hunter5325

[quote]ORIGINAL: CamoCop

"i'm glad no atv's are allowed in the public land area's i hunt. they are public access year around but you have to walk or ride a bicycle. this keeps out 90% of the "slob" hunters."



+1

corndog09

I usually ride my atv around where i hunt alot and the deer still come around, the only time i dont use it is when im gonna hunt because the sound might spook the deer

homers brother

No, not even to retrieve game. If you can't pack it in without an ATV, you don't need it. If you can't pack it out without an ATV, don't shoot it in the first place. Inot a horse lover, either, but it's relatively rare I see anyone hunting from atop a horse. I might think different of ATVs were it not for how many guys I've seen putt-putt-putting along road hunting. Just too hard to resist the temptation, I suppose? Sorry, too many days spent hiking in to an area to find some doofus on a four-wheeler beat me to it by going around the road-closure gate somewhere else ("those gatesare only for pickups, right?").

Disabled/handicapped (i.e. their mobility isimpaired by disease or injury, not by sloth) I canrespect andaccommodate.

Doegirl75

In Ohio, a deer carcass must be left intact (can be field dressed, of course), until it can be brought to a check in station. I can see why someone would use an ATV to transport 100lb+ of dead weight back to camp. Any other reason, except disability, no. That's why God gave usfeet and our fat butts need to use them.

millagerobert

I use mine some during hunting season, but don't hunt from it, since I see 10 times the game on foot as from any vehicle. We have allot of old roads that are closed to large vehicles but open to atv's, so I use it to access those areas, then hike from there. I also use my 4-wheeler for transportaion from camp to hunting spots to save on gas -vs- a larger vehicle, and also because of safer travel on snowcovered mountain roads. Many of our roads become all but impassible for pickups when they are snow covered and slick, so the 4-wheeler comes into play. But to tear off cross country would just be idiotic since you would just spook game, and in most of our area you would not be able to travel off roads anyways due to the terrain and vegetation.
If I come to a road that is closed to cars but open to 4-wheelers and a vehicle is parked at the gate, I go find another spot, just in case someone has walked out there to hunt,since it does piss a person off when you have walked a couple miles back in somewhere only to have a person on a 4-wheeler come blowing by you. On another note, there are a thousand places in our area where you can hike but can't take an atv, so to walk out a spot traveled by an atv, and then be pissed when you run into one, seems somewhat idiotic also.
I think it comes down to trying to maintain a balance between atv access, and protecting areas for those who go on foot, and in our area of Idaho the amount of ground you can access by atv is far less than what you can by foot. So to further restrict access doesn't seem to fair for those who have physical reasons for using their atv's, or just simply enjoy riding their atv. Chances are if you are walking in a spot that a 4-wheeler can go, then you are in too soft of terrain to hold a trophy big game animal.So get off the road and head cross country, that's what your feet are for, not for walking in gravel.

muslmutt

Not on public land where you can unknowingly ruin others hunts. Course if you are a self centered jerk who does not care about anyone else, then go right ahead, but a pissed off hunter might have something to say about it.

Colorado Luckydog

Mulies are some heavy suckers, and so are elk. If I were hunting whitetails in Texas I wouldn't care either way, but hunting the big boys in the mountains, I like to have our atv's.

We set up our camp about 20 minutes away (on atv's) from where we walk in to hunt. We park the atv's and walk in from there. Some times we are lucky, and bring the elk out whole on the atv, and some times we have to quarter it, and pack it to the atv. We sure prefer to bring them out whole. If you make an early kill, get to work, no one is coming on an atv until the morning hunt is over. By the time it's field dressed, help arrives.

Atv's used right can be a great plus for hunting. If there used wrong, it will screw your hunt and everyone else's. People that show up late, or ride around on them all stinking day, make my blood boil. It comes down to respect for your fellow hunter.

homers brother

I'm quite well aware how heavy elk are, having packed a few of them out on my back. That's not quite the point I was making, though.

There doesn't really seem to be a lot of respect anymore between the motorized and non-motorized crowds. Considering that I'm among the motorized when it comes to snow, I've always felt a responsibility to stay as far away from the ski trails as I can - as a skier as well, I appreciate how irritating the noise can be. Yet, there's always some knucklehead who could care less and not only splits the air with his piped, 1000cc chainsaw on steroids, but tracks up the terrain I was hoping to enjoy.

Hunting's a bit different, since it's not quite as easy to "confine" the non-motorized hunters as it is skiers to their trailheads and a reasonable distance beyond. Ever consider that there might be hunters along that 20 minute ATV ride to where you walk in? On more than one occasion, I've had that happen to me. In my mind, using an ATV to "get farther back into the woods" isn't adequate justification for using an ATV, especially in areas like the ones I hunt where the Forest Service CLOSES most of the trails after the first snow. Not only do these guys not seem to mind that they're breaking the law by going around the gates(and can be fined), they often could care less that someone else might be hunting there, too.

Used to be that I'd share the snow on any given weekend with about 200 other snowmobilers. Now that everyone seems to have to have one, that number's around 600 in the same general areatoday. With the increased use has come increased abuse: riding in wilderness, tracking up the designated cross-country ski areas, more trash in the backcountry. The non-snowmobiling public's responded by supporting closures of more public lands to snowmobiling and often restricting snowmobiles to existing roads and trails, as opposed to the open country that used to be freely available. Definitely an image problem that we've created ourselves. The same thing is happening tothe ATVing community: complaints in the summer by non-motorized users,torn-up riparian areas and streams, dust, and noise.

So, what's reasonable?

Hunting Kuk

i dont use atvs bcause i have yet to see one that was quet enough for my suitability they might b good for scouting but a big no no for hunting unless you stop a couple hundred yards away from your stand

JagMagMan

I do not ride right up to my stand, I park several hundred yards away and walk the rest of the way. I do hunt private leases, so there is not a lot of ATV traffic.
Except for "joy riding," I have never seen that an ATV passing by has bothered deer at all! In fact, I've seen deer several times right after someone has passed by on an ATV!