Do you need AWD/4WD?

[greg jacobs]

Yup, in the driveway and was chukar hunting Friday and getting back out turned ugly. Next weekend is the last weekend and don't think we are going to try to get in. May have to quail hunt in a more reasonable place.

[fourtrax57]

Ahyup!

 We are located halfway between Duluth & Grand Marais.

 

I also notice I could be walking for grouse in N. Central Wisconsin now if the Wisc  conservation Congress hadn't gotten "silly".

[Duckn66]

Most of the time my truck never gets to use 4wd.  This year was another story with rain and snow.

 

But most years I can get by with 2wd.  

[MDash2]

AWD works well for daily driving and most hunting situations. But 4x4 is necessary at times when hunting so I've always driven an SUV that can handle just about anything. 

 

 

[caleb]

For hunting in Minnesota, I think four wheel drive is nice, but I don't see how it's required.  There's nowhere drivable and worth going that's far from a maintained road, certainly not the 20-30 miles mentioned above.  A mile or two maybe, but that's easy walking distance.  Dragging a deer or bear out builds character.

 

On 1/12/2019 at 11:36 AM, martyg said:

 

Rubber makes a huge difference. I don't feel limited, at all, with FWD in winter.

 

The very best vehicle I've ever driven or ridden in on ice and snow-covered roads was my Jetta Sportwagen with Conti snows.  Four wheel drive is no substitute for dedicated snow tires.

 

Somewhere in northern Ontario:

 

 

The real question to me isn't do I "need" it, it's whether I'm willing to pay for it.  I agree that it's nice to have, but when I take the difference in cost of ownership between a cheap car and an expensive 4x4 and multiply it by a 7% return over 25+ years, the utility of the 4x4 looks like a pretty expensive luxury for me.

[Dogwood]

8 hours ago, caleb said:

For hunting in Minnesota, I think four wheel drive is nice, but I don't see how it's required.  There's nowhere drivable and worth going that's far from a maintained road, certainly not the 20-30 miles mentioned above.  A mile or two maybe, but that's easy walking distance.  Dragging a deer or bear out builds character.

 

 

The very best vehicle I've ever driven or ridden in on ice and snow-covered roads was my Jetta Sportwagen with Conti snows.  Four wheel drive is no substitute for dedicated snow tires.

 

Somewhere in northern Ontario:

 

 

The real question to me isn't do I "need" it, it's whether I'm willing to pay for it.  I agree that it's nice to have, but when I take the difference in cost of ownership between a cheap car and an expensive 4x4 and multiply it by a 7% return over 25+ years, the utility of the 4x4 looks like a pretty expensive luxury for me.

 

 

Until you need to drive up inclines.  Had a Golf GTI with Nokian snows that could not ascend my driveway.  Sold it and bought a Subi Outback then added snows.     

 

Problem solved.

 

 

 

i

 

 

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[martyg]

41 minutes ago, Dogwood said:

 

 

Until you need to drive up inclines.  Had a Golf GTI with Nokian snows that could not ascend my driveway.  Sold it and bought a Subi Outback then added snows.     

 

Problem solved.

 

 

 

i

 

 

i

 

No prob with a GTI in snow here. I was driving to teach up at a ski hill with a running average of 735" of snow a year, and has sen as much as 1,190" in a year.

 

Now I'm driving up to a ski hill with a running average of about 300" We have a 4Runner, Subaru, Audi, and I take the GTI because that is the most capable snow car that we have.

[RayB]

4WD just gets you further off the road before you get stuck (please don't ask how I know this) since my duck place may as well be a swamp my truck and my Polaris Ranger have 4WD. next vehicle 2 WD for better gas mileage, almost 400 miles for quail and 150 miles for ducks 

[Cheesy]

Knew a guy that said you go where you’re going in 2wd. You use the 4wd to get out. 

 

I grew up on a farm with 2wd trucks. Always had tractors available to go anywhere needed in bad conditions. 

 

Graduated college. Moved out of state. Bought a 4wd. Not long afterwards, dad bought one...

 

Have used 4wd a lot while pheasant hunting in western Kansas. Most years it’s not needed. But the years it is needed, it’s sure nice. 

 

This years elk hunt not only needed 4wd, it also needed tire chains to get stock trailer back to where we camped from. 

 

 

 

[Jacksdad]

couldn't have gotten our duck boat out of my neighborhood a couple weeks ago in 2wd.  tried to but the rear just slid around as the base was about an inch of ice.  

 

a few days ago we put the boat in and 2/3 of the ramp was ice.  if the front wheels didn't have traction there'd have been no hunting that day.  

 

 

[snood]

Yes. Next question.

[Greg Hartman]

Absolutely need 4x4 - horses for the courses.  I routinely go into places, especially in the west, where there would be no hope at all in getting through with a 2-wheel drive vehicle.  Yet another "Willie make it" moment:

 

 

Around here, I occasionally go into true 4x4 territory when hunting, but the real use is just regular transportation in bad weather.  I live up on a mountain.  My home is accessed via a mile long dead-end road that winds up the mountain, then my very long lane goes back through the woods to the house.  There are more than a few days each year that I could not get out (or, more importantly, back in) due to snow without 4x4.  House in the winter:

 

 

Ironically, the only time I've ever been well and truly stuck in the old Jeep was when I slid off my own lane and way down into the woods this fall.  Had to winch it out.

 

[mccuha]

Where I live and as well where I hunt I usually can get away with 2wd. But this years a different story.  My  philosophy of off roading is if I am no where near civilization.  If I can get back to a spot in 2wd I’m good but if I have to use 4wd to get back there I tend to walk in or just don’t go back there. I use 4wd to get me out of places not in to them.  On slick greasy rds I’ll use 4wd to just have more control.  The idea of having to walk 4-5 miles or more to find someone with a tractor just doesn’t sound fun to me.  

[Speaks]

Short answer is that it depends where you hunt... for me in general no I dont really need it, but sure do like having it on occasion. Honestly I have used it way more just getting around on a snowy day than getting to a hunting spot. As someone else said, if I cant get in in 2x than I am probably not going in. One time driving down a logging road that needed 4x and then getting stuck back in the woods, then a tow truck getting stuck, and the three of us taking 10 hrs to get back out taught me that strategy. 

 

I will use it to get into town a few times every winter though, I used to live up a half mile steep hill and it was needed there in the winter much more, my wifes 2wd suv spent several nights at the bottom of that hill after I came down to pick her up in my truck. 

[ScottGrush]

I need it more in the Spring than in the Fall. 

I could get by with good aggressive tires on a 2wd in the Fall.