47 replies to this topic

[kzink]

Im thinking about getting a 4x4 for next's years deer season but im debating between a truck or a jeep Cherokee. i love the look of a good lifted jeep but my only debate is yea i can get me and my gear in, but if i get a deer how do i get him out. ive seen jeeps with roof rack but if the deer is big enough it might be hard to get it up there. any pictures of jeeps would be nice. also how many miles are you guys getting on your jeeps before they need serious repairs ive never owned a jeep before and have no experiences with them.looking for something kinda like this  jeep.JPG   29.86K   49 downloads

[Camoghost]

SUV! I like to take gear and have the option to fit a few more people if need be..  truck1.jpg   93.22K   42 downloads  truck2.jpg   60.79K   32 downloads

[Jason]

My family has owned several jeeps over the years including an old CJ2 and a couple Wranglers. My brother currently drives the four door Wrangler. Don't have any experience with the Cherokee. You can get a rack for puting your deer on that goes into the trailer reciever and is low enough that you won't have to toss the carcass on the top of the vehicle. I highly recommend this as carrying a dead critter in the jeep will get blood everywhere. We use an older wrangler sometimes that we actually fold the carpet up in the back. Then we have to hose it out and you can never get all the blood out or the smell. The rack helps a lot. It is also convenient for hauling other things like wood or an ice chest.The way I prefer jeeps for hunting is with 4 cylinder, low range, 4wd, and a hard top. I prefer the 4 banger with low range 4wd for hunting because I can easilly go slow without having to ride the brake yet with the low range there is more than enough power to climb up steep hills. Hunting isn' the Baja 1000. If you are driving that fast you will probably miss seeing something. I can put it in second or third low 4wd and drive at just the right speed that I can stop and get out quickly or put it in reverse and go back if I saw something. I prefer the hard tops because they are not much harder to remove now than a soft top but they hold up a lot better over a long time. I don't lift jeeps for hunting because I prefer the lower center of gravity if I am driving on steep hills. Since it's not a rock crawler I don't need it 60 inches off the ground. When I hunt I like to take the top and doors off and fold down the front windscreen but if it is cold I will sometimes leave the top on and windshield up so I can run the heater. Even with everything off I still like to run the heater in the mornings on my feet.The four door wrangler is nice and is much more comfortable on the road but it is a lot longer making it a bit more difficult to manuever in tight places. The wheel base is also longer which may or may not cause a problem depending on the area you are in. I like my truck but for offroad the jeep just feels easier to manuever in tight areas especially if I have very little room to turn around due to a washed out creek or fallen log blocking my path. The truck is so long that it takes a bit more work. My buddy has a Cherokee and like most SUVS it feels a lot like a truck as far as vehicle length goes.Just my 2 cents.

[CaseyU]

Jeep for sure. the short wheel base will put you places a truck can't go. I have a rack that sits right into my tow package that has about five and a half feet by three feet or so. I live in Norther Ca and it's only big muleys up here. Only have to lift it up about three feet and it's not going anywhere! My jeep is a 94 and i have had it for five years. I put 56 thousand on it. it now has a hundred and eight. Only get the inline six. don't even mess with the four cylinder. If you only go four inches and lets just say 32" or 33" tires. you will not need to mess with the drive train. No problems with mine!! but Mine has about eight inches. I had to put a high pinion rear end. Slip yoke drive line. extended brake lines. I will never get rid of it! best of luck with your hunting vehicle search

[CoyoteHuntress]

I vote truck... If you want to cover the bed you can slap a shell on it, when you want to use the bed, take the camper shell back off And for the Jeep nuts... I have not any any issues taking our trucks anywhere the jeeps go Not saying Id run the Rubicon in my truck, but I can hunt where I want with no problems..

[brian.243]

Get your self a toyota 4runner

[Soreloser]

Depends on where you are hunting.Here in the desert a big truck just isn't practical. Too wide and too long, so a good smaller truck or Cherokee is a better option. A lot of the trails we ride are nothing but 4 wheeler trails and we would've have been stranded more times than I care to imagine, usually high centered in a big truck.Of course if you don't give a dang about the paint job and run a big enough lift on it, then the big truck will do just fine for our neighborhood.

[PredatorMaster]

jeep

[jawbreaker]

I've got a cherokee and like it alot, both trucks and suv's have the pros and cons. I have under 5 grand into my cherokee and you can't touch a 4x4 4 door truck for that, as for hauling game just use a receiver rack like mentioned before you can haul it on the roof rack until you need it.  1.jpg   15.05K   22 downloads  2.jpg   26.77K   22 downloads

[Yateswell]

Totoyo Tacoma 4x4 with rear differential locker, get you anyware you want to go and get you back.

[CaseyU]

Oh yeah lockers!!! I forgot to mention that i have ARB lockers in the front and a detroit in the back! you can't stop it.

[JimT.]

OMG, I went from a 2001 Toyota Tundra Limited 4x2 that I loved to a 2006 Lexus GX 470 4x4 this past Saturday. I'm looking at adding a platform to the rear where the trailor hitch is. I'm hopeful I can get this like I want it. I can not afford the fifth generation 2010 Toyota 4Runner Limited and their Trail Edition is not out yet. I also want to upgrade the Navigation system. I'll run the all-season tires until I need to get new and add something like Firestone's Desert Dualers. All in time.

[Pogo]

I'll be the odd man out. I love pickups. You can't beat the room. I've got a shortbox, crew cab chevy and I don't even like it. Seems like the bed gets full of junk in no time. Wife drives it so it gets cleaned out, but it gets hard to haul anything long in it. I like my long box pickup, it is also a crewcab so you have lots of room in the cab. Bench seats so it can (actually, not theoretically) seat six comfortably, and you still have an eight foot long bed. And you can sleep inside if you have too. Sure, sometimes you have to look for an extra minute to find a place to turn around, but I think it is a good tradeoff. They are somewhat... well... LONG. You would be amazed the places they will go when you need to, and know how to drive. Not to mention if you get a 3/4 or one ton pickup, you actually get something that can stand a little abuse, rough roads, heavy loads etc. Every one I've owned has gone well over 200k, of being worked on a farm or construction. Navigation system is old fashioned (me and a map) but has never, ever failed or drove me into a ditch.

[Portagee_Shooter]

I'm a pickup guy. I really miss my crew cab Jimmy 4x4. Had plenty of space for haulin' in the bed and plenty of interior storage for people and gear that I didn't want outside. My wife was so pissed when I took my NEW truck out and came back with brush scratches and a bent tail pipe the first time I took it hunting. I just told her "Its a truck". Had to sell her to get some bills paid off but I will be back in the market in a couple years.And you have to remember the immortal words Joe Diffy sang, "There's somethin' women like about a pick-up man!"

[Old timer]

I have drove my long bed GMC one wheel drive 1960 year all over the desert in the early days of varmint hunting never had a problem,never got stuck

[Camoghost]

jeep

Barbie is pissed! She wants her Jeep back..

[Jason]

I vote truck... If you want to cover the bed you can slap a shell on it, when you want to use the bed, take the camper shell back off And for the Jeep nuts... I have not any any issues taking our trucks anywhere the jeeps go Not saying Id run the Rubicon in my truck, but I can hunt where I want with no problems..

I actually did have that problem with my last truck. Went across a creek that I had crossed back and forth at least a hundred times with no problems in the jeep. Took the truck across one way to pick up some firewood. Coming back the other direction I tore the hell out of the front plastic below the bumpler. Ended up using bungie cords to hold the thing together to drive it home. The long wheel base along with a different angle coming back across the creek made for a dissaster. I was kicking myself the whole time for causing that much damage for about $20 worth of firewood.

[Divernhunter]

First how did you get that cat to take a nap on your jeep? I have always had a pick-up with a camper shell and it has worked fine. I also have buddies with jeeps which we hunted out of also. To me the best thing is to have a pick-up and a jeep to tow behind it. I prefer a hard top jeep like a wrangler or CJ-7 to the soft top when the weather gets nasty.

[Jeff]

I still want a first gen 4runner...but until I can get one, I use this. Hasn't failed me yet, and has the scratches, dents and bullet hole to prove it.

[jawbreaker]

I can tow the jeep behind my F-350 but the cherokee drives as comfortable as the big truck

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[A17Shooter]

228,000 miles. 1992 model. If you kids don't recognize it, it's a Ford Bronco. I don't rock crawl much & it has always brought me home. Good gas mileage, 12 in town & 15 or 16 hwy while pulling a 1500 lb tent trailer. But the 32 gallon tank gives me a 400 mile range and pull in for fuel with 1/8 tank.

[atavuss]

I have had a CJ7 Jeep for over 20 years, it was my daily driver for a good portion of that time. had a detroit locker in the rear end and it would go darn near anywhere (ended up getting tired of all the noises and handling quirks of the locker and took it out). I have had two toyota tacomas (04 and now a 09), they both are the TRD double cab with electric rear locker. very comfortable, very dependable. I could not see me driving the Jeep for 6 hours each way to Cedarville! I have a fiberglass tonneau cover that is lockable on the tacoma, makes it easy to lock my gear out of sight while on the road and with the bed high cover is a lot easier to see out of than a shell.

[Braz]

I've got a 4x4 pickup with shell. I don't have any desire to do any kind of rock crawling. This gets me through the mud and snow in comfort, and that is all I care about.

[BC9696]

I can tow the jeep behind my F-350 but the cherokee drives as comfortable as the big truck

What is the best to tow am all wheel drive Jeep? I have a 2WD Dodge Ram Quadcab 1500 that is lifted and am thinking if I tow the Jeep Gr. Cherokee then I can set up my truck tent and leave it...use the Jeep for offroading. Doncha have to disconnect something (on all wheel drive Jeeps) if towing without a trailer?

[jawbreaker]

On the XJ you can put the transfer case in N and tow with no problems, I don't know about the ZJ( grand cherokee). I would check the owners manual or with the dealer, mine has directions on how to tow it above the drivers side viser.

[Single Six]

I just posted in another thread about what rig to use for hunting...but I gotta give the "trucks are too big to off road" guys a hard time. http://s142.photobuc...hymore/95Dodge/

[BC9696]

A key factor is where you will take it and if you ever intend to sleep in it! The Jeeps are reliable and will work better in some situation (like areas that have a lot of moondust) but don't expect to sleep in it comfortably. I also like the ability lock everything up in the Jeep and the trailer hitch basket solves the carrying issue. The truck is also nice and every real man should have one. You can get a hard cover or a tent for it and be quite comfortable sleeping in it but there are some places a big truck won't fit so consider carefully where you intend to go in it.  1.jpg   30.74K   20 downloads  2.jpg   20.54K   20 downloads

[Stan]

Yes nice tent Bruce has but alas no snoring insulation was installed and by the campfire well lets say it was entertaining sat night no crickets could be heard

[Pokey]

Mineand mine (Just bought this on Sat) 2010 Dodge 1500 4x4 with the 5.7. This thing is 390 hp stock Need to add a leveling kit and little bit bigger tires

[Shoot-it]

you dumped the Chevy for a dodge!A truck makes a good hunting rig the bed come's in handy you can load up a quad and haul afew deer hogs elk bear etc but not all at once.