How do you plan you sleep for night hunting?

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BJJ223

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My spots are 3 hours away. What is a good strategy for sleep for a night hunt?

Last night, I tried to go to bed at 6:00pm. I couldn’t get to sleep. At 9:30pm, I said screw it and drove to my spot. I got there at 12:30am. I hunted until 3:30am and then slept for 1.5 hours and hunted the morning. It is 6:30pm now. I am beyond tired. 1.5 hours of sleep total.

There has to be a better way.

Any input?
 
My areas are 1.5 - 3 hours away as well. Luckily, I can sleep in after a hunt. I will hunt most, if not all of the night. At about 3-4 AM, take a 5 hr energy. Finish the hunt, and drive back at about daybreak. Sleep from about 8-12, and good to go. It isn't for the faint of heart. That drive back in a warm vehicle after hunting most of the night can be brutal. I make this trip alone about 80% of the time.
 
Traveling for 3 hours by Pick up, practically from Fargo you arrive at the border with Canada. They must be beautiful hunting places and fantastic landscapes. I'd like to see some videos...
Fargo must be a beautiful city too. But I saw that it is cut in two parts by a river that forms the border with Minnesota. So there is a part, east of the river, that is legally part of Minnesota. Could this create problems for those who live in the eastern part of the city and want to go hunting in ND?
 
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Sounds extremely rough for you guys that have to drive that far for a night hunt. If it was me, I'd figure out a way to sleep in my truck or small camper and perhaps stay out a couple of days to maximize the hunting time due to the long drive to get there.

I guess I'm lucky in that I walk about 100 yards to my hunting spot behind my house, usually hunt 2-3 hours and call it a night and walk back and hit the sack.

I will say on days I'm planning to hunt I'll take an hour or so nap in the afternoon if possible. Makes staying up at night easier for me, but I'm old so I have to do what I gotta do
 
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Thanks Kirsh. I use a Vivarin caffeine pill before I start my drive back. I’m not really a pill guy. But, it beats dying because I fell asleep at the wheel. I learned it is important for me to stay hydrated to avoid drowsiness. And, no matter what don’t stop for a big breakfast before the drive home. A full belly makes me want to go to sleep.

There are no closer places. I am in occupied S Kalifornia.
 
Originally Posted By: BJJ223
There are no closer places. I am in occupied S Kalifornia. LOL I'm in NY but far enough away from the occupied NY. 90% of my spots are less than an hours drive, many just around the corner within a few miles of home. I do pull one all nighter once a year four hours away with a friend down state. I just try to catch a quick power nap before I leave and don't start the drive until daylight. If that was my only option I probably wouldn't hunt coyotes.


 
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Originally Posted By: Ernest49Traveling for 3 hours by Pick up, practically from Fargo you arrive at the border with Canada. They must be beautiful hunting places and fantastic landscapes. I'd like to see some videos...
Fargo must be a beautiful city too. But I saw that it is cut in two parts by a river that forms the border with Minnesota. So there is a part, east of the river, that is legally part of Minnesota. Could this create problems for those who live in the eastern part of the city and want to go hunting in ND?

Ya, 3 hours north of Fargo you can come to the Canadian Border, but the drive isn't tree lined, as it's prairie country - some might think its beautiful? Most from Fargo traveling north to hunt, do so mainly for ducks and geese - maybe sharptail.

The eastern border of North Dakota is the Red River, which actually flows north into Canada. Our sister city is Moorhead, Minnesota. To hunt in a State you're not a resident of, you need to possess a non-resident licence, which costs a lot more than a resident license.

Minnesota allows all non residents to hunt/shoot coyotes without a license but you can't shoot fox, as they are considered a fur-bearer, where the coyote is considered a nuisance or whatever. North Dakota isn't that gracious - they demand you purchase a furbearer licence and a non-game licence - a non-residence with a furbearer license can't take furbearers but can only take fox and coyote - cost $55.00

Fur buyers will pay a little extra for ND coyotes, as the fur is usually better (prime) than the Minnesota coyote, so ND people usually stay and shoot ND coyotes if you're selling the fur.

From Fargo, shooters usually travel West - 1.5 hours will get you around the Jamestown area, which has a lot of coyotes, as will south central ND. This summer my family and I banged a few prairie dogs in the SW corner of ND and saw/heard a lot of coyote activity but that is a 5/6 hour drive from Fargo, so the western folks can have at it.

It helps to be self-employed, own a business, marry a rich gal or one that commands a super salary or be retired to hunt a lot at night - of course, marrying a rich gal and then have a family with a couple children - that will cut into your hunting activities, both night and day, so for that time of your life - just get use to honey-do projects and raising your children right and hopefully they will hunt with you - good luck with that.
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JoeyJ explained everything well. I have lived in Fargo for the last 25+ years. It is absolutely flat farming land. It is some of the best farming soil in the world, but is not prime coyote hunting habitat. I grew up in the Central part of the state. Both my family and my wife's family were farmers and ranchers. As a teenager, I started coyote hunting to help our ranch. I not only enjoyed it but seem to have a knack for it. It didn't take long for local ranchers to ask me to help them out. Over the last 30+ of coyote hunting, the areas I hunt continue to grow but I still have the most access to the areas where I grew up. Could I hunt closer to Fargo, the answer is yes, but as JoeyJ mentioned, it is the red river valley, and it really isn't built to hold a large population of coyotes.

Could I stay at a hotel, park a camper, etc the answer is yes. However, gas is relatively cheap and it is nice to crawl into your own bed after a long night of coyote hunting. As JoeyJ mentioned, the best coyote hunting portion of our state is the Western half but it is too long of a drive.

I am semi-retired, own a business and help out Night Goggles, so all these things help aid my night time coyote addiction.
 
JoeyJ you have been very kind, very thorough and very sympathetic with your answer. You made me smile a lot. Marrying a beautiful and rich American woman is an impossible dream. There are 3 problems: 1) I am too old (my nickname is Ernest .... 49 ...); 2) I don't know English (I use the Google translator ..); 3) I am an unattractive party .... in fact I am a math teacher with a modest (for your standard of living) pension of $ 2100 / month. Back to being serious, I saw a documentary on TV describing a reserve in South Dakota where bison grazed. They showed that there were also a lot of coyotes hanging around at night. So it was to be expected that the areas on the southern border of North Dakota would be very good for night coyotes hunting.
The google translator doesn't translate "furbearer" ... what does that mean?

Korey ... I admire you because you have an infinite passion. Do almost impossible things ... You travel for hours with the PickUp, sleep very little, spend hours and hours at night in the cold to observe the prairie. Just seeing the stars on a dark, cold night must be an incredible sight. In ND there are miles and miles of spaces without homes, without light pollution. It must be a dream landscape ....
 
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Don’t know if I could keep that up 2-3 nights a week for a month let alone now till next March. I know my ex would’ve killed me if I tried. I’m now retired and been fishing the last 3 months or so from Arizona to Montana just waiting for Illinois night season. Kirsch if you think you could put up with me for a week or so sometime this fall give me a call. I’m fully outfitted cept maybe for the -10 degree crap.
 
Originally Posted By: Ernest49You travel for hours with the PickUp, sleep very little, spend hours and hours at night in the cold to observe the prairie. Just seeing the stars on a dark, cold night must be an incredible sight. In ND there are miles and miles of spaces without homes, without light pollution. It must be a dream landscape .... Ernest, it seems like you have captured a night on the frozen, dark prairie without being there. You are right there is something about being out on those cold, dark nights with the stars shining and not a sound, person, or city within miles. It is my happy place.

I typically do not hunt 2 nights in a row. It is too hard on the body. I do have a hunting partner, but he works a regular job so harder for him to get out.
 
Originally Posted By: Ernest49The google translator doesn't translate "furbearer" ... what does that mean?

Furbearer is any animal hunted, trapped or farmed for their pelts. Examples would be the Marten, Beaver, Fisher, Mink, Muskrat, Otter, Weasel, Badger, Raccoon, Fox, Wolf, Coyote, Bobcat/Lynx etc.

All I can say about marrying a rich lady is - you either have to be super lucky or wait until you're old enough to know better.

My Pa told me as a young lad that it was just as easy to love a rich lady, as it was to love a poor lady - the difference being the rich lady could treat me in ways I wasn't accustom to. Well, I never did understand his logic, until it was too late.

Truth be told, if I had a do over, I wouldn't change a thing - maybe it's the 55 years being married to the same women that's confused my thinking, as sometimes I think I was born married.
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You know, stars are stars until you look at them from the Southern Hemisphere - I say this because looking at the stars on a dark night in Australia can be truly breath taking, at least it was to me.

On topic - I have no problem sleeping in a pickup during a dark cold winter night, as long as the heater is on. One really wants that coyote to come within 50 yards of your shooting stand - killing that puppy at 200 yards means you have to walk a quarter mile to retrieve that bad boy - bad enough on flat hard ground but in 2 feet of snow walking in Sorel Packs - one really has to consider taking a mental test once you start getting close to your 8th decade of making stupid decisions and you're still doing this - doesn't really matter day or night.
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For me it is much the same as the op in that I have about the same drive time to get to the good stuff. And I almost always go alone, since no one I know, doesn't think I'm absolutely nuts for going out all night in the dead of winter. Especially after I called in that lion to 32 yards on the blackest night ever!

So my plan has been to hunt close when it's cold, so that I can get home to my bed before I'm too tired to go on. But when it warms a bit, I like to go out before it gets dark. Sometimes you can catch them howling right after sundown which always gives me an edge to know where to start. Then I will usually hunt as soon as its dark, or start a daytime evening stand knowing it will get dark before its done. Hunt till I'm too tired which is usually around 4-5AM, then I'll setup my bed in the back of the truck and sleep till 10-11AM before driving on home.

Better yet, bring the camper and stay for a few days !
 
We build Killboxes. Sometimes between kills we crash out right there (in round hay bale piles) while waiting for more to come in. It helps to layer up as most nights for us it's anywhere from 10 above to well below zero.

BTW I'm using a helmet mounted thermal to navigate into our sets, and driving to each set blacked out using a helmet mounted VYPR-14.
 
Well for me it is not that bad. I am nurse and work nights and only work the weekends. I usually hunt 4 to 5 nights a week. I stay on a night schedule pretty much 24/7 so it is not that bad. My record is 36 hours straight, it wasn't worth it to drive home so I just stayed.
 
Most of our hunts are sporatic. So no real planning for sleep schedule. We just push thru. Try and get a couple hours of sleep sometime the next day. I found I feel worse if I only get a few hours of sleep, so I mostly just stay up the hole next day till normal sleep time.

During tournament season we use my race shop as “camp” wood stove rolling and cots set up waiting. we try to get a few hours sleep mid day before our driving around and door knocking ritual.
Good food on the flat top is a must!
 
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