when young we had plenty of time and no money and would sleep in tents and cook around a campfire. then as years went by we had less time and more money and progressed through pop up campers, airstreams, farm houses. then when time was real short, 3 day weekends it was just easier to stay in a motel and eat out. without all the camp chores, shopping, meal prep, cleaning planning and carrying all that gear, we had much more quality time and being well rested to hunt. trying to do it all when time is limited was work and we were constantly tired and falling asleep in the woods. BUT if you want to cook REAL food, not pre-cooked, ribbed cast iron will grill like a hibachi only faster. boneless pork back rib, premade mashed taters bottled gravy and a can of vegies or hoppin john will work fast. it also works well on chicken, steak, chops.
So 49 is still young Thanks. Why because camping is still they way for one night 2 3 4 nights.(about 20 week ends a year) Oh and I do by boat. Was just out for 4 days camping and gator hunting. Yep we cook allot over the fire-no running water no electricity. packing gear tonight for Friday sat & sun my gator tags.
this is hunt camp
trail from lake
HOME
The kitchen
Nice set up. don't get me wrong I loved camping, and would usually go solo 2 weeks at a time cuz at the time I had 5 weeks paid vacation, and roughed it much worse than that. a wood platform to sleep on compared to a bed of sharp rocks would have seemed like heaven. if you can come across an old cast sewer grate 2'x4' app, they make a fantastic cooking fire pit platform. coordinating 3-4 guys with diff work schedules and kids was a nightmare. Plus with freezing temps you need that much more stuff, firewood etc. I guess you have it down to a science. we rarely camped in the same place more than a few times. sometimes we would have a base camp down in the valley near a stream for water and a spike camp up on the ridge to roll out of bed and hunt. but that was a while ago, no way I could do it now.
The platform is for the water. At this time of year on tropical storm and the river & lake could be under the platform. Been there water level with the platform. The trail is from the airboat The picture last year, waters in that trail right now while were gator hunting.
This is the only way a 25 mile drive will wear you out. Out of the tree stand and back in camp within an hour. That taking your time.
TerribleTed, the prolific swamp cabbages are one of the main things I still miss after moving to the Panhandle almost 40 years. I see you have plenty of them in your part of the world. Cuttin' a cabbage or two was always part of most fishing trips and was not uncommon during hunting season. A little bit of work but always a great addition to any meal, in the woods or at home!
Treefarmer
