Good Gas Mileage Hunting Vehicle

[Mackey]

With fuel prices skyrocketing is has anyone started looking at alternative hunting vehicles? I'm currently using a Tacoma with a cap, roof rack, bumpers, and lift, I average about 13mpg during hunting season and 17 on the hwy. I have a couple of out-of-state hunts scheduled this fall and typically hunt 8+ weeks from Aug. - Nov. normally fuel has been one of my largest expenses but now it will defiantly be by a land slide.

I'm really considering selling the Taco before these market crashes, currently, I could make a lot of money off of the truck even after beating on it for the last couple of years. I really don't know what to get though, I think a crappy little fwd car would get me to about 80% of the places I hunt, more if I beat the shit out of it. I just don't know if I'm quite ready to give up having a decent rig. I've considered buying a small hybrid SUV like a toyota Rav 4 which gets over 40mpg, put a hitch on the back and haul my t-dub or CT90 on the back for the really poor roads. It really is a tough decision though, especially going out of state like NE Nevada where there is pretty much nobody to help if you break down or get stuck.

I've always really liked having a capable vehicle but the current prices are crazy. Just the two trips I have planned I will be putting on 1300 miles just to and from, not to mention any driving while there. I normally keep about 1K set aside in an envelope for the fuel each fall so it doesn't hit the bank account as hard. This year we are already double with a couple of months to go. Maybe I just need to accept that it's going to be the cost of doing business going forward.

Curious what everyone else's thoughts are, I defiantly feel like the woods are going to be a much lonelier place this fall with prices the way they are.

 

[Billy Goat]

Been looking at Subarus for a few years, then the wilderness packages came out.....


Then I think by the time I buy a vehicle, pay additional taxes, insurance and everything else, I can buy a lot of fuel.


I need to have a large truck, I keep beat around vehicles that get just that. Have 2 so one is usually on the road.


My chitters got paid for by miles off the primary truck, use them running around between farms, go to town, anything when I don't need the truck.



I went through $400 in diesel today between truck and tractor, so I feel it. But you don't always save money by spending money.

My jimmy and my jeep are cheap to keep.

 

[Billy Goat]

1985 AMC eagle 4 door. Get the inline 6 cylinder and 5 speed. Has 4 wheel drive, good ground clearence, and well over 30mpg.

That's all correct except the 30 mpg, 18 if things are perfect.

It was known as the screaming eagle....

Really AMC was just ahead of their time.

 

[Mackey]

I drive a 2019 Honda Ridgeline and it’s perfect for me. Just enough truck to haul a dead deer, rides like a Cadillac and gets 24+ mpg. I’ve got the AWD model and it does very well in snow and mud.
Mackey

 

[TomJoad]

Really not terribly helpful from a todays cost perspective ($5 plus per gallon) but my Gladiator Diesel with steel bumpers, winch and GFC stays in the 25-26 range going up and down the mountains of Colorado. Straight up highway driving is closer to 20 since that tends to be 85mph and it’s a breadbox.

 

[Forestryguy]

If it is paid off, keep it. Keep up on the maintenance and it will run 300k miles. A new vehicle is going to keep you tethered to stay close to home, with payments. Im keeping my '13 F150 V8 till it dies. Don't care if I hold it together with bailing wire and 100 mph tape. Would last longer if they stop using excessive brine on the roads in this state.

 

[Legend]

That's all correct except the 30 mpg, 18 if things are perfect.

It was known as the screaming eagle....

Really AMC was just ahead of their time.

I owned one for many years. Drop into 5th gear and it idled down the road at 70mph. You must be reffering to a different gear ratio model.

Great little car that I wish I still had.

 

[roadrunner]

With fuel prices skyrocketing is has anyone started looking at alternative hunting vehicles? I'm currently using a Tacoma with a cap, roof rack, bumpers, and lift, I average about 13mpg during hunting season and 17 on the hwy. I have a couple of out-of-state hunts scheduled this fall and typically hunt 8+ weeks from Aug. - Nov. normally fuel has been one of my largest expenses but now it will defiantly be by a land slide.

I'm really considering selling the Taco before these market crashes, currently, I could make a lot of money off of the truck even after beating on it for the last couple of years. I really don't know what to get though, I think a crappy little fwd car would get me to about 80% of the places I hunt, more if I beat the shit out of it. I just don't know if I'm quite ready to give up having a decent rig. I've considered buying a small hybrid SUV like a toyota Rav 4 which gets over 40mpg, put a hitch on the back and haul my t-dub or CT90 on the back for the really poor roads. It really is a tough decision though, especially going out of state like NE Nevada where there is pretty much nobody to help if you break down or get stuck.

I've always really liked having a capable vehicle but the current prices are crazy. Just the two trips I have planned I will be putting on 1300 miles just to and from, not to mention any driving while there. I normally keep about 1K set aside in an envelope for the fuel each fall so it doesn't hit the bank account as hard. This year we are already double with a couple of months to go. Maybe I just need to accept that it's going to be the cost of doing business going forward.

Curious what everyone else's thoughts are, I defiantly feel like the woods are going to be a much lonelier place this fall with prices the way they are.

What you do when fuel prices come back down should be the deciding factor. In the long run you, may spend more swapping out vehicles than what you sepnd on fuel this probably one hunting season.

 

[fmyth]

View attachment 417421

Really not terribly helpful from a todays cost perspective ($5 plus per gallon) but my Gladiator Diesel with steel bumpers, winch and GFC stays in the 25-26 range going up and down the mountains of Colorado. Straight up highway driving is closer to 20 since that tends to be 85mph and it’s a breadbox.

Thats incredible! My Ram 2019 Ram Rebel 1500 w the 5.7L got 15mpg hwy w my AT Habitat camper on. I sold the AT and put a regular ARE shell on it and now get 18mpg on long trips. Does your Gladiator have the max tow package?

 

[TomJoad]

Thats incredible! My Ram 2019 Ram Rebel 1500 w the 5.7L got 15mpg hwy w my AT Habitat camper on. I sold the AT and put a regular ARE shell on it and now get 18mpg on long trips. Does your Gladiator have the max tow package?

yeah we’re talking a much smaller platform: 3L vs 5.7L. This is the benefit of a small platform truck but it doesn’t have the payload or tow capacity of a Ram. It does fit on our tight Colorado trails well however.

 

[Fordguy]

A few years ago I took the Honda civic to Wyoming for a hunt. Lol. With a little attention to ground clearance it did just fine (until it rained) and averaged 36 mpg. When it rains that ground gets nasty no matter what you're driving. There was only one spot that I had to drive a long way in reverse to get out- didn't dare stop, but I knew the mud was getting pushed into my exhaust. It all worked out. It didn't stall and didn't get stuck. I saw trucks that looked like they were having as much trouble getting around as I was.

 

[Chiefcrunchy]

I wish I got 20+

2015 DCSB, 3.5" lift, topper, front aluminum bumper with winch, rear steel bumper, steel skid plates, sliders, roof rack and light bar.

Driving 55 and paying attention to the pedal and running max pressure I can get 17, normal every day driving it's about 15 and any time spent in the woods it's 13.

I have almost the same setup, if you can ditch the sliders, skids and cap that should free up a couple mpgs.
Although those are probably on for some of the trips to get into the hunting spots.
I considered selling my truck 2 months ago and the consideration time period was all of 72 hours and realized I will regret selling it.
That being said if you are dead set on the mpgs, I would lean toward the rav4 just to keep awd and that toyota reliability(sorry Subaru, they just aren't as good).

 

[Missahba]

Thanks, I did a search but didn't see this one.

No problem. Your thread is much more focused on mileage. It’s all good. I’m following.

 

[Missahba]

In the 80’s I hunted whitetail in Michigan’s UP one year in my Buddy’s VW Scirocco. We got some weird looks from usual characters in 5x5 trucks. The novel thing was our track was so narrow we could straddle from the center hump to one dry side of the muddy two track trails. We passed right over the deep ruts like that. Thought it was hilarious at the time. Didn’t get stuck.

Another year, another friend, another vw not so good. A foot of snow fell the afternoon we were leaving. I didn’t have a tow strap to pull him with my Jimmy. Needed a tow truck to get out.

 

[j33]

This will be an unpopular option: Remove cap, roof rack, bumpers and lift.

 

[Rob5589]

I wish I got 20+

2015 DCSB, 3.5" lift, topper, front aluminum bumper with winch, rear steel bumper, steel skid plates, sliders, roof rack and light bar.

Driving 55 and paying attention to the pedal and running max pressure I can get 17, normal every day driving it's about 15 and any time spent in the woods it's 13.

Not doing yourself any favors with all the mods. Not to mention you surely have at least 33's. All the extra weight, wind resistance, lugging due to killing your gearing with larger tires... You get the picture. You'll sell high but, also buy high. Everything used is crazy expensive right now.

 

[Billy Goat]

I owned one for many years. Drop into 5th gear and it idled down the road at 70mph. You must be reffering to a different gear ratio model.

Great little car that I wish I still had.

Can't remember the gears.

 

[JoeDirt]

The Subaru comments make me cringe, my 2004 Forester got worse millage than my Tacoma driving around in the woods.

Hwy millage the Forester was better.

I do know my Ex wifes Crosstrek did pretty good on millage.

 

[Yooper]

I have a 2014 Outback that I use as a commuter car/forest rd mobile that I put some Falken Wildpeak Trail AT's on and I still get 26ish mpg on the regular. Not going to tow anything heavy but she's got 185k miles on her so I don't sweat the small stuff too much. Second vehicle is a newly ordered '22 F150 with the 2.7 Ecoboost in it. I have a coworker who's running the 2.7 and has some pretty impressive mpg's for a full size truck without going into the hybrid world.

 

[MallardSX2]

Wish I had never sold my Subaru. It was a good little vehicle and got 27MPG.