Opinions on using a CAR to the trailhead?...

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Nov 3, 2014
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I will be driving a VW sportwagen diesel this coming 2016 september DIY CO Elk hunt...Its great MPG is the deciding factor since I am driving 1500 miles one way so I am curious of your opinions on what to expect?
 
I used to use a vw rabbit hatchback. Works just fine but the ass end tends to sag when your giving a bull a ride home. Legs sticking out the back windows and the rack hanging out the tail end gets a thumbs up at the DQ drive thru too. Put it in coolers and lash the rack to the top and 1500 shouldn't be a problem.
 
I headed up early to scout around. Was heading back the next day to pick up wife and kids and truck. Didn't expect to have to stiff an elk in the trunk of the focus...


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I hunt in a national forest next to a wilderness area each fall and I drive a Saturn Vue. It is like a little SUV with a decent sized deck/cargo area and all wheel drive. In my experience the major factor is the condition of the roads. The final road I have to drive on is a dirt/gravel road with ruts and pot holes. IF I take it at around 15-20 mph so that I can see the potholes and avoid them then things go fine. I went down it at 30 mph the first year and wound up breaking a strut because it just didn't have the clearance and when I hit a deep pot hole the undercarriage bottomed out and cracked the strut. It snapped on the way home. Cost to repair about $1500.

So, as long as you use some common sense while driving and don't take it on roads it is not designed for you should be OK.
 
Not really sure what your asking about what to expect as I don't own a VW, but I use my wife's subaru all the time for hunting trips. The only things you need to think about is (1. space for a dead animal) and (2. What the road is like to the actual trailhead) sometimes constraint #2 forces me to take my truck. Bonuses from driving a car include but not limited too: hippies not trashing your car, improved gas milage and not giving your hunting spot away with a lifted chevy with giant bone collector stickers all over it.
 
Don't see a problem, the mountain roads should be fine but if weather unexpectedly messes up your plan you can always rent a quad.
 
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Do it. A few years back I had to take our junker Ford contour in to fetch the remaining 3/4 of my elk after my truck puked a syncro. 3" snow, chains, a SPOT, and WTF looks from all the road hunters in 3/4 tons. Before that, hunted for years with subaru and honda wagons.
 
driving a vw diesel in the areas you describe could bring stares from the enviros seems you are contributing to the causes of global warming and other hand wringing terminal effects to mother earth
 
I bought a little utility trailer from harbor freight....I got 38 mpg to montana n back...hold as much as my truck and we use my resident buddies truck when off road.
 
Thanks...I figured it would make it fine since I have read a few posts of people driving subaru's to hunt. Just wanted to ask.
HuntHARDER...Yes, I have a tahoe but the mpg is the problem (1500 miles 1 way) @300 miles per tank @ $70 a tank. the vw is less than half that cost. easy math.
 
Years ago as a poor college student I took a Toyota Corolla into the mountains on a couple day trips, but most all of my trailheads these days require a 4WD just to get to them.

This is just me, but I'd never go on any hunt without one of my trucks no matter how far I was driving. But you gotta do what you gotta do.
 
I have big game hunted out of my chevy Malibu when hunting wilderness areas (as long as it was easy to get to the trailhead).

Heck, I even took it on a sheep hunt here in OR.

Its fine as long as you are sure about the roads and your ability to take a dead critter out with you. In several of my car hunts I was hunting with others who had trucks.

I roll a V10 crew cab F250 when pulling my trailer or hunting areas that demand 4wd and Clearance. Its just not always necessary to bring it, and theres almost a 20 mpg difference in my two rigs.
 
As long as the roads to your trailhead aren't too rough you'll be fine. The first year I hunted CO, I helped a guy load a 6x6 bull, whole, into the back of his little Kia SUV. To say that it sagged a bit is an understatement!
 
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