C172 pilot reported a loss of engine and off field landing due to fuel starvation.

Attributes
ACN	1554162
Time
Date	201806
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	None
Component
Aircraft Component	Engine
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Flight Engineer Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 231 Flight Crew Total 10235 Flight Crew Type 350
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue

Narrative:

I departed for a short flight. Both fuel gauges indicated over one quarter tank of fuel available. Approximately 5-10 minutes into the flight the engine began to surge. I elected to land on a pasture rather than risk the return to the airport. Dipping the fuel tanks prior to departure would have given a better indication of the fuel quantity than the fuel gauges. Though I do not have a lot of hours in the type of aircraft; I've been flying this particular aircraft for over thirty five years and am very familiar with it. I believe this gave me a false sense of security and over confidence in the fuel gauges. I will dip the tanks to get a true reading in all future general aviation flights.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C172 pilot reported a loss of engine and off field landing due to fuel starvation.

Narrative: I departed for a short flight. Both fuel gauges indicated over one quarter tank of fuel available. Approximately 5-10 minutes into the flight the engine began to surge. I elected to land on a pasture rather than risk the return to the airport. Dipping the fuel tanks prior to departure would have given a better indication of the fuel quantity than the fuel gauges. Though I do not have a lot of hours in the type of aircraft; I've been flying this particular aircraft for over thirty five years and am very familiar with it. I believe this gave me a false sense of security and over confidence in the fuel gauges. I will dip the tanks to get a true reading in all future general aviation flights.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.