Is the cost of a ATV truly needed to hunt with?

[wapitibob]

My atv was about the best money I’ve spent on hunting gear. I did the trailer 3 times; 3 times I had flats. Quad goes in the back of the truck or it stays home.

 

[Turner River Terror]

On my Lease its either a 4x4 Dog Hunt Truck or a 4 Wheeler. The Dog hunters ride the road..sometimes at High speed and will rut the Dim roads up quick.
Atv will go thru about anything and it fit real nice between the Planted Pine rows so you can drive around the wallows.
I love mine..570 Polaris Hunter Edition.
Got a Polaris Side by Side for them evening Rabbit hunt rides with a cold one and friends..

 

[hunterjmj]

Have never used an atv or utv in all my years of hunting and can't think of a time where I needed one. I suppose it depends on where you hunt. Can't drive them off road so I don't see the point I guess. We are planning on buying a sxs for family fun here soon but it won't be going hunting with me.

 

[tdhanses]

Have never used an atv or utv in all my years of hunting and can't think of a time where I needed one. I suppose it depends on where you hunt. Can't drive them off road so I don't see the point I guess. We are planning on buying a sxs for family fun here soon but it won't be going hunting with me.

For driving those roads you creep along in your pickup or Jeep, heck even forest service roads, they just cruise down them like nothing, with the price of vehicles these days I’d rather beat up an atv or utv.

 

[hunterjmj]

I bet they do. I usually drive in, camp and do very little driving afterwards so for me it doesn't make a lot of sense. I suppose if I hunted area where I was driving around a lot it would work better.

 

[Ross]

the extras like at atv are not needed but many things we use for hunting are not needed, simply need to analyze how you want to hunt and accessing the country along with the cost benefit ratio for you…only you can decide if the Want factor is high enough and reasonable to purchase for your situation..I hate pulling trailers and for sure slow things down….

 

[Where's Bruce?]

I drive my truck and then my Mule 1000. I like to keep it quiet but then, I'm a bow hunter.

 

[tdhanses]

I bet they do. I usually drive in, camp and do very little driving afterwards so for me it doesn't make a lot of sense. I suppose if I hunted area where I was driving around a lot it would work better.

I guess if you just limit yourself to one area that makes sense but it gives me the opportunity to hunt many different areas all while having a main camp, I still spike camp and don’t use it daily but it allows for more opportunity imo.

What actually made me get one was having atv’s come down the same trail, open to atv’s, I’d been hiking for an hour to get to where I wanted to actually start going into the woods, why waste that time and also have to drive your vehicle just to walk and have others easily ride out of their camp and park exactly where they legally had to stop to start hiking.

Funny thing is, once I start hunting I still see very few people even if I see other atv’s or more then likely only hear them.

 

[Billy Goat]

the extras like at atv are not needed but many things we use for hunting are not needed, simply need to analyze how you want to hunt and accessing the country along with the cost benefit ratio for you…only you can decide if the Want factor is high enough and reasonable to purchase for your situation..I hate pulling trailers and for sure slow things down….

Stop making things practical. It's supposed to be the purists versus the cockroaches.

 

[cnelk]

I love my atv. Had it for 20 years. Its got 4500 miles on it.
I plow my road in the winter, I rake my lawn in the spring with a blade scratcher, I use it for scouting, camping and hunting.

I have a topper on my truck [which I wont do without] so I have a trailer, but thats also used for other things.

Rarely. And I mean rarely do I ever buy something for just one specific use

Its your money. I know what Id do

 

[Boarmaster]

I have two. A 2007 Polaris 800 and a 2001 honda foreman. I bought both new.
the polaris is fun to ride and very comfortable has a lot of power. My honda does everything the polaris does but is not as comfortable to ride.
I am always spending money keeping up the polaris. I never spent any money on the honda except regular maintainance and I put a set of new tires on a few years ago and some brakes.
If I buy another it will be a honda. If was looking for something for hunting I would look for an older honda. Not long ago a friend bought a ten year old used Honda rancher for $2800. runs good , does what he needs.

 

[HuntHarder]

I can't tell if you are serious or not. Of course they are not really needed. I think you already knew that but maybe not. They help immensely imo tho.

 

[AZBULLCRAZY]

I can't tell if you are serious or not. Of course they are not really needed. I think you already knew that but maybe not. They help immensely imo tho.

Not sure why id post something not serious to me atleast. I am a solo hunter so at times I rely on feedback here for thoughts I have. I have had utvs in past and have used them but at times due to their size, bigger trailers etc they were more of a pain. That lead me to start researching quads. Once I started thinking them over I had thoughts of is it really worth the money for the gain. Alot has to do with other expenses in life etc. That is why I wanted to get feedback from others. In the end I am starting to go in the direction of no for me. Alot of guys here made excellent examples of quads only being worth it if you use them for many other things. Me it would just be from point A to B hunting and scouting. That is still a huge benefit but as I ponder everything I do have to think that part of hunting is hunting the pressure. Atvs have most going to the deepest parts of forests and often times I think alot of game gets passed in areas I can get to in my truck. There is no doubt that an atv is a huge tool to have but this post did help me realize that I at times get caught in overthinking gear and situations rather than just getting out and putting my boots to the ground. If that makes sense. Thanks

 

[Fatcamp]

For driving those roads you creep along in your pickup or Jeep, heck even forest service roads, they just cruise down them like nothing, with the price of vehicles these days I’d rather beat up an atv or utv.

Man, I have been pricing those UTV things and they are way expensive. You can buy a lot of repairs for what one of those things cost.

 

[tdhanses]

Man, I have been pricing those UTV things and they are way expensive. You can buy a lot of repairs for what one of those things cost.

Depends on what you want, they are $8k -$30k.

 

[Fatcamp]

Depends on what you want, they are $8k -$30k.

8k is not gonna get me what I want.

Maybe used. And not running. Prolly not though.

 

[AZmark]

I've done quite a bit of elk and deer hunting along with my 2 sons. I have a ATV and seldom use it to hunt from as I believe in hoofing it but I do use my ATV for retreiving an elk or deer if its in an area I can get it into. In AZ you can legally drive offroad (except wilderness areas) only to retrieve game (although I see a lot of folks that drive down washes and across praries while hunting). I elk hunt just 5-10 miles from home so I usually leave my ATV at the house in the trailer and if we get one down and need it then I'll go back and get it. At home I've got a small gantry crane with 2 hand crank winches on it, if its in use then we use my brothers boom truck to hoist them up to skin out and cool off. Having machinery for the heavy jobs saves wear and tear on an old man.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Suddenly I see a new use for my winch. That would be great!

 

[Carr5vols]

If only for hunting,, get on Craigslist and find a Honda Fourtrax spend 2k and save the rest for tags. We have some of these on the farm and you can't destroy them. We trail ride with them, drive them everywhere. We have utvs and I prefer the fourtrax, if it gets stuck it is still light enough I can pick the end up by myself. They will carry all you need to the end of the trail for a long hunt.

 

[mtnwrunner]

Since you asked........nope.
Decent 4x vehicle and a pair of boots is all you need.

Randy