How will fuel prices affect your hunting?

Handloader

No effect here. My sole concern is availability. The price of gas is relative and if I were to vent my concern it would be toward government regulations that have kept new refineries off line and limited drilling in areas of proven reserves.

I'll travel from Arizona to Idaho twice for hunts there as well as a few instate hunts that equate to 600+ miles roundtrip each. I travel about 300 to 400 miles a week on varmint hunts this time of year, too.

This past year I've done some reworking on the F150 (inline 6, 5 sp stick) that has upped mileage from 15.5mpg highway to 19mpg. Usually I travel with one other hunter and, when the expenses are shared, it equates to 38mpg or, by today's prices, seven cents per mile. I have one motorcycle that gets 62mpg. Its only 3 miles to work; usually, I take a bicycle to work most days of the work week.

delboy

Hi Handloader, with the big f**k off size motor they drop in those 150's - the best tuning gadget is a 3/4" tack, driven through the sole of your right boot! THAT'LL keep the fuel consumption down! Smile

Bushmaster

I have a GMC with one of those "off sized" motors (350cid, 300 hp engine) and without it I couldn't pull a horse trailer. Delboy...What do you use to pull your horse trailer??? Or should I ask what size lory...Did I spell that correctly?? Very Happy

kbis

Some of us are stuck with those big gas guzzelers, if you want to get around. The small cars and trucks just don't stand up on our dirt roads and if you need to pull a neighbor out of a ditch, you need all the grunt you can muster. My wifes 03 GMC 4X4 PU got 18 MPG on our last trip, which is not to bad for a 5.3 L engine. Of course gas went from $2.519 to 2.999 today Crying or Very sad

. I guess we won't be making as many trips.

Handloader

delboy wrote:

Hi Handloader, with the big f**k off size motor they drop in those 150's - the best tuning gadget is a 3/4" tack, driven through the sole of your right boot! THAT'LL keep the fuel consumption down! Smile

Howdy delboy. You may find it of interest that I traded a Land Rover with a smaller engine that got far worse gas mileage for my F150. Of course, it is all relative I suppose. If I lived in a small country I would probably think small as well.

Cheers Laughing

Bushmaster

Aah...Come on now handloader (half of my E-mail address). Let's keep it on the funny side. I hope this is all in fun....

Vince

Handloader wrote:

delboy wrote:

Hi Handloader, with the big f**k off size motor they drop in those 150's - the best tuning gadget is a 3/4" tack, driven through the sole of your right boot! THAT'LL keep the fuel consumption down! Smile

Howdy delboy. You may find it of interest that I traded a Land Rover with a smaller engine that got far worse gas mileage for my F150.

When I joined the aussie army in 1977 they only had 4 cylinder Land Rovers. Great little vehicle but gas mileage was woeful. Get into sand or soft ground and it would drop to a maximum of 10 mpg! They upgraded to the 6 cyl and it was no better. Now they have Land Rover 110 with an Isuzu diesel and they are great....when you can keep them upright and the wheels on the bottom, not the top. LOL

Cheers, Vince

515034s10ring

Won't change anything here as well.

ALTHOUGH......I think the recent diesel bash as t a few places in my area really sucks! What's going on is gas stations feel the need to charge 50 cents MORE for diesel than regular unleaded? wtf

However, i am very thankful that i get over 20 MPG in all of my trucks but i still wonder why the need to charge soo much more for diesel, when it used to be on average 10-30 cents cheaper 10 years ago? Confused

kbis

515034s10ring- cheer up, at least you can get diesel or gas. Since Rita hit we are having a hard time getting any fuel and when you can , you can only buy $25 or $30 worth at a time depending on the station.

515034s10ring

WOW Kbis, that reminds me of the 70's gas rationing. Shocked

jarhead7481

515034s10ring wrote:

However, i am very thankful that i get over 20 MPG in all of my trucks but i still wonder why the need to charge soo much more for diesel, when it used to be on average 10-30 cents cheaper 10 years ago? Confused

I think it might have something to do with the discount given for three axle permit holders!

As far as putting the skids on my hunting trip. Well I have been waiting too long for this trip. I've been working overtime just to get a little extra to offset the price of gas.

Hopefully three weeks will have an effect on the prices (lower) then I can stop at Cabelas the extra. If they do not go down then I will have to wait to go shopping for more toys.

515034s10ring

jarhead7481 wrote:

I think it might have something to do with the discount given for three axle permit holders!

I drive a F250 and F350 though?

kbis

10ring- It looks exactly like the gas lines of the 70's. With short tempers everywhere. Now people don't ask hows its going, they ask which station has gas. At least most of us have electricty now and the stores are getting stocked so we can get food. We are a lot better off than the people to the south of us.

Bushmaster

No four cylinder engine is going to pull a horse trailer...I'm going to keep my 350cid GMC. No choice or sell the horses and that won't happen...

515034s10ring

It's funny when people come up to me (which recently has happened to me and my wife due to gas situations) and say something about my gas guzzler, gas hogging trucks. But when i (and my wife) say "i get over 20mpg what do you get?" they soon crawl back under the rock they came from. Gotta love diesel! Very Happy