Hunting season in Northwest Louisiana means early mornings, long drives down gravel roads, and trucks parked at the edge of the woods for hours. Most hunters check their rifles, licenses, and gear well before opening day. Very few think about their truck key until it is gone. A spare key is one of the least expensive pieces of gear you can add to your checklist, and it can save an entire trip.
How Truck Keys Go Missing in the Woods
Keys fall out of jacket pockets while climbing into a stand, slip out of a hunting bag on the walk in, or get set down on a tailgate and forgotten. In thick brush or leaf cover, a dropped key can be nearly impossible to find again. Some hunters lock their keys in the cab while unloading gear, especially in the dark before sunrise.
Water adds another risk. Duck hunters and anglers working around lakes and bayous can lose a key over the side of a boat in seconds. Even when the key is recovered, a soaked fob may stop working.
Why One Key Is Not Enough
Plenty of trucks on Northwest Louisiana roads have only one working key, often because the second was lost years ago. As long as that key works, it is easy to put off replacing the spare. Once that last key is gone, though, a quick copy becomes a much bigger job.
When a working key exists, we can cut a new blade and program the chip during a short visit. When every key is gone, we have to build a new key from the truck itself, which takes more work and costs more. Making a spare before the season starts means you avoid that bigger bill if a key disappears in the woods.
Local Spots Where Keys Go Missing
Northwest Louisiana has no shortage of places to hunt and fish. The Bodcau Wildlife Management Area stretches across more than 33,000 acres northeast of Bossier City, and Caddo Lake draws anglers and hunters through the colder months. Ivan Lake and the wildlife refuge along the Red River bring even more trucks to remote parking areas.
Cell service can be weak in some of those areas, and help may be a long way off. Having a spare key with you, or with someone back at camp, keeps a lost key from ending the day early. A key left at home does little good when you are 30 miles away.
Where to Keep Your Spare
A spare only helps if you can reach it when you need it. Leaving it in a kitchen drawer two hours away does not count. These spots work better than most.
- With a hunting partner who rides in another vehicle
- In a zippered pocket separate from your main key
- In a lockbox at camp
- At home with someone who can bring it to you
Avoid hiding a spare in a magnetic box under the truck. Those boxes are easy for thieves to find and can fall off on rough roads. A spare that is safe and reachable is worth more than one that is simply nearby.
Spare Keys for Push-to-Start Trucks
Newer trucks often use push-to-start fobs instead of traditional keys. These smart keys cannot be copied at a hardware store kiosk, since they have to be programmed to your truck. We program spare smart keys on-site for Ram, Ford, Toyota, Chevrolet, Nissan, and GMC trucks.
Fobs also need care in the field. Cold mornings and wet conditions can weaken a fob battery, so it is smart to swap in a fresh battery before the season starts. If a fob stops working entirely, we can reprogram it or replace it with an OEM fob.
What a Spare Truck Key Costs
Bring us a key or fob you bought, and we will cut and program it from $150, smart keys included. If we provide an OEM key, the total is usually close to $350, depending on the truck. You get the exact price over the phone first.
Compare that with replacing your only key after it is lost in the woods. An all-keys-lost job takes more work, and if it happens far from home, you may also be paying for a tow or a long wait. A spare made now is a small cost next to that.
Get Your Spare Before Opening Day
Hunting season is busy for everyone, and the weeks before opening day are the easiest time to get a spare made. Contact us and tell us what truck you drive, and we will meet you at home or at work across Caddo and Bossier Parish. Our key duplication service handles pickups, SUVs, and cars from most American and Asian brands.