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Three and a half for gas, Diesel at or above four and I doubt we'll ever see $2.50 a gallon for fuel again, I was wondering what vehicles is everyone using, adapting, for travels to and from your elk states of choice. Or maybe a better question would be what would you like to own and why? Or better yet, "What is the best all around vehicle choice, economy, size, price, hunting rig out there?
Ive recently sold my blazer. Attachment 4386
When i wanted to use it i would typically trailer it. And tow it with a 05 dodge cummins. Scouting trips and checking trail cams got a bit out of hand on fuel costs. Ive given this same idea alot of thought as to the favored all around hunting vehicle. Granted during hunts i typically use my boots as my vehicle. But i do enjoy seeing new areas and some rockcrawling thrown into the mix. My dodge is a 4 door long bed with a leveling kit and 33s. It works great for what it is. A big tow vehicle. The wheelbase is too long and paint is too nice to get me into hairy situations. I have been looking for something 4 cylinder based. Toyota, nissan, or even a samurai. But toyota and samurai seem to hold there value. Not that i care about resale of a hunt vehicle. But there pricey. I have come to the conclusion that a 4 banger standard cab short bed would be ideal for what i typically get into. Doesnt have to have the insane axles like my blazer did or lifted too high for the 4 banger to be over worked. Id say 3" lift,31s,short wheelbase,winches. Good wheel travel. Even the 2 door jeep cherokees have been getting my attention lately. I hate the cold so a rhino or quad is out of the question for me.
Great thoughts...
Great thoughts...keep the idea's coming....
I have a 99 Ford Powerstroke F350. Xtra cab, short bed & 4WHD. It now has 230,000 miles on it. Absolutely the best truck I have ever owned. Never done anything to it except normal maint. It is great towing anything. I now have a 29' bumper pull trailer. Used to tow a 28' boat (13,000#). Hauled it to Cabo, Florida and Canada. I have used it off road too, but it is just too big and heavy to be really good for that. Used to have a 85 Toyota short bed 4x4 PU that would go anywhere. My son talked me out of it and it is still going strong with almost 300k miles on it.
I do take a quad in the bed of my truck when I hunt. Also have a flat bed quad trailer that I haul with my wife and my quads for local day rides. This year we took it to Wyoming and hauled all the camping stuff and camped when we were antelope hunting.
A double reversal on your fat trucks! :D
30 MPGs even with the cartop carrier. Can fit more crud than I can use, but we don't use quads either.
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I like my 2010 H3 with the adventure package. It's stock with 33in tires and electric lockers front & rear. It gets me anywhere I want to go. I also get 16 MPG on the highway
I use our '01 F350 4 door when I take the family, when solo I take the 'OL '98 chevy 6.5 diesel 3/4 ton standard cab. I just bought a 28' travel trailer that either truck pulls to camp. My dream hunting rig would be a 4 door toyota pick up with a 4cyl turbo diesel that had enough tourque to pull a trailer. I once had the idea to build a Toyota straight axle 4 runner with a 6.5 chevy deisel with an overdrive transmission, but I never did it, I'm sure it would have been a fairly fuel efficiant hunitng rig and have plenty of power to pull a trailer. The same engine as my '98 but about 2000 lbs lighter. Its too bad that fuel is such a big deal these days, its the highest cost for me when I look at my hunting expense.
I think the best all around hunting vehicle is a Toyota 4x4. With that said, I have a duramax diesel and a Polaris ranger. My truck gets me In the area, my ranger makes things comfortable off road.
My wife drives a Subaru outback, it is very tempting to take that to trailheads that it can make it to.
My chevrolegs gets the most use though;)
When I moved from Spain to Italy and gas in Italy was $11 per gallon, I sold my Jeep Wrangler Unlimited.
When I moved down here to Australia from Florida, I couldn't bring my Hummer H3 because the steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car so we sold it. It was a great off-road car, though storage is lacking.
Right now in Australia we have a Jeep Cherokee 95. Works pretty well, gas here is about $6 per gallon.
My dream vehicle is a Mercedes Benz Galendawagon in the military model. Like this one.
Attachment 4388
And this one:
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2...83090.1-lg.jpg
And more than anything else the Unimog for a base camp.
Attachment 4389
We are going to shoot for a F250 Crew cab for the primary vehicle, a Jeep Unlimited for the family troop carrier, and a Mercedez Benz conversion van for the family truxter.