ATV's in Alaska

[Oak]

Check out the ATV pictures linked in a couple of the posts in this thread. Guess they have less stringent laws up there.

http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/showthread.php?t=36688

 

[lilbiggun]

yup. We still have some freedoms

 

[Oak]

So you don't have a problem with guys tearing the shit out of everything with those things? Enjoy your "freedoms" while you can.

 

[lilbiggun]

Oak, I'm not saying what some knuckleheads do is right. trust me, as an ATV owner it does piss me off.

I'm sure you are a gun owner, read the news folks abuse guns everyday. I dont hear you guys screaming to outlaw guns. whats the differance? terrain vs a human life????

We do have laws up here, whe have our non-motorized areas. we also have our fedral lands with strict motorized use (they are heavely watched).

My machine is 20 years old, no suspension and a top speed of maybe 35MPH. I just hook up a meat wagon and go hunting. My knees are shot so I cant walk far. why are all ATV owners lumped up in the same classification when everything else is OK and no calls to ban (cars= drinking and driving, etc)

I know the guy in the post you posted. hes a good guy, he doesnt abuse. I know the area he was in and they are marked trails. maybe before people cry wolf they should look into things. if you dont know about AK, then dont start crap to further your agenda, we got enough lower 48 propaganda (from folks who dont know about up here) to deal with.

typical hypicrites.

 

[BuzzH]

Well, maybe we should open up all areas to people with bad knees, bad backs, twisted ankles, fat asses, etc.

What if I just flat dont want to walk far? Should I be given special privileges? Is it OK for me to tear up an area because I just dont like walking? Why not?

The reason that all ATV owners are lumped into one group is because 90% of them are guilty of driving them where they arent supposed to. I write down EVERY single plate number on any vehicle I see in my hunting area in MT that has an ATV in the truck. Reason? Because there is exactly 6.5 miles of roads open to atv use...and that 6.5 miles is open to all vehicles. You can drive that 6.5 miles in grannies oldsmobuick. So, basically, anyone that has an ATV in their rig in that country is up to no good...no question about it. I've turned in several the last few years for going behind gates, the latest one was just a few months ago when I was in Missoula for a visit. Exactly ONE group of ATVers in the area and sure as shit, they went behind a gated road. The Sheriffs office is cracking down on ATV abuse in the area and the party I turned in were written criminal trespass tickets. No more $150 tickets...much more severe these days.

Funny thing about that incident...while I was writing down plate numbers, one of the guilty party started cussing me. I never said a word, just kept scribbling down the information I needed. I guess I'm the monster for turning them in for BREAKING THE LAW. Its comical to hear the excuses and listen to the whining when they're guilty. I also, on several occassions have agreed to appear in court if the "few" bad apples want to fight it in court. Once the ATV slugs hear that, they lose all interest in fighting it in court.

Not sure how a "few" bad apples have opened up thousands of miles of illegal trails...must be one busy SOB out there with his atv. You'd think all the good guys would find that one bad guy and turn him in.

I've turned in several and I can almost guarantee I'll be turning in some more in November while hunting in MT. Another funny story...turned in one last fall during hunting season....turned out to be a highway patrolmans son. I wonder if that bad apple fell very far from the tree?

 

[Oak]

Hypocrite? Explain that one, please. While you're at it, show me where I lumped you in with the bad ATV users. I didn't even know you own one.

I don't need to "look into things" before saying that the guy in the post is an assclown for taking his ATV there. I don't care if it is a marked trail. At some point a person needs to use a little common sense and not tear the hell out of things. That's why we need more restrictions on ATV's, because jokers like that will take them anywhere, as long as it's legal. If you think it's ok for him to be there just because it's a marked trail, then I guess I can lump you in with the other abusers.

 

[Wyodeerhunter]

Dude................................

I can't even make a reply because I'm pretty sure everyone already knows how I feel about atvs.

I will mention one thing though that I dislike about "alaskans". They think because they live in AK that makes them "special" and that no one should tell them what do etc. They literally think their "shit" doesn't stink. You will not find a born and raised AK hunter generally too far from his ATV. Of course there are exceptions to the rule.

They are always crying about people tearing up their lands for pipelines, mines etc. But they are the first ones to tear up their land with ATV's on the weekends. I don't understand it, so if you ask me Alaskans are the perfect example of a hypocrite(s).

Most the people I've met up here in AK that i actually like and will one day probably hunt with I've come to find out have moved up here from the "dreaded lower 48". They respect the land and see how sensitive the land is unlike the residents who cry so much.

The people that abuse their atvs are also the ones that will dipnet salmon or even snag salmon because since they live in AK its their "right" to get animals whether caribou or fish the easiest way possible for them.

I also don't give a #*^@#* if your knees hurt or do not work. Get a different hobby and stop tearing up the land because believe it or not there will be future generations after you. They might one day want to see the land for its beauty not for its bounty.

Thanks for posting that link oak, i used to visit that website, but quickly found out its full of AK Assholes. Well i guess i should start posting there more

 

[lilbiggun]

Guys, I'm not saying what some assholes do is right. I'm not saying our laws are perfect (to your guys standards or even mine) but law is law. cant convict a guy on stupidity or ethics.

I am a transplant alaskan, my hunting buddies are old timers. if they seen or heard of me tearing up land they would kick my ass. I run into hotdoggers all the time who are stuck or broke down for doing stupid shit. I tell them its a $100 just to put the tow strap on. I dont like it either.

I dont use my disability as an excuse, I was trying to point out that not everybody uses a machine to tear up the country.

I'm still waiting for the reasoning for the double standards? you guys use guns, knives, vehicles, hell anything manmade. everything kills people. I know this place (website) is liberal, but is the the environment more important than people? thats right you wont condemn something if you use it.

Leave your shit in the lower 48. we still have freedoms (however in your small minds you want to percieve it). Dont visit us, dont spend your money here. I could care less. when your states get perfect, then maybe you can correct ours.

 

[BigHornRam]

Buzz,

Plum Creek has signed an agreement with FWP to make all their property Block Management this year. You don't have to sign up or anything and Plum Creek doesn't get a penny of BM money.....just gives FWP the authority and job to police illegal ATV/ORV use. Bad news for the ATV/Fat Ass crowd.

 

[Oak]

Guys, I'm not saying what some assholes do is right. I'm not saying our laws are perfect (to your guys standards or even mine) but law is law. cant convict a guy on stupidity or ethics.

You said that what this asshole did is right.

I know the guy in the post you posted. hes a good guy, he doesnt abuse.

I'm still waiting for the reasoning for the double standards? you guys use guns, knives, vehicles, hell anything manmade. everything kills people. I know this place (website) is liberal, but is the the environment more important than people? thats right you wont condemn something if you use it.

Not a double standard. Last time I looked, it is illegal to speed, to drink and drive, to stab somebody, to shoot an animal out of season, etc, etc, etc. It's not as cut and dry as "people or environment." It's more like, "people tearing the shit out of everything for recreational purposes or the environment." Sorry, but I vote environment.

Here are the other two photos from the thread. Anybody with half a brain could have looked at that mud hole and at the ATV and known what the outcome of driving it in was going to be. But hey, it's legal, so screw it.

 

[lilbiggun]

OK he got stuck. How do you know its not on a trail system? Along the denali hwy there is hundreds of miles of active (and legal, only a few spots are non-motorized). A couple of years ago we were hunting the same area, we went in 36miles (hey, at -10 in january I had to call it quits) and the trail became more and more less defined and it was still a mrked trail.

The problem is abuse, plain and simple. I dont see a differance between an ATV, a gun car, etc. its still abuse.

I know you guys do have a bad problem down there. I just hired 2 mechanics, 1 from idaho and another from wyoming and the stories they tell me. I can understand why you guys hate ATV's. I'm not saying we dont.

I know you folks will never get it through your head that not all of us are slobs so I guess we will just agree to disagree on this subject.

 

[Oak]

Yep, we are definitely not going to change each other's minds. And you are apparently not really reading what I post. First, I didn't say "that all of you are slobs." That's just what you assume I believe. Second, I didn't say that he's not on a trail system. He probably is on a trail. Still doesn't make it appropriate to ride there in those conditions. I'm disappointed if a resource specialist made the decision to allow riding in a place like that if those are the normal conditions.

You are correct when you say that abuse, like that pictured above, is the problem. That's why the only way to solve the problem is more restrictions. You can't trust many gearheads to make the right choice when faced with the decision of whether or not conditions are suitable for riding. Your comment about "it's on a trail system" is a prime example. You see the trail system as an ethical "get out of jail" card. If it's legal, do it. It doesn't matter if it's right or wrong ethically.

 

[lilbiggun]

Oak, other folks on here say all atv owners are slob. I didnt mean to generalize it to you.

I personally wouldnt have gone through there. I'm not into destoying my machine, but its legal. everybody has different ethics. There isnt a law up here that says we cannot leave the trail. Some places on federal land there are some restrictions but for the most part none.

Restrictions, yeah that will work. I'm glad restrictions and laws stopped crime. Its common sense unfortunately you cant fix stupid.

That guy got stuck so what? we have rained all summer. you cant go anywhere without mud or standing water. I'm more pissed about the folks who dont leave a clean campsite (motorized or not, yes some hikers are slobs also). A mudhole can heal itself.

One thing some folks dont realize that in most small towns or villiages, the ATV is a way of life and only mode of transportation, snowmachine in the winter. Grant it I dont bop around anchorage on mine but its a way of life up here. It doesnt make abuse right though.