• The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
  • We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules

'Fess Up, Who Hunts out of a Prius?

Have you (or anybody on here, for that matter) actually leased a car? Every time I've looked into it it seems mad expensive, especially considering that you're on the hook for anything beyond "normal wear and tear" and have to pay extra for mileage. Like I said I do drive a lot and while I'm pretty considerate of my vehicles I also hunt, fish, camp, and haul a dog in one. I consider it "use" not "abuse," but I think a dealer may disagree.

To me buying low-mileage, newish-used for a good price and interest rate, taking care of it, and selling it as soon as it starts to show its a$$ seems to be the winning strategy. I'll add that the wife and I are pretty patient buyers and sat on our home and first "new" car purchase for multiple years waiting on the right deal.

But, that said, I've never leased. I would consider it for a second car if I was not 100% sure what I wanted. It may make sense for something like trying out a plug-in hybrid.

I leased once. Honda odyssey mini van. Loved the van hated the lease. Went over miles and had to buy it to avoid paying a large sum of money to return it. Felt like I was bent over multiple times while the dealership had thier way with me. I won't lease again.
 
Can you clarify. Do you all ready own 2 cars? Or replacing the second? I have been down this thought process several times. But ultimately I have bought nothing. Reasons.
Newer car is a car payment. Unless your buying out right, you will have increased insurance, (can't speak to AL car insurance. Mi Sucks). So you have to be driving enough to off set the cost of more insurance, interest rate if you finance, the cost of the new car, plus hybrid batteries are not cheap if they need replacing. Also uncertainty of used car hidden problems. So I always add up how many miles I plan to drive it. Factor I will have to purchase some gas either way. So at what point am I saving money? How many miles do I have to drive?
That my scenario i go thru for trying to save money on gas. I can't get there when I still have a functional car.
I'm in the same boat. My daily driver is an old F150 (5.4 V8) and I've got a 650cc motorcycle. For years I've kicked around the idea of getting a rollerskate econobox, but the cost of purchase, insurance, maintenance, etc., aren't even almost offset by the gas savings. If I had a longer commute that might be different.

Which doesn't answer Nutter's question, so here's some food for th. The Prius drivers I know are quite happy with them, but they also aren't the kind to take them off pavement. I used to drive tow trucks for extra income - this was before hybrids were a thing - and some more specialized cars have unique idiosyncrasies that make towing them an expensive PITA. If you're going to take it off the beaten path, you should figure out how much extra work it will be to get it back on the beaten path. If the batteries require it be towed flat - as in, on a flatbed - know that flatbed tow trucks are 2wd and the bosses usually won't let the drivers leave pavement with them, so you'd need someone with a 4x4, flatbed trailer, and winch, just to get you to the tow truck.


Have you (or anybody on here, for that matter) actually leased a car? Every time I've looked into it it seems mad expensive, especially considering that you're on the hook for anything beyond "normal wear and tear" and have to pay extra for mileage. Like I said I do drive a lot and while I'm pretty considerate of my vehicles I also hunt, fish, camp, and haul a dog in one. I consider it "use" not "abuse," but I think a dealer may disagree.

We're actually very close to deciding between leasing new and buying used on a CR-V. If you buy at the end of the lease then the mileage penalties and overall condition don't apply. On a hybrid, a 36-month lease is probably coming due at right around the time you need new batteries.

They also have different 'tiers' of leasing options. The base tier is like 12k miles a year and go up from there. We don't have a dog, but we do have a toddler, so the dealer is likely to look askance at what she's likely to do to the interior.

This is such an odd moment to buy a car. In MN, new cars CR-Vs are going for $8K over MSRP, and a 2019 with 30k on the clock is $3k under MSRP. If you can hold off a year or whatever until this moment passes that math will probably change.
 
This is a good thread. If I "needed" a new mode of transportation to work I would be considering something hybrid. Hopefully I get another year or two out of my grand Prix (which I plan to hunt with this fall) then Car prices come back to reasonable value. Even if gas drops some more, there is always the chance it goes back up. So good chance my next one will be hybrid. But no way I'm rocking a man bun or beard longer than the hair on my head.
 
Buying a gently-used 32mpg four-banger has been one of the smarter moves I've made as a hunter. Driving 2-5 hours away to better hunting grounds cheaply is worth more than a truck bed, towing capacity, and off-roading capability.

The wife and I are debating a 2nd car to replace my 270k mile 97 GMC that gets 15ish mpg on a good day. I've strongly been considering an electric/gas hybrid. Probably not a Prius just because they're so small, but I have driven and liked Camries and Corollas and Toyota now makes hybrid versions. I'm leaning towards a Toyota solely because of good prior experience with their non-electric models, and my understanding that they were the first to make a mass-produced hybrid vehicle that has a pretty good track record. But I'm open to suggestions.

I know I can hunt out of a car. I've killed a fair amount of deer and pigs out of a Corolla and my wife's "1st love," a white 2-door v6 Mustang. I'm curious to see how many saddlehunters here have experience with hybrids; specifically their experience with using them as vehicles for hunting.

I’ve been hunting with a Prius the last three years. Before that, had a Corolla that I hunted with for at least 5 seasons.

People laugh about it but I could care less. Pushing 50 mpg with cheap maintenance costs means less stress!
 
I’ve been hunting with a Prius the last three years. Before that, had a Corolla that I hunted with for at least 5 seasons.

People laugh about it but I could care less. Pushing 50 mpg with cheap maintenance costs means less stress!
More time hunting. Less time fixing.
 
Toyota Sienna mini van hybrid. Live in it, sleep in it, add roof rack storage to it, tint it and you’re done. Buy inflatable air mattress off Amazon. Fold down rear seats, temporarily remove middle seats and you have a massive sleeping area. Plus if you have friends or kids, there is room for them also. The hybrid Highlander is the same thing but without minivan side doors or the mini van look. I have had both and I feel your pain. My other ride is a Toyota Tundra on 37’s getting 15mpg also.

How are you getting 15mpg out of that tundra?! I’ve only got 35’s and a 3” lift. 13.1 is the highest I’ve ever calculated.
 
I will quit hunting and sell all my dogs before i get caught in a Prius The redneck in me wont let me do it to myself

What about a Prius isn't redneck?

We play cheap guitars, brew cheap liquor, eat bugs and rats, and are generally thrifty. Gas ain't cheap. Keeping grandpas pickup running is cheap. If you don't have access to that, which is more redneck; a $50-75k truck that gets driven on blacktop to and from work 360 most of the year, or a 30k compact car with the trunk bungeed shut over an 8 point?

I know I'll register all my guns before I drive anything that cost more than pappy's double wide.
 
before I drive anything that cost more than pappy's double wide.

I'm new around here. But I'm fairly certain that the bank owning a truck or boat with a higher value than your manufactured home, that you make payments on, is an automatic admittance to the redneck yacht club.

I say this as a feller who toddled in a trailer.
 
But I'm fairly certain that the bank owning a truck or boat with a higher value than your manufactured home, that you make payments on, is an automatic admittance to the redneck yacht club.
Them's the Florida/Georgia Line rednecks that do that. I was raised more orthodox.
 
How are you getting 15mpg out of that tundra?! I’ve only got 35’s and a 3” lift. 13.1 is the highest I’ve ever calculated.
275/55/20's and K&N filters. Bought it used is the only reason it has freakin 20's on there.
 
What about a Prius isn't redneck?

We play cheap guitars, brew cheap liquor, eat bugs and rats, and are generally thrifty. Gas ain't cheap. Keeping grandpas pickup running is cheap. If you don't have access to that, which is more redneck; a $50-75k truck that gets driven on blacktop to and from work 360 most of the year, or a 30k compact car with the trunk bungeed shut over an 8 point?

I know I'll register all my guns before I drive anything that cost more than pappy's double wide.
That's the goal right there. Rack hanging out, blood dripping down the side. I hope we get some good "if it fits, it ships" pictures this year.
Few years ago I saw a guy driving an old square body Ford escort down the highway with a big 10 on the roof. I was impressed. He got er done.
 
I wonder if you could mount a good heavy duty electric winch to the front of a Prius? That might make it more all-terrain.
 
275/55/20's and K&N filters. Bought it used is the only reason it has freakin 20's on there.
Have you seen the aftermath of a K&N filter? I used to have one on my old Nissan Hardbody until I took the intake manifold off to change a knock sensor. The manifold was gooped up with a good 1/8" or more of dust and the oil used on the filter media.
 
Few years ago I saw a guy driving an old square body Ford escort down the highway with a big 10 on the roof. I was impressed. He got er done.
And now that spurred a memory. When I was in my teens, I had an escort I hunted out of. I remember hunting after a snow storm waiting for a 4x4 to get out of my way. He got stuck, so I had to swing on by him. Man I thought me and this vehicle were bad!

In hind site, it was a 4x4 but it was a truck. And as we all know if a truck don't have weight in the bed putting it in 4x4 is only going to buy you a little.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top