Truck free stalking?

ABL

Well-Known Member
So, am I the only one on here who doesn’t have a truck or 4x4 to work with? As I approach my first permission I’m feeling pretty under-gunned in the wheels department as I’m going to have to make do with either an Audi a6 estate or a VW polo. The Audi has ample boot space but low ground clearance. The polo has more clearance but is going to feel a squeeze with more than a muntjac in the boot! The new ground has a lot of fallow I understand and access will be a bit mixed. I’m in for a lot of dragging I dragging. Anyone else in the same boat and any suggestions for how to make the best of it? A replacement car isn’t an option at the moment sadly.
A
 
So, am I the only one on here who doesn’t have a truck or 4x4 to work with? As I approach my first permission I’m feeling pretty under-gunned in the wheels department as I’m going to have to make do with either an Audi a6 estate or a VW polo. The Audi has ample boot space but low ground clearance. The polo has more clearance but is going to feel a squeeze with more than a muntjac in the boot! The new ground has a lot of fallow I understand and access will be a bit mixed. I’m in for a lot of dragging I dragging. Anyone else in the same boat and any suggestions for how to make the best of it? A replacement car isn’t an option at the moment sadly.
A
See it as training- people pay for that sort of workout.

Either a sled or consider some sort of barrow- I'm also a beekeeper and a few beekeepers refit old barrows/wheelbarrow frames with a flatter platform which enables moving heavy hives or stacked with boxes of honey pre-extraction- each full box of honey can be >10kg when filled and so moving them is not dissimilar to moving a carcass in terms of weight, just need to plan for a slightly different platform to secure the carcass.

 
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Polo might not be too bad with rear seats folded and some ingenuity re kit stowage.
Decent tub with a cover as you will have the carcass possibly with other “passengers” just behind you !

I have a cargo net slung just under the roof, loads of options on ebay and Amazon, really useful for preventing a pile up of kit.
 
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See it as training- people pay for that sort of workout.

Either a sled or consider some sort of barrow- I'm also a beekeeper and a few beekeepers refit old barrows/wheelbarrow frames with a flatter platform which enables moving heavy hives or stacked with boxes of honey pre-extraction- each full box of honey can be >10kg when filled and so moving them is not dissimilar to moving a carcass in terms of weight, just need to plan for a slightly different platform to secure the carcass.

I’ve got a simple drag sled. But suspect I may need to look for something with wheels. My fitness may struggle with, if benefitting from, the exercise!
 
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So, am I the only one on here who doesn’t have a truck or 4x4 to work with? As I approach my first permission I’m feeling pretty under-gunned in the wheels department as I’m going to have to make do with either an Audi a6 estate or a VW polo. The Audi has ample boot space but low ground clearance. The polo has more clearance but is going to feel a squeeze with more than a muntjac in the boot! The new ground has a lot of fallow I understand and access will be a bit mixed. I’m in for a lot of dragging I dragging. Anyone else in the same boat and any suggestions for how to make the best of it? A replacement car isn’t an option at the moment sadly.
A
I got over it via the same amount of wheels you have on your car...

Some will want to put a fallow in a sika sack but they won't put 2 in and bollix it back to the car, early season will be fat also trying to pick out a young buck following his mum or last years buck is not so easy. A rush of blood and you have a 40+ kg dressed lump on the floor.
I got over it "my way" so the 2 in a sika sack gang left the building lol




1 from a brace of red hinds
 
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Polo might not be too bad with rear seats folded and some ingenuity re kit stowage.
Decent tub with a cover as you will have the carcass possibly with other “passengers” just behind you !

I have a cargo net slung just under the roof, loads of options on ebay and Amazon, really useful for preventing a pile up of kit.
Yes the ticks and keds being right behind me does appeal much! And the wife will give me hell when she finds them later on one of the kids…
 
I got over it via the same amount of wheels you have on your car...

Some will want to put a fallow in a sika sack but they won't put 2 in and bollix it back to the car, early season will be fat also trying to pick out a your buck following his mum or last years buck is not so easy. A rush of blood and you have a 40+ kg dressed lump on the floor.
I got over it "my way" so the 2 in a sika sack gang left the building lol



A sort of converted go-cart right? Looks possible as long as I can fit it in alongside a plasterers bath. Might be tight even with an A6.
 
I have a Mercedes citan compact, dog cage and plasterers bath plus stalking kit fit in the back, easy access back doors, relatively low floor so easy loading. I'm sure plenty of people require a 4x4, I'm fortunate that I don't, if I need more mobility I hook up the trailer with the quad
 
I use a Skoda Fabia - estate version so a bit longer than a polo, but not vastly different.

One of these boxes goes in the boot and can take any number of muntjac, a few roe and will easily take two fallow prickets.
Biggest I've managed on my own was a 70Kg larder weight fallow buck. I used the lid as a sled. Put the box on its side and tipped him in before righting the box. Lift one end of box onto the lip of the boot then heave the other end in.

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I have a Mercedes citan compact, dog cage and plasterers bath plus stalking kit fit in the back, easy access back doors, relatively low floor so easy loading. I'm sure plenty of people require a 4x4, I'm fortunate that I don't, if I need more mobility I hook up the trailer with the quad
That’s where I’m starting out - less the trailer and quad sadly! They’d be a lot cheaper than getting a truck though I guess. Not in the cards for now though.
 
A sort of converted go-cart right? Looks possible as long as I can fit it in alongside a plasterers bath. Might be tight even with an A6.
A a fabricator it what I do, but using a scrap builders ladder and some threaded rod (screwfix) the rod will pass through the hollow rungs of the ladder and 4 foam filled barrow wheels
 
I use a Skoda Fabia - estate version so a bit longer than a polo, but not vastly different.

One of these boxes goes in the boot and can take any number of muntjac, a few roe and will easily take two fallow prickets.
Biggest I've managed on my own was a 70Kg larder weight fallow buck. I used the lid as a sled. Put the box on its side and tipped him in before righting the box. Lift one end of box onto the lip of the boot then heave the other end in.

View attachment 481004
What’s the make of that box? Looks like an alternative to the plasterers bath that might keep the passengers contained
 
Fold ur back seats down in the polo and buy a tarp and some tubs for ur gear and 1 for deer.

Fit a pair of winter ( or in the old days town and country tyres to front wheels)
Probably the best thing u can do.
Amazing where u can drive a 2wd drive car/van if a bit of imagination and momentum at the right places.
But any uphills stop them pretty quick.
Always be wary of driving downhill into a field, as that means u need to drive uphill to get out.
Nothing worse than getting stuck just shy of a gate, then reversing back to take another run.
But got too fast u could be sliding into the gate posts

A lot will depend on where u are, soil type, crops weather.
In my area fields are often too wet over winter for anything but a quad.
But ur polo could be 50 or even 30% the wieght of a heavy pick up.
In my area if a field is dry enough for a pick up not to mark it probably almost dry enough for a car to travel to if flat.

35+ yrs ago 4wds were pretty rare even on farms.
That was also before quads were common
I remember 1 farmer had 2 Audi quatro estates ( which are 4wd), his old 1 was used as a farm bus, to feed the sheep, fence.
Ud see it across fields back door up stuffed full of hay bales feed troughs the lot, even transporting sheep about in it.
Absolutely caked in mud and it was a large wet farm too.

Their will be a lot of fencers or dry stone dyers etc will travel fields in wee vans.
4x4s are just far too dear to buy and run.
Most Fc employees will run wee vans, including the stalkers in some areas.

If u don't need or want a 4x4 for day to day use u can manage fine without.
Or possibly buying a cheaper quad can be a better solution as it will travel fields all year long.
If u have somewhere to store it safely
 
So, am I the only one on here who doesn’t have a truck or 4x4 to work with? As I approach my first permission I’m feeling pretty under-gunned in the wheels department as I’m going to have to make do with either an Audi a6 estate or a VW polo. The Audi has ample boot space but low ground clearance. The polo has more clearance but is going to feel a squeeze with more than a muntjac in the boot! The new ground has a lot of fallow I understand and access will be a bit mixed. I’m in for a lot of dragging I dragging. Anyone else in the same boat and any suggestions for how to make the best of it? A replacement car isn’t an option at the moment sadly.
A
It all depends on where and what you are stalking.
In 15 years I have never driven onto a permission other than to park inside a gateway. Mostly I park in the farm yard or on the roadside in a gateway.
Although I have a shogun, it really isn’t needed most of the time as I mainly shoot roe/cwd/munty and they all go into my sika sack. I have even had fallow does in there, so everything I shoot comes out on my back and into the boot of the truck.

That being said, you can pick up a cheap 4x4 for not much money (check this out https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/35871082...iH/Mg0WaE1zUQOUhFQRrVu2w==|tkp:Bk9SR9bh84XhZw. I had one of these) so, if not now then soon you could join the mud plugger’s club.

Just make sure you have a carcass tray for the back of the car so that you don’t redecorate the interior with deer blood!!
 
That’s where I’m starting out - less the trailer and quad sadly! They’d be a lot cheaper than getting a truck though I guess. Not in the cards for now though.
I suppose it depends what and where you stalk, carrying a roe over grass fields back to your car, is entirely different to a red stag at the bottom of a steep hill miles from a track
 
I stalked fir many years firstly with a Golf Mk2, then a Skoda Octavia, then a Kangoo and an Audi A4.

Your feet are a very good off road means of transport. In the car you want a big plastic bin etc to contain all the blood etc. I would also put in a rubber boot liner in place of carpet.

Decathlon used to make a really good carcass bag - not sure if these are still available.

Muntjac, Roe etc ate really quite small and don’t take up a lot of room. Big deer - a knife can be used to take a deer apart. You don’t necessarily have to skin first, but you can remove the whole front end 4th or 5th rib back - cut all the way round and either saw or twist and the spine will break, leaving the forequarters and haunch / loin which are much more manageable. Or skin and then quarter.

An alternative is a trailer or a heck basket on a tow ball.
 
Fold ur back seats down in the polo and buy a tarp and some tubs for ur gear and 1 for deer.

Fit a pair of winter ( or in the old days town and country tyres to front wheels)
Probably the best thing u can do.
Amazing where u can drive a 2wd drive car/van if a bit of imagination and momentum at the right places.
But any uphills stop them pretty quick.
Always be wary of driving downhill into a field, as that means u need to drive uphill to get out.
Nothing worse than getting stuck just shy of a gate, then reversing back to take another run.
But got too fast u could be sliding into the gate posts

A lot will depend on where u are, soil type, crops weather.
In my area fields are often too wet over winter for anything but a quad.
But ur polo could be 50 or even 30% the wieght of a heavy pick up.
In my area if a field is dry enough for a pick up not to mark it probably almost dry enough for a car to travel to if flat.

35+ yrs ago 4wds were pretty rare even on farms.
That was also before quads were common
I remember 1 farmer had 2 Audi quatro estates ( which are 4wd), his old 1 was used as a farm bus, to feed the sheep, fence.
Ud see it across fields back door up stuffed full of hay bales feed troughs the lot, even transporting sheep about in it.
Absolutely caked in mud and it was a large wet farm too.

Their will be a lot of fencers or dry stone dyers etc will travel fields in wee vans.
4x4s are just far too dear to buy and run.
Most Fc employees will run wee vans, including the stalkers in some areas.

If u don't need or want a 4x4 for day to day use u can manage fine without.
Or possibly buying a cheaper quad can be a better solution as it will travel fields all year long.
If u have somewhere to store it safely
That’s a great suggestion. I’ve used the Audi for motorway driving for the last 8 years with work. It’s great to eat up the miles comfortably. But I don’t do the travel now, so no reason not to try some different tyres
 
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