Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful..
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They were great trips.
The hunting trip turned out solid, though I didn't get an elk. This was my first time hunting elk and my experienced buddy had to bail out on the trip so I ended up recruiting my dad and another friend to join me... both of whom have never hunted elk. So we did a lot of learning.
Lots of scouting...
Dad and I actually stumbled on 3 different bulls during our first early-morning foray. But my tag was for anterless, so they all got a pass.
Hiked 2 miles in at 4AM one morning to glass and ended up with this...
Finally found the area where the cow herds were wandering and found a pretty solid vista.
Saw quite a few elk in these areas... took a few shots as well, but they were at 300 yards and moving targets, so I missed. In retrospect I should have been more patient and waited for them to stop somewhere... or I should have moved into a position where they'd end up crossing my path. But my buddy and I got to where we could pretty reliably find elk on the last day. One more day out there and I think I'd have had one.
All in all, a great 4 days up in the woods. I learned a whole lot. Definitely caught the bug... I can't wait to go again.
That looks amazing, and a lot more involved than the "simple" deer hunting I do.
- Thread starter
- #603
I did a little deer hunting in Indiana... and it's more like deer "waiting". You sit in a tree stand and wait for them to come by and get close enough to shoot them with a shotgun slug.
This is entirely different than that. I watched a lot of Randy Newburg videos on Youtube to get a feel for things... "Randy Newburg AZ elk" gets you some pretty cool videos with lots of insight.
Near as I can tell folks out there rifle hunting elk were using 4 techniques...
1. Cruise the forest roads in your 4x4/quad/side-by-side until you see elk then get out, give pursuit, and shoot one if you can. We chatted with several folks who snagged elk this way. It blows my mind. We never saw elk while driving the forest roads... though did see deer and javalina this way.
2. Hike in early to a glassing point, scout for elk at a distance they don't know you're there... then move into position to intercept them. This was our primary method. We'd wake at 4AM to do this in the morning... and we'd leave around 1PM to head in before the afternoon active time.
3. Hike into the woods and trek around looking for signs... and if/when you come upon some you take a shot quickly. You aren't likely to truly sneak up on them this way.
4. Find a place you know they graze or water and then camp out and wait for them to come in. You can use a blind or just profile yourself in the trees/brush... we did this twice without success, but both times we moved in after they'd just moved on from our spot I think.
Like I said, I caught the bug... can't wait to get drawn again.
Yep, Deer "waiting" is what I do at Thanksgiving on my parents land. We have a tree stand and a hide along well traveled deer highway. Early morning and late afternoon to the blind and wait... We usually get 3-4 over the holiday, which is all we can process along with everything else going on, but it's great and gives me most of the red meat I use for the year.
Technique #2 in your descriptions sounds like such a fun way to hunt, so involved. I'll have to look at the Youtube videos you mentioned. Is it hard to get drawn to be able to hunt elk there? Would love to see a picture of one draped over the hood of your Troopy, or maybe a couple lashed down on the roof rack.
Happy Holidays to you and your family.
- Thread starter
- #605
Another trip to the woods the day after Thanksgiving... our annual Christmas Tree "hunt" as the kids call it.
This has become a yearly family photo now...
Merry Christmas to you all!
This has become a yearly family photo now...
Merry Christmas to you all!
Will Van
GOLD Star
Awesome! Merry Christmas!Another trip to the woods the day after Thanksgiving... our annual Christmas Tree "hunt" as the kids call it.
This has become a yearly family photo now...
Merry Christmas to you all!
Merry Christmas!
How the children did grow since last year! May the Lord bless your family!
Greetings from Low Saxony, Germany
Demetrios
How the children did grow since last year! May the Lord bless your family!
Greetings from Low Saxony, Germany
Demetrios
- Thread starter
- #609
The restored FZJ75 Troopy that I have for sale right now had a few small blemishes in the original dash pad... barely noticeable but enough that I thought it was better to replace it. So I bought a new one and put it in that truck.
But the removed dash pad was in far better shape than my own... so a swap seemed a solid idea.
How my original one looked...
I painted up the better condition one with SEM paint... have been very happy with it's endurance on other items I've painted for the dash.
And installed. Huge improvement!
My super OCD son is now complaining about the steering column, steering wheel, and shift knob. Ha!
But the removed dash pad was in far better shape than my own... so a swap seemed a solid idea.
How my original one looked...
I painted up the better condition one with SEM paint... have been very happy with it's endurance on other items I've painted for the dash.
And installed. Huge improvement!
My super OCD son is now complaining about the steering column, steering wheel, and shift knob. Ha!
Will Van
GOLD Star
Wow! That is looking sharp!!!
Haha, love it! OCD children grow up to be OCD Land Cruiser enthusiasts...which I can apperciate for obvious reasons.
- Thread starter
- #611
A few weeks ago we decided to go scout out some plots of land for sale up in northern Arizona... near Show Low and Concho. The drive out of Payson and up to Show Low turned quite eventful with heavy falling snow. It's been quite awhile since I've driven in snow like that... and my daughter has actually never had a chance to play in the snow. So naturally we pulled off and let them have some fun.
Snagged this shot once everyone had jumped back in the truck...
Some of the scenery while driving to one of the plots...
And parked at the edge of one of the pairs of plots we were scouting...
Snagged this shot once everyone had jumped back in the truck...
Some of the scenery while driving to one of the plots...
And parked at the edge of one of the pairs of plots we were scouting...
Will Van
GOLD Star
Looks fun! How did the Cruiser do in the snow?
- Thread starter
- #613
The Cruiser did great in the snow. I kept my speed down quite a bit once the snow got to really coming down. Had it in 4WD and kept separated from the vehicles ahead so I didn't have to use my brake to stop. We came to two long stops waiting for someone ahead of us to get recovered from sliding off the road. When we got off the main drag to go play on that road in the picture above the snow was so thick that my traction was actually great.
Stereo; Rearview Camera
- Thread starter
- #614
Work has been a bear... fair amount of travel and quite busy with project deliverables and proposals. Haven't really had time to tinker much. It literally took me 5 months to finish this little project... a stereo install! I really wanted this done before our upcoming roadtrip to Solid Axle Summit. We enjoy audio books as a family... and the kids will do iPad movies in the back as well.
Amazon had a lightning deal on this JVC head unit I'd been watching, so I snagged it.
I had some 6.5" speakers that had been on the shelf for some time. So while I had the rear panels off months ago I went ahead and installed those.
I actually pirated some existing wires in the harness that runs to the rear and has no function up front. That helped me run to the rear speakers which the truck had no wiring for.
Got some new fronts as well. That dusty circle on the left is where I had set down one of the old ones. Yuck!
I got a new female plug and wired that in to the rears. That gave me the wider existing plug already in place to serve the fronts and get power... and the new smaller rear plug to serve my new rears.
I had to dig through my parts bins to find these... so glad I saved them.
Also, for an exciting new feature I had to re-loom the rear ambulance door harness.
Head unit in, rear-view camera works great and is linked to shifting in to reverse. Works like a champ! The stereo sounds way better than I expected... it isn't going to win an award, but it passes for our purposes.
Amazon had a lightning deal on this JVC head unit I'd been watching, so I snagged it.
I had some 6.5" speakers that had been on the shelf for some time. So while I had the rear panels off months ago I went ahead and installed those.
I actually pirated some existing wires in the harness that runs to the rear and has no function up front. That helped me run to the rear speakers which the truck had no wiring for.
Got some new fronts as well. That dusty circle on the left is where I had set down one of the old ones. Yuck!
I got a new female plug and wired that in to the rears. That gave me the wider existing plug already in place to serve the fronts and get power... and the new smaller rear plug to serve my new rears.
I had to dig through my parts bins to find these... so glad I saved them.
Also, for an exciting new feature I had to re-loom the rear ambulance door harness.
Head unit in, rear-view camera works great and is linked to shifting in to reverse. Works like a champ! The stereo sounds way better than I expected... it isn't going to win an award, but it passes for our purposes.
Will Van
GOLD Star
Nice work! That backup camera is cool.
- Thread starter
- #616
Way back in April I gave the truck a thorough cleaning inside and out. Pulled mats out, etc. It hadn't been washed since last September... and had been on multiple trips during that time. She still cleans up nice.
Gave the hood and front roof the Griots treatment.
Gave the hood and front roof the Griots treatment.
That JVC is a nice unit. I particularly like the fact that it does not have buttons or the USB socket on the front like so many of the other 2-DINs on the market.
Where did you mount the camera?Work has been a bear... fair amount of travel and quite busy with project deliverables and proposals. Haven't really had time to tinker much. It literally took me 5 months to finish this little project... a stereo install! I really wanted this done before our upcoming roadtrip to Solid Axle Summit. We enjoy audio books as a family... and the kids will do iPad movies in the back as well.
Amazon had a lightning deal on this JVC head unit I'd been watching, so I snagged it.
I had some 6.5" speakers that had been on the shelf for some time. So while I had the rear panels off months ago I went ahead and installed those.
I actually pirated some existing wires in the harness that runs to the rear and has no function up front. That helped me run to the rear speakers which the truck had no wiring for.
Got some new fronts as well. That dusty circle on the left is where I had set down one of the old ones. Yuck!
I got a new female plug and wired that in to the rears. That gave me the wider existing plug already in place to serve the fronts and get power... and the new smaller rear plug to serve my new rears.
I had to dig through my parts bins to find these... so glad I saved them.
Also, for an exciting new feature I had to re-loom the rear ambulance door harness.
Head unit in, rear-view camera works great and is linked to shifting in to reverse. Works like a champ! The stereo sounds way better than I expected... it isn't going to win an award, but it passes for our purposes.
nuclearbeef
SILVER Star
Here's where I mounted mine. It's the only place I could think of, but I can't get an angle down enough to see the hitch or rear bumper.Where did you mount the camera?
