Any bird hunters?

[JWP58]

Well after only two days in the Crosstrek its almost impossible to give a good opinion on it BUT.......So far I love it. Has plenty of room for two medium size dog kennels and gear, handles snow like a champ (easily as good as my Tacoma in 4hi). I intend to use the Crosstrek for closer trip where I don't have to pull a pop trailer, and continue to use my Tacoma on longer trips since I can pull with it and load more gear.

Do I wish I would've looked harder for a 6spd? Yes. Don't know if Im crazy about the CVT as of now.

And yes, I WILL get up to the basin this year to get a hunt in with you for sure (your invite is greatly appreciated). Lets hope theres a good hatch/carry over with this bad winter..

 

[gsbbear]

Hello everyone,

I suppose I should have looked through this site more closely as I had never seen this thread. I don't usually spend a lot of time on forums. I am an avid upland hunter and it's good to see others who hunt birds and enjoy "overlanding". For me my time spent "overlanding" is usually in pursuit of birds. Been doing it for decades. I never called it "overlanding". It was just me and my dogs on a week or two backcountry trip looking for birds and living out of my truck. I usually spend 50 to 60 days a field a year. This year just 40 as I severely broke my arm last September and couldn't shoot until November.

Anyway, good to see this thread and look forward to possibly talking to like minded people! Good hunting!!

P.S. My name is Scott! LOL

 

[outofrshell]

When I first glanced over at your location I thought ah just over the hill from me but then I see your from Mt. I plan on doing more extended bird hunts now that I'm retiring, one of the things living here in the Big Horn Basin is that we have some great upland bird hunting of most species within driving distance so it is hard to justify camping over. I do like camping out on the mountain when I'm hunting blue grouse then I can combine it with fishing. I found a place last last year that has all 3 parts of overlanding and hunting, a fun easy 4X4 trail to a small creek full of native cutthroats with a good spot to camp and the area has some great grouse hunting. May be our path will cross some time I would be happy to show you around this part of the country. Dave

 

[gsbbear]

Actually Dave the location on my avatar was incorrect. I'm back home in Washington now so I'm even further from you now! LOL. Sounds like we have much in common with the bird hunting combined with fishing. I do a 14 day trip each year to one of several places between Oregon, Idaho and Nevada which is a combined overland trip for chukars etc with fishing in the afternoon. I do this much of the season. I spend many days afield after birds and usually give my dog's the afternoons off from hunting while I fish. Maybe one day out paths will cross. I am not opposed to traveling for birds and fish. I spend a week a year in the Cody, Wyoming area chasing fish which is not far from you. Cody is one of my favorite areas. Maybe we could plan a trip or two between us in the future?

 

[JWP58]

Actually Dave the location on my avatar was incorrect. I'm back home in Washington now so I'm even further from you now! LOL. Sounds like we have much in common with the bird hunting combined with fishing. I do a 14 day trip each year to one of several places between Oregon, Idaho and Nevada which is a combined overland trip for chukars etc with fishing in the afternoon.

Sounds like fun. I want to take up fly fishing so I can do some cast and blasts further west. I plan to spend a full week this year out in SE OR and stop a few places in ID too. I failed on an epic level in '13 so I have to redeem myself in '14

 

[gsbbear]

You have to give more detail when you say you had an "epic fail"! LOL. SE Oregon (Owyhee area) is where I plan to do my week this year. I haven't been there in ten years so I thought I would try it again. Since I had moved to North Idaho I have been spending my time in Hells Canyon and the surrounding areas. Maybe we can meet up out there somewhere? The only problem with the Owyhee that time od year is the river becomes shallow with weak flow. It makes for more "pocket" fishing. Which in truth is pretty fun. It's more like hunting fish then anything else. LOL. Not as good for resting the weary legs in after hunting in the morning! But, like I said I haven't there in more than a decade so I'd like to try it again. Depending on bird reports of course!

Where are you at?

 

[JWP58]

I didn't do enough pre scouting and found 90% of the areas I wanted to hunt were closed due to fires over the summer. I found a decent covey of huns but they flushed wild never to be found again (hooked a right around a knob and mustve kept truck'in). Oh ya, and the rain....lets not forget the rain....

As of now I'd like to camp at the Owyhee state park campground and head out from there. Maybe head over to Juntura or down towards the Steens too. Who knows, its way to early to start making plans (as I learned the hard way). I do plan to stop on my way to OR and spend some time in the Bennett Hills though. NV is also a possibility. I just wish their DNR didn't make it such a hassle to buy a license.


How do you like that powerwagon? I've always wanted one (except for the mpg's)

 

[gsbbear]

Rain always sucks on a bird hunt. LOL. Yes, Nevada is a pain in the *** to try to hunt. And the non-resident hunting licenses are very expensive so I've pretty much stopped going to Nevada myself. It's unfortunate as there is soooo much public ground there.

My annual October trip consists of spending three days at a friends bird preserve in Central Oregon with several friends. From there I take off solo for my own 7-9 day wild bird/fly-fishing trip in the backcountry. I move from place to place each year. I tend to drive to a place I want to hunt in the morning, hunt for three or four hours, then load up and drive to a place I want to fish or kill coyotes in the afternoon and camp that night. I repeat that daily ritual for the trip. Then at the end of the trip I head back to my friends place to hunt the turkey opener for a few days. That's my annual October adventure. As of this year I will start spending November through March in Arizona. My girlfriend and I are team ropers so we spend a lot of the winter there roping. I guess I will change from a chukar hunter to a quail hunter in the future. LOL

I like the Power Wagon despite it being so big. I like Tacoma's much better. However, I travel with two (sometimes three) dogs all the time and the Tacoma just isn't big enough for them, myself and all the gear for a two week outing. Therefore I went with the full size. I also do not like full size diesels for adventure rigs. They are just too heavy in the front. I hate the mileage of the Wagon, but I have a spare 80 gallon tank so my distance if fine. The added cost of fuel is just something I deal with. The 5.7 Hemi is a "bulletproof" motor and cheap and easy to replace if need be. So, I went with the Power Wagon. I needed the room. I also hate having stuff on the roof and my dog's comfort always come first, so I took the backseat out and am building a bed platform with gun and gear storage underneath it. I can sleep in the back seat quite comfortably. It works quite well for me. I am building a custom flatbed for it right now which will complete the project. It will be a big relatively heavy truck, but with the suspension and drivetrain mods will be quite capable. All in all it will be a fine adventure rig which is comfortable for month long trips.

 

[JWP58]

Arizona is on my hit list for sure. Not only for Quail (Mearns especially), but the January OTC archery coues/mule deer and javelina (which I think i'll give a shot in '15).

So you have the dogs ride in the truck? I'm about to start modding an a.r.e. utility topper for my dogs (adding slide vents to the side and maybe a pop up vent on top). They ride in an Owens two hole dog box right now, which will be mounted under the topper (and on top of a drawer system that I need to build). Hope its going to work. It will at least be nice to have the double side access doors so I can access gear behind the dog box, which will be on the tailgate end of the bed.

 

[gsbbear]

I've had that same set-up on several rigs. it works very well and usually you don't need to supplement them with heating. They stay warm enough in the topper. I tried having them in the cab but frankly the first time one gets skunked or rolls in something long since dead you will never want that again. I also find they stay more quiet in their own boxes. It helps if they can see each other in the other box as well. It's also safer for them. I actually knocked one of my dogs out cold while in the bed of my truck under a topper when I crossed a particularly gnarly river in SE Idaho. I felt so bad. I figure he was standing and got thrown violently against the side when I hit a submerged rock going too fast. My Power Wagon will be too tall to conveniently access the bed from the side so I am going with a flatbed instead. I'm having a custom dog box made for itwith a fan and all! LOL. Love my dogs!

P.S. Arizona bird numbers have been marginal for several years now. But I am going to make the best of it regardless as that is where I want to be for the roping. The other thing is I now have to learn all new areas and species by trial and error. I suppose that is part of the adventure

 

[JWP58]

Well got my vents from Owens. The topper gets chopped up tomorrow! Might even pick up some supplies to make a small drawer system for my dog box to sit on (I like it being elevated, dogs can get in easier). The Upland Assault Vehicle is coming together...

 

[gsbbear]

Upland Assault Vehicle? I LIKE THAT!!! LOL

Post some pics if you have a chance

 

[JWP58]

The UAV is coming together....

I might add a vent on the top if those two aren't enough. Now to build the drawers.

 

[gsbbear]

Very clean! Nice job!!

 

[outofrshell]

So we now have the UAV and I have the RDK (rolling dog kennel) what's next? The Chukar Revengemobile. Has Nevada changed their license fee and purchase procedure? We hunted there in 2012 and I thought it was easy and reasonable but we only bought 3 days of license. I liked hunting north of Winamucca lots of country and easy access and then we hunted north out of Gerlach up to Soldier Meadows seemed like a long ways when your driving by birds on the way. I am setting up my Trooper for more extended bird hunting trip. I found a reasonable nylon addition for the back called a AddaCabana it can be attached quickly and give a place to cook and get dressed, I sleep in the Trooper so it didn't have to be weather tight.
My bird hunting partner is also retiring this spring and we are also looking at a trip to that Owyhee country as well so maybe our paths could cross.
A few pics of Trooper and hunts



And thats what I mean by a rolling dog kennel