Using a Camp House as a Bug Out Location


Using a Camp House as a Bug Out Location

For those of you are unfamiliar with the camp house, let’s take a few minutes to describe what one may be like.

Spread all over the nation are camp houses of all sizes and shapes. Some of them may be for spending a weekend fishing, while others may be off in the woods for hunting. Regardless of what they are for, chances are the camp houses are remote and have a number of resources.

My great grandparents lived at a fishing camp house on the Neches River here in Southeast Texas. It was a simple three room (bedroom, living/dining, bathroom) house with a screened in porch. My great grandfather ran trotlines catching catfish.  When my brother and I would spend the night, we had cots to sleep on in the kitchen.

In contrast, the deer camp we were members of had a good size camp house with a full kitchen, wood burning stove, and the bedroom was large enough for a dozen cots.

A hunting camp I found on a hiking trip in 2016 was nothing more than one large room.  It had a bunk bed, fridge, and stove.

Usually, but not always, these camps have several things in common:

  • Water
  • Food
  • Remote


Camp house near creek

Whether is a creek, river or lake, when someone sets up a camp house they usually look for a location near water.

For example, a hunting lease my family and I were on, the camp house was near a creek. A generator and water pump was used to pump water from the crook to a 750 gallon holding tank. The water in the tank was used to wash hands, flush toilets, and cooking water.  When someone would finish skinning a deer, an outside sink provided a place to wash out hands.

When it comes to fishing camps, it is difficult to have fish without water. So it is a given fishing camps would be near water.

Hunting and Fishing Camp House

Deer hunting camp house

Besides getting away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, what other purpose does the camp serve? Well, to fish and hunt.

Chances are a fishing camp house would have better access to food than a hunting camp. With enough hunting pressure wild game would eventually become depleted. Without power boats people fish from the banks, which means fish will be able to find safe areas to breed away from the banks.  On the other hand, wild game will not be able to find a “safe place.”

During the Great Depression, wild game was hunting so extensively, Whitetail deer an wild turkeys were hunting to extinction. Here in Southeast Texas, deer and turkeys had to be reintroduced. When a collapse happens, we can expect history to repeat itself. Shortly after a collapse hunters will be able to find wild game. However, as hunting pressure increases, wild game populations will decline.  Eventually, certain types of game will become depleted.

Remote Camp Houses

High fin blue catfish caught on trotline

When outbreaks of the Black Death would happen in the Middle Ages, who had the highest chance of survival?

  • Royalty who retreated to their estates.
  • Self-sufficient rural dwellers who isolated themselves.

Camp houses offer a chance for people to isolate themselves in a remote location, thus isolating themselves.

Chances are a fishing camp would be closer to people than a hunting camp.  People tend to gravitate towards water. Take a boat ride down a river and chances are houses will be lining the banks of the river.

Hunting camps are a little different than a fishing camp. The hunting camps are usually (but not always) a little more difficult to reach that fishing camps. Also, hunting leases usually encompass thousands of acres, while a fish camp may be just an acre or so.

Final Thoughts

While hunting and fishing camp houses offer various advantages, they also offer numerous disadvantages. Maybe the ideal setup would be a hunting camp which has access to a stream or river? Or maybe a fishing camp near acreage for hunting?

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