# ATV use while hunting deer and elk?



## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

Do you use an ATV in any way while hunting for deer or elk?
In what way?
1) Most always
2) Sometimes
3) Never

I personally use my atv a lot while scouting and hunting. 
Possibly this coming year may be the exception and I will be using it less than normal.


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## legacy (Sep 30, 2007)

1) Most Always

I’d rather beat up my 4 wheeler then my truck getting to places where I hike from. With that being said, sometimes I hunt from my 4 wheeler. But often I use my 4 wheeler to get to places where I hike from. Plus I have a toy hauler so my 4 wheelers go with me everywhere.


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## stillhunterman (Feb 15, 2009)

Never; don't own one and don't plan to until such time I can't get around on my feet. That time is coming sooner than I care to admit...


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## Tabswan (Jan 3, 2018)

On foot all day!


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I always use one, why tear up a $50,000+ truck on the back roads when you have a ATV to run them. 

But then once to the area that I am going to hunt it is foot travel until I get my animal and then if it is legal I'll get my ATV as close as possible to pack it out for me. 

It would be nice to be able to huff it all the time afoot but age catches up with you sooner than later.


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## MooseMeat (Dec 27, 2017)

I use a dirt bike nearly every time I go. There is way more opportunity to use them than an ATV. Many single track trails are open to motorcycle use. So when you ATV guys have to get off and start walking, I'm just getting started


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## bow_dude (Aug 20, 2009)

1)... Transportation to where I want to hunt.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Critter said:


> I always use one, why tear up a $50,000+ truck on the back roads when you have a ATV to run them.


+1

-DallanC


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

$50k truck!!! Heck, I feel the same way about my $3k truck and I save a lot more in travel time on my ATV over my truck on those rough 4x4 roads.


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

I use on to get up those nasty roads much more easily. One thing some folks fail to realize is just how much noise they make; sound seems to travel for literally miles, then seem surprised that animals arent jumping in their side by sides. Actually, we see a fair amount along the road getting to our area as we keep the throttle really low and just creep along.


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## OriginalOscar (Sep 5, 2016)

Never owned one and no interest. Do want a Razor to rip around the hood!!


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

What's an ATV?


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

OriginalOscar said:


> Never owned one and no interest. Do want a Razor to rip around the hood!!


Nah, get a Maverick X3 Turbo... they will smoke any factory razor on the planet.

But compared to an ATV, those fit in the back of a pickup, and the Forest Service is implementing width restrictions on a huge number of trails ATVs fit, SideXSides dont.

-DallanC


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Huge29 said:


> I use on to get up those nasty roads much more easily. One thing some folks fail to realize is just how much noise they make; sound seems to travel for literally miles, then seem surprised that animals arent jumping in their side by sides. Actually, we see a fair amount along the road getting to our area as we keep the throttle really low and just creep along.


I actually think that the animals are seeing so many ATV/Side by sides during the summer and other times that they don't really even care about them anymore.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Critter said:


> I actually think that the animals are seeing so many ATV/Side by sides during the summer and other times that they don't really even care about them anymore.


Dude, Shhhhhhhhhh..... !!! 

-DallanC


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## 3arabians (Dec 9, 2014)

I remember my brother saying to me 10 or so years ago " l do think an ATV would be nice but I could never sell out my horse like that." 

Now days we both own a horse and an ATV . Is age catching up?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk


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## Kevin D (Sep 15, 2007)

There's no question ATV's open up more country to hunt. There are a lot of trails and rough roads that are inaccessible for a normal 4x4 truck or jeep but not to an ATV. I use mine primarily to get to the end of the trail then hunt on foot after that. 

The popularity of ATV's has been a boon for big game herds however, cuz it makes for lazy hunters. Any deer or elk that stays out of site from a road stands a pretty fair chance of surviving the hunt. It seems to me most ATV hunters never stray more than 200 yards from their machine. Even on popular areas like opening day the Cache, if a hunter gets a mile away from a road or trail there's a good chance you'll never see another hunter. But get close to the road or motorized trail and there's a steady traffic of UTV's and ATV's.


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

Hunting now days is a recreational adventure. It's for fun. It's not mandatory for survival. 
So I say, if those people(ATV riders) are not breaking the laws of nature or state, then let them have their fun. If they never want to get off the darn thing, then so be it. Who ever said you have to "use up a bunch of shoe leather" to be a proper hunter. Let's stamp out elitism in hunting!
I just wish Tesla would get into the ATV business.


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

BPturkeys said:


> . Who ever said you have to "use up a bunch of shoe leather" to be a proper hunter. Let's stamp out elitism in hunting!
> I just wish Tesla would get into the ATV business.


I'd like to know that to. Do you have any data to support that?


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## pollo70 (Aug 15, 2016)

"Most always" I use them to get advantage points where I hike from.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

ATV = modern day horse. If ground wasnt so **** expensive I'd own a couple horses, but alas people can barely afford 1/4 acre their house is on, let alone another minimum half acre for a horse or two + all the feed you need. When not in use, an ATV rolls into a garage or stick it in the backyard with a tarp over it. Uses no hay until you need to use it again.


-DallanC


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

ridgetop said:


> I'd like to know that to. Do you have any data to support that?


Not sure what supporting data you want, but, yes, it generally does?


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

BPturkeys said:


> Not sure what supporting data you want, but, yes, it generally does?


. I'm just courious who the "who ever said" person is? I'm not sure anyone as said what your claiming. Or is it just your own opinion?


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

I use the question "how ever said" rhetorically.

_(Rhetorical (of a question)... asked in order to produce an effect or to make a statement rather than to elicit information.)

_
But if you want it first person, and yes it is my opinion...I think you do not need to "use up a lot of shoe leather" to be a proper hunter. There, I said it.;-)


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## justismi28 (Aug 19, 2014)

I don't have any sort of ATV, that said I have used them in the past when hunting with family and they can be another great tool. The most common use was probably my brothers Vernon Archery hunt a few years ago. We spent a lot of time that summer cruising around and looking.

For those that don't think the animals don't care about the sound, I'll share this little story from opening morning of my brothers Vernon tag.

We caught a glimpse of a nice buck working into a shallow ravine that had a wheeler trail going up the south side ridge. We started slowly working over there on foot (only a thousand yards or so) and by the time we got there he had bedded somewhere and we couldn't turn him up. Instead of letting wind swirl and possibly bust him out of his bed, we backed out. After we got back to our glassing spot, I decided I was going to circle around to the bottom of this ravine to sit on the glass and wait this buck out. At about 9:30 he stands up to browse a little and shift with the sun. He had been up for about 2 minutes, when a four wheeler turned on a couple thousand yards up the hill on the wheeler trail. Within 5 seconds that deer, who had been browsing carelessly immediately went on alert and bedded down under a small tree. I then watched three wheeler's 'creep' down this hill going about 5 mph. My anxiety was high as I was hoping to watch this deer until my brother came to pick me up, and these guys were about to drive 200 yards away from him. That deer didn't so much as flick an ear until they were out of ear shot. He didn't move the rest of the day until the wind swirled on my brother during his stock and blew him out of the country later that afternoon. This is on the Vernon, that is criss crossed by trails, and ridden all year by recreational enthusiasts and hunters alike. 
Big deer are smart. I don't think its they are used to the wheelers, but rather they have learned from them.
*attached is a pic of the deer. Wish I could give photo credit, but this one is a lot better than the ones I tried to take through my spotter.


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## USMARINEhuntinfool (Sep 15, 2007)

I have a side x side and horses. I prefer to hunt off horseback, however, with young kids the side x side gets the whole family out into the woods together, which is what its all about. As the kids get older I'll start taking them with on horseback. In the meantime its a great way for us. We have shot a few deer from them now, nothing big but the memories are huge.


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## dadams41 (Jul 9, 2013)

It depends on where I am hunting and what I am hunting. I usually only use mine to get into an area and then am on foot from there. I do a lot of scouting from my machine but when the hunt comes, it has never worked out for me that i find what I'm looking for while on it.


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## Don K (Mar 27, 2016)

Like the others. Use the ATV instead of tearing up the truck


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

My use when elk hunting:

I've shown this trick a couple times before. Tip ATV on its butt. Strap elk to rack, pull atv back over, wala, elk magically loaded whole.




























I've still yet to bring out an elk that wasn't whole. My bull from last year was too big for this trick... so I ran down and got the backhoe and loaded it into the truck with the hay forks 

-DallanC


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## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

Love your idea Dallan! But most of the time where I shoot elk it is not legal to retrieve them with a wheeler. Plus I'm not sure I would like to go up much of a hill with it loaded that way. 

They sure are a lot quicker to get from point A to B though.


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## USMARINEhuntinfool (Sep 15, 2007)

That's a pretty cool trick Dallan, wonder if I could do that with my sidexside :mrgreen:


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

BPturkeys said:


> I use the question "how ever said" rhetorically.
> 
> _(Rhetorical (of a question)... asked in order to produce an effect or to make a statement rather than to elicit information.)_
> 
> But if you want it first person, and yes it is my opinion...I think you do not need to "use up a lot of shoe leather" to be a proper hunter. There, I said it.;-)


 Just messing with ya there BP.
I guess my response was a little more sarcastic than rhetoric.


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

Dallan-you just ride backwards from the front rack to steer? Looks a bit like your high school girlfriend, a little back heavy.


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

Huge29 said:


> Dallan-you just ride backwards from the front rack to steer? Looks a bit like your high school girlfriend, a little back heavy.


Well, that was rude!


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Huge29 said:


> Dallan-you just ride backwards from the front rack to steer? Looks a bit like your high school girlfriend, a little back heavy.


Nah its easy to drive, I've never had a problem with it wanting to tip over on the trip back. I ride the Foreman right up into the truck. If its really back heavy, I'll back up into the truck. Works slick!

We do this nearly every year. Last year the cow was 100 yards off the road so we just decided to drag it to the truck and winch it up onto the tailgate. Craptastic idea as the snow made it slippery and we struggled with it shifting around. Had we loaded it on the rack and then drove in the truck we would have been done in half the time.

That Foreman is an absolute tank. I've had 50+ big game critters on it easy over the years. Too bad all the new ones have so much plastic. I keep this thing in good shape with NOS parts, way way cheaper than a new one and way more durable.

-DallanC


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

PS: never had a girlfriend in highschool... too many things to hunt, shoot and too much gasoline to burn.


-DallanC


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

2) sometimes. Only when it fits the purpose.


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## percheye (Jan 15, 2008)

Never, I travel on foot for the most part.

The best is seeing the $50K trucks with a lift and big tires parked at the trail head. I mean what is the point?


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## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

percheye said:


> Never, I travel on foot for the most part.
> 
> The best is seeing the $50K trucks with a lift and big tires parked at the trail head. I mean what is the point?


Maybe that is not the only place they hunt from?


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

percheye said:


> Never, I travel on foot for the most part.
> 
> The best is seeing the $50K trucks with a lift and big tires parked at the trail head. I mean what is the point?


Maybe for the same reasons you see them at a store parking lot or at any given church parking lot on Sunday.


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## ckkone (Oct 23, 2015)

Not against them but I don't own one. I usually drive as far as I can then walk or mountain bike. I have used ATVs when my friends let me borrow one, but I'm too cheap to buy one for myself.


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