Best Hunting Tent 2024 – [Reviewed]

If you’re going deep into the backcountry after any kind of big game and planning a multi-day trip, then you need a solid shelter, which means you have to have a good hunting tent.

To help with this, we reviewed some of the best backcountry tents on the market to find the ones that live up to the hype and to separate all the ones that aren’t worth your money. Let’s look at the best hunting tents on the market right now and how to choose the perfect one for your next outing.

Also Read: The Definitive Guide to Building a Survival Kit

Reviewed: Best Hunting Tents 

Eureka! Mountain Pass

First up,  our best overall hunting tent is the Eureka! Mountain Pass.

It’s a four-season tent. They mean spring, summer, fall, and winter, but for you, you’re covered for any hunting season you need, plus any other camping trips you want to take in the off-season. 

It comes in two and three-person sizes, so there’s enough room for you and a buddy. However,  if you’re going with a buddy, I recommend opting for the three-person. The two-person will get a bit too cozy.

The tent’s zippered side panels can be used in the colder months for insulation or unzipped and left away in the warmer part of the year for air circulation. 

It also has high and low air vents to prompt air circulation and minimize moisture inside the tent. The low vents allow cool air into the tent, while the high vents allow warm air to escape. 

The rainfly provides two vestibules, one on each side, allowing convenient storage of food, gear, and wet boots outside the tent’s doors.

Five interior pockets plus a gear loft make it easy to store small items, like lights, knives, and electronics, where they’re accessible and won’t get lost. 

The Mountain Pass isn’t precisely a backpacking tent, but it is lightweight enough that trekking several miles out to make your basecamp with it isn’t too bad. The 2-person weighs 6 lbs, eight oz. All its parts are included, and the 3-person adds an extra pound.

Finally, Eureka includes the footprint with this tent, so that’s one less thing you need to worry about. 

Kodiak Canvas Flex-Bow Canvas Tent Deluxe – Best Canvas Tent

The Kodiak Canvas Flex-Bow Canvas Tent Deluxe has two main features that help it stand out from other tents. 

The first is its traditional style, with mostly upright canvas walls and a steel frame. These walls are watertight while also being breathable, and the simple frame design allows a single person to set up the tent.

The second is the tent’s height. With the more or less vertical walls and 6’1” ceiling, this is a tent you can not just stand up in but walk around in. And with the smallest size having a 9’x8’ footprint, you have room to walk. Or, more likely, store gear and allow a few people to sleep. 

The two larger sizes, with 10’x10’ and 10’14’ footprints, provide even more room plus 6’6” ceilings that taller folks will appreciate.  

The spacious design makes it an excellent option for groups of hunters or just a single hunter who likes to be able to spread out. 

Whatever side you go with, the tent has both front and back doors, which makes entering and exiting at night without disturbing your sleeping hunting buddies easier. The doors have a mesh that can be left exposed to allow air circulation from the front to the back of the tent, but there are also four windows, one on each side of the tent, that can also be used. 

Two vents help keep air circulating, even when you keep the doors and windows fully closed for privacy or warmth. An awning over the front door provides a shady, covered area to sit or remove shoes before entering the tent. 

These tents are far from light, though. Even the smallest size weighs 54.5 pounds (including 6 pounds of stakes), so these tents are best if you can drive up to your basecamp spot.

Smittybilt Overlander Tent – Best Rooftop/Car Camping Tent

If you’ve done much browsing for rooftop tents, you know they tend towards two extremes: very nice but very expensive or cheap junk. Smittybilt has managed to do what few rooftop tent manufacturers have and balance the two. Relatively, anyway.

Ringing up at around the $1200 mark, it’s not exactly moderately priced compared to other tents. That’s positively affordable for a rooftop tent, though, and it’s still very well made!

The tent’s body is made from 600 denier water repellent rip-stop polyester with mosquito screens for the doors and windows. 

Shades over the doors and windows can be propped open with anodized aluminum poles to keep the inside of the tent shady and keep precipitation out. 

The tent’s floor is covered with a 60mm foam mattress, which has a removable cover for convenient cleaning and sleeps up to three people. Meanwhile, the top of the tent has a strip of LED lights to illuminate the interior conveniently. 

The tent sleeps up to three people with a total weight capacity of 661 pounds. It’s easy enough to set up that you only need one person for that, though.

And, because it’s Smittybilt, there are all kinds of neat accessories you can pair with this tent. My particular favorite is the Standard Size Tent Annex, which you can attach to the bottom of the rooftop tent where it hangs out next to your car. 

It adds an extra room you can stand up in that’s great for changing clothes more comfortably, adding extra sleeping space, using a small living space, or storing some extra gear. This is the best option if you plan base camping near a vehicle. 

The North Face Stormbreak – Best Warm Weather Tent

If you live in a warmer region, you probably don’t need a true four-season tent, even for winter camping. In that case, you can save some money by opting for a three-season.

My favorite three-season tent for hunting is The North Face Stormbreak. 

It comes in one-person, two-person, and three-person versions. I prefer the three-person version because I can use it alone or with another person and still have room for some gear inside the tent. Plus, at 6 pounds and 10 ounces, it’s pretty lightweight. 

Even if it’s just me, I feel like the extra room in the three-person tent is worth the extra 12 ounces relative to the two-person. With that said, it may be worth going with the two-person if you have to hike a long way to your basecamp. 

Whichever size you go with, you get the same basic features.

The tent has two doors on each side, great for entering and exiting without disturbing tentmates. With the rain fly on, you also get a vestibule over each door for storing gear. And if you want to leave the doors open, you can simply stuff them into pockets next to the opening rather than having to deal with rolling them up to keep them out of the way.

Most of the tent proper is made of mesh for breathability, especially if you choose to forsake the fly. Even with the fly, you get a system of high and low vents, similar to the Mountain Pass, to improve airflow.

Nemo Wagontop 8 Group Camping Tent – Best Large Group Tent

So far, all of the tents we’ve talked about are pretty small, so I wanted to include one for larger hunting parties, the Nemo Wagontop 8 Group Camping Tent. 

This tent was designed with bigger groups in mind. The rear half of the tent is more what you’d expect from a cabin-style tent, with large windows but a mostly enclosed space. The front half, on the other hand, is more like a screen room, with double doors on the front and one side, plus a large mosquito net screen covering the entirety of the third wall and extending up over the top of the tent to cover the front half of the roof. 

The entire thing is tall enough, 80 inches at the highest point with nearly vertical sides, so most hunters should have plenty of room to stand and walk around inside the tent. 

If you’d like more privacy, not to mention protection from the elements, in the tent, you can throw on the rain fly, which covers the large screen panels on the front half of the tent while still allowing you to open the windows in the back half. It also provides a spacious vestibule in front of the tent for storing gear. 

Nemo says this tent fits eight, with four people sleeping in the front screen room area and four in the back area. However, I suggest no more than six if you use the vestibule or another space for gear storage. But if you want to be bougie, you can just put three or less in the back half and use the front for a living and storage space.

Alps Mountaineering Helix – Budget-Friendly and Spacious

Alps Mountaineering is one of the better-known outdoor gear brands among backcountry hunters, and their Helix 2-person is one of their most popular offerings (with good reason). This is almost a proper ultralight tent, and it is designed first and foremost with ruggedization and weight savings in mind. 

It’s not one of the lightest 2-person tents out there, but the extra floor space means it’s just about perfect for a single hunter without a lot of gear. Altogether, it weighs in at about 4lbs and packs down relatively small so that you can save critical pack space for other essentials.

It has a spacious covered vestibule, possibly my favorite feature. The ability to store gear outside, particularly boots and rain gear, is a great way to keep the interior of your tent dry and clean, which is absolutely massive for keeping yourself comfortable in rough weather.

The tent walls are made of durable ripstop nylon that stands up well to the abuse of the backcountry and helps keep the elements out and the heat in. The windows and double doors are equipped with no-see-um mesh to allow excellent ventilation on those warm nights.

Lastly, there’s plenty of room to sit up comfortably, which makes getting dressed easy. Overall, it’s a great option for anyone who doesn’t want to carry too much weight into the backcountry, and it’s perfect for those spots where you have to hike a fair distance to get to your basecamp spot.

ALPS Mountaineering Tasmanian 2 – Best Budget Rough Weather Tent

Next, we have another ALPS Mountaineering option, the Tasmanian 2. This tent is designed to handle rough weather, so sudden storms and heavy snow are no real issues. I’ve camped in this thing in Colorado and gotten caught out in a snowstorm without any problems.

It sets up quickly and is freestanding, which is excellent for our desert-dwellers or those who don’t use trekking poles. The fly is polyester with a UV and water-resistant treatment to better help it stand up to the elements, and the dual-door design makes getting in and out easy.

The Tasmanian 2 also features some of the best ventilation with two huge mesh panels in the doors so you can set up in the summertime and still get plenty of ventilation. I know all sheep hunters out in the canyonlands will appreciate that.

If you’re further North, you’ll definitely appreciate the gear loft, storage pockets, and the dual vestibules to keep all of your extra gear warm and dry inside with you. This is especially important if you’re storing rain gear that you don’t want to bring all the way into the tent with you.

Overall, this is an excellent tent for you if you want something that can handle four-season camping in all weather, but you don’t want to spend a fortune. Just be prepared for a little extra weight. 

River Country Products Trekker 2.2 – Best Ultralight Trekking Pole Shelter

If you’re on a very tight budget, want something just to have in an emergency, or don’t mind a minimalist shelter, then the Trekker 2.2 from River Country Products is a great option.

This shelter is designed to be used like an old-school tarp shelter that utilizes your trekking poles and is extremely popular with budget ultra-light backpackers and hunters alike. It sets up relatively quickly and is highly durable, though it doesn’t come with a footprint/groundsheet so keep that in mind/

It’s not the warmest, but it will undoubtedly keep mild to moderate rain and wind off you, making it an excellent option for milder climates. It’s also great as an emergency shelter for getting caught from basecamp or any unexpected overnight. 

I’ve used shelters like this when backpacking quite frequently, and tent campers are always surprised by how cozy my setup is and how quick it is to set up. It takes a little bit of practice, but the few minutes of extra work are half the fun sometimes.

It’s also one of the lightest options on this list in this price range. Usually, as your tent gets lighter, your cost of entry goes up, but this tent is easily carriable by one person. 

On top of that, it’s incredibly affordable, at least $100, so as long as you have trekking poles (and you really should if you’re carrying heavy loads like a rifle and a quartered elk), then your equipment pulls double-duty and won’t weigh you down much.

Buying Guide: Choosing the Perfect Hunting Tent

Your choice of hunting tent will depend hugely on personal preference and your budget, so let’s talk about what you should keep in mind and what you should prioritize when choosing.

Wall Construction & Insulation

First and foremost, you should ensure that your tent is rugged and well-insulated enough to handle the worst possible weather you’ll be dealing with. If you’re only going after summertime game in dry climates, you’ll want something lightweight with good airflow.

On the other hand, if you’re trekking through the depths of winter in Montana, you will want something more robust to keep the snow and warmth out.

Weight

The next biggest consideration is going to be weight. How much are you willing to carry in the backcountry? Are you going out alone, or are you hunting with a partner? Are you planning on staying several days, or do you just want a temporary shelter in case of an emergency overnight?

If you’re by yourself and aren’t planning on staying out, especially if the weather is likely mild, a lighter-weight tent is fine and perfectly affordable. If you’re going on a multi-day trek and you’re going to be facing rough weather, a light tent is still possible, but you’ll pay more for it.

On the other hand, if you’re willing to accept a little more weight or divide up the tent components between multiple hunters, you can save a lot of money with a heavier tent.

Space

Another critical consideration is how much space you need. Hunters typically have a good bit more gear than standard backpackers and backcountry campers, so the typical idea of what constitutes “enough space” doesn’t apply.

If you’ve got a rifle, meat bag, field dressing equipment, spotting scopes, and all the other bits of kit you need for an extended stay in the woods after game, you’re probably going to need at least double the space you usually would. 

Take the number of people using the tent, multiply that by two, and then maybe add an extra person’s worth of room for various additional sundries. 

Want to know how many hunters in the us? Click here to read it.

Freestanding vs. Non-Freestanding 

There’s a big divide in camping tents regarding freestanding vs. non-freestanding tents. In general, all you need to know is that freestanding tents don’t have to be staked out to keep their full shape, and non-freestanding tents do. 

A free-standing tent is probably a good investment if you’re camping on rocky ground. Still, if you’re somewhere with soft soil, you can get away with a lighter (generally speaking), cheaper (usually speaking) freestanding tent, or trekking pole shelter.

Price Range

Lastly, you have to think about the price. And look, I get it, tents are expensive. I often get mine at deep manufacturer’s discounts, and I still believe they are expensive. But when going out into the backcountry for multiple days, unsupported, you need to ask yourself if you can afford not to have a good tent.

That said, you don’t have to spend a fortune to get a high-quality tent these days, especially if you don’t mind carrying a little extra weight. In general, spend as little as possible on your first tent and then upgrade it down the line as you figure out what you need.

If you know what you want and have the budget, though, don’t be afraid to stick to the old “buy once, cry once” adage.

Also Read: The Definitive Guide to Building a Survival Kit

Final Thoughts

A good tent is essential if you’re going to be out in the bush going after game, so you must pick up the best hunting tent possible before you set out. Whether you’re going deep into the canyon lands after bighorn or you’re trekking through the snow after elk, a solid shelter is a key piece of equipment to have on hand.
Our top overall pick to meet this need is still the Eureka! Mountain Pass because of its excellent features and value for the price, but any of the tents on this list will serve you well. All you have to do is pick the one that best suits your own style, preferences, and needs. Thanks for tuning in, and happy hunting.