The Cross Country Turkey Hunting Build..

A life without goals has got to be boring.. I have set small goals my entire life, but there was one that had been in the back of my mind for years.. I was scared to completely commit to it, because of how much of an undertaking it was.. After the spring of 2019, I knew it was time to start making it a reality (Or do my best to get as close as possible to it)..

My new goal was to harvest a turkey in every state that has a hunt-able population, with Alaska being the only exception.. The first thing I wanted to do was build a dependable ride that I could make comfortable enough to live out of for weeks at a time.. I shopped around for everything from Jeeps and Subaru's to full size trucks.. I have always trusted Tacoma's, but every one I found that was new(er) and low(ish) miles was well beyond my price range.. I was hoping to stay around $20k.. I have another truck so this one wouldn't be my daily driver..

Finally, one day when passing by my local Toyota dealer, I seen a truck in the used lot that caught my eye..

It was a 2017 Tacoma SR 2.7l AT 4x4 with 36,000 miles.. I found where it had been wrecked and fixed, but it wasn't showing up on the Carfax.. My Dad runs a body shop so I took it to him to look at before I signed any papers and come to find out, he had fixed it in his shop a couple months prior and assured me that they done a good job, but to use it as a negotiating tool.. I ended up talking them down and got the truck out the door for $21,500..

The first thing on my list was a winch, so i ordered a DV8 Center Mount winch bumper and a Smittybilt X20 10k winch with a synthetic rope.. Ordered the light bar later on (Also DV8).. Also, some fancy white shackles..



Turkey season was approaching so i needed to get the camp setup put together as much as possible.. I had an aluminum shell in the bushes that came off of a wrecked Gen 1 Tacoma, so I modified it to fit as best i could and built a budget sleeping platform.. Due to COVID, my 2020 spring was pretty much ruined for out of state.. I had a great season at home, but was only able to make a quick 3 day trip 8hrs north to Missouri.. I had 4 states planned for this spring , but one is better than none!..



Missouri


Next up were tires and rims because the steel wheels and leaky Master Craft tires just weren't cutting it.. I went with Vision Manx 2 Bronze 17x9 +12 wheels and Toyo AT-2 265/65/17 tires.. I stuck with the smaller tire to try and help keep the strain off of my little 2.7l on the long hauls to the turkey woods as much as possible..



Spring had moved on and it was time to beef up my current camping setup and/or improve aspects of the setup.. I didn't mind the aluminum shell too much, but the wife thought it was the ugliest thing she ever seen.. One day while scrolling FB market place, I seen a fiberglass shell with the tool box and all like I wanted 4hrs away.. It was close to the beach, so we made a day out of it! Got it for $500 with the AluRack (which i have grown to love!)..



Next up was to improve the shell..

Added lights, put carpet in the ceiling, painted the tool box, updated my sleeping platform with a kitchen under the bed and storage toward the cab..











I also built a solar shower for the roof but don't have pics at the moment..



To do list..

- 27F AGM battery
- 270 degree awning
- 12v cooler

And the list will go on and on and on..

 

Very nice!

I honestly didn’t know people hunted turkeys, is it just for sport or do you eat a lot of turkey?

 

You might enjoy this thread
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/turkeys.482374/

 

In my opinion, the best wild meat in the woods.. Fried, grilled, wrapped in bacon,,, all of the above, it is a delicacy!

 

Nice truck and turkey(s)

 

Nice setup, great job in keeping the budget reasonable and still have a functional system.

 

Thanks man, i didn't know about that one!

 

I know some places in Idaho.

 

Good read! Nice job on all the mods & for following through on a life goal!

 

Don't tempt me, ill put it on the list for 2021.. I plan to follow all the leads i can!

 

I support your goal 100% what a fun thing. Nice truck too

 

Awesome seeing someone with an SR and couch cushions out there baggin turkeys while the rest of us sit here and argue which TRD trim package is better. Respect!

 

Sweet set up !

 

Turkeys attacked my tacoma twice. I'm glad you are doing something about this. I'm rooting for you, take a few out of nh, have way too many here

 

Added a poor man's Dometic and platform.. (Alpicool C30, 32qt)

 

Shipping it to Hawaii will be expensive, but the turkey hunting is awesome. Easterns and Rio Grande.

 

Very cool and ambitious goal! If you haven’t ever tried it, you might want to try turkey hunting “old school” like our ancestors did - black powder flint lock muzzleloader! WAY more thrilling and I am not sure anyone has done that in every state. Lots of grand slams though... Might even be easier traveling around the country with that in some of the more “freedom unfriendly” states as well.

 

I have researched that before.. It may be something i look into in the future!