Truck Hunting

[miner49r]

We went up to Fort Chipewyan today on the ice road. Nice drive, quiet and only a few cars in the snowbank...
One of the common birds up there is the Willow Ptarmigan. They like the road and are dumber than a sack of hammers. My friends up there take a ride in the evening and shoot the birds when they congregate on the road. Kinda illegal but not if you get away from the road wink wink. The other popular method is to travel at highway speeds and run the little buggers over aka truck hunting. We have one bird for dinner complements of the F350 grille.
I felt bad picking it up because it was still alive. I'm sure it felt no pain when I pulled it's head off and tossed the head into the snowbank. Upon dissection, I found a broken leg and blood loss due to the trauma of hitting the truck however the guts and crop were intact. Yummy Ptarmigan for dinner!
Who needs guns when you have 7500 pounds of steel.

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[Sonny]

haha I've gotten a few chickens with my truck over the years.

Once about 30 years ago I killed a black timber wolf with my truck.I had to swerve but I got him.
Didn't hurt the truck cause I hit him with a heavy duty winch bumper.However both front and rear diffs hit him and he was to darn mangled up to skin.
Friend of mine hit a moose years ago and put his wife in the hospital for about three weeks.She's lucky she wasn't killed.

[Junk Yard Dog]

You aren't driving a '65 F250, that modern truck is all plastic in the front, not very strong plastic either. Keep hitting things with it and it will be a repair bill you don't want to pay. Hitting birds is dangerous, look at what happened to that aircraft that went down in the Hudson river some years back, birds.

[SA1911a1]

I never took to killing as a sport. Don't have a problem with it for food or protection. The idea of running down birds with a truck doesn't sound like a very humane way to harvest birds.

[Robertroadking]

When we were building the Central Arterie Project (Boston’s Big Dig) a driver was banned from the project for running over a sea gull.

[Junk Yard Dog]

We have the big vultures around here, fat gulls, geese and ducks. They are around the roads eating roadkill, or walking near the water, you would be surprised how often we hear the tale of sorrow as someone is forking over cash for a new grill, headlight, bumper cover, windshield, or even a hood, at least one time a radiator and condenser. They were diddybopping along and suddenly a loud noise, cloud of feathers, and the family, if along, got to learn a whole new vocabulary. It never seems to happen to the old shitbox's either, it's always the late model stuff, or maybe the owners don't care if the shitbox looks a little worse. Once I almost had a hawk in my lap while riding in a friends new Toyota Tacoma, turned off the windshield at the last second, I near pissed myself. I think we sell more front end parts for bird damage than we do for deer impacts. Shows how shitty these new vehicles of plastic and fiberglass are built.

[miner49r]

Maybe not in the best taste but the culture is different in the north. I'll admit that the idea of roadkill is somewhat contentious but so is leaving the thing lying there for the ravens. It's not hunting but it is a choice between hitting the bird and swerving into the snowbank. You can't see the birds until you're on top of them in the winter because they look like a lump of snow, I know that whatever is in front of me will not make me swerve unless it is human. Call it callous but living in animal country is different. I know people who hit a moose and died, and I know people who swerved to miss and died. I also know is that the F350 is beefy enough to take on a moose because I've seen the results of a moose hit.
Back to the birds, they are small and invisible. The road is made of ice and packed snow and is just wide enough for 2 cars to pass each other with care. The median is a 6 foot high snowbank so swerving is not recommended. There are birds all over the place because they love the access to the exposed patches of vegetation and gravel. It's just part of life up here - pick up what you hit if it's edible, especially up north. Many people deliver their roadkill to the Elders because it's a treat they don't often get.
There are no animal rescue sanctuaries up there but the wolves steal dogs from the back yards in Fort Chip and eat them. Life is different and cultural norms are different.
Anyhow I apologize if I offended anybody. We live in different worlds.

[Longcolt44]

Around Clear Lake in Northern Calif. there are hundreds of cranes, the bird kind not the machinery kind. They sit along the road and wait for you to drive by so they can see how close they can get to the front of your vehicle. I have picked more than a few out of the grill of my Dodge.

[steelbuttplate]

We got a road kill doe this yr., the one I been smoking. I jerked it out of the road and mercifully shot it in the head . A couple yrs. ago we ran over a black American Vulture. Those thing are tough and don't really taste like chicken.

[Darryl]

Around Clear Lake in Northern Calif. there are hundreds of cranes, the bird kind not the machinery kind. They sit along the road and wait for you to drive by so they can see how close they can get to the front of your vehicle. I have picked more than a few out of the grill of my Dodge.

That's funny. I hit a rabbit by Clear Lake and it took the A frame right out of my 1965 Plymouth Barracuda. Ripped it off the mounts on the frame. Had to tie it back up with a rope (talk about stupid) to get home. It worked and McGyver would have been proud of me!

I remember the birds!


Looking for a new Dodge Challenger RT myself. Or, a Ford F150. Toss up.

Dolk

[Sonny]

Maybe not in the best taste but the culture is different in the north. I'll admit that the idea of roadkill is somewhat contentious but so is leaving the thing lying there for the ravens. It's not hunting but it is a choice between hitting the bird and swerving into the snowbank. You can't see the birds until you're on top of them in the winter because they look like a lump of snow, I know that whatever is in front of me will not make me swerve unless it is human. Call it callous but living in animal country is different. I know people who hit a moose and died, and I know people who swerved to miss and died. I also know is that the F350 is beefy enough to take on a moose because I've seen the results of a moose hit.
Back to the birds, they are small and invisible. The road is made of ice and packed snow and is just wide enough for 2 cars to pass each other with care. The median is a 6 foot high snowbank so swerving is not recommended. There are birds all over the place because they love the access to the exposed patches of vegetation and gravel. It's just part of life up here - pick up what you hit if it's edible, especially up north. Many people deliver their roadkill to the Elders because it's a treat they don't often get.
There are no animal rescue sanctuaries up there but the wolves steal dogs from the back yards in Fort Chip and eat them. Life is different and cultural norms are different.
Anyhow I apologize if I offended anybody. We live in different worlds.

No need to apologize.

Like you said we live in different worlds and if others can't see that then to effing bad for them.

We do not all have flowers and green grass in February.We have snow and three feet of ice on the lakes.

Our spring starts in the last weekend in May when the snowfall is only four inches when we go camping.

Our summer is full of mosquitoes and walleye fishing.

Big game hunting starts in September when the leaves start to turn colour.

I am a proud Canadian and will never apologize for my way of life.

And that includes hitting a chicken with my truck..Don't like it?

Then suck it up buttercup..We are who we are like it or not.

[steelbuttplate]

I'm trying to think of some kind of catcher to put on the front of my truck during the winter, if I lived there. The Ford grille will only take so much, and might let a few get away. Would something like that violate game laws ?

[Junk Yard Dog]

I'm trying to think of some kind of catcher to put on the front of my truck during the winter, if I lived there. The Ford grille will only take so much, and might let a few get away. Would something like that violate game laws ?

Grill guards, push bumpers, bull bars, all are, and have been available for every model truck and SUV. You can armor the shit out of a truck, and the off road crowd do that all the time or their rigs would never survive one trip off road. Don't forget skid plates and bed mounted roll bars, side rocker bars, taillight guards. It can get expensive, cheaper just to stop the truck, get out with a shotgun and shoot whatever delicious furry, or feathered item is blocking the road.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Maybe not in the best taste but the culture is different in the north. I'll admit that the idea of roadkill is somewhat contentious but so is leaving the thing lying there for the ravens. It's not hunting but it is a choice between hitting the bird and swerving into the snowbank. You can't see the birds until you're on top of them in the winter because they look like a lump of snow, I know that whatever is in front of me will not make me swerve unless it is human. Call it callous but living in animal country is different. I know people who hit a moose and died, and I know people who swerved to miss and died. I also know is that the F350 is beefy enough to take on a moose because I've seen the results of a moose hit.
Back to the birds, they are small and invisible. The road is made of ice and packed snow and is just wide enough for 2 cars to pass each other with care. The median is a 6 foot high snowbank so swerving is not recommended. There are birds all over the place because they love the access to the exposed patches of vegetation and gravel. It's just part of life up here - pick up what you hit if it's edible, especially up north. Many people deliver their roadkill to the Elders because it's a treat they don't often get.
There are no animal rescue sanctuaries up there but the wolves steal dogs from the back yards in Fort Chip and eat them. Life is different and cultural norms are different.
Anyhow I apologize if I offended anybody. We live in different worlds.

No need to apologize.

Like you said we live in different worlds and if others can't see that then to effing bad for them.

We do not all have flowers and green grass in February.We have snow and three feet of ice on the lakes.

Our spring starts in the last weekend in May when the snowfall is only four inches when we go camping.

Our summer is full of mosquitoes and walleye fishing.

Big game hunting starts in September when the leaves start to turn colour.

I am a proud Canadian and will never apologize for my way of life.

And that includes hitting a chicken with my truck..Don't like it?

Then suck it up buttercup..We are who we are like it or not.

On behalf of auto dismantlers, new and used auto and truck parts dealers, scrap metal processors and body repair shops everywhere we would like to encourage your continued use of unarmored vehicles to clear animal road obstructions. Keep up the excellent work, and we will be happy to see to your auto and truck parts needs, or vehicle end of life disposal

[steelbuttplate]

I'm trying to think of some kind of catcher to put on the front of my truck during the winter, if I lived there. The Ford grille will only take so much, and might let a few get away. Would something like that violate game laws ?

Grill guards, push bumpers, bull bars, all are, and have been available for every model truck and SUV. You can armor the shit out of a truck, and the off road crowd do that all the time or their rigs would never survive one trip off road. Don't forget skid plates and bed mounted roll bars, side rocker bars, taillight guards. It can get expensive, cheaper just to stop the truck, get out with a shotgun and shoot whatever delicious furry, or feathered item is blocking the road.

Oh I wasn't thinking expensive, PVC pipe and chicken wire bird catcher. Probably no good for moose.

[miner49r]

I'm trying to think of some kind of catcher to put on the front of my truck during the winter, if I lived there. The Ford grille will only take so much, and might let a few get away. Would something like that violate game laws ?

Grill guards, push bumpers, bull bars, all are, and have been available for every model truck and SUV. You can armor the shit out of a truck, and the off road crowd do that all the time or their rigs would never survive one trip off road. Don't forget skid plates and bed mounted roll bars, side rocker bars, taillight guards. It can get expensive, cheaper just to stop the truck, get out with a shotgun and shoot whatever delicious furry, or feathered item is blocking the road.

Oh I wasn't thinking expensive, PVC pipe and chicken wire bird catcher. Probably no good for moose.

PVC is too brittle in the cold but not a bad idea for protection. It would probably shatter right away. Some people use cardboard on their grill. It keeps the radiator warm and has a side benefit of deflecting the birds.
Stop and shoot is always plan A but not so legal. That doesn't stop my friends up there from carrying a shotgun just in case the see a flock of birds "off the road". Of course it's always a clear line of sight with no oncoming traffic... The front end of my truck is pretty sturdy although you never know what will happen. God knows what the newer plastic front ends would do - probably explode into pieces. Ptarmigan is pretty rich tasting - kind of like liver or maybe moose. My wife was not a fan but she had some cariboo at work and said it was fantastic.
There are moose on that particular road but not many due to the amount of predation in the winter. The moose like conditions where they can escape the wolves.

[Sonny]

I've never been on that ice road up to Fort Chipewyan.How far is it a couple hundred km?

[Junk Yard Dog]

I'm trying to think of some kind of catcher to put on the front of my truck during the winter, if I lived there. The Ford grille will only take so much, and might let a few get away. Would something like that violate game laws ?

Grill guards, push bumpers, bull bars, all are, and have been available for every model truck and SUV. You can armor the shit out of a truck, and the off road crowd do that all the time or their rigs would never survive one trip off road. Don't forget skid plates and bed mounted roll bars, side rocker bars, taillight guards. It can get expensive, cheaper just to stop the truck, get out with a shotgun and shoot whatever delicious furry, or feathered item is blocking the road.

Oh I wasn't thinking expensive, PVC pipe and chicken wire bird catcher. Probably no good for moose.

PVC is too brittle in the cold but not a bad idea for protection. It would probably shatter right away. Some people use cardboard on their grill. It keeps the radiator warm and has a side benefit of deflecting the birds.
Stop and shoot is always plan A but not so legal. That doesn't stop my friends up there from carrying a shotgun just in case the see a flock of birds "off the road". Of course it's always a clear line of sight with no oncoming traffic... The front end of my truck is pretty sturdy although you never know what will happen. God knows what the newer plastic front ends would do - probably explode into pieces. Ptarmigan is pretty rich tasting - kind of like liver or maybe moose. My wife was not a fan but she had some cariboo at work and said it was fantastic.
There are moose on that particular road but not many due to the amount of predation in the winter. The moose like conditions where they can escape the wolves.

Me too

[miner49r]

I've never been on that ice road up to Fort Chipewyan.How far is it a couple hundred km?

It's about 2 1/2 to 3 hours hours north of Fort McMurray depending on your driving style. I had a couple employees do it in 5 1/2 hours in a work van (don't drive like you get paid by the hour). Say about 220 km north of the Suncor overpass. The actual ice road is 160 km gate to gate with one vault type toilet about half way. I choose to water the road rather than go pee in the only "toilet" on the road . The road is an adventure that is worth doing especially if you go all the way to Fort Smith which is a further 2 hours north from Chip. Fort Smith even has a Timmy's! We might do it next year because the ice road will be gone by March 21, then it's bad sledding until the river breaks up.

[steelbuttplate]

I've never been on that ice road up to Fort Chipewyan.How far is it a couple hundred km?

It's about 2 1/2 to 3 hours hours north of Fort McMurray depending on your driving style. I had a couple employees do it in 5 1/2 hours in a work van (don't drive like you get paid by the hour). Say about 220 km north of the Suncor overpass. The actual ice road is 160 km gate to gate with one vault type toilet about half way. I choose to water the road rather than go pee in the only "toilet" on the road . The road is an adventure that is worth doing especially if you go all the way to Fort Smith which is a further 2 hours north from Chip. Fort Smith even has a Timmy's! We might do it next year because the ice road will be gone by March 21, then it's bad sledding until the river breaks up.

A Timmy's ? Hell I might ride up there sometime.