Best Hunting Vehicle For The $$$

After looking at $20K ATVs, I am inclined to get some feedback from you fine folks on here, other options for hunting vehicles. I know about Samauris, but like to hear any other 4X4 hunting vehicles that won't break the bank. Thanks y'all!

my BIL has an Isuzu SUV (Trooper maybe???), early 2000s model, 4 wheel drive that he guided out of that was part mountain goat. He upgraded to that from an older Toyota pickup for a bit more cab space & 4 doors. Merely put a folding hitch carrier on back to load game on to transport back to camp. Plenty cheap compared to UTVs.

Too many questions unanswered. What do you want to do with it? Drive back and forth, good gas mileage, leave it at the lease? Baby it, wash all the time, or beat it up and not feel bad? Driving thru mud, rocks, sand, thorns - need clearance, load carrying for 30 bags of corn or protein? So many things and everyones situation is different. Probably best cheap option is to spend $2-6K on a Jeep CJ-5/7, and leave it at the lease.

Can you weld, and want a project? Buy a cheap 4x4 1983-1990 Chevy Suburban and create your own Avalanche like I do. You can buy them cheap, they're indestructible, parts are readily available, steel is heavy and welds up fine. They are old enough you can still work on them yourself. Middle seats fold down, and you can sleep in it if it rains or snows. Add a 4" lift and have all the clearance in the world. 35" Load Range E 10-plys will cover you for traction. The bed will hold a dozen deer or hogs. Start out basic, and add something every time you need it!! Still be in it less than $5000.

A comfortable pair of boots.

It has been my experience that a UTV will stay on top while trucks will go down.

I knew there was a reason I liked trucks...

Bought this off of an old couple that pulled it behind their motorhome. Its got the professionally installed towing kit and I haul it out to my lease every fall and just leave it there until the season is over. It was bone stock except for the tow hook up. I added the lift, 16 inch wheels and 265/75/16 Maxxis mud tires. All in I've got just over $4K in it.

I likey, I likey a lot. But you lost me at "can you weld, and want a project/?.

My neighbor just sold his 99’ Tacoma for $3500. Was a great ranch truck.

Depends totally on what you are doing with it. My place is a touch too rough for a truck but a mule 610 would be perfect. My can-am is way overkill.

In West Texas is about the perfect rig though. In some areas a 4 wheeler is ideal.

In south Texas I prefer to use my truck unless the roads are just terrible

All about what property you tend to hunt the majority of the time.

A Cherokee would probably get my vote. Pretty easy to find cheap still. Parts are plentiful and easy to work on. But would depend on your purpose.

"Depends totally on what you are doing with it. My place is a touch too rough for a truck . . . "

Pretty sure any truck can navigate your place when you finish manicuring it.

Thanks for the replies. This is East Texas area. Mud and a few hills are the worst of my worries.

Love it

I guess it depends in what your definition of a hunting vehicle is. Mine is something with a long travel IFS. I'm tired of NF, BLM and ranch roads killing my kidneys..... Cheapest Long travel suspension is a UTV

Have to agree; nice long travel, power steering, and high clearance is a godsend for rough country! We love our Kawasaki Teryx for ease of travel in rocky stuff, and the semi-bucket seats are better than early models of UTV's, where they were too straight up!!

Kubota - goes anywhere with AC. Heat, Wipers, stereo, dust proof, and on and on - my third one and I love them

I’ve had just about everything available over the years, if your hunting a larger more open property where a Samurai can access it all that would be my go to choice, if your hunting a smaller or heavily wooded property property then I prefer the Rangers myself but honestly I’d go with whatever brand you have close access to with a great service department and after the sale customer support. Buy once and cry once so don’t skimp out on a cheaper unit to save a buck if you can afford not to. Personally if you went with a side by side I’d go with a Kawasaki or a Ranger, the Kubota’s and like brands are ok for what they are but not anywhere close to the ones I mentioned if you want options, horsepower or comfort. I’m not bashing those by any means but the ride and horsepower alone have kept me away from them.

My guess is that you have not been in a modern Kubota - the ride is awesome and comfort is as good as a truck cab - I have had 3 Polaris vehicles and 3 Kubotas - IMO the Kubota is superior - BUT I realize it varies from person to person - Don't go test drive the Kubota unless you are ready to buy

I’ve been in them, while they have made improvements in suspension, they are still far behind all the others. They are not built for Heavy non-road use, thus why the have the lowest suspension travel. I’d even agrue mule pro is similar in its stock offering.

Kubota is still a great UTV and a work horse with proven track record. It’s a lot of great things but off trail is not on of its plus points.

tlk, where’d you get that roof rack for the Kubota? Yours looks like it gets washed. You wouldn’t say that about ours.

I’d sure like a new one, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the old one (15 years old and 1000 hours). In those 15ish years, I’ve had a headlight bulb go out and now I have a taillight bulb that’s out. Other than fluids and filters, that’s the entire maintenance history. I did however replace a cable that didn’t need replacing.

4 Runner

Buddy welded the frame and placed the wood floor - put my spare tire up there and a winch to pull my deer into the bed

I respectfully totally disagree - I have driven my buggy all over non road use and the unit has been first class - so we will agree to disagree - I am 68 years old - AC in the summer in south Texas is priceless - when we are at our lease in July guess who everybody wants to ride with?

You can get factory AC/Heat on Polaris, Can Am, JD, and it’s an dealer option on the Mule Pro.

Most Tacomas come with A/C. Just sayen.

Go anywhere and go aware comfortably is a different store.

With that said a Taco with a long travel suspension kit and 20 psi tire is pretty comfortable. But still not as comfortable as 1100lb long travel UTV. It’s physics, 12-14” of travel to 6”.

Tires stay at 50-60.

I'd say Jeep, or some older 4x4 like a Samurai, older suburban, blazer, etc... You can get them cheap, drive them to the hunt, hunt out of them, and drive back. This thread is about vehicle for the money.

People say you can go anywhere in a UTV. Anywhere that's not a road that is. When it comes to cost there is no argument because you then need a trailer and a tow vehicle to move your UTV unless it never leaves where you hunt.

Nailed it on the UTV. They will stay on top when your heavy vehicles sink in the soft sand.

Embrace physics Hud, try 30psi

After NM this past Jan, I'm trailering UTV for now on. In 4 days I went from F250 to tacoma to can am, I could of almost feel a sleep in the can am. F250 equaled two kidney replacements, tacoma one kidney replacement, the can am was an literally an Oasis in the desert.

Enough of the CanAm love....would you just buy a Defender Limited already?

I like my mule. point was suspension travel matters, 6” to 12” is a huge difference.

And a Can Am will rule the Mule for this reason alone

In stock form absolutely. With a shock swap you can better it. I have almost 12” on my mule pro. It's pretty plush, I've ran through some pretty bad washouts and rolled right through

It would be a Mule for me.

Never heard anyone complain. Never get stuck. Never get flats. Never worry about going anywhere.

You are just no fun. 35” on your 250 and 45psi in front and 40 rear makes a huge road difference

"You are just no fun." Daddy used to say, don't sell others short.

You need to come hunt with me. Ask STX and Trex, I can really teach you how to break things in

I have had all Polaris machines but I am not one to condem the other brands because the great thing about a UTV is that a you can customize these things to do darn near anything you want to do. I will say stay with the major brands. If money is tight you can get one off the economy models and then add to it just like you used to be able to do with Jeeps, Cars, and trucks. I love mine I even like adding "STUFF" to it. Your only limitation is your imagination and wallet. Go on some of the forums and check them out, see how some of the owners are using theirs.

I have 2, a 98 Tacoma and a Mule Pro FXT. I hunt mostly out of the Tacoma and use the Mule for some hunting but mostly work. If I had to pick one as a hunting vehicle, hands down the Tacoma.

FIFY

I thought Trex wouldn't even go with you any more.

Bobo pays him....he's kind of a big deal

Yeah, I know, but Trex keeps Bobo from attaining his desired mythical status as a guide

I thought it was running with Trex gave him the mystical status because it makes him feel tall

I don’t know…he’ll be along shortly and set us all straight.

This.

https://bangshift.com/general-news/...n-turn-you-into-a-man-among-men-promise/

Spent the last two weeks in the mountains of Montana. Rode the Teryx everywhere. This weekend was 100 miles Friday, and another 60 on Sunday!! No problems at all, and very comfortable!!

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.