This is my first year with an atv and love riding the trails, I beleive I made a good choice in buying one.
I noticed right off the bat I was stumbling on deer a lot, in fact I was seeing more deer than I have ever have before and many was within 100 yards I admit they was not standing still. So a thought came in my head, and this is illegal I know, but wonder if any one has shot a deer while riding around on an atv.
I mean basically you would have to have a loaded rifle at the ready while you ride the trails. I am just looking for some input on this as i beleive out west you can hunt with a horse and a loaded rifle(I think).
I have a permit to carry a concealed weapon on me... so I can ride with my .44 mag with no problem. I just cant hit anything with it. So has anyone jumped off an atv,grabbed the rifle, loaded it or just take the safety off and fired at a deer?

 

I've never hunted on an atv but I have also seen more animals on my atv's. I'm sure there are people that do hunt while on an atv considering those who road hunt in a vehicle.

 

I'm not 100% sure the laws in your area. But here in Canada you are not allowed to travel in or on any vechile with a loaded weapon.

 

correct me if I am wrong , I think you can carry a loaded rifle on a horse in many western states. Am I wrong on this? I dont see a difference between a horse and a atv except its moterized and that makes the difference in the law i guess. I aslo know I can legally shoot a deer in my vehicle, like my truck, if I am off the road and in a field or the woods. As long as I am not moving.LOL

 

what state do you live in? your right most states allow hunters to hunt on horse (carry a loaded firearm) & your right again, it really doesen't make much sense in theory, but how many people hunt from horses compared to atv's? there are very few people that hunt from horses. if it were leagal to hunt & shoot game from atv's then way more people would do it. it would actually ruin a good hunting spot. the reason you see more game on a ride is because your usually going quite a bit faster than walking, this puts game at ease & they seem to know that your usually going to pass by. what about a crow on the side of the road? if your driving 60, you'll get within 5' of one but slow down or stop & their out of their. nothing will scare game more than to see a human walking near it. for what it's worth though, on horseback, i think you can get even closer. i know that in oklahoma tx, ks & co. you can not hunt from any vehicle no matter where you are runnin' or not.

 

in minnesota you can only ride an atv in the woods at a certain time while deer season is open. i believe it is 11 a.m. to noon. they gave us a slot so we could transport the deer out of the woods. i do keep a shotgun on my sportsman (cased) just in case a grouse may appear on the trail. if it hasnt flushed yet i will take it out of the case, get off of my atv and blast it!

 

I don't road hunt and I think anyone that does isn't fully enjoying the "hunting experience". However, I use my atv to get to where I want and you bet your life that I am ready to pull the trigger when/if I see an elk on the trail. I don't ride with one in the chamber but I make sure it is readily accesible adn I think I could chamber one fast enuff if I had to. Got to love hunting![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

In alberta the law states that you must be 50 yards from your atv to shoot an animal.No ammunition can be in the gun at all while on the atv including the magazine if it is attatched to the gun.The idea is to prevent people from chasing game on atv's and then shooting them.

 

I agree with trailburner. I have horses and haul them ocasionally to Idaho and Colorado. Its a tough job though carring for horses for two weeks while hunting and sleeping.-------I love to take my ATVs but am very cautious of interfering with the quiet and other hunters. I normally only take my rig to the edge of a wilderness area and then hoof it.-------Sometimes I load my camping geer and get to a more remote spot for a spike camp, then hunt on foot.---------If we ATVers are not careful during hunting season we will not be welcome by many.

 

I noticed the same thing on my farm, which is mostly dense woods. Walk across it, you might see a deer from a distance. Ride the quad or truck, and you see lots of them.

Reason is simple - They can hear your footsteps, and they can hear that you are walking in a confident manner, making little or no attempt to hide your sound. So the deer are cautious, because an animal doesn't walk like that unless they have a good reason to be confident, like a 30-06 rifle over their shoulder. The deer don't recognize the sound of a motor vehicle as much of anything, one way or another - it's probably more like a gust of wind to them. So they stop and see what it is.

Hunting is the art of scoping out the prey, working into an advantageous position, reading their tracks and learning their habits to know where they will be. It's getting inside the mind of the animal that separates a good hunter from an average one. Hunting off of a vehicle, to me anyway, is rather pointless. It's not hunting, it's running a slaughterhouse.