 31, 2016
90
1
What are the rules, if any, for camping on blm? Are there designated areas or what? I can't find any info in this. We've been debating on doing this also or go to campground

Sent from my SCH-R970 using Tapatalk
 

Horsenhike

Very Active Member
Nov 11, 2015
668
0
Eastern SD
Great idea. I shall enter the feared domain of plumbing and build one for my wife.

I would put my fittings on the side so I could put it on top of my truck. Not a whole lot of trees in some parts of Wyoming.
 

Yell Co AR Hunter

Very Active Member
Dec 10, 2015
868
724
Yell County Arkansas
Great idea. I shall enter the feared domain of plumbing and build one for my wife.

I would put my fittings on the side so I could put it on top of my truck. Not a whole lot of trees in some parts of Wyoming.
Good idea I bet your are right about no trees. May have to make a new one. I also use a sink sprayer so I do not have the shut off valve.
 

Gr8bawana

Veteran member
Aug 14, 2014
2,670
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Nevada
It is unbelievable how much happier my wife was after we got a solar shower to use with our old trailer that didn't have one. I must admit it is nice to be clean after a day of hot, dusty NV antelope hunting in August.
 

wy-tex

Veteran member
May 2, 2016
1,064
347
SE Wyoming
You can camp anywhere on BLM. They prefer you don't drive off road. You should find plenty of nice spots. Try to leave it cleaner than you found it. Be mindful of the predominate wind direction and find some terrain to block it.
 

JimP

Administrator
Mar 28, 2016
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Gypsum, Co
On a hunt that I did up in British Colombia they had a shower area that consisted of a 3 gallon galvanized bucket with a shower head attached to it with a ball valve. We did just as the video showed but they had a pulley set up to get the bucket up into the air once it was filled with hot water.

Then everything was quite simple. Get under the shower head and get wet and turn the valve off. Grab your soap and get lathered up and then turn it back on and rinse off.

It didn't help that we had a large river along side of camp to supply us with all the water that we needed.
 

mcseal2

Veteran member
Mar 1, 2011
1,171
195
midwest
50 gallons sounds like a lot, but if you are using 2 gallons per day x2 people x 14 days, that's 56 gallons just in showers. I know when we stayed in a little cabin on a muley hunt we went through a lot. It had a developed spring a few hundred yards away we'd fill 5 gallon water containers from. It amazed me how much more water we went through with almost all the niceties of home than we go through when tent camping. The cabin had 12V lights, a sink, grill, stove, just no running water. With that set up we cooked more in the evenings and used more dishes which meant more water to clean them too.

When camping simply you can go on very little water. When you start adding in more dishes, showers, etc. it can be amazing how fast you go through it. Camping near a decent source and having a good filtration method might be a good idea if it's possible.

I'm trying out a new gravity system I rigged up this fall for our truck or UTV camp. I got a Sawyer filter rigged in between two 6.5 gallon water jugs. I wrote CLEAN and DIRTY on them in big marker. I plan to take the dirty water jug along each day in the UTV with a mesh filter/funnel I created and a 10L collapsible bucket. We can strain the water into the dirty jug, then filter it at camp. I have a cleaning kit for the Sawyer and a spare filter as well. We will have a small solar shower and simple cooking set-up but are keeping things to a minimum. Part of the scouting trip will be finding a camp site with a decent water supply close enough to reach with the UTV that won't screw up the hunting. If we can't find that our plan will change. We can do a simpler camp and use much less water.

Getting a quick rinse and then shutting the water off while soaping up, rinsing after can save some water also. Not maybe as nice as a long hot shower but better than nothing and just as effective.
 

JimP

Administrator
Mar 28, 2016
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Gypsum, Co
You never realize just how much water you use until you have to really watch it closely.

On the showering, try and only wash your hair every couple of days or even every 3 days. You will be surprised at how much water you save by not washing it.

Just remember that it is quick showers. Get wet, soap up, and then rinse off. Save that long hot one for when you hit a motel.
 

Gr8bawana

Veteran member
Aug 14, 2014
2,670
604
Nevada
You never realize just how much water you use until you have to really watch it closely.

On the showering, try and only wash your hair every couple of days or even every 3 days. You will be surprised at how much water you save by not washing it.

Just remember that it is quick showers. Get wet, soap up, and then rinse off. Save that long hot one for when you hit a motel.
Just shave your head.
 

rammont

Active Member
Oct 31, 2016
228
4
Montana
I guess none of you guys ever served in the military- if you had then you'd be able to skip a couple days of showers. You could try looking up the definition of a Navy Shower or you could ask a nurse how to take a sponge bath.
 

JimP

Administrator
Mar 28, 2016
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Gypsum, Co
I guess none of you guys ever served in the military- if you had then you'd be able to skip a couple days of showers. You could try looking up the definition of a Navy Shower or you could ask a nurse how to take a sponge bath.
We have become slaves to that hot water tank and a endless supply of water as we turn the faucet on.

For a year or so many years ago I had to haul water in a 500 gallon tank trailer to put into a cistern where I lived. You quickly learned how much water you actually use over the course of a week and learn how to conserve it.

A couple of years ago I was out in the wilds of Utah on a muzzle loader hunt for 2 weeks before we came off of the mountain and to a grocery store before heading out on another hunt. I can just imagine what I smelt like walking through that store. We did however get a motel room that night so that we could take a shower or two to get the crud off of our bodies.
 

rammont

Active Member
Oct 31, 2016
228
4
Montana
I'm lucky, I live pretty remotely on the edge of National Forest Land so I do my elk hunting within a few miles of my house. I come home every night, sit in the hot tub, eat a good meal, take a hot shower, and sleep in a warm bed.