I'm looking at a buying an ATV to use for hunting. The terrain is steep, rocky, and very rough. I looked at Honda, Yamaha, and Kawasaki dealerships nearby. I prefer one with independent rear suspension and at least 600cc. Does anyone have a recommendation?

 

Polaris Sportsman 700 EFI + IRS = awesome...though they're pricey

 

The 700 Grizzly just got a great review from Dirt Wheels magazine. Take a look at it.

I had an Arctic Cat and it was a great machine. But, I sold it and went to a Rhino and would never go back to a quad. The side by sides are so much better for hunting and working around the place.

 

canam's outlander has independant rear suspension and also is a pretty beefy bike but i don't think nothin campares to a honda utility you can put them pretty much through anything

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: dlrieschick

I'm looking at a buying an ATV to use for hunting. The terrain is steep, rocky, and very rough. I looked at Honda, Yamaha, and Kawasaki dealerships nearby. I prefer one with independent rear suspension and at least 600cc. Does anyone have a recommendation?</end quote></div>

Arctic Cat has the best ground clearance and wheel travel in the industry, the 400-500 Suzuki motors are extremely reliable as well as AC's own 650 H1. The AC's are big, heavy and strong, If you want to get into the rough stuff and mud then the AC is your best bet. They also have a manually controlled 'real' front differential lock, none of this part time viscous crap, or automatic that does the thinking for you, that may engage when your don't want it and not engage when you need it, or act more like a limited slip than a locker.
Not to brag and not to get into a heated debate. I have 25" aggressive tires and when I am sitting on the machine I have 13.5 inches of ground clearance. I guide trail rides for out of state riders that don't know their way around the country side, so I have seen about every type of machine in action. My little 400 has left many a Griz, Brute Force, Polaris, Can-AM and Honda riders scratching their heads, some have even gone away with their 'tails between their legs'. If I can't get there then chances are no other machine can either except another AC. These are facts. Decide for yourself what you want and go from there.
Check the forums and you will see just how many problems Yahama's, Honda's, Kawasaki's, Can-Am's etc have. You will see that AC and Suzuki have the least by far. If you don't like AC then a Suzuki King Quad would do pretty good too. I have seen a 450 KQ do very well to the point that it really impressed me.

1) Arctic Cat - excellent
2) Suzuki - good to excellent
3) Kawasaki or Yamaha - ok to good
4) Honda - Ok
5) Polaris - avoid like the pleague
6) Can-Am - avoid like the pleague

And don't base anything on magazine articles, those test riders/writers are sport quad oriented and don't know squat about 4x4 Utility...

Oh one last thought - don't think because it has a big motor that it is a better machine because that just is not true. It just means that you can go faster and it may be able to tow more providing you can get the power to the ground and hook the tires up without spinning. Too much power is worse than not enough. 10mph is still 10mph no matter if you are on a 350 or an 800... Most 400's can do 50mph, 500's around 55mph etc...

 

another thing about the magazines is that the mags don't say anyhting majorly bad they may say a bad thing here and there but nothin real major.WHY? because if they said something really bad in there articles those companies wouldn't advertise in there mags if you catch my drift

 

i'd say yamy's and suzuki's are the toughest bikes made, but if you want a great riding atv on trails then get a polaris. in my area the artic cat and the can-am's are way over priced. i bought a 07 polaris x2 fot trail riding we can double legally and it makes a great hunting atv with the dumpbed for hauling game. the extra 10in wheelbase make them really stable in rough stuff.

 

650 outlander or 650v2 arctic cat. That would be my my first choices. I'd stay away from the polaris's, i dont like them. The winch is insanely high on the front rake, dont pull like the canam and seem to have a lot of issues. Everyone has their own opinions. I know 4 ppl with outlanders, (dad has a 400maxxt, uncle has 800xt, cousin has 650xt and friend has 400max. None of them have had an problems like frames cracking or engine problems. My dads 2006 has 90 hours and 845 miles on it and she runs like its brand new. My brothers drive it pretty hard too. Visco-lok is pretty amazing too, some dont like it but ours preforms flawlessly, beats the livin **** out of our 500 HO sportsman too.

 

If going fast is not a factor, and you just want something unstoppable in the rough stuff.
My vote would be for the Artic Cat.

 

I would go with the sportsman 700 or 800. I would avoid the AC like the plauge[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]
Just kidding I dont think you can go wrong with any of the brands listed but most
people on this board will say ther bike is the best/ Me included[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]. I personally bought the Polaris
SP800 based on my uses and In My humble opinion is the best looking machine
out there. I have a very high opinion of AC and almost bought one for My wife
untill we found out they are even bigger than the Sportsmans so we got her a
Suzuki Eiger. Get out and kick some tires and get some seat time and take what
you hear about other bikes on this site with a grain of salt.