Why bring a Generator to camp?

[Redbowman]

I have been going over the pros and cons of bring a small generator to hunting camp this year. The con's, gas cans, smell, cords, someone stealing the generator, the small propane heaters keep the the tent warm, the lanterns work for light, the double burner stove heats and cooks all my food, the yeti's keep everything cool and the solar chargers keep the electronics charged. The pro's are extra bright light, microwave, freezer, better charger and because I can.
Summary I am leaning towards leaving it home.
When do you use or not use a generator in hunting camp?

 

[ivorytip]

I see no point in bringing one, we have had them in base camps in the past and we used them and it was nice, but the times we don't bring one we don't even notice a difference. food always tastes better over a fire anyway they are convenient though. I guess it boils down to how much you want to rough it. with a $800 + cooler I say put that cooler to work!

 

[tim]

weekend, no, the whole week maybe.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Depends...again on how many animals you expect to get, how long you are staying, etc. When I am antelope hunting I almost always bring one. I have a 10' chest freezer that fits in the truck bed and we usually bring Ice, frozen food in it. I have taken home 6 antelope in it. We try to butcher a lot of the meat and freeze it, so the generator comes with us.

 

[bigmoose]

No need for it really if you're just tent camping. We go for two or three weeks at a time. The only time I bring the generator is when I bring the wife. Then the camper goes too.

 

[mallardsx2]

Depends...again on how many animals you expect to get, how long you are staying, etc. When I am antelope hunting I almost always bring one. I have a 10' chest freezer that fits in the truck bed and we usually bring Ice, frozen food in it. I have taken home 6 antelope in it. We try to butcher a lot of the meat and freeze it, so the generator comes with us.

I plan to bring my chest freezer with us when my group goes to wyoming to hunt antelope.

 

[wy-tex]

All I can say is if you bring it don't pull in and set up right next to another camp unless they have one too. Last thing I want to hear is a generator running at elk camp. That being said lots of people bring them and they can be quite useful. We prefer primitive camping.

 

[JimP]

A generator is a nice thing to have in camp, however if you don't have anything in camp that need power besides your TV, satellite dish, or whatever else you bring that needs 110v power then why bring it?

In my old age I like the creature comforts of a camper or trailer. I have done the wall tent, pup tent, all season tent, canvas lean-too, and even just sleeping on the ground and for some reason I feel a lot better when I get up in the morning when I am sleeping in that hard sided camper. And while I don't have a TV and satellite dish for that camper I do run it off of batteries that at times need to be recharged if the solar cells are not getting enough light and it is nice to have the generator that I can fire up to charge up those batteries or save a little bit of propane that the frig is running off of.

 

[Gr8bawana]

It depends the level of comfort you want.
I'm at the point where roughing it is not enjoyable. If we are on a late season January elk hunt the nite temps are usually below zero so we run space heaters with the gen all night with an extra 50ft extension cord to get the noise a little further away from the trailer. Using the trailer furnace without a gen will use up the batteries in short order.
Next week we will be going on an antelope hunt and the daytime temps will be near 90 degrees so we use the gen to run the ac during the heat of the day.
I also chain the gen and gas cans to the frame of our trailer when we are away so a theif of opportunity can't just happen by and roll it away.

 

[Team Kabob]

I am always on both sides of this having a Honda 2000 Generator. Pros, It's quite, has a Eco throttle so burns little gas, and will power anything I need when hunting. But cons: worrying about it getting stolen when hunting, dad & grandpa refuse to get good sleeping bags (so the genarator runs the blower- no batteries on the old pop-up), gas smell, and the entry cost to buy it. So we will continue to bring it. Thinking of getting a tool box for it to fit in to store it on the back of the RV when traveling.



TK

 

[sheephunter]

If you are staying in a campground please don't bother those around you by running a generator all night.

 

[ore hunter]

I bring mine on long multi day hunts to run my freezer if I get one,,,only way to go if a person does a long multi-state,multiple hunt in 1 trip type of hunt like I try to coordinate..short weekend trips it stays home

 

[droptine]

I was thinking about getting a small generator and a small chest freezer to bring along in case one of gets lucky opening day and the other still has to fill out. But for what all that costs it might be cheaper to bring it to a meat locker for the duration of the trip???

 

[JimP]

For a one or two time trip it wouldn't be worth it. But for those that come out west every year and have a couple of other hunters with them it will quickly pay for itself.

 

[buckbull]

I used to haul a chest freezer and generator with me but ruined the freezer. I think all the bouncing it did locked up the compressor. The nice thing about the chest freezer was that I had dry lockable storage. Now I rely on good coolers (coleman extremes) and dry ice. just stop at wally world prior to heading out to setup camp and buy a few blocks of dry ice. Its hassle free which I really like.

 

[gonhunting247]

I only take one on early season hunts. I only use it for the freezer when necessary. Otherwise I would just as soon leave it at home. It has been great for my MZ elk hunt and the WY antelope hunts.

 

[mallardsx2]

I made a plywood box that my generator sits in and you cant even hear it. Nothing more annoying than someone bringing a generator and running it all night. Drives me nuts.

 

[shootbrownelk]

All I can say is if you bring it don't pull in and set up right next to another camp unless they have one too. Last thing I want to hear is a generator running at elk camp. That being said lots of people bring them and they can be quite useful. We prefer primitive camping.

We were in a campsite on BLM that we've used for years. Some yahoos pulled in and parked within 50 ft. of us (rude) and then proceeded to fire-up...not one, but TWO older Champion generators then they plunked one of them between their camper and ours. We listened to that POS all night. Politely talking to one of them about it the next day had no effect, except a F**K you response. They had miles & miles of BLM to set-up on, but decided to crowd us. We moved the next day. Plenty of rude A$$ holes in our ranks it seems.

 

[Gr8bawana]

If you are staying in a campground please don't bother those around you by running a generator all night.

In 40 years of hunting we have never camped at a campground. Maybe it's different for you guys who come out west and don't know where to camp so you will be away from everybody else.
While we do like the comfort of our trailer we don't want to see anyone nearby as you can see from the pic.

 

[ivorytip]

In 40 years of hunting we have never camped at a campground. Maybe it's different for you guys who come out west and don't know where to camp so you will be away from everybody else.
While we do like the comfort of our trailer we don't want to see anyone nearby as you can see from the pic.

hey, you figured out how to keep ice, ice