OLD HUNTING TRUCKS

By: Ray Hansen

My friend Mike from up the road asked me several days ago if I would go with him to take a look at a “good old hunting truck”. He has a 2007 Toyota Tundra pick-up, but wanted an old truck to be used for driving through tough woods and some swamp into hunting spots that were more remote. Ideally, he was looking for a four-wheel drive unit that was already beat up but basically dependable so he could keep his “nice truck” looking nice.

He also needs to haul two good bird dogs when hunting for grouse, and does not want to cage them as is necessary in the Toyota. It is nice to have a vehicle that muddy, wet, bird dogs can jump up into when you open the back and wave them in.

We checked out a 1991 Chevy Blazer that seemed to meet all the requirements of a good “camp truck”, and bought it for $400. It is a two-door style with the 4.3 liter V-6 engine, faded red in color, somewhat banged up, with the driver side tail-light duct taped in place. The gas tank leaks slightly and the steering column is somewhat “loosey-goosey”. Anyway, it started right up and idled nicely without having to rev the engine first. It sounded good, and had a worn out set of oversized tires with a spare in the back that held air. What more could you ask for?

We drove it over to the home-based shop of a local bus mechanic who does slow but cheap and reliable work on the side. We parked it by his big “pole barn” style garage, and he’ll fix the worst problems with junkyard parts for the most part. In two or three weeks and with about another $500 invested, Mike will have his camp truck rolling.

It will probably last forever, with just a few hundred miles actual driving distance travelled annually. And the dogs… well, they don’t care what kind of truck they ride in as long as it takes them somewhere they can point partridge!

Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008