CJ5

Better be mechanically inclined and carry tools/spare parts.

Nah, these old fellas are bulletproof…

Yeah right.

Lol

They roll to easy. From experience. Also way to rough riding

A friend had a couple of the older troopers at a lease i was on south of ozona. He beat the livin snot out of them, abused them, let them sit for sometimes a couple months without starting them, and they ran ran ran and ran some more. Very good tight turning radius that wasn't a whole lot more than my old cj5 and the 4wd on them worked great. Even better was both had ACs that worked so on hot afternoons they were great. Last, my God they rode 10x better than my old CJ did. lol

I think he bought one of them for $1200 and the other for about $1300. Both were mid-1990s models

I don't understand what you mean. Mine is a 75' and I'm dumber than a box of rock when it comes to fixing engines but there really isn't much to these old ones and mine has been pretty much bullet proof over the years. It has been sitting 6-7 years now in the barn and is fixing to get pulled out and gone through completely on the mechanical to get it ready for deer season on my new lease.

Considering going the ATV plus trailer route. Looked into UTVs, but jeez the price point is steep these days for the equipment that anybody really wants on them. Can get into an ATV for 50% of the cost. I'm not skilled enough to work on the vehicle if it breaks down in the field, let alone weld per Blank's post

Another issue with the UTV route is that I usually prefer to buy new. My dad always taught me to take care of things, regular maintenance etc. and the risk of buying used is that you never really know if someone shares the same philosophy, especially on a 4x4 vehicle, seems like high risk. Would be curious if any of y'all would strongly talk me out of the ATV+Trailer route? I am just getting on the first lease of my own, but plan on taking it out of state next year for a multi-day hunt. Seems like an ATV might be more nimble for a guy like me, but open to suggestion.

The ATV Worked out for me. If it's just you, and you don't mind being really cold 1-2 days per year on the absolute worst days, I recommend it. On those really cold days, I can take my truck, or break out the mountain gloves and hat. I bought a Honda Foreman, manual shift, straight axle, with Electric Power Steering. Served me very well. Smaller, cheaper, easier to store and trailer, go more places, very dependable.....a lot of positives.

All that said, my wife and I are going together more, and will be taking more trips to Colorado to ride, so I'm getting a Kawasaki Mule next year. Were it not for that, I'd keep the Honda Foreman forever. If you can wait, I'll be selling it next year. I bought it new three years ago. I can haul myself, and 300 lbs of corn. I can get a deer up on the rack using this:

onlysmith&wesson thanks for the feedback, looks like a solid rig you got right there. I'm likely going to need this season, but if it doesn't pan out for me this year, I'll definitely keep you in mind. Is that lift something you built yourself or did you buy that from somewhere?

Thanks for sharing.

I built it. Bought a hand winch at Harbor Freight. Unistrut channel and U-bolts from home depot. Brake cleaner, wire wheel, spray paint and cut it off with a grinder.

It’s a great setup, well done. If I don’t have enough funds leftover for a trailer to start, may follow your parts list. Thanks!

I'm in CenTex and other than Mesquite thorns, don't have any extreme terrain I need to travel over.

I work on quite a few different SxS's and ATVs.
For what I need, it's Honda ATVs and Kawasaki Mules.
Since I can buy broken and repair myself, I have less in a Honda Rancher and two Mules than most folks spend on accessories with their new toys.

Bought my 09 Mule a couple of years ago for $3500. Stole it! Had a jacked up Jeep before but was hard on an old fart getting in and out. My game hoist for it is in the background, slides into receiver hitch on back. Perfect setup for me.