Mountain Bike For Hunts
 

I bought a Specialized Rock hopper Comp Disc mountain bike to replace my 4 wheeler that some moron helped himself to from my hunting club in Alabama. I used one before, and it worked good. Does anyone else use one?

RE: Mountain Bike For Hunts
 

hey manuman,

I am an avid MTB'er. I have not actually used my bike to hunt, even though I did read an article on it once. they actually make a mount to put on the bike to carry the bow.

I have however used my bike to scout, quite often. It is a fast way to get in and out of the woods. I have also noticed that I can get even closer to deer before they spook. I was just out 2 weeks ago and rode up ona 6 point crossing a fire road.

I am not sure how the drag would go with a bike. let me know when you get one.

RE: Mountain Bike For Hunts
 

Amazing to see this as I was just thinking about looking for a cheap mountain bike to ride to my stands. I've got a 20 to 30 minute walk and was thinking man I could get back here in 5 minutes or less if I had a bike.

My main concern would be getting a flat tire. Do you have trouble with that? Do you have stock tires and tubes or do you use something special?

Sounds like you use a pretty fancy bike, I wouldn't want anything too nice for fear of trashing it or getting it stolen. Are the "full suspension" bikes way better than the regular mountain bikes on moderately bumpy trails? I can get a pretty cheap bike at Wally World but may look for a used one.

RE: Mountain Bike For Hunts
 

I have done it whenI hunted the green swamp in Florida. It was about a 6 mile trek back to the hunting spot. I thought I was in pretty good shape until i did that. It is an awsome work out. It was sandy soil that made it hard to peddle. I was visiting some guys that live there and they stuck me with a 10 speed.

RE: Mountain Bike For Hunts
 

I used to use a mountain bike to get into a remote area on some public land -- it was at least a mile long walk along a fire road that was cut down to five minutes or less with the bike. I used a "cheapie" -- steel frame and all. I wasn't looking to get big-time air in my cammies and holding a bow with my Summit on my back, you know! ;)Plus, if any other "morons" were out there -- as you put it, manuman -- I wasn't out much.

For flats, you can buy a product called "Slime" at your local Wally World and fill the tubes up with it; it repairs puncture wounds almost instantaneously. Works great on four-wheelers and lawn-mower tires as well.

RE: Mountain Bike For Hunts
 

Don't get a full suspension bike. They are good for downhill, but when you are peddling uphill, or in sand, or mud, the 'give' absorbs a lot of the energy. spent 2k on one to find out that it wouldn't work! The one I got now is a hardtail, and it is only 600, with disc brakes and good components, as well as lightweight.

RE: Mountain Bike For Hunts
 

I just won a brand new Trek 4500 mountain back a conference for work. And I was plan on putting it to work this year as well!!

I was just going to get the primos sling that covers each cam and throw the bow on my back.

RE: Mountain Bike For Hunts
 

I did it last year on public land in Missouri and it seemed to work out just fine. I even tied adeer trailer to the back of thebicycle rack and put all my equipment on the trailer, strapped down with bungee cords. When I gotas far as I could on the bikeI changed into my camo/scent gear and hiked the rest of the way in. I'm a scent control freak so changing after the ride seemed to work well, especially if I worked up a sweat.I dumped the bike, trailer, and gear bag in the bushes just so it wouldn't be in plain sight and even locked it up with a chain that was in my gear bag. Never had problems with flats, but it would get a bit muddy and maneuvering downhill in the pre-dawn darkness was a bit nerve racking. A headlamp is a must. I had a difficult time strapping down my bow and broke off my sight coming in one night (good excuse to buy a new one).
I've used it scouting too, but found that nothing beats scouting while walking. Maybe good for just getting to the destination you want to scout out. Riding while scouting is too fast for me.

RE: Mountain Bike For Hunts
 

I've actually thought about this too. But then I figured wearing all the cold weather gear and biking would get my pretty sweaty on the way to the stand. Maybe I'll give it a try once and see how it goes...

RE: Mountain Bike For Hunts
 

I have a haro 8.1 escape.. Nice bike.

If you get a deer.. Yuo have to split the rib cage to fit it on a bike to get it out of the woods