Hunting rig

[Phatz75]

My family and I will be moving to great falls MT in a few weeks. I have been hunting in this area a few times in the past and absolutely love it. My question to you guys would be " what is the best rig to buy for hunting in the mountains? I have 2014 f-150, but don't want to beat the hell out of it on rough terrain. I am thinking of a later model suburban or something along those lines. If anybody has any suggestions , I would greatly appreciate it.

[dtrkyman]

Suburban would be terrible imho, something lighter and smaller would be much better for mountain roads! Jeeps are always good, even the grand cherokee is very capable off road if you want an suv, otherwise a little tacoma would be great!

I have a 13 grand cherokee and it has an upgraded awd system and skid plates, I have been through some gnarly roads, anything worse than I have driven and you are looking at some damage,

mine is still pretty!

[Indian Summer]

Rig of choice in Montana is a small Toyota. Fits anywhere and lightweight. If you want to go high when there is snow get some monster tires on it and air them down to 5 psi and put a winch on the bumper. That would be the pick of most lion hunting houndsmen. You'll notice that it's hard to find them used. Nobody ever gets rid of them out there..... unless they are beaten to death.

[LckyTylr]

I'll vote for an older Tacoma as well. I really like my Chevy 1500, but for the same reason as you, I don't like beating up my daily driver. I'm actually trying to find a good used one (a tall order) to use as a hunting rig for the next dozen years until my Son is old enough to drive and then he & I can restore it as his first vehicle. They are narrow and light and they take quite a beating. They are very popular, so the aftermarket options are a plenty.

[Indian Summer]

The Tacomas are nice. So is a 4Runner if you want an enclosed rear end (suv) which some houndsmen do prefer. They make a better place to sleep too when you're camping at the truck and your tent is a few miles in. Of course you can put a cap on a pickup for that too but no heat.

But the ones that go anywhere are the late 80s, like an 87 4wd pickup. Smaller and lighter than a Tacoma. Dependable too. I have been with a buddy who literally had me biting my nails thinking if we bury this we are dead men. He would air the monster tires down to 5 psi and we would drive on top of 4 feet of snow. We'd get a little stuck here and there but he always got it out without even thinking of the winch. We'd be so far in the middle of nowhere, like 25 miles from anything you'd call a road looking for cat tracks and I'd be thinking.... Well I have a gps but without good snowshoes I wouldn't make it half a mile in this 3 or 4 feet of powdery stuff. I'm here to talk about it so I'm sold on those little trucks.

The 2 door 4 Runner held it's own with some custom work though I'll say that.

My brother in law is a mechanic and says if you're looking for a Tacoma don't get the 4.6 liter engine. No power and sucks down the gas.

[AZ Vince]

I like the FJ.
Second choice is the Tacoma.

[pointysticks]

My brother in law is a mechanic and says if you're looking for a Tacoma don't get the 4.6 liter engine. No power and sucks down the gas.

3.6? not 4.6. the 4.6 is in the smaller V8 tundra.

i drive a 2006 Tacoma. access cab. if i could do it over again, i would get the 4 door crew cab thing. having a tacoma means one thing: in the rough stuff, all the guys with the big trucks make me drive in the bush. they will leave their 4x4 3/4 ton diesel rigs safely on the dirt roads and make me truck them into the wilderness.

in Idaho, i almost made a guy in the back seat cry in fear. hahah..

If you were to get a tacoma..get the TRD off road model. (at least the older models) my truck has an electronic locker in the rear diff that is simply amazing. the "sport" model as a LSD..which is good/great..but that locker is cool!! i've done dumber things with it.

newer 2010+ get really electronic with ATRAC stuff that i dont understand, since i dont have it.

[itsnlkthing]

I've got a 2005 4runner and agree with Indian Summer that it makes a great "base camp" sleeping area. They are narrow work horses that can get in some pretty tight places.

[dtrkyman]

I used my grand cherokee for a base camp for 8 days in new Mexico last year, worked out great, much nicer than a tent and mine has a power outlet for my laptop so I watched elk nut dvds at bed time!