Anyone hunt with mountain bikes?

[clearconscience]

I've been wanting to try this to get further in the woods with less effort, I found a way to make a nice bike trailer.

I've been researching it online since before last years season.

I want to get started on the trailer soon.

Just wanted to hear others experiences and ideas.
Post pics if you have your setup

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[that guy]

I've done it for upland hunting. Saves a ton of walking getting to the hunting area and plus I just enjoy mountain biking anyway. Birds are small and light though.

Use it a lot for fishing too, especially along the Deschutes.

 

[Colts4me]

I was hunting up around Hoodoo and lined up on a moving deer when out of no where these mountain bike riders rolled right in between me and a buck. My opinion is they should stay out of the woods in hunting season as they move so fast it's not safe.

 

[KKG]

I was hunting up around Hoodoo and lined up on a moving deer when out of no where these mountain bike riders rolled right in between me and a buck. My opinion is they should stay out of the woods in hunting season as they move so fast it's not safe.

I've seen the Liberals out doing that sort of thing more than once. I've even suggested that a "Tag" be issued, free of charge, to every License holder in the State.

I'm of the opinion that it you are Hunting anything bigger than Rabbits you would be wasting your time and money purchasing one. Even a small Deer is going to be impossible to handle when riding and even the High Powered Rifle will add a lot to the load.

Mountain Bikes seem to be a very High Dollar item and I just don't see them being useful to Hunters.

 

[clearconscience]

I'm meaning bicycles not dirtbikes.

Mountain bikes are cheap and quiet. With a little trailer you haul a good amount of meat. Unless your going up hill.

 

[KKG]

Mountain bikes are cheap and quiet.

I guess it would depend upon your definition of "Cheap". Quiet I'll go along with. Whatever Works for you. I think I'd rather spend my Dollars on something I'm going to use more.

 

[RVTECH]

I was hunting up around Hoodoo and lined up on a moving deer when out of no where these mountain bike riders rolled right in between me and a buck. My opinion is they should stay out of the woods in hunting season as they move so fast it's not safe.

Yea the original plan for them to 'share' the hiking trails has about run it's course and needs to be re-addressed. I hear of hikers routinely complaining about how they encountered (and almost got hit) by Mtn bikers on trails when they were not seen by them.

 

[Joe13]

If the seat doesn't hurt your arse and you can make the trailer then it seems like a good setup to me.

At the very least you could get way out and then sit on a ridge during prime times.

 

[Nosferatu]

I tried it one year and determined that it was more of a pain in the bubblegum than it was worth. Yeah, it can get to a destination slightly quicker, but you go through a lot more water and energy and you miss a lot along the way as opposed to hiking. Part of the joy of hunting to me is being out in nature and keeping things simple, so biking wasn't for me.

There are a lot of hunters that do it though - there's even custom mountain bikes being built to target hunters. Check out rockslide.com, bunch of guys talking about it there.

 

[clearconscience]

Yeah there's a big electric bike market now for hunters and a mountain bike set up for them, but dang are they expensive.
You might as well buy a dirtbike

 

[clearconscience]

Most of the places I've gone in recent years have a ton of pressure from other hunters.
So finding a way to get in further faster, and quieter sounded good.

 

[Nosferatu]

Most of the places I've gone in recent years have a ton of pressure from other hunters.
So finding a way to get in further faster, and quieter sounded good.

That's one of the reasons I've pretty much given up on big game hunting in this state. More people than animals.

 

[rcnpthfndr]

I did this for a couple years back east when on TDY. I had my mtn bike and bought a book rack that mounted to the seat post. took off the rack, drilled a hole through it and mounted a clevis. On the deer cart that folds up I put an eye bolt. I would hook everything up, throw the tree stand on the cart, then "wicked witch" my way to the general area I wanted to hunt then went on foot from there. worked well, even better when I got a deer.

 

[Tesoro]

I have a decent mountain bike 15spd etc and have thought about using it to get in to more remote spots water barred etc but every time I use mine and have to go up a long grade I keeping wishing I had a Yamaha tw200.

 

[Lilhigbee]

Like this??

 

[edslhead]

Up at Wakaiakus lots of guys use bikes to get back in a ways, and then hunt on foot. You cant use motorized vehicles past the gates and the good hunting (not always) can be 2 to 5 miles back in. Almost all the hunting areas are gated at the main road. I was thinking of getting one myself but I forgot how to ride a bike.

 

[Argonaut]

Up at Wakaiakus lots of guys use bikes to get back in a ways, and then hunt on foot. You cant use motorized vehicles past the gates and the good hunting (not always) can be 2 to 5 miles back in. Almost all the hunting areas are gated at the main road. I was thinking of getting one myself but I forgot how to ride a bike.

That is how we have always used our horses. We seldom shoot game from the horse but use it to get us, gear, and killed game in and out. Have you seen the Quiet Cat electric off road vehicles......very cool....I have been tempted to try one out with my bad heart. One of my son's is a world class mountain biker but he is always traveling at Mach 2, he will do 20 miles a day with thousands of feet of elevation change.

 

[Tesoro]

Up at Wakaiakus lots of guys use bikes to get back in a ways, and then hunt on foot. You cant use motorized vehicles past the gates and the good hunting (not always) can be 2 to 5 miles back in. Almost all the hunting areas are gated at the main road. I was thinking of getting one myself but I forgot how to ride a bike.

hah thats why I got mine and felt like a little kid when I first got on it. my butt was a diff story after 5 miles. One thing I wuld recommend is that if you are a bigger guy that you make sure you get one with a very strong frame and upgraded rims to handle extra weight of pack, beer belly etc

 

[Ura-Ki]

My boys and I have done this several years, especially bird hunting! Many places are gated and have a non motorized access rule, or a rule of nothing bigger then an ATV! SO we hitch up a couple of cheep game carts and worked our way in! Some of these places can be several miles back. In areas where it's ATV or smaller, I use my Tracked ATV with the large all purpose cart and motor in, in some cases more then 10 miles! We see more and more gates and limited access, and there is a quiet push to curtail hunting period! Seems to me that more and more hunters might want to look into alternate means to hunt with so many areas seeing limits to access! Seems the days where you could tow in a travel trailer and set up camp are all but gone, and with the ATV or smaller rules, even a WW2 Jeep is a no go! I have already noticed a large increase in the numbers of two seat side by sides up on the roads, this is prolly the future!

 

[LuckySG]

My neighbor bowhunts with his mtn bike pulling a trailer to get in pretty far in past the other hunters with his access permit on weyerhaeuser land. Has been successful so far!