Show us your hunting rig

kawboy

Very Active Member
Messages
1,337
One day I’d love to upgrade my old half ton pickup and build a new hunting rig. I won’t be hauling a trailer with wheelers on it, I just want a comfortable ride over rough roads. Maybe something to sleep in the back under a shell, or to throw a rooftop tent on.

I had thought of building off of a 4Runner or Tacoma

What is your rig, how is it set up?

What mods are a must?
 
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Its a truck. Anyone who duck hunted merced co. This year knows the conditions.5 foot sink holes.

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Do you know that holding all those ducks in your hands even just for a picture, a Game Warden could write you and ticket and if wanted to be a real jerk write it as a Federal Offense that would cost you a bigger fine and have to hire a lawyer to keep that off your record! Silly Right?!!!! Back in the early 2000’s Mrs Sikora Moe my main guy and myself duck hunted Banner Marsh a few hrs north of us on opening day. So when everyone was coming in to check station around noon or whatever there was the New Game Warden and wrote every single person going into the check station and wrote everyone a Warning Ticket I mean everyone. As far as my group I think Mrs Sikora pulled the ducks out of the boat then handed them to me and I handed to Moe and Moe checked the ducks in. Now the ducks we had was over one or two person’s limited and a cording to our laws around here you cannot have on your possession more that one limit of ducks-geese. I don’t know how many he wrote for sure but it was opening day and there are 4 man blinds and 26 blinds so
26x4=104-1 because we only had 3 in our blind so 103 Warning tickets! Sometime else that was funny is that was opening day as I’ve said several times already and I was first out of the Hat to pick! When I looked around to the crowd which were all locals everyone started picking their noses and looking down at their feet, then I asked the State Workers what would be a decent blind because we came 3-4 miles away and we would never come back they didn’t help else either Which was their job to do! LMAO! Moe was pissed and wasn’t happy with the workers and told them that very loudly! Lol Again and Again in the check station

are those Cinnamon Teal? Wow! We never get them down here 95% are blue wing
 
Where The Hell You been kawboy?
Been working my tail off so I can sneak to the hills when I finally get a tag. I’ve had to relocate to find good opportunities for my kiddos.

We’ve just been living the dream and staying outside as much as possible.

How have you been?
 
What suspension components did you go with? Is it a 3”?

Yeah it is 3". I've had toytec on it and old man emu. Toytec struts snapped last deer season, so right now its set up with old man emu (seems better for what we drive in because everything is shielded from mud where toytec everything was exposed). I did put the add a leaf in the old man emu lifted springs also. I put JBA offroad upper control arms on it. If you happen to go the tacoma route I wouldn't recommend total chaos uca thats what is on it in the broken strut picture. They are a awesome design but having the exposed uniball they get ruined quick from mud getting in them so your constantly replacind the uniball and at $150.00 per set it adds up quick. I have more into suspension than the truck is worth now ???. This summer I plan on rhino lining the whole thing, removing the back seat and making that all storage, new head unit so I can have Onx pulled up while I'm driving and a few other small things.

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There sure are some nice rigs out there alright! Anyone want to trade for my sweet running 1992 S10 Blaser that I had to fix up with $600 for tires, $50 for a new ignition switch and key, $30 for Walmart camo spray paint, $0 to lower the spare tire rack so I can see any grandkids who might be behind me, $25 to move the license plate and light? It'll go anywhere your rig will go, plus some places you couldn't or wouldn't go, all the while saving money on gas? 2 people can live and sleep in it for a couple of weeks if need be. And it'll hold 2 large coolers with enough block ice to last about a week in order to keep the meat cold enough to get home or to the butcher? No takers?

How much did it cost me, you ask? All cold hard cash, $300! (You ain't the ones who know people in low places.)

Now that I think about it, I'm withdrawing my offer since I will be doing MUCH more road hunting these days and your big solid color noisy rigs would spook deer and elk much further away than my arrows would fly. Sorry to get your hopes up! I'll see you around sometime, but you won't see me. :giggle:

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So efa!

We Know your tactics!

You Ever shoot A Doe Out The S-10 Window that Was feeding On One Of Your Bait Piles?:D
You know my tactics better than I do, Bess! No, I've never shot anything out of a car door window or over a bait PILE, but my car usually allows me to get pretty darn close.
 
Kawboy, So for 25 years I owned a vehicle dealership here in Washington State. I dealt in government surplus vehicles. Over 90% of the vehicles that I sold were US Forest Service vehicles. I personally have bought and sold over 1200 green forest service vehicles. I bought them from all over the western united states and Alaska. Shipped them to me by the semi-truck loads. I sold trucks to private individuals, businesses, farms, ranch's, and other government agencies. People traveled from multiple states to buy vehicles from me. I sold all kinds of Dodge, Chevy, Ford, Jeep, and other American made vehicles. Mostly trucks and SUV's. While doing this I decided I would try to find the ultimate hunting rig. My buddies all owned Dodge, Chevy, and Ford one ton and 3/4 ton diesel pickups. They had too due to their work and hauling needs. I hated hunting with them in those rigs because they beat you to death and drive over adverse roads terrible. I tried everything. 1/2 ton pick ups of all makes, I had a 85 Dodge crew cab short box that wasn't bad but road rough. I had a 1994 Ford one ton crew cab that I took off the bed and had my auto body guy cut the frame and shorten it down (lost one of the two fuel tanks) and custom made a short flatbed for it (super cool looking) but it absolutely beat you to death when you were off road with the one ton springs. I was looking for the perfect vehicle that could do four things for me. It needed to have a tight turning radius, ride as smooth as possible off road, be able to haul myself and up to three others, and be able to haul dead deer and elk. I never really considered an SUV because i figured you couldn't carry critters home. Once we went to the gutless method and never bring anything home except bags of meats and antlers, I realized that an SUV with a hitch-hualer on the back might work. Im 6 foot 8 inches tall so a smaller SUV wouldn't cut it. My first SUV was a 1999 Chevy 2 door Tahoe. It worked wonderful and with the hitch-hauler it worked perfect. But it was really only good for two guys due to the two door. If I was only hunting with one extra guy I would still have that rig. You could turn on a dime and it road like a Caddy off road. I went to the vehicle I have now a 2005 Chevy 4 door Tahoe after my kids started to hunt and I will keep it forever. The hitch-hualer can easily haul three to four de-boned deer or a de-boned elk with horns and cape easily. I stock it all up at the beginning of the hunting season with everything I can or could possibly need or use. All of my gear is out of the weather and locked up. Now i will have to say that this rig is used by myself only during hunting season and is for hunting only. Some guys cant do that and need to use the truck that they drive regularly or use for work like my buddies I mentioned above. But if you are looking for the ultimate hunting rig and used exclusively for hunting, The Chevy Tahoe cant be beat in my opinion. the weight distribution compared to the wheelbase makes my Tahoe better in the snow and ice than my buddies trucks. I can get into areas they simply cant. The short turning radius is amazing and the smooth ride is absolutely like nothing a truck can produce. If you have to get a truck due to other reasons than I would recommend a Chevy 1/2 short bed. Chevy trucks and SUV's have better suspensions for a smooth ride over the other makes. I have owned them all and Chevy/GMC is what you want to stay with. I hope that helps a little. Might be some foreign made SUV's that might work for you but what I like about my Forest Service Tahoe is that I can take it through rough sage and bushes and not care about scratching and so on. My Tahoe can just about go anywhere a side by side can go and I can have the heat or AC on and I am not covered in dust, dirt, snow, or mud on the inside. Just one more thing, you want your Tahoe to be a 2004-2006 if you can. Anything newer than that has all plastic front and rear bumpers that wont hold up to serious off road driving. They possibly could if you want to spend a fortune buying after market bumpers. Good luck on your search. Everyones needs are different due to their individual circumstances but The Tahoe has been the "Cat's-Meow" for me.

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Kawboy, So for 25 years I owned a vehicle dealership here in Washington State. I dealt in government surplus vehicles. Over 90% of the vehicles that I sold were US Forest Service vehicles. I personally have bought and sold over 1200 green forest service vehicles. I bought them from all over the western united states and Alaska. Shipped them to me by the semi-truck loads. I sold trucks to private individuals, businesses, farms, ranch's, and other government agencies. People traveled from multiple states to buy vehicles from me. I sold all kinds of Dodge, Chevy, Ford, Jeep, and other American made vehicles. Mostly trucks and SUV's. While doing this I decided I would try to find the ultimate hunting rig. My buddies all owned Dodge, Chevy, and Ford one ton and 3/4 ton diesel pickups. They had too due to their work and hauling needs. I hated hunting with them in those rigs because they beat you to death and drive over adverse roads terrible. I tried everything. 1/2 ton pick ups of all makes, I had a 85 Dodge crew cab short box that wasn't bad but road rough. I had a 1994 Ford one ton crew cab that I took off the bed and had my auto body guy cut the frame and shorten it down (lost one of the two fuel tanks) and custom made a short flatbed for it (super cool looking) but it absolutely beat you to death when you were off road with the one ton springs. I was looking for the perfect vehicle that could do four things for me. It needed to have a tight turning radius, ride as smooth as possible off road, be able to haul myself and up to three others, and be able to haul dead deer and elk. I never really considered an SUV because i figured you couldn't carry critters home. Once we went to the gutless method and never bring anything home except bags of meats and antlers, I realized that an SUV with a hitch-hualer on the back might work. Im 6 foot 8 inches tall so a smaller SUV wouldn't cut it. My first SUV was a 1999 Chevy 2 door Tahoe. It worked wonderful and with the hitch-hauler it worked perfect. But it was really only good for two guys due to the two door. If I was only hunting with one extra guy I would still have that rig. You could turn on a dime and it road like a Caddy off road. I went to the vehicle I have now a 2005 Chevy 4 door Tahoe after my kids started to hunt and I will keep it forever. The hitch-hualer can easily haul three to four de-boned deer or a de-boned elk with horns and cape easily. I stock it all up at the beginning of the hunting season with everything I can or could possibly need or use. All of my gear is out of the weather and locked up. Now i will have to say that this rig is used by myself only during hunting season and is for hunting only. Some guys cant do that and need to use the truck that they drive regularly or use for work like my buddies I mentioned above. But if you are looking for the ultimate hunting rig and used exclusively for hunting, The Chevy Tahoe cant be beat in my opinion. the weight distribution compared to the wheelbase makes my Tahoe better in the snow and ice than my buddies trucks. I can get into areas they simply cant. The short turning radius is amazing and the smooth ride is absolutely like nothing a truck can produce. If you have to get a truck due to other reasons than I would recommend a Chevy 1/2 short bed. Chevy trucks and SUV's have better suspensions for a smooth ride over the other makes. I have owned them all and Chevy/GMC is what you want to stay with. I hope that helps a little. Might be some foreign made SUV's that might work for you but what I like about my Forest Service Tahoe is that I can take it through rough sage and bushes and not care about scratching and so on. My Tahoe can just about go anywhere a side by side can go and I can have the heat or AC on and I am not covered in dust, dirt, snow, or mud on the inside. Just one more thing, you want your Tahoe to be a 2004-2006 if you can. Anything newer than that has all plastic front and rear bumpers that wont hold up to serious off road driving. They possibly could if you want to spend a fortune buying after market bumpers. Good luck on your search. Everyones needs are different due to their individual circumstances but The Tahoe has been the "Cat's-Meow" for me.

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I have been teetering back and forth with the thought of a Tahoe. I also thought it could work well to sleep in the back of it at a trailhead when I get there late. I will have to move these farther up the list.

This was a great write up with a lot of info. Thank you!
 
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Sorry for the picture quality. 1962 Dodge W200 Power Wagon, power take off winch. Inside includes bed, stove, ice box, etc. We have slept 4 in the truck. Two on the bed and two on cots above the bed. Used to be an Air Force ambulance. I bought it in Japan from the Air Force while I was stationed there and shipped it home. I don't use it much anymore since my dad and brother have passed. Lots of memories.
 
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Sorry for the picture quality. 1962 Dodge W200 Power Wagon, power take off winch. Inside includes bed, stove, ice box, etc. We have slept 4 in the truck. Two on the bed and two on cots above the bed. Used to be an Air Force ambulance. I bought it in Japan from the Air Force while I was stationed there and shipped it home. I don't use it much anymore since my dad and brother have passed. Lots of memories.
You put a Mercedes Emblem on the front of that thing some yuppie would buy it for two hundred thousand dollars
 
That Cracks Me Up!:D

Can The ECO-BOOST Out Run Them?

What Kind Of a SQUAT Is That?

LMAO!
I meant just in general getting out there from MN. We have taken damn near every NA gas motor made and they all get their @ss handed to them in the mountains and these Ecoboosts were a game changer for us as we have zero need for a diesel. That "squat" is my buddy after we punched the last antelope tag for the group after one of the most epic games of cat and mouse we've ever played with an antelope and yes, the Ecoboost came into (legally) play :LOL:.
 
How many miles and what did it cost you? I really love those rides
Do you know what those cost when they were new? It looks like they really hold their value for sure
2011 with 51k miles. Cost a little more than new unfortunately, but had been looking for a while for one. This one is in the best shape of the 20+ I looked at. Have a bit of a car addiction so always on the hunt for the next toy.
 

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