Atvs worth it?

[LopeHunter]

I'm with mtmuley on this one.
They have become a nuisance because of those people who don't use them legally by staying on established roads.
Yes once again a few bad apples make everyone look bad.

Hate them. Never owned one. I avoid applying where they are legal. I am not a road hunter and not disabled so maybe I just do not understand the joy of having noise rumble through my body as zoom along oblivious to the sounds of nature.

 

[treedagain]

I have both and use them on most of my hunts....illegal use of all types of vehicles is not a positive experiance....nothing better to get you in and out with your meat.

 

[buckykm1]

Personally, I am pretty picky on the roads that I drive my truck on 1700 miles from home, when I hunted Colorado there were a lot of so called roads, bad 2 tracks that were legal to drive on, that I would much rather drive my ATV down then my truck. and unless your running 10 ply tires on your Truck flats are pretty common from the sharp rocks.

Kevin

 

[WapitiBob]

I've seen more abuse by jackasses in trucks than quads, by a large margin.

 

[mtmuley]

I've seen more abuse by jackasses in trucks than quads, by a large margin.

You are in the minority. No way that is the norm. Maybe where you live. ATV/UTV abuse is rampant everywhere, and I doubt it will change. If you have one and use it legally and responsibly, good on you. There is zero need for one in my area. You cannot take one anywhere you cannot take a vehicle. Legally. I've seen so much abuse by the damn things, I'll never be acceptable to them. Just my take. mtmuley

 

[hansontyrel]

Love my ATV's but I use them for mostly other things than hunting. Trail riding, ice fishing, beer runs at the cabin...

No point in making a perfectly peaceful and quiet wilderness crazy because you're lazy. Pardon the rhyme!

 

[noharleyyet]

I think 95% of ATV use is a result of being lazy or with the intention of going places they aren't supposed to go.

"Over 85% of statistics are made up on the spot" -David Mitchell

 

[hank4elk]

I have 2 neighbors with sidebysides.
One, has a JD that costs more than my 1st home.
The other a Kabota w/AC&heat,more than my second home.

My Tacoma cost less and is more useful. But a 4wheeler is handy on a ranch/farm and makes less impact on the land. But I still don't drive on my feed and make trails everywhere.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I think no one here would have any problem with atv's if they were used legally all the time because there would be no evidence.
We see the result of the illegal use everywhere.
All it takes is one jack-ass to ride off-road and leave tracks then everyone else will say "somebody else already drove there so I will too."
I think I will start taking pics of the damage cause by the illegal use of atv's just to show you how they keep pushing roads further and starting trails where there was never one before.

 

[knobbytire]

Call me anti-social, but I like hunting away from people, so I prefer to hike or mountain bike and then camp. Any public lands that an ATV is useful is usually too easy to get to and attracts too many hunters.

 

[shootbrownelk]

I've seen more abuse by jackasses in trucks than quads, by a large margin.

In my experience, a 4wd pick-up chained-up does one hell of a lot more damage to muddy roads and trails than does a UTV. I see the damage these idiots do every year when I have to straddle their foot deep ruts. It's not so much the vehicle than it is the nut case behind the wheel.

 

[mtmuley]

In my experience, a 4wd pick-up chained-up does one hell of a lot more damage to muddy roads and trails than does a UTV. I see the damage these idiots do every year when I have to straddle their foot deep ruts. It's not so much the vehicle than it is the nut case behind the wheel.

The problem isn't the amount of damage caused on legal roads between the two. The problem is that UTV/ATV users do not stay on legal roads and trails. I could care less about the legal users. Problem is, there are far too many illegal users. mtmuley

 

[hank4elk]

I have seen abuse by everybody at times.
From those with trucks,atv's,bikes, horses,to hikers cutting switchbacks. From ranchers on their own land to day users on foot.

Waiting a few hours or a day for a road to dry out is a no brainer here in NM. Or not going in when you know that it will get bad. Broke down,in a ditch or canyon, or in mud to the doors is just dumb.
The damage can last for years,even from a quad or a string of horses...or lamas...

If I do get a 4x4/quad for the ranch & game retrieval, I won't be riding all over my land on it. I don't need a permanent trail along my fenceline either,which would happen if I drove over the same place more than a couple times when it's dry.
I would consider the same personal policy on OUR public lands on my part to be true.

 

[dcopas78]

I just bought a Honda Pioneer 500 a couple weeks ago. I bought it primarily to use around the house. The wife can hook up our small trailer and pull it around to the flower beds and work on the mulch, planting, etc. I am getting ready to get a small plow to hook behind it as well for a quicker way of turning over the soil in the garden before planting and after harvest. It will also come in quite handy when I start cutting wood because I can load up the trailer with the splitter on it, and split the fire wood right out where I cut it. A lot of the logging roads (I cut up tops from logging operations alot) you couldn't travel with a truck.
All that being said, I will be hauling it out when I hunt this year. I plan on using it to get back to areas I wouldn't take my truck. I missed out on getting back in an area this past season because if I would have met anyone in my truck, I would have been screwed considering it was barely wider than the truck, but legal to travel. It sure would have been nice to got up at the top of the mountain at the end of the road and set up a camp. I can't take a chance of tearing up a truck when I have to get back home 1500+ miles.

 

[sagebrush]

6.5 miles in on a legal atv trail that no truck on the planet could drive on. I was real happy to drive the last 6.5 miles instead of hike, but those that are atv haters will never comprehend the value.

 

[treedagain]

Anybody who says there is not a place for an atv either lives in western montana or someplace like it that is mainy logging roads.....that guys has never beaten the hell out of his truck trying to get into desert sheep country or had to get thru a washed out gully to continue to try and get that 5 mores mile to get to where he needs to just start hunting....how about that STEEP ROCKY switch back road that there is no way to get your truck up so that you can set up camp to cut a couple miles off your morning trek to start glassing? We all do not have the luxury of nice smooth logging roads with pull outs to get turned around or let that guy get around you.

 

[Jezz]

All it takes is one jack-ass to ride off-road and leave tracks then everyone else will say "somebody else already drove there so I will too."

Exactly what happened in MO Breaks. Game retrieval trails now roads (10am to 2pm use for game retrieval only). The one person I caught was local. Lived there all his life. Said "I saw other people driving it, thought it was ok". How long have lived here? It wasn't a "road" last year or the year before or before.....he stopped in a meadow to ask me if I wanted a ride. I said I had 6 pt bull at 75 yds in this meadow last year before you decided to drive down it this year.

I have no issues with atv's, trucks, UTV's, motorcycle, bikes, jet skis, etc, etc. I have a problem with disregard ruining it for everyone.

 

[treedagain]

a few examples of when ATV's saved me a few miles
the bull retrieve was a Nevada hunt. I packed him about a mile then worked my rhino over about 5 miles of crappy roads thru 3 washed out crossings that my truck would still be in as I write this....the buck was another Nevada deal. I most likely could have got my truck in but it would have beat the hell out of me and I might have lost a filling or 2 as well as a kidney.

 

[Jezz]

If any anti atv'er has driven their truck thru arsehole flats in the Owyhees they prolly left with a busted tranny, oil pan, and a torn rectum.

Atv's have their place. I use mine for plowing snow, spraying weeds, desert hunts, taking it down designated roads to retrieve game that would make me pucker in a one ton long bed. Hunting solo and abiding by rules and using them legally to aide in getting meat out is no different than using a gps rather than a paper map to aide in property lines. Problem lies in the people the not the tools.

 

[treedagain]

a few less than big game retrievals