Do ATV's or 4 wheelers hurt your bowhunting area?

[bayoulongbowman]

I will take alot grief over this but , it hurts bowhunting period. I was fortunate to hunt a area that is bowhunting only , not atv or 4 wheelers...all I can say is , in this 10 point or better area it was a noticable difference, So what do the rest of yall think? thanks..no right or wrong just spiining the yarn .  

[Barney]

Yes

[Pat B]

Mark, The only time we allow 4 wheelers or any motorized vehicles on our club is during work details or to recover shot animals. Any other time its foot traffic only.    Pat

[killinstuff]

A pickup towing a trailer with a couple of ATV's and 10 50# bags of bait heading north on I-75 in Michigan in the fall is a common sight. Just how a lot of guy chose to "hunt" these days. I blame that on the TV shows.

[Dirty Bill]

They run everywhere here. I guess the deer are used to them. There are places where they are not allowed.

[titus bass]

I can only say YES - anything else get my blood boilin....

[Starkman]

I think it's easy to blame ATV's.  I own one, but do not use it while hunting.  They do provide better access, albeit noisy which can be a problem. From what I've seen on our lease, deer become accustomed to all traffic in general.  Give me a responsible hunter using an ATV over a slob hunter on foot anyday.  Irresponsible hunters in general, whether on foot, auto, or ATV is what spoils hunting.  
Bob

[akbowbender]

Yes and no. At our camp in Michigan, the ATV's have turned some of the old leaf covered logging roads into big mud holes. That's my biggest gripe.

They are useful, though. Pulling the deer out of the woods is handy, and father has lost a lot of mobility because of parkinson's, so he can get out to his stand more easily.

[Dave Lay]

YES>>YES>>YES. I cant stand them  alot of it is thier owners, some folks use them as you would a 4WD truck,I dont see alot wrong with that as long as they stay on open roads. but around here most run rampant

[robslifts]

yes I hunt a thirty acre parcel that is on a corner of two roads I have noticed that the deer are not affected by vehicles on the road..

but the atv's and dirtbikes that frequent the road (which are not allowed but with a special permit)  they very frequently make the deer more nervous and most of the time they take off running instantly.  when hunting in this are  i see deer everytime I am out there during bow only season (october 1-nov 14) but the atvs seem to disappear during the rifle seasons and muzzeloader season  and I typically only see a few deer that are not running as fast as they can go during that time.  

just my two cents..

[Ybuck]

Yes.
Most people use them, because their lazy.

[adeeden]

Yes, I see them here on public land were there not allowed way to often.

[Widowbender]

I own an atv. When I go hunting it usually stays at home. Sometimes I might use it to get a deer out of the woods. Other than that I use it for food plots, spraying, hauling stands and other stuff, usually before hunting season. I don't drive mine all over the woods.

David

[wingman]

Have you ever witnessed the affect that an airboat has on waterfowl?

Thats pretty much what 4-wheelers do to game, panics them. I prefer to hunt calm animals, not alerted ones.

[BUFF]

I guess it just depends on how big your ranch is... Our lease is about 6 miles deep. If I couldn't use a UTV It would take along time to walk to my stand every morning

[bayoulongbowman]

wingman at least the ducks have the sky!   ..more than deer have..

[BTH]

I just shake my head when I see the ATV with a bow in a bow rack.   :rolleyes:  

I don't like them. I'm 41, my knees and back hurt. But I still prefer to use the quads that God gave me. I'm probably generalizing here, so please forgive me for that, but it seems there's a lot more stand and blind hunters in the mid west and back east than out here in the west. If you need to use the quads for access or what not, and park them away and finish the walk in, I don't see a problem with that. But what I see out here is the quad with the bow or rifle in the rack and guys using that quad as a road hunting spot and stalk tool. I just don't like that. To me it disturbs the peace of what I'm looking for in my hunting experience.
The club I belong to, Wilderness Unlimited, bans atv's from their leased lands. They also close the roads on the properties during some seasons. This forces folks to get out and hunt without pressuring the animals too much with atv and four wheel drive noise.
Now, as a ranch, property tool or a fun toy in the approved areas, that's where I like them. But not in my hunting area.

[Larry247]

I own them and i use'em. Sometimes i take it with me and some times i don't. I'm not goina beat my truck up to get to some of the places that i hunt. ATV's aren't the problem, its the owners-operators....

[steadman]

Yes!

[owlbait]

Yes I think they hurt hunting. I especially dislike the noise factor. I don't know why they couldn't muffle them so we could share the woods more peacefully. I hunt near trails for dirtbikes and they sound like chainsaws on wheels. Lovely way to spend some times in the woods.