Why the M1 Makes the Perfect Hunting Basecamp

‍Why the M1 Makes the Perfect Hunting Basecamp

By Bryan Rogala

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If you’re reading this, chances are you probably already know the Tune M1 is a great camper. What you might not know is that it’s absolutely perfect for hunting.

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I’ll lay out why below, but first, a little background. I’m a video producer, host and writer based in Santa Fe, NM. I’m a regular contributor to Outside Magazine, for whom I review campers and trailers, plus other outdoor gear. I’m a mountain biker, skier, fly fisherman, and hunter, and I use the M1 on my 2018 Tundra to enable all of those hobbies. Of all the pursuits I do, hunting is probably the most gear intensive, and the sport in which I rely on the M1 the most. 

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I’ve been chasing big game like elk, mule deer, pronghorn, barbary sheep and javelina around the mountains and deserts of New Mexico for the last 7 years now. To say I’m obsessed is putting it lightly, and I typically spend about 40-50 days hunting each year. That’s a lot of time out, and one of the reasons I’m able to do that is because the M1 acts as the perfect hunting basecamp. 

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A lot of different rigs can work for hunting, but I prefer a truck-based platform because of how capable a pickup is. That leaves you with two options: pulling a travel trailer, or hauling a truck camper of some kind. A trailer can offer a lot of living space and creature comforts (think a shower, oven, microwave, etc.), and you can drop a trailer and use your truck to drive around and get to a trailhead or different hunting zone. That’s all well and good, but over the years I’ve found it can be very difficult to get a trailer into camp spots you want, or down rough forest service roads you often encounter while hunting. And, just because you can pull a trailer off road doesn’t mean you should—I’ve seen trailers rattle themselves to pieces after several miles on rough dirt and washboard roads, mainly due to poor construction and suspensions that get overwhelmed on dirt. Most travel trailers are meant for highways and paved campground loops, after all. 

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Traditional slide-in truck campers can be a great option for hunters. They provide a great amount of comfort with some of the same amenities found in travel trailers, albeit typically with significantly less living space inside. Because they’re effectively a part of the truck, they’ll go anywhere your truck can, and generally hold up better than a trailer because the truck’s suspension is a lot better than a trailer’s. You can technically also drop a slide-in truck camper at a campsite, and continue to use your truck as you normally would.

Slide-ins aren’t without their shortcomings, though. I owned a slide-in for a while, and despite the fact that they can be removed and set on jacks to camp in independently of the truck, I never once did that. In fact, I rarely unloaded the camper at home, either, because of how big of a pain it was to load and unload. It’s significantly harder and more time consuming than hitching a trailer, and while unloading one is a good thought in theory, I’d bet most folks don’t do it. 

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Slide-ins are also typically very heavy. Lightweight pop ups like a Four Wheel Camper Hawk typically weigh over 1000lbs dry, and hard-sided slide-ins run even heavier. All that weight quickly eats into your truck’s payload capacity, and you can very easily overload your truck before you even think about loading hundreds of pounds of elk meat into a cooler. 

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The other tricky part about hunting out of a slide-in is they have very limited storage space. The inside layout usually consists of a seating area on one side, a narrow walkway, and a galley cabinet with a stove and sink on the other. Sure, there may be enough cabinets and cubbies for camping gear and clothes, but hunting often requires bulky, heavy gear that simply doesn’t fit in a slide in—think archery targets, large coolers for meat, bulky bow and gun cases, and more.  You can use something like a hitch mounted cargo carrier to help mitigate this in some instances, but I find that those ruin your departure angle and make the truck significantly less off road capable, which is the point of a truck camper in the first place. I also find that having cabinets, sinks, and tons of superfluous creature comforts just means there’s more stuff to get knocked around and potentially break while you’re on a rough road. 

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That brings me to the M1. I think of it as the perfect balance of comfort and capability. Because it sits on the truck’s bed rails, you still have access to your entire bed for gear. That’s huge for me as a hunter, and also why I’ve chosen to keep my interior build super minimal—I have plenty of room in the bed for coolers, targets, and more. The M1’s winged design means that even when I’m fully loaded up for a hunt, there’s still plenty of “living space” and room for me to change clothes or cook inside if the weather is bad. I also love the fact that the bed is always fully made up and accessible, while being out of the way of the rest of the camper. I used to own a wedge-style camper, and hated having to remove bed panels to stand up, or climb through a hole in the floor to get to the bed. 

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All that storage space is awesome, and because the M1 has an incredible space to weight ratio, I’m never worried about weighing down my truck too much. Starting at just 400lbs, you can throw one on a mid-sized truck like a Tacoma and still have enough payload capacity for all the gear you’d need on a week-long hunt. The M1 also hasn’t impacted my truck’s off road performance, which is something I really value for hunting. 

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Since the M1 doesn’t weigh very much, you can also still tow a trailer with four wheelers or a side by side to access harder-to-reach spots. I’ve even towed a travel trailer, as well, on certain occasions in order to sleep more people than would fit inside the M1—it’s just a super versatile platform and gives you a lot of basecamp options.

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One thing I think hunters can get sucked into is the idea of a permanent base camp. Hunters have used big, canvas guide tents for a long time and often set up elaborate, comfortable camps where they stay for the duration of their hunt. It makes for a great place to come back to each night, but if you end up needing to try another location to find the animals you’re hunting, it means longer drives to your spot twice a day or picking up and moving camp. I think a lot of people will then just hunt nearby their camp rather than try a new area because of the work required to move, which in turn can mean not filling a tag. 

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Staying mobile means you can be flexible and easily camp in different zones or at different trailheads until you find the elk or deer. It can also save you a lot of driving each day, which means more time hunting, or more likely, sleeping. On an early-season archery elk hunt in September when you’re already up well before first light and sometimes not back to camp until 9pm, that little bit of extra sleep can really add up and make a huge difference in how you feel after a few days. 

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For me, the M1 has been the perfect blend of the comfort you get from a traditional slide-in truck camper and the efficiency of a wedge camper, with significantly more living space and gear hauling capability than either. This Fall, I basically lived out of my truck and M1 for a month. I had an antelope hunt in August that required driving a lot of miles on rough roads each day, then helped two different friends on their elk hunts in different units in early September, followed by a deer and then an elk hunt of my own. The M1 kept me dry, warm and comfortable in a huge range of conditions, from 95 degrees down to the mid 40s. 

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Sometimes I’d set up an awning, tables and camp chairs on the side of the truck if more people were joining me and I’d be in the same spot for a few days, but usually I would just quickly pop up the top at the end of the day, heat up a meal in the bed of the truck and crash early. There were several times I moved spots or ended up camping in a different location each night because I didn’t get back to the truck until well after dark, but because the M1 lives on the Tundra, my basecamp was always ready and waiting for me at the trailhead.

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