.

Yes, you normally need a vehicle to find the game, but I do not agree taht you would need days or even weeks to shoot anything in the kalahari. I grew up there, (Namibian side), and can tell you it is not too difficult to shoot something every day with no vehicle at all, even as a 6-7 year old boy. Granted, a lot of it was not trophy standards, but still, my skills were only starting to develop.

quote:

Originally posted by ErikD:
Toyota HZJ79 with their 4.2L diesel.


The Toyota Hi-lux, Land Rover Defender etc can't compair when it comes to longterm reliablity, and parts availablity all over Africa.

I would love to own that vehicle, but unfortunately it's not available here in the US. it would make a great converstation piece and hunting camp here in the states! jorge

I would love to own that vehicle, but unfortunately it's not available here in the US. it would make a great converstation piece and hunting camp here in the states! jorge[/QUOTE]


you and me both buddy......

Does anyone know if the Toyota HZJ79 is available in Canada?

Best,

John

.

FWIW They also rust like hell in a bad climate....

Hi Alf,

My mate was explaining a whole bunch of those laws to me last year and also about why Japanese 4 cyl turbo diesels haven't been produced or imported due to various laws. But I am certainly no car expert!

I am pretty familiar with BC, having driven around there (in my '85 1500 Tercel!) and worked on different rivers (albiet never further north than Prince George, which is not very far north at all!).

I appreciate the size of the trucks from your perspective. I still don't think you need them to drive in mountians,people drive all over bigger mountains in Europe, Asia and S America with smaller vehicles but understand what you are saying about far North, roads etc (from what I hear).

Just as a side BC isn't bigger than SA by a long shot: BC -947,800 sq km
SA -1,219,912 sq km

Cheers

.

I've always thought a slightly modified Hummer 2-door hardtop (like a pickup) would be a great hunting vehicle.

Enough speed and power for any drive on or off road, plus immense capacity. It's got a payload of 4000 lbs, and a Gross weight rating of over 10000 lbs. Here's a sample spec sheet for a 1997 (affordable) model:
specs

Full time 4WD, 16 inch ground clearance (no differentials or axles hanging down there to catch on things), run flat tires, aluminum body that will never rust. The list goes on. If you can find an older used one, figure on about $27000 US. All the older hummers I have seen have been in excellent shape and well-maintained. People generally don't abuse that kind of investment when new.

It might not be practical for everyone around the globe, but when you need to haul a load of people and 2000 lbs of animal through the bush, this is a good concept. I'd wager that the money spent on this rig would be a better value for durability and capability than an equivalent amount spent on a newer chevy/ford/dodge heavy-duty truck. But that's just my $.02

Captain,

How many people can you seat in comfort in the front of that two door Hummer? Many pickups would be restricted to just the driver and one client...I'm talking about when moving the client around, rather than when actually in the bush hunting...

I am guessing a PH would like a vehicle to be able to carry at least two Clients in comfort???


A couple of vehicles not mentioned so far are the G Wagon and the VW Crewcab, shown below..



A guy in my hunting Club has a VW very similar to this. He imported it from Europe and its is full military spec..He's had it a few years now and speaks very highly of it...

My impression is that although its no longer than a LWB Defender, it has far more room due to its lay out...Given the good numbers of VW Mininuses ect you see in RSA, I suspect parts would not be an issue..My friends looks a little higher off the road than the one in the picture and he thought it very competent off road, although not quite in the LandRover Defender class...

Regards,

Pete

Pete - very true. The hummer would seat just two; driver and passenger. The transmission sits in the middle - lol. Of course, they do make a 4-door soft top and 4-door hard top, too. Interior comfort is great in all seats here. Check it out. The only drawback to these is a much smaller box in the back for hauling stuff. Of course, it's not much different in size than a Toyota, etc truck box, and you can sure put a lot more weight in it.

Captain,

Although the Hummer has some upsides that you mentioned, there is one thing that I veiw as a big problem in the African bush: it's width.

Many of the tracks that I've been on in various parts of Africa have been so narrow that even our LR Defender (which is a very narrow vehicle) has just barely been able to litterally scrape thru. This is no suprise really since the Hummer was designed with desert warfare in mind, where width wasn't an issue. But for a PH vehicle, I'd think it probably would be in many cases.

One of the luxury photo safari lodges in the KNP bought a few a couple of years ago.... but found them too heavy and too wide to be practical....... sold them all a year or so later.....

Hummer's way too wide for african use, plus the fact the idiots that manufacture it don't offer a diesel to the general public makes it just about useless over there. jorge

quote:

Originally posted by ALF:
John:

No, it's not and for the same reason we dont see L/R Defenders here. They do not comply to US motor vehicle safety standards !

Best,

John

Ok, I concede the width issue of the hummer (hadn't thought ot that), but not the diesel. In fact, just a few older models have been offered with gas engines. The vast majority are diesel, either normally-aspirated or turbo.

The International MXT. Available Summer 2006.

http://www.navistar.com/site_layout/XTFamily/mxt.asp


-Bob F.

Well, since we're going "high end"



www.maximog.com

The on-board UAV should be handy for game spotting!

Chris,

The blurb for the maximog "boasts"
that it can wade five feet of water...

Thats no big deal as the LandCruiser can do similar

Driver Gets Wet Feet

regards,

Pete