Your reaction to seeing roads/trails during map recon?

[JollyRoger]

Just wanted to see what others thoughts are on this. I've been doing lots of map recon for the unit I'd like to hunt elk in and have been going there on the weekends to scout out the terrain. My question is: How much does finding roads or ATV trails effect your hunting plans? I've found some places that look promising but then found an ATV trail (that wasnt shown on google earth or USGS maps) a few hundred yards away. Of course, for backpacking in the roads are sweet and offer quick and easy travel....but the last thing I want is to run into half a dozen ATVs buzzing all over the place. After a few bad experiences with over populated areas I want to get away from the masses. Just wondering if you guys worry about the potential ease of access for other hunters, or if it's not a big deal since you're off the road so far?

Thanks

 

[robby denning]

I pay attention to all of them as all of them impact hunting. Doesn't mean I won't hunt there as sometimes there is still good country not affected by those trails. It's just part of scouting and learning your unit. If we rule out all the areas with trails soon we have nowhere to hunt. In the Grey's River, there are some canyons with no trails but lo and behold you scout it and can usually find them. Doesn't mean the hunting is bad, just one more piece of your puzzle. And sometimes you find great animals even in spots you'd think are too easily accessible.

 

[JollyRoger]

Thanks Robby. Good point about not ruling out everything with trails/roads (eventually there's always a trail). Also on that note, people seem to find deer and elk in 39 which gets hunted pretty hard each year. I'll keep that stuff in mind. Thanks!

 

[patty59]

Sometimes those are the better spots. There is a lot of ATV trails where I hunt and I find that most guys just cruise the trails and glass from the road, all the pockets get missed by them.

 

[tri2hunt]

I think you need to take into account more the area than the trails in the location you hunt. Here in Northern Idaho there are trails everywhere for access to the timber by the logging companies. I think the only way to get away from trails is the wilderness areas. The elk up here use a lot of the trails to travel on. One thing I have noticed up here is that many of the four wheeler crowd does not wonder far from their machine. So I pick the areas, even if they have trails, that will hold elk and scout to determine how much use they get. The area I hunt has four wheeler trails all around it, some of which I use to hike in on, but have not had an encounter with another hunter in two seasons. They just don't seem to like to get into the bushes when they can just ride around glassing clear cuts.

 

[JollyRoger]

Thanks all. You make some valid points. Hopefully if I can get into the animals...and be off the road enough it will play in my favor. Again, I love taking the quick route in on foot for as long as I can....so the trails can definitely work in my favor.