- First Name
- Zelph
- Joined
- May 3, 2025
- Threads
- 1
- Messages
- 4
- Reaction score
- 8
- Location
- North Dakota
- Vehicle(s)
- 1982 VW diesel pickup
- Engine
- Undecided
- Thread starter
- #16
Most of my hunting now is with cameras. Vehicle works great as a portable blind. Driving in early with lights on really clears out some wildlife. Without lights many more stay within range of the lens & make it so I'm ready as the light gets better.
On using the vehicle for hunting. I do pest animal elimination - State sanctioned. Farm country with gravel & dirt roads. Legal to nail muskrats from the vehicle - as they burrow under road beds that butt up against ponds and sloughs - and cause major road damage. So we stop, watch & shoot them. Usually I use high powered air rifles out to 70 yards. Mainly head shots & the sound of the pellet hitting is louder than the shot itself. No recoil, no gunpowder flash and no recoil. Just a dead muskrat - or beaver or goose. Yep, goose. A pair on a pond can eat 1 to 1 1/2 acre of crop. One neighbor has 22 ponds on his farm. We sat down & figured out the crop loss (prices were up) at $22,000 due to the geese. That was only figuring the adults - before eggs hatched and added young - which can double the lost acres. So we shoot them, it is legal.
Just like the blackbirds here that can result in up to 50% crop loss on comercial sunflower fields.
The idea of electric operation as quiet is nice. The center divider means no stretching out to comfortably use long lenses resting on the windowsill. Cramped jet fighter cockpit seating can be very uncomfortable when trying to sit turned for some time. Back seat option with window all the way down is a good one but climbing over the center divider, not so much.
Winter temps - as our Minot AFB guy posted - are a challenge. I do get out in blizzards & with temps to 47 below - to photograph. Summer temps - Death Valley every few years. Even here in North Dakota we get over 100 degrees. Closed vehicles get hot, that is why the concern. Iphone screens don't like it and Kindle screens can die or suffer permanent damage.\
My little VW pickup winters well here. Additives make the diesel viable to 60 below. Block heater sure helps & a backup battery as well - put in a second one like RV folks use.
Crank windows work and are smooth up & down. Most electric windows I have used are jumpy with small adjustments - often enough so to scare off ducks and grebes when they go up or down. In real cold some of them start moaning a bit when activated. Yep, maybe a luddite but crank windows work - even when the vehicle is off.
My needs are mine, not for many folks. Am trying to get what will work for me and the Maverick is a contender. Just have to decide if it will do the job.
On using the vehicle for hunting. I do pest animal elimination - State sanctioned. Farm country with gravel & dirt roads. Legal to nail muskrats from the vehicle - as they burrow under road beds that butt up against ponds and sloughs - and cause major road damage. So we stop, watch & shoot them. Usually I use high powered air rifles out to 70 yards. Mainly head shots & the sound of the pellet hitting is louder than the shot itself. No recoil, no gunpowder flash and no recoil. Just a dead muskrat - or beaver or goose. Yep, goose. A pair on a pond can eat 1 to 1 1/2 acre of crop. One neighbor has 22 ponds on his farm. We sat down & figured out the crop loss (prices were up) at $22,000 due to the geese. That was only figuring the adults - before eggs hatched and added young - which can double the lost acres. So we shoot them, it is legal.
Just like the blackbirds here that can result in up to 50% crop loss on comercial sunflower fields.
The idea of electric operation as quiet is nice. The center divider means no stretching out to comfortably use long lenses resting on the windowsill. Cramped jet fighter cockpit seating can be very uncomfortable when trying to sit turned for some time. Back seat option with window all the way down is a good one but climbing over the center divider, not so much.
Winter temps - as our Minot AFB guy posted - are a challenge. I do get out in blizzards & with temps to 47 below - to photograph. Summer temps - Death Valley every few years. Even here in North Dakota we get over 100 degrees. Closed vehicles get hot, that is why the concern. Iphone screens don't like it and Kindle screens can die or suffer permanent damage.\
My little VW pickup winters well here. Additives make the diesel viable to 60 below. Block heater sure helps & a backup battery as well - put in a second one like RV folks use.
Crank windows work and are smooth up & down. Most electric windows I have used are jumpy with small adjustments - often enough so to scare off ducks and grebes when they go up or down. In real cold some of them start moaning a bit when activated. Yep, maybe a luddite but crank windows work - even when the vehicle is off.
My needs are mine, not for many folks. Am trying to get what will work for me and the Maverick is a contender. Just have to decide if it will do the job.
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