2 WD with Locking Diff, or posi

More deer have ridden in the back of 2wd trucks than have 4wd trucks

Winches/come a longs are cheap now

The added traction of the locker isn’t worth much when you can’t steer.

When I was younger (a lot younger) a man at the hunting camp went all over the lease in a Volkswagen beetle with mud grips on the back.

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Yes i drive a 4 x 4 like most .
But

If a person mainly hunted off gravel or blacktop, and occasionally after parking
Off the road in soft grass, lite mud when it had been raining 2 days, would the 2wd / locked diff & decent tires be sufficient for this hypothetical person ?

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I may be completely wrong about this but I know it applied to every GM 2wd I ever owned or drove. Slight pressure on the brakes will apply torque to both rear wheels. More accuately it will transfer some power from a wheel which is slipping to the other one. It works...I have driven a bunch of 2wd GM trucks into some pretty nasty mud etc. and have rarely been stuck. No more than I have in 4wds. Probably because I am more cautious with the 2wd. 4wd vehicles were rare in the 70s and folks hunted and fished the same areas we do today. If you doubt what a 2wd vehicle will do take a google at crown vic and moab...

I stopped buying 4x4 trucks two trucks ago. The newer limited slip differentials get me up even the most slippery of boat ramps. The days of jumping up and down on the bumper are over.

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The newer limited slip differentials get me up even the most slippery of boat ramps.

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This here. I gave up looking for a 4x4 suv and got one with a limited slip/locking rear. My only off-roading is boat ramps. I’ve never had an issue and I’ve been on some steep slippery ramps.

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When I was younger (a lot younger) a man at the hunting camp went all over the lease in a Volkswagen beetle with mud grips on the back.

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I witnessed this as a kid. A man down the street chased his squirrel dogs all over Kisatchie in one like this.

I recently changed the 3.08 open diff to a 4.10 limited slip in my old 90 F150 and it's night and day better, but 4wd still beats 2wd if you get into anything messy. Where I hunt is bottom land but has a good road in all but one spot, and now I have little problems in that bad spot opposed to being stuck a few times before the swap. Also makes pulling a trailer much easier and slick boat ramps are a breeze.

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Off the road in soft grass, lite mud when it had been raining 2 days, would the 2wd / locked diff & decent tires be sufficient for this hypothetical person ?

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Very likely. The 4wd thing is a "created demand" issue that the automakers and madison avenue have been pushing for decades now so folks feel safe in their suburb. It's 90pct idiocy. What folks forget is that the brakes on all four wheels work, and that's what counts. The product is pushed because it is a huge moneymaker for the car company, the tire companies, the insurance companies, the oil company... it creates a monster chunk of revenue and profit for all above without actually selling any more cars.

Now if you're really spending a lot of time off-pavement, with a trailer, perhaps in mud, that might be a different story. You are a good candidate for 4wd. But it's probably something that's avoidable if you use your head and play it cool.