buck knife

Before I really say anything, let me state that I am not for nor against atv or horse use. By hunting on public land you have to deal with all sorts of people and variables, not just atvs or horses. Now, to play devil's advocate. say you are out hunting elk and all of the sudden an elk herd comes running toward you. You take a nice bull. a few minutes later you hear/see an atv coming over the hill. Now he just contributed to you taking that bull that you may/may not have taken otherwise. It works both ways, they can scare them away from you or too you. Here is another situation I have ran into. An area I hunt has been shut down to foot or horse traffic only. Years ago you used to be able to take and atv on this trail. You can still barely see one of the tracks from the 4 wheeler trail, but the other track is a good foot deeper then the not so visible one. This is from the horse traffic. The horses use the same trail in and out and all season while hunting. Now for a lot of people they use their atv to get back there with all their gear and then park them until they leave. People who have horses use them everyday to hunt with (I know there are some that don't). Maybe horses should be limited to use for carying gear only, not people. I hunt with my dad who is getting old. I am worried about him walking around during the hunt. 4 years ago we did a backpack in trip and he said he doesn't want to do it again. so if it weren't for the atv, I wouldn't be able to enjoy the hunt with him. When he stops hunting I will go back to backpacking in and start bow hunting, but until then I will use the rifle and atv. we also use them to get to other mountains faster so we are fresh when we get there. we do stay on the roads and try not to ruin anyone elses hunt. I have to deal with other people being in the way or getting to the elk/deer/turkey/bear first because I only hunt public land. not trying to make anyone mad, you just have to take in both sides.