We went on a p-dog hunt in 2017 to South Dakota. Decided to do an on your own hunt outside of Pierre, SD. We rented a minivan and drove out there. The reason for the minivan was to look like a family traveling as opposed to hunters. Also, it gave us 23MPG average over the 2,500 mile trip as opposed to 15MPG for a V8 Tahoe/Pickup. Off-road, the minivan was somewhat sketchy as the ground clearance had us worried. It worked as long as we took it slow and it was dry. Nothing works when it's wet with the plains gumbo mud. Coming out of the field one afternoon provided us with a flat tire when we ran over metal on the road.
The next morning, we took the van tire to be fixed. We left our guns in our motel room in Pierre with a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door. When we came back to the motel after fixing the tire, one of the cleaning crew mentioned to us on the way in that she attempted to open the door to our room and someone was in the room blocking the door from her opening it. This concerned us so we went into the room to find motel management left a note on the bed stating that if we needed anything to let them know. Why they went in the room when a Do Not Disturb sign was on the door, I have no idea. However, my opinion is that someone was watching us and knew what we had with us. Nothing was taken. However, it had us on full alert. From that point forward, we made a judgement call whether to draw attention to ourselves and take the guns into the room or leave them in the "mini-van" and look like a family traveling.
With that said, you can't be careful enough. Some items to consider when traveling:
1) Don't look like a hunter/shooter outside of the field
2) Rent cars with privacy class to prevent prying eyes. Consider a blanket over your equipment.
3) Park under street lights close to the motel door
4) Observe surroundings before unloading
5) Understand crime reports in that area