UTV for public land hunting?

[62straight]

Wandering how much people are able to use atv/quad/side by side's in public land hunts around the west? I hunt mostly ca on the same private ranch for the last 20 yrs but ready to expand my horizons a little. Wouldn't call myself a rode hunter but wouldn't call myself a full backcountry hunter either, yet. Looking at purchasing Polaris ranger crew to cut some miles/haul some gear then hike/hunt. Imagine I will get plenty of answers saying buy boots instead and in reality, I'm just looking for some justification before adding another toy to garage!

 

[go_deep]

You can only drive the utv on the roads, the same roads you can drive your truck. Now there are some roads that are pretty rough and that's where they can come on handy to not beat up your truck. Personally I've hunted the west and lived here in total of 14 years and never used a ATV/utv myself.

 

[62straight]

Thanks. That's the Intel I was looking for. Like the idea of saving my truck. Guess I would be more hesitant hiking away from the Polaris then a truck though. That would be a bad day to find your buggy gone

 

[go_deep]

I'm sure there are stories out there of camps, and vehicles broken into, but I've never heard one. Heck I set up a base camp by my truck and then hike in and it might be days before I ever come out and never had a problem. Most people know you're hunting and have a gun they aren't will to take the chance that you catch them.

 

[Tim McCoy]

I bought an older quad. I use it sometimes when day hunting solo. Drop quad off where I plan to end, drive truck to where I start, and maximize my hunt time. It has sat all day a number of times, no issues so far. Works very well in certain types of country.

 

[luckynv]

I use a Polaris Ranger and have parked it alongside forest service roadways in Colorado, Utah and Nevada. If I am a long way from camp I frequently cable it to a tree or just run the cable through the cage and steering wheel. I have never had a problem. It allows me to get many miles from camp without tearing up my truck. Several western states also allow you to offroad to retrieve game animals for a short distance. This depends on the managing agency. I am not a road hunter but use mine to get away from the crowded easy access roads. My camp last year in Nevada was 45 miles from pavement and 6 miles from the edge of the wilderness area so the Ranger comes in real handy and gives me a backup vehicle so far from civilization. Good luck and God bless

 

[62straight]

That's the kind of adventures I'm looking for! The last couple yrs I've Been in gathering gear mode, building points in CA, CO and started NV this yr. hoping to put it all to use somewhere in 2016. Finally got to position in my job where I can put in for guaranteed vacation time off. Hunting season usually falls right in line with peak fire season in ca making planned trips tough

 

[RUTTIN]

I also use my Polaris ranger to get as far back on the nasty roads, and then hike in to hunt. Saves the truck.


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[Againstthewind]

Wandering how much people are able to use atv/quad/side by side's in public land hunts around the west? I hunt mostly ca on the same private ranch for the last 20 yrs but ready to expand my horizons a little. Wouldn't call myself a rode hunter but wouldn't call myself a full backcountry hunter either, yet. Looking at purchasing Polaris ranger crew to cut some miles/haul some gear then hike/hunt. Imagine I will get plenty of answers saying buy boots instead and in reality, I'm just looking for some justification before adding another toy to garage!

I am trying to get the same justification, so you have my full support, lol. An atv or other vehicle is almost essential, lol. Maybe not, but I think they open up a lot of country that even if you could walk to, would be hard to get meat out of. The off road vehicle maps give you a lot of places to try them out that regular trucks shouldn't go. A lot lower year round maintenance than animals, too. Anyway, they are fun and I want one too.

 

[ore hunter]

Id recommend a atv over a side by as a lot of trails require 50" or less width and you can still run a lot of roads in a lot of areas to save wear and tear on your truck..there are some areas where youll need your truck as even though its gravel,they have it posted for no atvs,and that includes side bys.check each area ahead of time,but I always take my atv for drop off or pickup locations to hike to and from when the terrain and trails/roads permit.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I'm all for ATV use as long as they are used legally. It's unfortunate that you see so many places where some idiot on an ATV has ridden past any semblance of a road or trail and torn up a hillside.

 

[dan maule]

I'm all for ATV use as long as they are used legally. It's unfortunate that you see so many places where some idiot on an ATV has ridden past any semblance of a road or trail and torn up a hillside.

On the roads that I am used to hunting it is much easier and quicker to get from point A to point B on an ATV than a truck. Personally I really hate it when I see guys taking them off road into places they are not willing to walk into. In some of the areas I have hunted I have seen guys taking them through sage flats and creating new trails. We need to respect the landowner even if it is BLM or State.

 

[shootbrownelk]

ATV and UTV use is sometimes necessary for handicapped or older folks who aren't able to get around like they used to. Don't ask how I know. All BLM and NF rules should be followed of course. I think we've all seen the "Johnny Road Racers" out there. The BLM allows for game retrieval in some instances. I saw it on the BLM website.

 

[missjordan]

We use our utv for the same purpose, to get back farther on nasty roads so your not beating the crap out of your pickup. We haven't had any issues either with people tampering with our vehicles while parked. I worry about it too because we have a light bar on the roof and it would take a thief 5 seconds to pop the roof off and steal the light bar. I also recommend fully enclosing the utv with windows and doors. Even on warmer mornings you'll freeze driving to your hunting spot for the day.

 

[Umpqua Hunter]

I never used an ATV on a hunt until about 5 years ago. We bought a Rhino. The first trip with it was on a Nevada antelope hunt in a unit that has VERY rough roads. The first day we used the truck, doing about 3 to 10 miles per hour and about jaring our teeth loose in lots of spots. We later noticed that a water can had fallen out. I took the new Rhino on it's maiden voyage to look for it and was doing 20-30 on the same roads. The suspension just ate up the rocky road easily. Since then we have always taken it on hunts. We like the side by side so my wife and I can go together. The bed in the back makes it easy to haul game out as well.

As Dan said, it is a great tool for setting up hunts between your pick-up and ATV.

We also use a camper on our truck as our base camp. I often don't pull the camper off until I am ready to settle down and hunt an area. We almost always hunt a new area every year so the first few days are getting oriented and scouting. The ATV on the trailer lets us scout without removing the camper and completely setting up permanent camp.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

I have had 2 atv's for the last 10 years. We use them for getting to the areas we want to hunt, always on roads & 2 tracks. Used to use a Toyota short wheel base 4x4 PU before. Some of the roads (if you want to call them that!) really beat up the truck and were pretty uncomfortable riding in the truck too, at least the driver had the steering wheel to hang on too. Using the atv's is much more comfortable, altho colder and wetter in bad weather. I am seriously thinking about one of the newer utvs that are narrow enough to meet the 50" max width trail restrictions in the NF trails around here. At my age I feel it is extending my hunting a lot, even tho I don't ride it cross country and off the trails/roads and saves wear & tear on my 4x4 pickup.

My wife and I ride them a lot in the summer also. We go to Silverton and ride the off road trails and jeep roads up to 12,000'+. Lots of fun doing that too.