Post by huckleberry on Oct 5, 2007 22:28:16 GMT -5
A few years back.....I was down in southern IL. coon trappin. I left Thanksgivin day and was to be gone for a week to ten days. Things had changed since my last scoutin trip and I went from trappin coon to trappin beaver, yotes and fox. (distemper had wiped the coon out) Which was ok other than the fact that I was carryin beaver close to a mile and a half back to where camp was.
It had turned colder than expected too. The pop up was hard to heat without electric so I took care of two problems at once.
The area I was in has bluffs everywhere........and in bluffs there are always caves. Not real deep caves ya would go into to explore.......but deep enough to make a real nice and warm camp. I picked one just off the lake. I chose that one in particular for a few reasons. One it had plenty of downed wood close by to block off the front of it. Two it had a crack in the roof so the smoke I knew I would have could escape without fillin the cave full of smoke. Thrid it was dry!!! Many of the caves will have at least some water runnin through them...this one didn't have. It also had shelves that I thought would make a good place to bed down. I was right. LOL This cave was maybe 20 feet deep.
I blocked off the front with downed wood.....covered with moss.....long grass....weeds...and leaves. I left a small area open to enter and get out of. Next i made a fire spot in the middle of the cave. Off to one side. I wanted the fire to heat the rock wall on that side. I made myself a place to keep some canned goods from my first camp and a few pots i had carried in. All fit into my back pack. It was heavy...but I made it ok. I put my sleepin bag on one of the shelves and was set.
I spent 9 nine nights in that cave. It got as low as +4 degrees ambient air temp at night but I stayed quite warm there. I had plenty of room to skin inside the cave.......(don't leave any scraps inside while your there)......critters will come lookin for them. It was a little damp....but the fire kept it dry enough for the most part. Once the wall of rock warmed up...I was able to keep the fire burning lower than at first. All in all...I couldn't have been any better off.
The one problem I had was the first night. With the fire inside it wrarmed enough to awake 7 littel skunks that were dennning in a crack at the rear of the cave. I woke with one crawling across my feet. LOL They were history and on stretchers the next day.......LOL
It had turned colder than expected too. The pop up was hard to heat without electric so I took care of two problems at once.
The area I was in has bluffs everywhere........and in bluffs there are always caves. Not real deep caves ya would go into to explore.......but deep enough to make a real nice and warm camp. I picked one just off the lake. I chose that one in particular for a few reasons. One it had plenty of downed wood close by to block off the front of it. Two it had a crack in the roof so the smoke I knew I would have could escape without fillin the cave full of smoke. Thrid it was dry!!! Many of the caves will have at least some water runnin through them...this one didn't have. It also had shelves that I thought would make a good place to bed down. I was right. LOL This cave was maybe 20 feet deep.
I blocked off the front with downed wood.....covered with moss.....long grass....weeds...and leaves. I left a small area open to enter and get out of. Next i made a fire spot in the middle of the cave. Off to one side. I wanted the fire to heat the rock wall on that side. I made myself a place to keep some canned goods from my first camp and a few pots i had carried in. All fit into my back pack. It was heavy...but I made it ok. I put my sleepin bag on one of the shelves and was set.
I spent 9 nine nights in that cave. It got as low as +4 degrees ambient air temp at night but I stayed quite warm there. I had plenty of room to skin inside the cave.......(don't leave any scraps inside while your there)......critters will come lookin for them. It was a little damp....but the fire kept it dry enough for the most part. Once the wall of rock warmed up...I was able to keep the fire burning lower than at first. All in all...I couldn't have been any better off.
The one problem I had was the first night. With the fire inside it wrarmed enough to awake 7 littel skunks that were dennning in a crack at the rear of the cave. I woke with one crawling across my feet. LOL They were history and on stretchers the next day.......LOL