geterdun

i think they are very useful for dragging out game and food plots. I feel that during the off sreaon, they are alright to ride around if u stay on the basic main trail, or maybe a few lil ones. Outside of hunting, i feel that they are extremley fun and i love mine. but during hunting season is when i get really ticked when i hear them and im in my stand - especailly the blasters an d loud ones. i have a kodiak 450 so mine is pretty quite, but i still wouldnt use it to get to the stand during hunting times. but if they are used correctly and on your own land (where no1 else will be hunting) i feel that getting game out is much easier and less stressful - especailly if there is a mile or two walk. last year i was in my stand and i saw a nice doe i was going to shoot approaching me, but right when she got into shooting range, FRUMMMMMMM FRUMMM FRUMMMi hear and here comes ths blaster haulin a** up the trail (it was the neighbors riding up the mutual power line). and of course, there goes the deer. i think they should beused correctly and they are great tools - im sure they are great for some older guys that walking has become a small adventure for. but just my opinion.

JagMagMan

Like anything else, it a TOOL! It can be used or abused! Where they are legal, and used properly, there is no problem.

PaJack

If I didn't have a ATV I couldn't go hunting because I'm "STUCK" in a wheelchair! Now if I could walk,the quad would stay home. Some people are just lazy I guess...

wyotimberghost

I agree with most everything on here to some degree except for this statement (depending on how you interpret it). If you mean driving right up to the spot you want to sit for the day, I agree. But if you mean driving into a general hunting area, then I stronly disagree. I like to use quads to get back on some roads to get to a spot that I want to start walking. It's no different than driving a truck there; it's just a more effecient means of transportation and it keeps me from having to put unecessary wear on my $30k pickup.

I also want to point one more thing out. If ridden properly, ATV's do not damage the land that much even if you do go offroad. I am stronly opposed to the use of ATV's offroad on any type of public land, but on private land it is not that bad provided you have permission. My job requires me to ride offroad nearly every day, and we have very little impact on the land because we stick to high ground, we avoid wet spots and high grass, and we don't ride in the same tracks that the other machines have made. We also avoid going up or down steep hills where the tires might spin or lock up if you're going down a steep hill. One good rainstorm wipes away almost all evidence that we have been in the area. So if you have permission to drive offroad and you down an animal that is a little too far away to drag, I see no problem with heading off the beaten path to get the animal.

JoeRE

I have never used a quad while hunting and probably never will, but if a hunter is disabled or getting a deer out fine...Most riders have absolutley NO idea how much game is affected. The whole 'they get used to it' is insane. Sure deer get used to living in a city but given an alternative between land that is being used regulary by four wheelers and adjacent land that isn't you know where they will go. 'Getting used to' the noise means game stops running after a half mile instead of a mile. What I find really amusing are the people who think you can drive 100 yards from your stand and still see just as many deer there as if you had walked all the way in. Sound TRAVELS people, that doesn't work unless you are hunting next to a highway...In remote areas you get a quad within half a mile of your hunt and you're decreasing your chances. I have been there and seen game run when one comes by 400 yards away.

retrieverman

I use a 4 wheeler all year around my place. After 12 years, the deer stop to watch me go by. I am not saying that it doesn't have some effect on game, but I am seeing and killing above average deer for my area every year. I do believe that being on a place every day does condition the deer toATVs versus only having them on a place right before and during hunting season. I personally know guys that don't allow ATVs on their places, BUT they don't think twice about sighting in their rifles where they intend to hunt. That is taboo on my place; NO shooting except at game. I guess we all have our quirks.

_Dan

Like every tool, there is a time and place for them. I own 5 of them myself and use them every day. When I bait bear I typically put on 40-45 miles in a day. Without my ATVs I would not be able to have the sucessfull bear hunting operation that I do. When used properly, they are very useful and un intrusive.

stubblejumper

My own quad sits at our motel while we are hunting elk and moose.It doesn't move until the animal is on the ground,but then it proves to be a very useful tool.

tsoc

I never see quads in our woods in upstate New York.They are illegal on public land.Out in Idaho where I hunt every year I see plenty of them on gated roads that they are not supposed to be on.I understand the appeal and the practicality once you have shot an animal,but it gets old when you have hoofed in a number of miles and some guy goes cruising by you on their Quad.
There are some guys that stay next to the place we rent out there who hunt off them.Their quad,binoculars and a flat shooting rifle,they kill big deer every year.Nice guys but not a way I want to hunt.They can't believe we walk as far as we do.

Pass_Thru

joeRE, Your right alot of guys think deer get used to them and that is not true. I watched a nice 3.5 yr old buck and 3 does last season totally turn inside out when one of our lease member came along on his quad.

Jason