There is something to be said for hunting out of an old beater. Mine was a 1986 Ford F-150 4x4, with a hi-rise topper and a 302 automatic. 12-13 mpg on a good day, doggy, and 170k on the second motor when I bought it for $1050, including and extra set of mounted winter tires. Good winter/mud tires were a must or you weren't getting off the pavement very far!
I, my bride, and our kids bombed around the county in that thing and I had it for 11-12 years or so. Had 270k on it when I sold it and was my daily driver here local.
Rarely failed me. The gent I bought it from was a family friend who loved that truck. Bought it as a retirement gift to himself when he retired from construction and engineering dealing with a lot of steel buildings. He drove it across country multiple times, short logged with it, moose hunted out of it, camped, andfished too. Asked how it was driving everytime we spoke on the phone after he moved.
Last we spoke, he too agreed it was getting to the point of time to sell. All good things come to an end he said.
Three times it wouldn't start while I owned it. First was a bad alternator buddy jumped It and got back to town. Second time a buddy towed me in when it quit while trapping. The last time, I had to call a tow truck in the late morning from a business parking lot, it just wouldn't start.
Found out a few days later, the day I towed the truck, my buddy passed away at 96ish years old. Always thought that was appropriate somehow, he'd loved that truck. He'd have gotten a kick out of me needing to tow it cause it wouldn't run when he passed.
There are ideal trucks for hunting designed around our uses. But some of them come along with a set of memories that almost make them priceless to us, at least in our memories.
Even the T-Ban can't break those things and I have seen them in places you'd think a llama would have trouble getting into
