Jeep Wrangler hunting vehicle

Guy Miner

Master Loader
Apr 6, 2006
17,453
4,514
After 11 or 12 years I replaced my trusty Dodge Ram pickup with a Jeep Wrangler this year. I was a little worried that it wouldn't be a big enough vehicle for hunting. With 4,500 miles on it now, and several hunting trips, here's an initial report:

Weaknesses:
A little twitchy at highway speeds. The short wheelbase requires more attention to keeping it in the lane than my much longer truck did, and more than our Ford Explorer as well. This was readily apparent on the trip across Montana to Wyoming. Sidewinds affect the small, tall, slab sided little Jeep too. When I test drove a four-door version, it was considerably more stable on the highway.

Storage space is also compromised. For my hunting trips I've removed the rear seat (a very quick operation, only a couple of minutes with no tools needed) and covered the cargo area floor with a rubber mat. Still, I got everything needed for a week-long trip stowed easily. The two animals, mule deer & pronghorn, came home in the coolers shown, with room to spare.

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Am thinking that a metal rack attached to the rear hitch & frame would be an excellent way to carry game from the field.

Strengths:
Extraordinarily maneuverable! I haven't had a small hunting vehicle in 25 years or so. The extended cab Dodge Ram couldn't hold a candle to the stubby little Jeep for turning sharp and going around obstacles. I've turned around on dirt roads that would have forced me to back up in the larger rigs. This has proven very useful in town as well.

Traction is excellent. I've had it in mud and snow and loose, sandy conditions. Mine has the mild 3.21 axle ratio, the 6-speed manual transmission and aftermarket wheels with BFG All Terrain tires. Jeep has a built-in traction control system that uses a computer to detect and moderate wheelspin via the brakes. Some of this function can be turned off with a press of a button. I do not yet have a limited slip or locking diff in this vehicle.

Have been very impressed with the traction. It almost never spins a wheel, and when that does occasionally start, the Jeep quickly compensates and keeps the vehicle moving forward. I do have heavy-duty tire chains for all four tires, and anticipate using them as the snow depth increases this winter.

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The new engine is pretty darned impressive. The old 4.0 liter inline six is long gone - an excellent motor that I had in two different Jeep Cherokees over the years. The 3.8 V6 is also gone now, replaced by the new 3.6 liter Pentastar V6. It's a little weak at very low rpms, say under 1500 rpm. By 1700 or so though, it's producing excellent torque. Horsepower is pretty amazing to me. 3.6 liters is only about 220 cubic inches, yet it produces 285 horsepower! The engine builds power as the revs climb and can really get with the program when it's time to pass on a two-lane highway. The Jeep would handily outrun my old Dodge pickup with the 5.2 liter "magnum" V8, which had more torque and 50 less horsepower...

Oil changes are very easy. There's no conventional filter to spin off from underneath, just a little filter easily reached from atop the motor with the hood up. Still, a guy does have to crawl underneath to drain the oil. It's a quick job.

Fuel economy - could be a strength or weakness depending on reference point. The Wrangler is about as streamlined as a brick. Cruising along a two-lane at modest speed, it has averaged 20 - 21 mpg. On my recent 2200 mile trip to and from Wyoming, it averaged about 19 mpg, running mostly at 70 - 75 mph on I-90. After my old Dodge, these are good numbers.

Handling is good. Four coil springs make a pretty good ride, though it's a little choppy on some surfaces, courtesy of the short wheelbase. It handles really well though, on twisty roads, showing very little body lean. The weight of the winch out front seems to have induced a little understeer, which I only notice when driving in a "spirited" manner on a twisty two-lane.

The hard top seals well. The newer "JK" Wranglers have a hard top that has two lift-off panels over the driver & front passenger seats. These remove and replace easily. The back 2/3 of the fiberglass top requires but six bolts to be removed, as well as unplugging the rear washer/wiper & defroster. My son and I can remove or replace the rear part of the top in minutes, but I've found I prefer just leaving it in place and removing the front panels when I want that open-air feeling. Temps in the 30's, snow and rain now have me thinking that the top will remain firmly in place until May or so...

The seats are very comfortable. Mama even commented on how nice they are. The instruments easy to read. Stereo sounds good. I haven't even tried the CD player yet. First vehicle of mine to have one! Air conditioning is effective, the heater and defroster even better. I've been comfortable in hot and cold weather.

Mine is a very basic Jeep with hand-cranked windows - my 12 year old niece pointed to the window winder and asked "what's that?" I about cracked up, she'd never seen a vehicle that didn't have electric windows!

Also noted from the younger set, my 21 year old son really likes it, everything about it.
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All in all, I'm still very pleased with it, and still a little concerned about the small size - which I see as both an attribute and a liability.

FWIW, Guy
 
Excellent report, Guy. Undoubtedly it provides sufficient information for anyone thinking of a Jeep as an adventure wagon.
 
Bought a rack for it yesterday, to plug into the receiver hitch. Gives me a little more room to haul a deer carcass, firewood, or other stuff.

Small vehicles require a little more thought than just tossing stuff into the back of my truck did!

Guy
 
My buddy has that Guy on his Cherokee. We have tied 3 antelope on it and returned to Cheyenne in the past.
 
Great write up Guy.

19MPG with a JEEP is really good, considering the speeds your running down the road. My Dodge Cummins won't do much better than those numbers either.

Seems like a great rig and well designed too. I would love to have another one in the future. Probably be a 4 door rig though. Got too much stuff.
 
Thanks for the very good report Guy. We are looking at upgrading my wife's vehicle next year, it might end up being a choice between a Jeep similar to yours or a Toyota Rav 4..... Heck if money was no object I would like a Jeep of my own but I need a truck for work.
 
Rode in my buddy's jeep for the elk hunt in Montana this year that is the same as Guy's, just a year or two older. We went places no 4-wheel drive pickup would ever go without chains. He has a lift kit and off-road tires on his, but we never had to chain-up while we were in the mountains and both pickups had chains on the whole time we were up there. Beat the he** out of my back though... :roll: !
 
Guy,

Does the Jeep have "full-time 4x4", as in no lock-out hubs? Maybe a 3 position transfer-case; 2x4, 4x4 Hi, and 4x4 Lo ?

Ninteen MPG is pretty good.

Old Jim
 
No lockout hubs, but not full-time 4x4 either. I think the new ones, and know the older ones, had a vacuum disconnect one the hubs so the axle shafts were not spinning all the time.
 
Guy Miner":1lq7jdc6 said:
Bought a rack for it yesterday, to plug into the receiver hitch. Gives me a little more room to haul a deer carcass, firewood, or other stuff.

Small vehicles require a little more thought than just tossing stuff into the back of my truck did!

Guy
Fuel cans too, gas and diesel fumes even if there is no spill.

For years a regular cab short box has worked great, but I am working on a jeep for better trail running and I think a trailer will work fine for trips to the lumber yard or grainery.
 
Short update:

Almost 10,000 miles on the Jeep now. A couple of unexpected road trips to visit family added 4,000 miles very quickly. This Jeep has the 3.21:1 axle ratio and the six speed manual transmission. As a result I usually find myself climbing hills in 5th gear, and also the average mpg out on the open road is now up around 21 - 23 mpg! Better than expected.

The little Wrangler carried three game animals during the first season; one mule deer, one whitetail and one pronghorn. That's not bad for a first season. Not bad at all.

The "brake lock diff" function works better than anticipated. I'll likely still have an aftermarket locker installed in the rear differential, but traction has been very good in most situations. Only once, on real bad compacted ice, did I have to put the chains on - and that was for but a short period of time to cover a real bad, slick area.

Kodiak - it is a part time system despite the lack of lock-out hubs. Two high, four high, four low.

Regards, Guy
 
Nice, Guy.

I'm starting to feel the itch to start working on my CJ7 again. I think I may end up doing a mild lift, bigger tires, perhaps and aftermarket rear axle, new front seats, and maybe a fuel injection kit. The Carter carb that's on it is freakin' killing me.
 
Guy Miner":2a2yczya said:
The "brake lock diff" function works better than anticipated. I'll likely still have an aftermarket locker installed in the rear differential, but traction has been very good in most situations. Only once, on real bad compacted ice, did I have to put the chains on - and that was for but a short period of time to cover a real bad, slick area.
Regards, Guy
Guy
I highly recommend a selectable locker, one you can turn on and off from the cab. There are situations where you don't want the rear locked like down hills on snow/ice/slick mud. And non-selectable lockers like to engage/disengage driving around town when you don't need them.
I personally like the ARB lockers but there are a few options out there now that were not available when i installed mine.
Yes I'm a hard core Jeep guy
 
Agree. There's a fellow in town who is familiar with installing the American made Ox locker, and gets them at a good price, so I'll likely go with that one. It's supposed to be very strong and reliable.

Can be activated by a cable, air, or electronic. Also, has a neat little "drive away" piece that can be kept in the glove box, and used to activate or de-activate the locker if the cable, air line or electric wire breaks. Interesting little inexpensive fail-safe piece.

I don't like driving short wheel base vehicles with automatic lockers like the good old Detroit, or the less expensive "lunchbox" lockers. Too much ice and snow on the roads here in the winter.

Probably should have set some more money aside and just bought the Rubicon, which comes with front and rear driver-actuated lockers!

Regards, Guy
 
My Rubicon had the E-Locker in it and I gotta tell you, that rig was AWESOME! That was the most capable Jeep I have owned and it really needed NOTHING other than gas in the tank. Granted, if I was doing extreme stuff, if might have needed more, but as it sits, that Jeep was awesome. Front and rear E-lockers and the 4:1 transfer case really made that Jeep great. I added 35's and a lift and WOW, it was very impressive. All this Jeep talk makes me nervous as I would love nothing more than going and getting another!
 
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