Road Hunting

shootbrownelk · Oct 9, 2015

I use my side X side for mobility and to spot antelope and then plan a stalk. My knees both bone on bone and need replacing. Tough hikes aren't in the cards for me anymore, getting too old. As far as shooting from a road goes, what are you asking? A paved road? A county gravel road? A forest trail? For me, no for the first two and if it's a 2 track forest road it'd be OK I suppose.

Hilltop · Oct 9, 2015

I have no problem with guys that do it as long as laws are followed. I have road hunted a bunch for antelope and some for mule deer in open country. I really typically drive to a glassing spot, glass, then drive to the next spot. If a shot presents itself in transit I have no problem taking advantage of it. In open country it is very productive to cover more ground. I think the times I see people upset are typically when people are breaking rules in one form or another. Chasing animals with a vehicle, and driving on closed roads or off road are the two complaints I have heard the most.

packmule · Oct 9, 2015

Depends on the experience you want and the unit/species you have a tag for. Hunting really isn't as difficult as people try to make it out to be.

Dos Perros · Oct 9, 2015

I think it's okay for person A who hunts a certain way to disagree with the way person B hunts. And as long as person B is obeying the law they shouldn't really give a damn what person A thinks. It's the people that are ignorant of the law, common sense safety rules, and don't even posses the word "ethics" in their vocabulary that we should all worry about.

Tim McCoy · Oct 9, 2015

Pretty much with you IKIC. In most places you just need to be aware how far off the road you must be to shoot, if you happen on one while in transit.

ScottR · Oct 9, 2015

Some of the best hunters I have ever met are day hunters who are very patient and hunt areas where they know people overlook.

Most gripes tend to come when hunters on ATV/UTV choose to blaze a new path, many times for the sake of simply retrieving an animal or just getting to the top of the next hill.

badgerbob · Oct 9, 2015

Personally, I like road hunters. It keeps them out of the areas I like to hunt. In the area I hunt most, I rarely see a hunter more than a few hundred yards off the road. That leaves the rest of the unit for me.......Just my thinking.

CoHiCntry · Oct 9, 2015

I'm OK with using a vehicle for certain hunts. Antelope come to mind. Shooting from the vehicle though... not to sure about that? I think it's legal in some places? Definitely not for me but it doesn't sound like that's what your talking about. Different hunts require different levels of effort whether it's strapping on a backpack, or a helmet... or seatbelt for that matter! Do what it takes to be successful for the hunt your on as long as your happy with it & its legal. The "hardcore" mentality is getting out of control in my opinion. In fact a couple of the most successful guys I know are older guys who hunt locally, drive to where they hunt every morning and sleep in there own bed every night. There's nothing hardcore about the way they hunt... but there is something very smart about how they hunt!

I was on an elk hunt in Utah a couple weeks ago and saw something I didn't think happened anymore. As we're driving to a place we wanted to check out one evening we pass by a 4-door truck filled with guys drinking beer and one guy standing in the back of the truck with his gun laying over the cab. Must have been deer hunting? No way your gonna get close enough to an elk in a truck and be able to shoot one with a muzzleloader. I wouldn't think anyway? We all laughed at the sight and said "oh the good old days" Lol!

buckbull · Oct 9, 2015

I was invited on an antelope a few years ago. We were making our way back to camp after the morning hunt and spotted some antelope about 150 yards off the road. The young guy with us yelled stop and bailed out of the truck, ran to the fence and started slinging lead. This was along a fairly busy gravel country road. While everything he did was legal, its not my cup of tea. I enjoy stalking and watching just as much as shooting them.

laxwyo · Oct 9, 2015

It's amazing what you can drive on when you own a 4 banger Toyota.

When I hunt with my dad, we typically drive to a location and make a couple hour hike and then back to the truck and camp.

We do get slightly annoyed with the guys that think they need to drive every foot of two-track every day as we actually walk some of the roads that go through prime hunting spots.

go_deep · Oct 9, 2015

Hunt how you want. I prefer to get far enough in that I can't see or hear the road. My definition of road hunting is what I saw last week while antelope hunting. Gun hanging out the window cracking off shots, while the truck is running, sitting side ways on the road. A bunch of dandy's!

OldGuy · Oct 9, 2015

+1 badgerbob!

Timberstalker · Oct 9, 2015

I've done it, I really suck at it though, I typically get bored within minutes and haul azz to a place to hunt. The only time I get upset with road hunters is when I get stuck behind them and they won't let me by. My dad was a bonified road hunter, he had back and hip issues. When I was a kid he alway told me, boy when you start hunting on you own get into those canyons, I did and still do.

coloradoshedhead · Oct 9, 2015

packmule said:
Depends on the experience you want and the unit/species you have a tag for. Hunting really isn't as difficult as people try to make it out to be.

All of the above "Fact"

Musket Man · Oct 9, 2015

To me road hunting is guys that drive around all day waiting for an animal to stop in the middle of the road in front of them.

xtreme · Oct 10, 2015

I am not a fan of road hunting, however how else are you going to hunt the pastures of Nebraska? Antelope are almost a must to be road hunted I assume. I have never had an antelope tag so I am just assuming. I have always enjoyed hunting the overlooked places that ScottR mentioned. Edges and places close to town, even the exposed places where no game is expected to be. Some of your are familiar with my quote of don't make this so hard. An example is driving hwy 149 along unit 67 in Colorado you will be within a half mile of trophy mule deer that are usually overlooked.
Solo backpacking into the high country has given me the experience of surviving at least four major winter storms, those are exciting memories to remember. Once on Pole mountain I did not have a tent and it snowed 18 inches. Now I read about hunters going in four mile to get away from other hunter. What usually happen is you will meet the hunters coming in from the other side.
My ankles are very bad and my climbing/walking ability is very limited but I find that by going very slowly and hunting smart I don't have to go so far and I can still be successful. Its two hundred yards from my Colorado cabin until I could hunt elk, trophy mule deer and bear. Antelope are farther away but still in walking distance. There are no roads, no ATVs, and just a few hunters. Very blessed to have that spot.

Gr8bawana · Oct 10, 2015

If you want to drive around all day hoping to see an animal that's your choice, and it does happen sometimes. It keeps you far away from me.
The problem I have is when guys think they must drive everywhere. Just last month in AZ my brother and I found a meadow where the bulls were rutting. The first day we found the meadow and the bulls it was pristine. Well aparently this clown on an atv heard them too.
We found where he had driven around the perimiter of the entire meadow, in the meadow itself mind you. The next morning after driving past us he parked his atv at the edge of the meadow where the bulls were moving to their bedding area. Needless to say the bulls went elsewhere.
There are placs in the Ruby mountains where we have been hunting since the early 80's where the 2 track used to end down in the draws that now go right up to the saddle and over the top.
Is it really necessary to drive right to the spot you intend to hunt?
As long as the laws are followed those guys in trucks and atv's can drive all day long, but stop ruining the area for the rest of us.

badgerbob · Oct 10, 2015

When I was young, in the mid 60s', my dad, my brother and I were on a mule deer doe hunt in Northeastern Calif. We had spotted a group of does at a distance and had dropped into a drainage for cover while closing the distance on them. We were almost in shooting range when a VW Brush Buggy, remember those?, came over the ridge and drove right between us and the deer. They never even saw the deer just kept right on going. Later that evening someone took a couple of shots at us. I didn't know what was happening but my Father was a WWII vet and very well knew what was going on. He got us down and told us to stay there. We walked back to the truck after dark. He suspected it was the guys in the Brush Buggy and they had just shot at movement during the low light. Probably a good thing we didn't run into them later because Dad was really pissed. I'll never forget the singing noise those bullets made passing close by. The sound of the shots followed. Kind of spoiled road hunting for me for the rest of my life.

Road Hunting

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