All Terrain Vehicles Emerge As Bow Hunting Issue
AS BOW-HUNTING ISSUE
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the “National Sportsman’s Digest” lamenting an increased reliance on four-wheel-drive vehicles and a decreased reliance on hunting skills. “What I’ve seen is we have a generation, or two generations, of sportsmen, some of whom have learned only to shift gears and drive around the woods,” said Hinshaw, now the education director for the Southwest Region of the Colorado Division of Wildlife. “Some hunters really don’t have the hunting skills of their grandfather,” Hinshaw said. “We really need to work through hunter education and re-instill those skills, such as stalking.”
In November that issue once again emerged, as the Colorado Bowhunters Association approached the Wildlife Commission, which oversees the Division, about limiting all-terrain vehicle use during the bow-hunting season. An association official said the group is not seeking to eliminate ATV use during hunting season, but does want to reduce its effect on a sport that requires patience and stealth easily disrupted by internal combustion engines in the back country.
All-terrain vehicles, or ATV’s, are defined as motorcycles and the three- or four-wheel, off-road vehicles significantly lighter than full-size jeeps and trucks. Their use has expanded motorized access into back-country areas, and many of the National Forests in Colorado are now reviewing travel plans which may limit their use. But the Division of Wildlife is concerned with issues revolving around hunting.
“As much as anything it’s a conflict in the style of hunting and the timing issue — when you use all-terrain vehicles, and when you don’t, to get into back-country areas,” Division Regulations Manger John Smeltzer said. “It’s the misuse of ATV’s during hunting season that is probably the biggest issue. “We can bring people together to talk about these problems but this is a land-use issue,” Smeltzer said. But overall, “ATV use on pubic land, other than Division property is not within Division Jurisdiction.”
Jerry Abboud — chairman of an ATV-user group, the Colorado Off-Highway Vehicle Coalition — agreed that the problem may be based on hunters using ATV’s rather than ATV users as a whole. “These could be distinct user groups,” he said. The U.S. Forest Services San Juan/Rio Grande District actually expanded ATV use for hunting in 1990 by allowing the vehicles to travel outside the established trails — but only after noon and only to pick up game, noted Ron Jablanski, the district’s Public Affairs Officer. “For the most part, we had good compliance with the rules, but administratively it’s difficult to enforce with the people who choose to abuse it,” he said. ATV owners actually using their vehicles to hunt simply tell enforcement officers they are picking up game, he noted. “It also makes enforcement of regular travel rules difficult,” he noted. In the final draft of the district’s 10-year management plan, the use of ATV’s off trail during hunting season has been eliminated.
Mike Stone, Hunter Education Administrator for the Division said it is often only a perception of hunters that their peers using ATV’s are actually using them to hunt. “In rifle season, hunting with ATV’s can occur — we have written a few citations. It’s a problem but not a big one,” he said. “It’s just a question of good outdoor ethics: ATV’s are A-OK to use to go from the camp to the hunting spot, or to carry out game,” he said. “We are constantly educating people on the use of ATV’s in out hunter education classes.”
Carrying a loaded rifle in or on any vehicle is illegal in Colorado, meaning the chamber must be empty. Failure to abide by that law will cost hunters and 15 points against their license — 20 points within five years results in revocation. Failure to abide by that law often has more serious consequences. “There have been a few fatal accidents involving a loaded rifle on an ATV,” said Stone, who also keeps the Division records on hunting accidents.
Bob Radocy, the bowhunters’ liaison with the Division, noted that hunters using ATVs in search of game can intrude on secluded camps, ruining carefully laid hunting plans. ATVs can also disturb the bedding and movement of big game, such as elk. “We solicited both our own members and also (Division personnel) around the state and our survey indicated there are growing problems in the disturbance of hunters and wildlife.” Radocy said. In the survey of 400 bow hunter respondents, 43 percent saw a “significant” increase of ATV use during hunting and 23 percent saw an “overwhelming” increase. Many of the 136 Division employees who responded saw the issue in much the same light, with 55 percent seeing a significant, and 16 percent an overwhelming, increase.
The issue often takes on an almost range-war status in some sections of Colorado, noted Bill Haggerty, the Public Information Officer in the Division’s Northwest Region office in Grand Junction. “We have had numerous complaints, … and many of these people are coming in really steamed,” he said. Both the bow hunters and the ATV coalition hope the Division will assist in efforts to reduce conflict between the two groups. “We want to work with the Division to identify the user group (causing the problem),” said Abboud, chairman of the ATV coalition. But, “the kind of things a hunter (on an ATV) is likely to do, may have nothing to do with a rider who just happen to be on some trail during a hunting month.”