How to Get Your Hunting Rig Ready For Fall

Knowing you’re prepared going into the hunting season encompasses everything from physical health and weapons proficiency to hunting gear and camping equipment. It might require getting dogs trained up and in shape or it could be acclimating pack animals to carrying a load and desensitizing them to surprises on the trail.

Preparing your vehicle for the increased demands that hauling gear and people to and from hunting destinations might be far from your thoughts, but the off-season is the time to tackle this.

Really, there are five core areas to which you should pay close attention:

• Maintenance
• Tools
• Tires
• Recovery
• Emergency Provisions

Maintenance

For many, possessing a newer vehicle can assuage the worry of maintenance issues and parts failures. While new vehicles aren’t immune to either, the more miles and years your ride racks up, the greater chance your attentiveness to aging components might make all the difference while trying to get where you’re going and back again.

Basics like sticking to an oil change interval and having regular inspections by someone who knows what they’re looking at are no brainers, but it’s also important to know if your particular model has more in-depth maintenance requirements at certain milestones, like timing belt replacement, fuel filters or coolant flushes. Transmission, transfer case and differential fluid refreshes might be something to be mindful of, and knowing the age and health of your battery becomes more important if your travels take you to a colder climate than you’re used to.

If your ride doesn’t have LED headlights, it might be time to swap out your bulbs to get them back to full effectiveness. Halogen light output decreases over time— they can experience as much as 80% degradation before they finally wink out.

In general, having a good grasp on all of the maintenance needs of your vehicle prior to heading out on the road will give you solid peace of mind that you’re starting out the trip in good shape. The unexpected might happen along the way, and that’s where having a competent tool set comes into play.

Tools

At the bare minimum, it’s nice to have a basic kit that includes ratchets, wrenches, screwdrivers, driver bits, Allen keys, several sets of pliers and adjustable wrenches. Finding the right setup might take a little digging and while many of the pre-packaged sets may be of offshore quality, they can still help you out of a jam. Heck, you might just need to tighten up some scope rings or un-crush a ferrule so your fishing rod can go together, but having at least a passable tool set on hand can prove invaluable.

Also needed is a jack tall enough and strong enough to lift your vehicle when fully loaded, which your factory jack may or may not be able to do. Adding an off-road floor jack like the offerings from Pro Eagle is a solid choice—not only do they have extended height capabilities, but their oversized tires roll over irregular terrain and they’re easier to use competently, and safely, than the old high-lift farm jack.

It’s never a bad idea to pack along some cribbing (solid slabs of wood) to help give stable footing underneath your jack. I once helped sink 24 inches of cribbing in a mountain meadow on what seemed like solid ground while changing a flat on an LMTV—the jack alone never could have lifted the vehicle.

Make sure you’ve got a basic lug wrench—either the tire iron that came with your vehicle or the classic and handy universal four-sided variety that makes spinning off lug nuts a bit quicker. If your wheels have specialty lugs or locking lugs, knowing exactly where that lug key is (and preferably having a spare stashed somewhere) is pretty darn important on the side of the road.

Then there are the universals—duct tape, galvanized wire, paracord, zip-ties and an assorted nut and bolt set. Add to that list trash bags both for their intended purpose and also if you find yourself having to lie down in the mud or snow to attach a winch line, change a tire or otherwise work under a vehicle.

Gloves, both nitrile and mechanic-style, come in handy in a multitude of situations, and a few flashlights and work lights stashed around the vehicle don’t take up much room and are worth every penny if you end up needing them.

Tires

No matter how new your vehicle is or how up-to-date you are on your maintenance, catching a flat will stick you on the side of the road regardless. The first step is to know your tires are up to the demands you’ll put on them throughout the season, both in age and load rating. Even if their tread looks good, tires should be replaced at 5 or 6 years, which is typically when manufacturer warranties end.

Besides that, is the tread pattern of the tire going to be adequate for where you’re going? Whether that means muddy Kansas dirt roads or snowy mountain passes, do your tires have what it takes? Technology in the treads will be tuned for certain terrain. Large voids between tread blocks eject stones and mud while siping (cuts within tread blocks) can help with grip in snow and ice.

Bridging the gap between traditional all-terrain tires and aggressive mud terrains is the somewhat new R/T designation—Rugged Terrain. With siping for snow and ice, voids for mud ejection and tread continuing onto the sidewalls, they offer a solid middle ground that can serve a hunting rig well.

Even a new set of tires can catch a screw or rip a sidewall, so having a specific kit for tire repair is something I don’t leave home without. A plug kit, replacement valve cores and an air pump are a good starting point, and adding in a sidewall patch kit and valve stem replacement gives even more capability for getting a flat tire rolling again.

Recovery

For some, being able to self-recover is important. Having a winch and all the accoutrements can allow you to get out of a jam without needing to rely on another vehicle. That may or may not be for you, as you’ll need an appropriate mounting system and sufficient electrical power to run said winch. At a minimum of 70 lbs. for the winch itself, adding a winch bumper will likely be too much for factory suspension, so add upgraded springs to the bill as well.

For others, having a handful of soft shackles and an appropriately-rated kinetic recovery rope will suffice, since all you’ll need is someone to give you a tug to get you out of a ditch or snowbank. Add in some traction boards and a shovel and you’ll have more options available to you if you find yourself stuck.

Emergency Provisions

This one is simple, and some of this is likely in your vehicle already. Things like a first-aid kit with the basics, but also maybe a wound-specific setup with tourniquet, QuikClot and plenty of bandages since as hunters we’re regularly around sharp blades.

Also squirreled away should be some water and food, quantities dependent on how far from civilization you might get and how many folks are with you. Granola bars are quick, jerky packs the protein and freeze-dried meals or MREs can be particularly handy if you’re stuck in a backcountry mud hole in the mountains of Wyoming.

Headed north to hunt? Pack a heavy wool blanket or alternatively a puffy down comforter and a stocking cap. Stick a high-vis vest under your driver’s seat and a rescue whistle in the glove box, and a couple of space blankets take up minimal space.

You’ve likely been rolling your eyes and saying, “Yeah, yeah, I’ve got that covered,” for most of this column, but when was the last time you put hands on some of this stuff? Now’s the time to run down the checklist and know that you’re prepared—hopefully you won’t need any of it.

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