Stealth Camping/Car Camping

[NH Teufelhund]

The last year I’ve watched a ton of videos on truck cap camping. I am buying a truck cap just to be able to do it. It looks awesome. A lot of guys lay down black material like what you use for your weed blocker that you can get at home depot to make privacy shades for the windows. I got to imagine it is very unlikely that you would get messed with anywhere but most go to wal Mart where I guess boondocking is legal or welcomed.

You can have a comfy full size bed in the back. Can’t beat that.

[Hawthorne]

I have slept in my truck many nights and have rented rooms. Both have pros and cons. I think I feel more rested and energized after a few days in a room vs living out of my truck. I’m getting older so I’ll probably be renting more rooms in the future

[Bonecrusher101]

Well, now I feel a little silly for paying for the places that I did. As far as safety I assume ya'll care a sidearm with you?

These are great ideas, keep em coming.

Bro, when I am sleeping alone in the woods. People steer clear of me. I’m the creepy one, not them. Yes, I carry a pistol but I’ve never had any trouble and I’ve truck camped a lot at multiple state parks. First, I will try to park fairly close to where I’m going to park and walk in. It will give you the most amount of time to sleep in.

I’m always going to avoid paying a fee to sleep in a tent or my truck if I can help it. I will also use the showers at the camp grounds if I’m staying multiple nights. And I have a camper shell on my Tacoma but I’m a smaller stature guy and just sleep in the drivers seat. I like to pull up onto a slight incline so when I lay my seat back I’m flat. Then I crawl into a sleeping bag and put a small pillow under my head and a larger pillow under my feet so I don’t feel the pedals.

Crank the truck and run the heat or ac if needed and packing up is a breeze. Another pro truck camping tip is that every vehicle comes with a built in honey bun warmer! I like to Run the heat and switch the vent to defrost and throw your honey bun up on the dash till it’s desired temperature! Hot breakfast!

Good luck!

[brancher147]

I have slept in the truck bed quite a few times in the past. Did it once last year late in spring gobbler season and spent a sleepless night picking ticks off me after hunting that evening. After having lyme disease I will take a motel room for most trips where I can take a shower. But I probably will sleep in the truck some more in the future-probably just treat clothes with permethrin or something.
The truck is comfortable enough with a camping pad and I put a flat piece of thin plywood in the bed first. I have never worried about parking anywhere but it’s always been very rural low crime areas. I would be nervous within reach of a big city- but then you would probably have cell service so that’s a plus.

[Derbooze]

I think a lot depends on where you hunt. If I have the option of a cheap campground, especially one with a shower, I take that over sleeping in the car. But that said its pretty easy to find free land to park on. I usually bring along a hammock and sleep in that where I can. It's easy to set up and more comfortable than the back of my Jeep Grand Cherokee (which also has enough room for my 5' 11" frame).

National Forest land is usually free and has dispersed camping. When I lived in Colorado, there was never a shortage of places to pull off and pitch a tent. Lately I have been hunting in an area that has designated free camping. It has just about everything I hunt - deer, bear, turkey, and good fishing. There are a few local campgrounds too, so if it got real lousy weather I could probably run over there for a shower and a hot meal.

[Dpierce72]

Just spent three nights in a MS national forrest in the back of my 4-runner. I'm 6' and was plenty comfortable on a memory foam pad. In process now of building a small 2-piece platform (since there is a slight drop) so I can better organize and store gear (under platform) for these quick trips.

I want it to be 2-piece so I can put away the bed/gear and still have use of the back seat if needed.

[Bigburner]

Just spent three nights in a MS national forrest in the back of my 4-runner. I'm 6' and was plenty comfortable on a memory foam pad. In process now of building a small 2-piece platform (since there is a slight drop) so I can better organize and store gear (under platform) for these quick trips.

I want it to be 2-piece so I can put away the bed/gear and still have use of the back seat if needed.

I’m in the process of doing the same with my 3rd gen T4R
Going to get a cargo basket or roof rack as well. I also purchased a slumberjack road house tarp. It is really slick.

[Dpierce72]

Just spent three nights in a MS national forrest in the back of my 4-runner. I'm 6' and was plenty comfortable on a memory foam pad. In process now of building a small 2-piece platform (since there is a slight drop) so I can better organize and store gear (under platform) for these quick trips.

I want it to be 2-piece so I can put away the bed/gear and still have use of the back seat if needed.

I’m in the process of doing the same with my 3rd gen T4R
Going to get a cargo basket or roof rack as well. I also purchased a slumberjack road house tarp. It is really slick.

There are all kinds of crazy (and elaborate) builds online. Google 'sleeping platform 4-runner'. Most are higher tech than I want. I think for me, a single width ~25" wide and the full length to close the door would be perfect. I do think I'll sacrifice head space so I can build in some storage underneath in the cargo area to maximize space. I don't need to live in it ...just sleep.

Good luck...

[Bigburner]

You too! I like the idea of just one big box. I thought of going two but as long as I divide it and the sliders can hold the weight than yeah. The one thing I want to incorporate into it is a pull out table so I have a place to meal prep and make coffee And cook with my and jet boil. The possibilities are pretty boundless just depending on how elaborate you want to go. One of my requirements was to make sure I didn’t build it too high so I could fit the dog kennel in there. And but some recessed lashing points on the deck so I can strap it down. But definitely want it so camping out of it for camping sake is dialed and it still maintaining its integrity as my daily and hunt rig is just as user friendly.

[matt1336]

I’ve slept in my truck a bunch during out of town softball tournaments so I could escape the snoring from the other guys. An ambien with a few beers puts me out just fine lol.
I’d think that anyone with a gym membership to a Ymca or anytime fitness...or whatever chain gym could use that to shower up. Ik there are Ymca’s all over the place...even if it takes a half hour to drive there id think that be worth it once or twice during a trip. Even if it’s just on the ride home.

[bowkill00]

For me this is the way to go on out of state hunts. Over the years I've come full circle on my truck topper build. This year I'm cutting down a piece of plywood on the truck rail close to the cab. Store gear on it and still have room to stretch out underneath. Boil water for a bath inside topper. Actually gona diy a drain hose through bed. Very cheap way to hunt and effective if the setup is done right. There are alota great ideas online.

[UntouchableNess]

Nearby highway rest stop?

Tried to sleep in a interstate rest area in South Dakota and it was posted that there is a 4 hour stay limit. I thought it odd, as do they really want a tired person out driving? Guess it is nap and go, which is what I did. Climbed into the back of the Jeep Grand Cherokee with the rear seats tipped forward. I did that most of the trip to Wyoming and New Mexico.

I did similar trips to Wyoming, Montana and New Mexico with a Honda Civic, climbed into the trunk with the back seats tilted forward. The seats did not lay flat, so sometimes woke up crunched toward the rear, but wasn't terrible. I'm 6'1". I always had a tent with me for when I felt the desire to stretch out flat. Having Grizzlies wander past the car in Montana made it the preferred choice over the tent.

[tbunao]

Fishing access sites is one I believe get over looked, except locals. If you have onx most (here in MT) give a list of what's all. With most parks closed right now this was my option for what I'm doing. Also, I have a build-in an outback I've camped in several times. Nothing elaborate just purely functional.

[MrT]

I've spent several nights in my camper shell setup over the last couple of weekends. It's been awesome. Parked right by the public land gate and wake up at 5 with a good nights sleep. I've had several hunters pull up shortly after. Its been funny and eye opening to see how many other public land hunters are...

...complete buttholes. I can imagine it must be somewhat deflating and panic inducing to wake up at 3-4 in the morning just to find someone has beat you to your spot. But of half a dozen people who have pulled up on me, only one has enquired where I was wanting to hunt so that they wouldn't mess me up. Literally no one else even attempted to talk to me. They pulled up with me standing there, jumped out of the truck and threw their turkey vests on like it was a 3 legged potato sack race, and ran past the gate like "We're first!!!".

I've been pretty relaxed and taking my time since I have over 1.5 hours before the birds fly down. Eat my breakfast. Get some caffeine in me. It's been a fun experiment watching the reaction of the other hunters. Makes me be sure to never act like they do.

[buttonbuck]

I did this for years. I had my 4x4 truck with cap. I had a small bed made up in the back etc. I cooked and cleaned up all the time n my tail gate. I went from a lot of gear, to less gear, actually it got to be like a mobile back packer. Heck I went from a 2 burner Coleman to a Jet Boil.............. I spent the night at a lot of rest stops, and never got bothered..... this is how I hunt South Dakota and beyond for a lot of years, when I was raising a family and paying a mortgage..................... In South Dakota, I hunted in so many towns, that half the home were abandoned, no issues,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I used the showers at truck stops at times,,,,,,,,,,,,, carry plenty of water,,,,,,,,,,, I camped like this in the National Grasslands and never got bothered. maybe its different today, but I did this up into the early 2000's...........

I hunted all over Wis and the UP, like this............ also a lot of towns have camping spots, they are not much, but you can find them all out on line, now a days...................

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..lol,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Very cool content, just thought that was funny.