Overlanding Rig for Hunting?

[Billinsd]

I have a CVT overland rig mounted to a small, lightweight in closed trailer.

What exactly does that mean? You have a tent mounted to a small, lightweight enclosed trailer? What's CVT? The abbreviation for the brand of the tent?

 

[mdkelley]

Nice truck you picked up, it should do you well. I had a 2015 Tacoma TRD 4.0 access cab 6' bed, was a really nice and reliable truck. I am aware it was the previous generation to what you picked up. I no longer have it, just didn't work for me. I picked up a duramax crew cab long bed. When it is my turn to drive for fishing day trips or weekend hunting scouting trips etc., the Toyota never worked. Yours with four seats would be better, and maybe you don't have any hunting/fishing partners so that could be a non-issue. The small bed will fill up quickly also if you have a couple coolers and hauling gear for you and a few buddies. My 6' bed was pretty much full with one fish cooler, two plastic totes for waders and a cooler for lunch just with one fishing partner.

The older chevy (2004) gets the same unloaded mileage as my Toy did, 18mpg, and much better mileage while towing or even just hauling anything in the bed (toy dropped to <10mpg loaded down with hunting gear and a DR650 in the bed). The Chevy rides nicer, much quieter/less road noise, more comfortable/legroom and I no longer bang my head on the top of the door frame when reaching in to grab something. That is really painful if you have never done it (yet, or maybe you are not tall enough in which case you are lucky)! The Toyota was a really nice truck but for hunting/camping trips, I prefer my full size with my pop top slide in camper. I can drop the camper off for a base camp and still run the truck around (it does surprising well in the trails), or haul a trailer with quads/bikes/jeep to get around in the woods. I have a long drive to get from Michigan to Idaho and much prefer the much more comfortable ride out/back. If I lived closer and was able to get into the mountains every weekend a Toyota (or probably more likely my CJ7) would be a better choice.

I guess my main point is these days you don't have to sacrifice a nice ride, towing capacity or room for gas mileage. A friend has a newer fullsize with a turbo 4cylinder gas engine, he gets 20 mpg on the highway and it is a really comfortable and quiet ride. It can tow quite a bit but I have no idea what the mileage drops to when towing. His cab is probably a bit bigger than the tacoma and definitely his 6.5' bed offers more space. Just something to keep in mind. That said, everyone is different and what works for your hunting style may not work for someone else. Not everyone needs to be able to tow a boat, camper, car hauler trailer, enclosed trailer etc. with their hunting rig, and if you don't often hunt with others or just meet up at camp a smaller truck has many benefits.

 

[Vandy321]

What exactly does that mean? You have a tent mounted to a small, lightweight enclosed trailer? What's CVT? The abbreviation for the brand of the tent?

CVT is a brand of soft sided roof top tent, Cascadia vehicle tents, also look at ikamper or the new GFC ultralight for a hard shell roof top tent. A Google search will bring up at least a dozen more brands, those are just the ones that I see the most around town and online.

 

[Billinsd]

You won't find a better hunting/camping setup. My only complaint with the taco is the short bed doesn't leave my room in the bed, the long bed is slightly better, but not much on room. Planning accordingly for meat transport, especially with the fridge on the slide-out. I'd say if packing in, consider leaving the fridge at home during the hunt only and going with a few large cheapo coolers for meat. Also, just make sure you have a way to lock whatever you can inside that camper top..and maybe consider a hidden kill switch or fuel shutoff so you don't come back to find someone drove off in your overlanding vehicle while you were off chasing elk for 8 days.

How much weight about is all this? I have a 2002 4x4 Double Cab Tacoma and think about doing this all the time. Money and weight me actually wanting to do it bad enough.

 

[Elkangle]

I wouldn't say my truck is an overlanding truck but it's similar in a alot of ways...the roof top tent would be great for sunny weather run and guns but i can't imagine bing up there in a wind storm...

Make your set up as versatile as possible if you plan on doing alot of trips all different times of year & climates

 

[Vandy321]

How much weight about is all this? I have a 2002 4x4 Double Cab Tacoma and think about doing this all the time. Money and weight me actually wanting to do it bad enough.

80# for the superlight clamshell/wedge RTT

Superlite Roof Top Tent

superlite roof tent superlite roof tent GFC superlite tent The SuperLite began its life as a question: Just how light-weight and minimalist can you make a hardshell rooftop tent? i want the world's lightest hardshell tent SPECIFICATIONS Weight: Approximately 80lbs Length: 90”Width: 50”Height...

gofastcampers.com

If you don't have the camper top/truck topper yet, that adds weight.

The full on GFC which is the camper shell with a wedge married to it is 270#, but you pay for the weight savings and the wedge being married to the camper.

GFC Platform Camper (Standard) - $6950

Estimated completion date for V2 Camper: Late February 2022 If you've made it this far you must be our kind of customer. The kind who's looking for an incredibly well-made thing to explore the world with. We applaud your good taste. When you click that Add-to-Cart button you'll be putting down a...

gofastcampers.com

 

[bowmanch]

Thoughts?

After hunting out of a Subaru, Honda CRV, a Saturn Sedan, and a 2wd Chevy Colorado, I am moving into a 4wd truck. I had been leaning into the Tundra before gas prices started their meteoric climb to the top of the daily consumables budget.

As I began to explore alternatives, I came across a fully outfitted 17' Tacoma Off Road with 50K miles. This thing has everything someone who enjoys exploring the mountain west could want (live in CO). I'm talking over built suspension, bigger tires, RLD canopy, roof top tent, winch, recovery gear, alu cab awning, battery bank system, dometic fridge on slide, and much more.

I bit the bullet as the deal was too good to pass up.

Now to the point of the post.
For those that have an overlanding rig that doubles as a hunting rig, what has your experience been? Any particular complaints? Tips?


P.S.
No, I didn't take these photos, as I have to go pick the truck up in Olympia WA. I will be driving back along I-90 and then turning south out of Billings on my way back to CO. Any recommended stops along the way? Ill be driving either the first or second week of April.
View attachment 274262View attachment 274261

Nice truck

I would take the overlanding stuff off before taking it hunting.

 

[isItFallYet]

Looks familiar! Takes about a minute to put the tent down. Super comfortable and stays pretty warm.

 

[Billinsd]

The full on GFC which is the camper shell with a wedge married to it is 270#, but you pay for the weight savings and the wedge being married to the camper.

GFC Platform Camper (Standard) - $6950

Estimated completion date for V2 Camper: Late February 2022 If you've made it this far you must be our kind of customer. The kind who's looking for an incredibly well-made thing to explore the world with. We applaud your good taste. When you click that Add-to-Cart button you'll be putting down a...

gofastcampers.com

Yes, I do have a topper. I have thought real hard about the shell with the wedge. Thanks

 

[MattB]

Said every moron blaming Trump for coronavirus. Didn’t make sense then, doesn’t make sense now.

Is that what it says in the Dead Sea scrolls?

 

[Hatchet Jack]

I don’t get the truck tent craze. My brothers in law love them and run around with all this shit hanging off their sequoias. Maybe for an antelope hunt I guess I could see it.

 

[brianrossman1]

Did you bother with the OVtune or gear yours? I’m 100% going to do the tune and had been considering the regearing.

I got an OV Tune on my ‘19 OR with a Leer canopy and full Prinsu rack. Made a world of difference but I do plan on re-gearing. Rig has seen a lot of action in the last 1.5 years and is a champ. Adding a C4 fabrication bumper and 10K Smittybilt winch this next week. Will run this rig until the wheels fall off as my camp rig. I didn’t want a rooftop tent because I prefer backpack hunts and if I’m hunting from the truck I either sleep in the bed or throw out a small shelter.


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[Fatcamp]

We do this. Air mattress in the back but we also carry a tent. We can carry a lot of stuff and it all comes off when we get home.



The conduit along the Yakima supports a big tarp when needed and the dog keeps cattle out of camp. Next one will probably be a diesel F250.

 

[brianrossman1]

Actually - your first post prompted me to check national gas prices, and you are right - they are higher than I knew/expected. I drive so little these days (work from home) that I hardly ever seem to buy gas and am out of touch with where it is at!! Was surprised to see several places in the country well over $3.00

It’s been very noticeable here in Seattle. Went from mid 2 dollars for the last several years to over $3.50 a gallon in just a few months since the Keystone pipeline news.


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[Titan_Bow]

I sleep in the back of my 4Runner, which for solo hunts where I need to be mobile, is really nice. A RTT would seem to get annoying after a few mornings where you need to be up and on the go before daylight. Also, when it’s deep cold, like sub zero temps, sleeping in the back of the 4Runner is nice. I can just reach up and start the truck and have heat easily. There’s been many nights while deer hunting in Nebraska, or fly fishing or antelope trips to Wyoming, where I couldn’t imagine a RTT would have survived the constant high winds.
I will say, when I bought my new 4Runner, I was also seriously considering a pickup truck with a camper shell, and I really like the idea of the GFC


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[cal30_sniper]

Is that what it says in the Dead Sea scrolls?

I'm not certain I took your first reply in proper context, and I certainly don't have a firm grasp on this one. Regardless, it's not worth further derailment to sort out.

It is genuinely frustrating to me that in today's day and age, we can't have a discussion about camping trucks without it devolving into political hack theories from one side of the aisle or another. Especially when there's already an entire heated thread in this subforum revolving around that 'effing political crap'. Regardless, I'm a noob and I certainly made it worse by poking the bear. I apologize and I will now go back to lurking.

 

[Billinsd]

H O M E | Overland underbudget

www.overlandunderbudget.com

This is an excellent site...

 

[Fatcamp]

I sleep in the back of my 4Runner, which for solo hunts where I need to be mobile, is really nice. A RTT would seem to get annoying after a few mornings where you need to be up and on the go before daylight. Also, when it’s deep cold, like sub zero temps, sleeping in the back of the 4Runner is nice. I can just reach up and start the truck and have heat easily. There’s been many nights while deer hunting in Nebraska, or fly fishing or antelope trips to Wyoming, where I couldn’t imagine a RTT would have survived the constant high winds.
I will say, when I bought my new 4Runner, I was also seriously considering a pickup truck with a camper shell, and I really like the idea of the GFC


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Ya, I saw a post somewhere about the newer pop-up campers for trucks. Light, expensive, but fast and full of options. We need a 3/4 ton to pull out camper and boat anyway so the idea speaks to me.

Difference being my 4runner cost 10k. Late model F250 not so much.

 

[24on48hunting]

As mentioned before, it’s a worry you’ll have to deal with when you leave that setup unattended for an extended period.
I run a rooftop tent on a bed rack as well. I don’t make unnecessary stops that leave things unattended for extended periods of time and I am typically with my truck most of the time. I bought an extra hardware kit for mine and run six points of contact (as opposed to four) with my tent and bed rack. I also thread a cable through the tent and lock it to the rack. One bolt hole on each side of my rack is locked to the bed rail. It’s secured with 4 other bolts on each rail. It takes a good while to take it all apart and remove. It’ll keep a less determined person from stealing my setup and will make the more determined ones have to work just a bit harder for it.

 

[tylervond]

Super sweet set up