Tire chains?

Bhill552

Active member
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Jun 7, 2016
Messages
101
How necessary will they be for a early october antelope hunt in ne wyoming. Everything seems to point to needing them if it rains. Only problem is that my new to me new truck manuel says no chains. I looked and there is no way they will fit up front. The back is do able but i dont know how much that will help with no steering traction. Thanks for the input.

P.s. whats the logic in building a truck that cant be used off road.
 
95%+ odds you won't need them. Just be smart about what you're driving on.
 
Thats the same thing ive heard. We plan to camp in our unit so if it rains we could always hunt on foot til it dries. Of course if its that wet ive heard walking is no fun either.
 
If it starts raining head for the nearest county gravel road. They know how to make slick undriveable mud down there!
 
I've hunted out there every year since 99 and will be again this year. We never go anywhere without chains for at least the back and usually have a set for the front. We've needed them several times and several times we didn't even put them on because of the nasty roads and just went out on foot from the nearest decent road. I just bought a 2016 Silverado and the book says not to put chains on and if you do they will not cover any damages. I'll go along with their warning, as I don't care to spend $45K to tear the thing up when I can use my head and still hunt if the weather gets bad for a day or two and keeps me off of anywhere I would need chains.
 
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will an older silverado handle tire chains on the front or there is clearance issue? Haven't tried it yet
thx
 
I ALWAYS carry chains. I've only ever needed them for mud once, and that was for about 30' of hill I couldn't get up otherwise. But without them I would have been SOL.
 
The best thing you can do is avoid needing them in the first place. Don't PLAN on using chains. When I used chains it was because I had been in the backcountry for 4 days without a weather update, and it started raining when I was 3+ miles from the truck.
 
95%+ odds you won't need them. Just be smart about what you're driving on.

I bought enough for two wheels just in case. It only rained one day and that was after we had tagged out and were fishing. By the time we came back that evening our two track to our site was in good shape. It would probably depend on how many roads in your unit are paved or gravel. I'm sure if it had rained more often we would have stayed on the paved or gravel roads and still hunted and filled our tags.
 
I was with a group of five hunters chasing deer and antelope in eastern Wyoming last year. It rained the first 3 days of October and really limited our access to 2-tracks. Most of the roads were passable if you were smart about when and where to go, so we had no problems filling our goat tags, but didn't fare so well on deer. They seemed to be a little farther back off the main roads and we didn't have chains. We walked in to a couple of nice areas, but 10 pounds of greasy clay on my boots was enough to push me back closer to the roads.
 
My experience in Wyoming seems to be that rain follows me out there at least one day every year. The guys who get in trouble take chances with loaded down big trucks whose offroad pedigree is greatly exaggerated and don't listen to weather reports. Last year we packed up camp at 9 pm and drove hour of BLM 4x4 roads back to the county roads before a thunderstorm hit. As mentioned with rain we had very little competition and were able to fill the last antelope tag within a short walk of the road. If you do get caught out in a storm, give it a few hours to dry out and advance cautiously back to the roads.
 
You may need them for snow. We do get a little of it in October too.
 
Meh, I've been out there several times in early October and never needed chains. Just stay off of the dirt if it rains. Frankly, some of the BLM and Forest service roads I wouldn't drive with a tracked vehicle if they were really wet, others are in pretty good shape.
 
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