Vanagons: the ultimate hunting vehicle. Tell your story here.

[kourt]

Vanagon friends,

A search on The Samba shows that most results for "hunting" involve engine idle problems. That's not the kind of hunting this thread is about.

I'm interested in if or how people use their vans for hunting. I've been hunting for a few years and my van is the perfect hunting vehicle. In Texas, where I live, every other guy has a pickup truck with a cooler in the back. They work great for hunting... but I think my van is even better. So many little advantages and conveniences make the hunting trips all that much better.

Sometimes people are indifferent, but oftentimes I get the most uncomprehending stares from other hunters when I show up in my van. The visual just doesn't grok: the van is an icon of a demographic that usually does not hunt--a demographic that is often morally opposed to hunting. When my van shows up in the woods with a blaze-orange clad driver bearing a rifle, it surprises people. You can see it in their faces.

I invite others to post stories or photos of their van + hunting experiences. Your post should include content related to your van and your hunting, or preparation for hunting.

Notice: some hunters take trophy photos, and those photos are not explicitly forbidden on The Samba. This thread may have trophy photos.

I'll start off with the story of our first fall feral hog hunt last week. We drove from Austin east to Sam Houston National Forest near Huntsville, where year-round feral hog hunting with rifles is legal with a state hunting license.

In preparation for this trip I rebuilt the passenger side axle assembly, which was clicking after 15,000 miles since the last rebuild. I found some old-but-good Lobro CV joints in my "big bag of CV joints" (where each individual CV joint is kept together in its own bag). The job took three hours, mostly because one of the old Lobros was a little stubborn getting back on the axle shaft. Some previous owner had hammered the end of the axle shaft, slightly mushrooming it, causing a lot of friction with the CV joint center star. The axle shafts have machined depressions in the ends to accept a steel punch point to avoid this type of direct hammering.

We left around noon on Saturday. The drive out to SHNF was quiet--no axle clicking--so we were happy. The van was stocked for hunting and camping one night in the forest.

Arriving at the forest, we drove about five miles into the dense, tall pines to a trailhead known for a water feature that attracts feral hogs. The floor of the forest was carpeted with acres of American beautyberry bushes, all bearing fruit. The fruit is bitter and would only be used as a food of last resort by forest animals.

We readied our packs and rifles and headed out around 4PM. I carried a 1959 Marlin 336 with peep sights and my brother carried a scoped Winchester Model 70.

We hiked about two miles into the woods and easily found signs of hogs--lots of rooting damage on the trail, tracks, and occasional scat. Tree rubbing scars every now and then. They like to scratch up against the trees--sometimes knocking down smaller trees. A friend told me about bigger hogs up around Stephenville that knock down telephone poles. He's not the lying type, so I believe him.

Around the pond were fresh, muddy wallows, where the hogs roll to keep cool and abate insect infestations. My brother and I had a method for this hunt--we separated to opposite sides of the water feature and waited while the sun sets. Lone males or sounders consisting of females and their young will pass through, and we would take our best opportunity. We brought handheld amateur radios to quietly communicate while separated.

We picked our spots and staged around the pond, one man east and one man west. The wind was from the south--this was important because hogs will smell a human from a long distance, and we needed the wind in our faces to hunt towards the south.

It became quiet and the sun perceptibly moved lower and lower behind the pine canopy. The fallen needles were soft and quiet and clean, and I relished the peace of the wait. After an hour of stillness, a crashing sound in the trees on the south side of the pond broke the spell.

A lone male hog, healthy and weighing about 100 pounds, was transiting a hog trail on the south side of the pond. The squelch on my radio opened... "I've got a pig. I'm shooting." I see my brother kneeling and taking one careful shot. The hog fell still and was none the wiser.

We dragged and dressed our quarry and returned to the van. Rifles were cleared and stowed away. I connected the spray port hose and washed down the meat before stowing it in the ice chest on the rear rack. We washed our tools and ourselves. Clean clothes were put on. We put on some good music, poured some beer from the refrigerator (a good porter), put the chicken soup on the stove to reheat, and made some contacts on the HF radio built into the van. By midnight we were out of beer and out of energy for the day. I took the lower bunk. Screened windows were opened and the crickets sang in the cool air.

The comfort of the van made this whole experience richer.

The next morning we ate a hearty breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast, and explored a few more sites for future hunts. We were home by 1PM and the shoulder roasts were in the freezer not long after.

Today the first roast was thawed and is marinating in honey and spices for Sunday's dinner.

Let's hear your stories.

kourt

[JudoJeff]

Kourt,
Hope we can meet someday!

I’ve used my Westfalia deer hunting (shotgun only here), and black bear hunting in the Allagash of Maine. (Winchester model 70, sniper rifle from Vietnam, left hand shooter, all customized to fit me. Can still put 3 shots on a dime!)

The roads are all traprock dust, and you travel for hours to get to the camp. VW took it all in stride.

Due to the wide door and height floor is, very easy to bring back animals.
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________________________________________
1989 Vanagon GL Westfalia Camper, Burned up on 7/31/16.
1987 Vanagon GL Westfalia Camper, Bostig & Rebuilt, sold
1986 Vanagon GL Westfalia Camper, Bostig Sold May 10, 2021
1999 Ford GTRV Westfalia camper (30% bigger Westy layout)

[kourt]

Jeff--short but great post. Thank you.

I'll be coming through your area next summer on a highpointing trip that will end in Vermont. I'll ping you then and maybe we can meet.

I thought of you yesterday. A friend with a Bostig called me. His van had not been running in six months and now it's camping season in Texas, so his wife was putting pressure on him to get it fixed. I showed up with a used-but-good coil and got him running in an hour.

The Bostig system is just easy and great. I just rebuilt the entire intake side of mine--new manifold gaskets, etc--in an afternoon.

I told him, "if this had been a boxer engine, I would have made up an excuse."

His wife never cooks meat, but he's a meat eater. I told him about my hunting trip and the pork roast for dinner this weekend. His wife rolled her eyes, but he could not resist licking his lips.

kourt

[oceanair]

[HeinleinTrooper]

That's cool. Bonus points if you know the origin of the word "grok" without resorting to Google.

I don't hunt right now, but I like to shoot, and I also am a ham--K7VXN. I'm curious to know a little more about your HF installation. I don't have on in my Vanagon yet since I want to get it right the first time.
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1990 Vanagon Multivan 2.1 WBX AT

[kourt]

Without resorting to Google, my knowledge of the word "grok" comes from Vonnegut. Do I win a prize?

(Edit: I see that it originates from Heinlein. Today I learned! Vonnegut used it early in the word's history.)

The HF rig is a Yaesu FT-857 with a FC-40 antenna transmatch. That terminates in the bumper, which either has a 102" whip on it, or has an end-fed long wire thrown into the trees. The radio head is mounted to the galley bulkhead. It's old, but extremely reliable and still relevant.

The front radios are a Yaesu FTM-300DR and a second head for the FT-857. This second head can be selected via a selector box in the back of the van, so we can operate from the front seats when driving or the rear seats when parked. The photo below shows the radio mountings. This is an older photo with a FTM-400XDR on there--it has since been replaced.

Occasionally we fly kite antennas and that is always a great draw for folks who want to talk about wire antennas.

We use the van and go full-tilt-crazy during the ARRL VHF contests (Jan/June/Sep). In that configuration, we are a Limited Rover running a vast array of antennas and radios. We are competitive, running under my brother's callsign (KA5D).

During the hunting trip we were testing a BBS setup that essentially allows us to send and receive email via a command line BBS system. It is slow but fairly reliable. The receivers for this system are variously found on 144MHz, 440MHz, and 40 meters, including igate receivers on all those bands that we operate at our repeater site in Austin. We've been able to communicate in the most remote areas, far from cell service. Our test was successful.

kourt
KB5PRZ

[HeinleinTrooper]

That is just sweet. It looks like you've mounted the radio heads in front without messing up the dash at all, which is my goal.
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1990 Vanagon Multivan 2.1 WBX AT

[pnwkayaker]

Kourt,

do you have any more information about this heater control mod? Looks very cool!

[khughes]

[kourt]

[kourt]

[Abscate]

I’m recommending HUNTS tomato paste on your roasted hog, to stay on topic

My production manager in MT would take a week off for bear bow season.

Hunting Bear, with a Bow

respect
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.ssS!

[kourt]

Yeah, I gotta tell ya, I visited my Montana family back in July. They are the real deal.

They gave up hunting with guns years ago. It's not sporting or interesting to them. All the hunting they do is with archery equipment.

I have to respect them. I wish I had that experience. Hunting in Texas is a joke--if you hunt on private land, you pay $$$ and sometimes four figures.

Feral hogs are a legitimate pest, and yet landowners in Texas will support the hogs on their land so that they can charge $1000 for private hog hunts. It's stupid.

We were hunting on public lands, which I feel is the only ethical way to hunt hogs in Texas.

kourt

[pnwkayaker]

Just curious, what do you do if you hunt a deer? Will you somehow stow it inside the van or try to cut it in pieces to fit in the external cooler (some at least)?

I'm not a hunter (well, haven't tried yet) but somehow cannot see myself put a bleeding deer inside my van (that's where a truck shines I think) - am I wrong?
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87 Syncro Westy EJ25 ("Tardis")

Seattle Meetup at Marymoor (link)
A collection of Simple Useful Mods (SUM) (link)

[Multiman mv]

I used to use my van when going bird hunting with my dog. We would mostly go pheasant and grouse hunting and the van was a great comfortable spot for My dog Jem after a long hunt. I know what you mean when you say that a vanagon doesnt seem to be the stereotypical hunting vehicle. I did get a few odd looks when unpacking my shotgun from the van. I dont really fit the bill either, im kind of a paradoxical hunting hippie.

I cant say that i ever went deer hunting with my van. I used my truck for that. The ticks became a real problem after bird hunting and my wife insisted that i used my truck. She was right because we were finding ticks on the kids after my outings with Jem.

Jem is now 14 1/2 and officially retired from hunting but i cant resist a walk through a field that i know is holding pheasant just to get her blood pumping again. The pure excitement and joy on her face when getting on a scent is something ill remember and cherish forever.

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1991 multivan, FAS 1.9 tdi, Peloquin limited slip
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

[Abscate]

My wife would be upset if I found a truck on the kids.
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.ssS!

[alaskadan]

[JudoJeff]

Kourt,
Definitely stop by! Live on a lake, #44 on top 100 USA bass lakes list. Have water and 30A plug in driveway.

Just totally re-did entire cooling system, never had such low UG readings. Red light still blinks, no rhyme or reason to it.

Yes, bear is very good to eat, like Kobe beef. In colonial times no one wanted venison, they all wanted bear! I’ve served bbq bear roasts to many “Ugh” folks who after taking a little bite, ate it all.

Went camping in Vermont last weekend, saw two Westfalias on the road!
_________________
________________________________________
1989 Vanagon GL Westfalia Camper, Burned up on 7/31/16.
1987 Vanagon GL Westfalia Camper, Bostig & Rebuilt, sold
1986 Vanagon GL Westfalia Camper, Bostig Sold May 10, 2021
1999 Ford GTRV Westfalia camper (30% bigger Westy layout)

[Abscate]

I had some bear up in NH last Fall.

Mmmmmmmmm

Pig Foot porter to wash it down

Gulp gulp gulp
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.ssS!

[Zeitgeist 13]

The only part of a bear I've ever heard of people eating was the oysters. Not appealing.
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?