Time to rethink about hunting vehicle

[Eric Krewson]

OK, I have an F250 and one of my favorite hunting spots is a 90 mile round trip away. This translates into a $25 fuel bill for every trip.

I need my F250 for pulling my camper and tractor around but am thinking about buying a late model used vehicle for hunting transportation.

I don't need a pick-up but do occasionally need 4 wheel drive to keep from getting stuck on wet grass and well maintained dirt roads after a freeze and thaw.

I need about 30 mpg and have been looking at the small Suzuki's, Trackers and such.

What do you guys have that fits the bill and how dependable are they.

[TimZeigler]

I feel for you Eric; One of my favorites spots is about 100 miles round trip.  My F150 Super Crew with 4WD does it for about $30 dollars if I drive sensibly.  

I bought an old Harley; I still have to drive the truck in the woods but the bike sure is fun to ride.      

[Dartwick]

Lets say you get 10 mpg now and will get 30 mpg with your new vehicle.

Lets say gas is $4(even though its under $3.50 now)

Lets say you will make this trip 20 times this year.

Lets amortize over 5 years.


Getting a new car will save you $2400 over 5 years. Its going to have to be a cheap car to pay off.

[Stinger]

Eric,
Been thinking about the same thing as my Pathfinder gets less than 15mpg on average.  Those small sport utes that you mention are not really meant for off road and don't have much room in them for carrying gear.  I've been seriously considering a used Subaru Outback.  My daughter has one and it has a respectable 7.3 inches of ground clearance.  Even better, with the rear seats folded up and the front seats set for me (I'm 5'9"), the bed is a full foot longer than the Pathfinder.  At 6 feet, I can lay down and take a nap in it if I want to.  It also just as wide and only 4 inches less in height, and the 4cyl gets 30 mpg on the highway.  It also goes great offroad and in the snow.  It is no surprise that so many people in the midwest own them.

[GR]

Exactly what Dartwick said. Dont forget the extra insurance, plates, taxes and up keep. I dont think you can save enough to justify it.

Tune up the F250.

Spend the money on a new bow and just smile as your filling up.

gr

[JEFF B]

get a mule  dirt cheap to run.  

[elk ninja]

Not sure if this is "cool", but I like it.  Ugly, tough, all business, yet somehow really practicle.  
 http://alliedarmament.homestead.com/Customer.html

My first car was an old subaru and I can tell you, bar none, the most relaible car I have ever had...

[GR]

Don't forget the safety factor of the F250.

Two years ago a small SUV turned in front of my F350. I opened the door and got out after getting smacked with an airbag,  the rescue crew spent 40 minutes cutting them out.

gr

[Bakes168]

Tune up the 250.

[Tim Fishell]

Eric, I know exactly where your comming from.  I drive a 2500 HD Chevy and get 12 MPG.  Nothing like you but I drive 30 miles round trip to my hunting spot.  I was thinking about something that gets better gas to run back and forth as well.  Then I starting thinking and like has been said before by the time you put plates, insurance, and pay taxes on a second vehicle it really isnt worth it any more for what you would be saving.  So now I just suck it up and bite the bullet when I fill the tank.

[Tater John]

Eric,

 Something that was pointed out to me about all wheel drive cars, which I hadn't considered, is they aren't the same when it comes to '4-wheel drive' comparisions. But even still if an individual has a need for traction in soft surface conditions wouldn't a set of snow chains be a legitimate compromise and a small electric wench for those 'shouldn't have done that' moment?

I like the Impreza. Currently my surburban is parked and I'm get out there in a subaru legacy or my honda civic. Neither is all wheel drive, mpg is 30 and 39 respectively. Road conditions so far this year are semi-maintained dirt roads and it hasn't rained yet. When it does it will have to be back to the suburban 4X4

Rusty

[Talondale]

I have a 2X4 ranger ext cab that get's 20-25 MPG but bought a Honda Civic 2 door off my niece for $500.  It has 265K miles on it but still gets 40+ MPG.  I use it now as my hunting vehicle.  It is tight with my gear and I have to park and make several trips back to the cabin with my gear, as well as debone deer and put it in the cooler for transport but it means I can afford to make more trips.  I also use it for daily commute: I figured I saved $1,600 last year at $3 a gallon, not to mention wear on my truck.

[John Scifres]

I will stuff a deer into my new Corolla this year.  Hopefully more than one     It gets 35+ MPG.  My best spot is about 110 miles round trip.  The Explorer sucks $25 worth of gas every time.  The Corolla takes about $11.  I'll take pics.  I used to have a Pontiac Lemans hatchback.  I carried more than a few deer in it.

[MI_Bowhunter]

I drive our Ford Focus until the roads get bad enough then I just suck it up and drive my 4x4 Silverado ('94).   The mileage sucks but when the loggers and whatnot tear up the roads I don't want to get stuck 30 miles from town and out of cell phone range.

The best car I ever had was a Geo Prism hatchback.   That thing would go through anything, 35+ MPG and had lots of room for my hunting gear if I folded the seats down.   Heck I once strapped a deer to the top of a Camaro, made for an interesting view through the T-Tops.  :-D

[Roadkill]

We drive the area in which we were drawn-this past weekend it was 326.7 miles---one way.  I'd feel blessed with only 50 mile roundtripper.  One must be grateful for what one has.....

[Talondale]

Originally posted by MI_Bowhunter:
  Heck I once strapped a deer to the top of a Camaro, made for an interesting view through the T-Tops.  :-D

I've got a picture of one of my deer in the trunk of my '65 Mustang.

[OkKeith]

When I was a kid, one of the few guys my Dad trusted enough to take me hunting (without him) drove an AMC Eagle 4-door wagon. He had tallish mud tires on it and a rack on top similar to the ones you see on trendy sport-wheel-drives now.

That freaky thing would go anywhere! I have always wanted to have a dedicated hunting vehicle. I have almost bought one several times, but they all fell short of my memories of traveling in the EAGLE. If I ever find one that even half way runs I'm buying it.

I figure they get better milage than my truck. I should be able to pick one up cheap since there aren't any pop icons driving them, and when you open the hood, there actually seems to be an engine in there. Not some hunk of the international space station that takes a NASA engineer and a former cosmonaut to work on.

OkKeith

[Mike Byrge@home]

I had a mid 90's Suzuki sidekick 4x4 -the four door hard top model.  It was a very good vehicle and with "mud tires" did pretty good off-road.  I don't remember the mpg but I know that I spent alot more on gas when I sold it and started driving my full size chevy all the time.

I'm looking for something similar for my 15yr old right now but they are hard to find.

[Shaun]

I parked my Tundra most of the time and am driving a RAV4. 15 mpg vs 25mpg. The RAV is 4 cyl 2WD but with front wheel drive it goes almost everywhere and the with Tundra for back up it has been a real help. If I did not need a super dependable vehicle for work driving I might consider some other brand, but my experience is that Toyotas are bullet proof.

Gas just dipped under $3 here for the first time in a long while, but I don't expect it to last.

[imskippy]

look into Hydrogen fuel supplementation. You may also want to do some internet research on "HHO" induction. Basically a simple system using a water/baking soda solution is the fuel source in which a stainless steel plate is electrically charged causing a chemical reaction which produces hydrogen gasses that you route to the intake of your wehicle. There a few companies out there producing these now for anywhere from $700 to $2500 per system that pretty much guarantees you double your fuel economy.
Read this.  http://www.fuelfromh2o.com/how-it-works.html

I had a link to one of the sites saved but can't find it right now. I'll keep checking. Skippy