Land Impact: Some
Animal Impact: No

In my own personal experience, I have used a Polaris Sportsman 400 for hunting since 1996. It is used primarily for accessing and hunting 800 acres of privately owned deer hunting land. I also have two sons, who I hope to one day hunt with and ride with to and from our hunting lands. This is our heritage at least in my generation. I realize horses would be a better alternative, but who has the time to care and maintain horses? I certainly don't.

I do not think my ATV adversly affects my hunting experiences. I have killed my fair share of mature white tails using my quad to get me to my stand and back. I drive slowly and am careful not to cross fields or spook game. The ATV makes short work of hauling a buck out and safely transports my rifle and I actually leave the woods safely with headlights showing the way or more importantly showing others I am not a deer coursing out of the woods at the edge of dark.

I recently saw a hunting show on Sports South that protrayed ATV's as the devil himself and found the program disturbing and hope it is not all true. The footage showed quads racing through timber and spooking game and ripping tread marks on logging roads that were once pristine. I realize there are a handful of slob hunters that use ATV's in a wreckless manner and hope they didn't focus their study on just this small segment of our group. I realize that ATV riding does impact the land somewhat, but if done so in a respectable, conservative manner, most farmers and hunt clubs will allow ATV use on hunting property.

I see our rights and mode of transportation (ATVing) being in a semi-precarious state, relying solely on each of us as individuals to make the wise choices and lead others by example to keep our legacy rolling. I am the eldest in our hunt club and also club president as well, so of course I advocate the use of ATV's because of my own experiences. I'm not so sure if others will follow my path.

I hope any and all of you will honestly answer this poll if you use your ATV for hunting and plan to do so in the future.

 

Once a year for Ohio gun season about 10-15 people go down to southern ohio...stay in a hotel acouple nights hunt for acouple hang out with friend and I bring my quad and everyone uses it take the tree stands out...and to drag the deer....I think ATV's are good to have for hunting

 

Timberjax

You raise an interesting question that I have thought about for many years and have drawn some conclusions about from my own personal experiences. I grew up hunting black tail deer in the coast range of central California doing so with a backpack on. We used jeeps and tote goats to get around the back country but all the hunting was done on foot. I would say that all of those remote mountain ranges we hunted are just as good today as they ever were. The forest service have closed most of the access roads and fire breaks that we used to all mechanical travel so the actual hunting pressure has not changed much. That's a good deal!

Started hunting mule deer in Utah in the late 60's and when hunting in a remote area with little or no pressure the hunting was at its best. By the late 80's the quad guys had found that they could ride up into that remote country and it was not long before on a morning's hunt where one could see 6 to 10 bucks by noon there were very few or none. The simple fact was it got too much pressure because people who would not hike in or use horses to access those places were now there.

In the mid 80's we found a honey hole in southeast Idaho and for about 5 years had some of the finest mule deer hunting I have ever had with our group consistently taking bucks in the 27 to 36 inch range. One of my hunting partners went there this 2007 season more to enjoy the beauty of the place then to hunt and reported there were quad trails going up ridges where just a few years ago you could have taken a nice buck. My friend and his partner who are very capable mule deer hunters hunted 5 days in country they know very well and never saw a buck.

I now live in west central Idaho at the north end of the Hells Canyon Wilderness. My ranch borders the wilderness on the south with BLM to the east and private property to the west. This is very steep rugged country and you are very limited where you can take a quad even though it is the main transportation for the few of us that live here. On the public land to the east where quads are allowed the hunting is very poor yet you can take a horse which we do and cross over and drop down into the wilderness and there is some very good hunting. This 2007 hunting season the group took 4 bucks 1 cow elk and 2 bull elk all were taken while on foot and miles from any quad trail with the exception of one taken right after a snow storm shot from a quad. Everything is packed out in a backpack or horse back up to where it can be got with a truck or quad.

I have concluded that any kind of mechanical access has a huge impact on game. It's simply the pressure from people who without a quad or trail bike would not normally hunt the areas that they now do. And it's not just the hunting pressure. Quads have opened country to recreation that in years past was virtually undisturbed. During the spring when the elk and deer are caving and there are quads or trail bikes running the trails it has to have an impact.

Don't get me wrong I have just as much fun on my quad as everyone else and use it to scout game and get things in and out but I realize without it the impact would be less. The quad and the trail bike has definitely ruined many a good hunting area by simply increasing the pressure and I am as guilty of that as anybody. The quad is a hunting asset and should not be abuse or we could lose it.

 

In my experience it is a matter of exposure. If the deer see ATVs a lot they tend to ignore them. I ride on my farm all the time and I've nearly driven over deer. A couple of weeks ago after deer season I kicked up a buck about 10 yards in front of me. I shut the atv off and decided to sit awhile and watch him. He walked about 20 yards away and looked at me for a bit then went on about his business munching on vegetation and sniffing branches. He made a scrape and rubbed a tree a little and wandered over to a bedding spot they use and laid down. I probably watched him for 30 minutes or more. When I started up my atv to ride on he didn't even move. Just turned and watched me ride away.

They're use to seeing and hearing atvs on my place. Same thing with the house. They'll walk right up to my back door and aren't bothered by the furnace going on and off or in the summer the AC unit going on and off. If I leave the garage doors open it isn't uncommon to find deer tracks in there come morning.

What bothers them is something out of the ordinary. They are really wary hen they see an unfamiliar vehicle at my house. They approach very cautiously and check out the visiting vehicle and are quite nervous as they wander around the yard. I know when I took a 2 stroke dirt bike through my timber they scattered and ran every which direction. They're not used to hearing 2 strokes and it frightened them.

I ride into my stand in the morning and it doesn't upset them at all. I've had them wander up and sniff the atv but mostly they just ignore it. I can't count the times I've barely shut the ATV off and got settled into my blind or stand and had deer swarming over the area and catching me before I was ready and set up.

If you're hunting where they are accustomed to atvs I don't think it affects the hunting much if any. however, if you are hunting where there isn't regular atv traffic then it can cause them to be a bit wary.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. Judging from the lack of participation, this is a very touchy subject. I personally live on a farm where tractors, grain trucks, atv's and many other forms of transportation are used on the farm so our wildlife is very accustomed to seeing lots of vehicles. A quad is just another form of travel that our deer are very used to seeing.

I can see the points made by others especially in pristine areas where there has been very little impact by humans. Farming communities work the land and work it often. It's our way of life. So I guess I'm lucky I live on a farm. I hope to always have the right to use my atv on the farm for hunting, putting out corn, hanging stands, and retrieving deer after the harvest. If not, I can do it the old way dragging things in and out like I did before.

 

Well spoken. I use an ATV as well because of my limited mobility in walking. Wish I knew where you lived. 800 acres is a lot of real estate. I could only imagine not having to hunt state land and dealing with an unknown element there. Had I friend like you, you might permit me to put up my ground blind early in the season before the bowhunting opener as a tree stand for me is out of the question. Then we could talk about turkey and waterfowl hunting all of which I can do from my blind or cover. Just as I am now a gimp, my passion for the outdoors has not waned. You continue to use that ATV responsibly and I will do the same. Mine is a Polaris 250 Xplorer automatic with 4x4 on demand. I put a Mad Dog double bow/gun holder on the front rack and a Plano hard case on the back. If ever in the Rochester NY area, give me a holler. We'll go kill something.

Rob

 

As an avid hunter, I personally think that ATV's are a clear benefit in our sport of hunting. The most important aspect is the responsible use of all of the aspects of both sports. I have used my ATV while hunting, and will continue to do so. There have been several occasions when hunting alone that I could not have retrieved the animal I shot with out it. Anyone ever try to drag an animal that weighs more than you for over a mile, thru steep ditches and tall brush? There isn't an environmentalist alive that can convince me that horses would be better for the environment; they require far too much food and their exhaust is a hazard, not to mention they are smelly and extremely expensive when compared to an ATV. I have seen horse trails that are far more damaged than any ATV trail I ever been on, and can show anyone who cares enough to look.

 

I would like to add that it is BS that deer will not prosper in an area that has a lot of human traffic; whether on foot or on machine. I work on Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton Ca, and I can tell you there is probable no other place in the US that sees more foot movement, vehicle traffic, and large explosions than right here in So Cal. First Marine Division is an Infantry Division, which means a huge amount of ground pounders (infantry) hiking and traipsing throughout the base, in addition to thousands of vehicles, artillery, helos, jets, and all the other loud noises associated with the military; not to mention the tens of thousands of students, reservists, and members of other services (including foreign services) that train on this base. This base not only has a thriving deer population, but also buffalo, mountain lion, coyote, bobcat, and numerous endangered animals and vegetation.

QUOTE FOR TODAY:
Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented immigrant" is like calling a drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist"

 

just last weekend I almost hit 3 deer walking down a street of a city of 30,000 .
mamales adapt thats what there best at ,it's usually to much pressure in hunting that spoils the area .

 

Pressure is the key. I have hunted on horse back,truck,walking,and ATV's...and walking will spook deer faster than any of the above.I think deer become accustomed to the natural environment,such as tractors,trucks or what ever is used. In our area,we see deer before the rifle season,but when the first center fire goes off.....bambi goes into a hole until the rut.We just started taking does other than doe season,and the does became just as wiley as a buck.Walking,and rifles change the pressure,so the deer change to meet the pressure.I don't think any vehicle(we also have logging going on)has any real reason for scaricity of game.After all,we are preditors,and I hunt like one.I use no cover scents,doe pee,buck stink or any thing other than the wind. I kill just as many sitting on the ground as sitting in a tree stand.All you have to do is think like a big cat.