What’s your hunting rig?

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gotboostvr said:
As much as I love my old Wrangler it was a pain to keep up and running.

I'm convinced you can't kill an old Toyota. I know of at least 2 that have made it beyond 500k miles BEFORE becoming "work trucks" for the next decade.
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I love my Mustangs, but I'm a Toyota man when it comes to trucks and daily drivers.
I drove my old 91 pickup to 354k before my brother totalled it. My current 87 4runner has 255k and my Taco has 230k. My wife and I' have owned 8 Toyotas and they've all been excellent and reliable vehicles. My experience has been if you take care of them they'll take care of you.
 
I ask a lot of this truck. It could be a lot more capable off road, but less capable over the road. I feel it is a decent compromise. These were taken in Colorado in 2018 after a 1500 mile one way trip. We spent a week in this slop. The 1st half in snow, then after it melted mud. After it turned to mud I slid into a ditch near where the 2nd photo was taken when I met another truck. He only wanted half the road, unfortunately he wanted the middle half and I got too close to the ditch getting past him. It took several tries, but I was able to drive out. I've since added a winch and better tires.
ayla road trip 2 093.JPG
ayla road trip 2 086.JPG
 
jmr40 said:
I ask a lot of this truck. It could be a lot more capable off road, but less capable over the road.
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I feel the same way about the 2018 Dodge I bought last year - the first Chrysler product I've ever had even though I bought my first motor vehicle 58 years ago. Anyway, my Dodge Ram pickup truck is great on the highway and in town - averages better than 23 mpg, and it's powerful "enough" for anything I want to do with it.
On the other hand, my wife and I were on a icy/snowy road with it up in the hills deer hunting last year. I had it in 4WD, and I didn't realize just how slippery the hill we were going up was until I had to stop because there was a Jeep Wrangler coming down the hill, and the road was very narrow. I was going to try to back down to a wide spot we had just passed, but as soon as I started to back up, I lost control, and there was nothing I could do. I even put the truck back in drive, and with all four wheels churning forward, the truck kept sliding backwards down the hill until it slid off into the barrow pit.
The two hunters in the Jeep (that watched the whole thing) had no trouble stopping though, even though they were headed downhill in the first place. And once our truck had slid off, they walked on down to help. It wouldn't have been much of a problem for those two nice guys to chain their Jeep to a tree, and use their winch to pull our Dodge back onto the road, except for the fact the front end of our Dodge is all plastic and we couldn't find a place to hook onto it with a tow cable without tearing something all to pieces!
What we ended up doing was, those two guys helped me use shovels and axes to make paths for my truck tires so that I could get it back on the road. It took us about 2 hours, and I think each of us fell on our *&%^('s about 3 times!
Long story short - if I still like that Dodge by the time I get it paid off, I'm going to at least have a brush pusher with tow hooks mounted on the front of it. I might even have a winch put on it.
 
2011 Nissan Xterra. Been good to me so far, I like the size, can fit 4 comfortably but small enough to not a be pain turning around in a field entrance. Got a hitch carrier for hauling the deer to the shop. 8F73AE2B-EF8E-4A24-8226-A92C6DFDFD63.jpeg
 
daniel craig said:
I mean, after you get it out out, you have to bring it home. What vehicle do you put it in?
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I've transported deer in the trunk or bed of a Toyota Tercel, Toyota Corolla, VW Jetta, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Liberty, Jeep Cherokee, Dodge 3500 passenger van, Dodge 2500, Dodge 3500, Ford F350, Ford F250, Ford F Super Duty, Chevy Cobalt, Ford Ranger, Suzuki Samurai, International 4700, Freightliner FL70, etc. I probably missed a few, not sure. I think I've transported at least one deer in every vehicle I've ever owned, plus a number of friend's vehicles. With some cars you have to cut the legs off for the deer to fit in the trunk. :) If I had the money for a dedicated hunting vehicle it'd probably be a fully restored older Toyota pickup.
 
I also really miss my '04 Ranger. It was one of the last years made with a 5 speed manual and the 3.0 motor. I found this a perfect combination on icy/snowy roads. Unlimited control of power/traction. Only problems with that truck were the cab didn't have enough room for all my s...tuff, didn't have enough power to pull a 2 sled trailer down the road without it trying to pass me, and the gas mileage really sucked. I get equal or better with a half ton and a 5.4 V8!
 
South Prairie Jim said:
Toyota may be the ultimate in dependably, hard to go wrong with those rigs.
In the movie the Deer Hunter was that an old caddy they were driving?
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I’ll probably never buy another one after I got jerked around on the frame replacement and had to sell mine at a significant loss.
 
I have two, one is my every day driver, one used to be.
1997 ranger (2wd) with 290k on it. It's been the most dependable vehicle I've ever owned. It still runs great, although I loaned it to someone and they took out the dome light assembly for some reason before giving it back. It's great for just leaving all my gear in the bed or cab inside of the garage (basement) and then just hitting the road when I get a chance to go. It being 2wd though, when it gets too cold the ranger generally stays home.
When we moved to the mountains we switched over to 4wd vehicles (thinking snow) and I got a 2007 Nissan Xterra much like the one pictured above. I didn't love them when I got it, but try finding a 6cyl 4wd suv that's a stick shift. The choices were wrangler, liberty, and xterra, and the xterra was the best deal. Since that time I've been incredibly impressed by this thing. I've driven it in insane places, and it's about the perfect size, but Sabbfan already explained that. It tows well for an SUV's wheel base, so I generally bring a trailer. The old ranger is still my favorite of all the vehicles I've ever owned (which is why I still have it) but that xterra is about the perfect ride for outdoor activities. With enthusiasm growing for all things outdoors, they really should bring them back. Or, ford could start putting manual transmissions in rangers again, which is what I would gotten if it were an option.
 
daniel craig said:
I’ll probably never buy another one after I got jerked around on the frame replacement and had to sell mine at a significant loss.
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Rust is pretty much the only issue on Toyotas. Not sure if its the specific steel type or lack of coating buy even my old 4runner has some wheel well rust after being in a southern state all its life.

The frame replacements were an odd deal. It depended on the state it was in and some other variables. Toyota was good about covering them, but it was extra work for the dealership and some didnt want the hassle and the time in getting approval and all. And I think the process varied depending on the region too. Sorry that you got jerked around and they didnt take care of you.
Back in my dealership parts days they only did one frame replacement and it was on a 01 tundra.
In general Toyota supports their customers for a long time. I've personally seen them rebuild more than one engine because it was using oil at nearly 300k miles, they realized they had a oil control ring issue, and set out to fix all the cars they could. They also replaced dashes in thousands of Camrys, avalons, and 4runners when they were developing cracks at 10+ years old. And replaced Tacoma headlight assemblys because the marker lenses were discoloring.
I've seen them put out some lemons and drop the ball in some cases. But in general they take care of the customer.
 
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v8stang289 said:
Rust is pretty much the only issue on Toyotas. Not sure if its the specific steel type or lack of coating buy even my old 4runner has some wheel well rust after being in a southern state all its life.

The frame replacements were an odd deal. It depended on the state it was in and some other variables. Toyota was good about covering them, but it was extra work for the dealership and some didnt want the hassle and the time in getting approval and all. And I think the process varied depending on the region too. Sorry that you got jerked around and they didnt take care of you.
Back in my dealership parts days they only did one frame replacement and it was on a 01 tundra.
In general Toyota supports their customers for a long time. I've personally seen them rebuild more than one engine because it was using oil at nearly 300k miles, they realized they had a oil control ring issue, and set out to fix all the cars they could. They also replaced dashes in thousands of Camrys, avalons, and 4runners when they were developing cracks at 10+ years old. And replaced Tacoma headlight assemblys because the marker lenses were discoloring.
I've seen them put out some lemons and drop the ball in some cases. But in general they take care of the customer.
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Well I don’t know maybe you’re right they chalked it up to me being the second owner because I bought it used if I’d be in the original owner they said they probably would’ve replaced it. It just ground my gears for how much it would’ve cost them to fix it versus the profit they make versus how much I still owed on it. I’d still have that truck right now because everything else and it was flawless except I couldn’t get it to pass state inspection with the frame.

I even sent a letter to their corporate headquarters in the US and I did some thing I really hate doing and pulled the veteran card when I felt like it was my very last option and that still didn’t work. Left a pretty rotten taste in my mouth after that.

But this is all beside the point let’s get back to Sweet pictures of peoples Sweet hunting rigs.
 
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South Prairie Jim said:
I bought a Camry for the Wife many years ago.
What a piece of C##p
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Yeah I really think that QAQC for vehicles is super low because they know that they’ll just make more money off you can buy another car. It’s kind of like apples engineered obsolescence model. They don’t need them to be super great and last a while I just need them to last long enough for you to be decently happy with it so that you’ll buy the next generation when yours brakes prematurely.
 
daniel craig said:
Well I don’t know maybe you’re right they chalked it up to me being the second owner because I bought it used if I’d be in the original owner they said they probably would’ve replaced it. It just ground my gears for how much it would’ve cost them to fix it versus the profit they make versus how much I still owed on it. I’d still have that truck right now because everything else and it was flawless except I couldn’t get it to pass state inspection with the frame.
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Yeah they should have fixed it if it fell under the recall, no matter how many owners it had. I know the one we did was at least the 3rd owner. Also a good district rep can "goodwill" the repair to make sure the right thing is done in cases where it's just out of coverage or something. It may be different depending on the region though. I was under south eastern Toyotas umbrella, so that's what I'm familiar with.
Either way it sounds like they dropped the ball, and I'd probably feel similar if I was in your shoes.
 
v8stang289 said:
Yeah they should have fixed it if it fell under the recall, no matter how many owners it had. I know the one we did was at least the 3rd owner. Also a good district rep can "goodwill" the repair to make sure the right thing is done in cases where it's just out of coverage or something. It may be different depending on the region though. I was under south eastern Toyotas umbrella, so that's what I'm familiar with.
Either way it sounds like they dropped the ball, and I'd probably feel similar if I was in your shoes.
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That Toyota lived its entire life in New York which I guess is part of the reason it had the rust problems.
 
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9635D25D-E71E-41E3-BC78-ECBD6F2ECDF7.jpeg It’s not much but it gets 36 miles per gallon and fits the family. My Tacoma couldn’t do either one so I got rid of it and haven’t really missed it as much as I thought I would. My current “rig” is a 2015 accord EX-L v6 with 63000 miles on it. I call it Stormy... I bought it at a certain time when that name made sense because it was paid off, quick, and easy. 2 deer will fit in the trunk, I haven’t done it with this particular car, but I have in one very similar. I have no objections to doing so again.
 
Forgot to mention the interesting gas mileage that is quite common in V10 Fords.

10mpg. All the time. Towing 1000 lbs or 10000 lbs. A trip to the Borg. Uphill. It doesn’t matter. Always 10 mpg.

I really like the stories of folks using cars as hunting rigs. You have to use what you have sometimes. A friend and I went late season antlerless hunting one morning on my family land and ended up shooting four deer. He had to get the deer back to his place 40 minutes away. We each took two. He hadn’t anticipated needing to haul back 2 in his 1992 Cutlass Ciera. One stuffed in the trunk in two pieces and one on the deck lid.
 
earlthegoat2 said:
Forgot to mention the interesting gas mileage that is quite common in V10 Fords.

10mpg. All the time. Towing 1000 lbs or 10000 lbs. A trip to the Borg. Uphill. It doesn’t matter. Always 10 mpg.

I really like the stories of folks using cars as hunting rigs. You have to use what you have sometimes. A friend and I went late season antlerless hunting one morning on my family land and ended up shooting four deer. He had to get the deer back to his place 40 minutes away. We each took two. He hadn’t anticipated needing to haul back 2 in his 1992 Cutlass Ciera. One stuffed in the trunk in two pieces and one on the deck lid.
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Best one I did was 2 in a newish Impala. Trunk size is similar to my Honda. I’m seriously considering Rhino lining the trunk, but I have a heavy rubber matting material in there. When I hunt, I carry a couple cheap tarps and lay them out to catch any spilled blood. No mishaps in the cars... had some leakage in my custom Blazer though. Messed up a really nice speaker box and amp rack I had built. Rebuilt it out of fiberglass and never looked back. The weird thing is that it works better in the car. Riding 45 minutes with a deer inside of the SUV got the whole thing stinking like a deer. A deer in the trunk is never even a hint of a smell.

The whole thing about stuff like this is to plan it out, and plan to succeed. Not planning means your planning to fail.
 
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