HUNTING WITH AN ATV

[maximus]

Hi all,was wondering if anyone thinks that getting to my tree stand via atv will reduce my chances at seeing(shooting) deer?
If so,how far should I "hide" my atv from my stand?
I am (cross)bow hunting .
Thanks in advance,
MAXIMUS

[rickyp]

My friend and I have an ATV between the two of us.
we use it to put out and move the stands, carry the corn into the woods and to retrieve the dead deer.
We do not normally use it to get to and from hunting location with our hunting clothes on the reason is no matter how far you lave it from your stand you and your clothing will still have the oder of ehost gas and oils from it.
that being said I have been on it riding around the farm checking things out and have been almost ran over by deer, if you do not ride like and idiot they don't pay much attention to you when they get to know what it is.

[wabi]

Depends a lot on where you hunt. In some areas farm equipment (including ATVs) is a pretty common sight & sound. If that's the case I'd go ahead & use it but I'd park it in brush or tall weeds well downwind of the stand.

[maximus]

Yup. I hunt on a horse farm,and the farmer is always out on his trackter.
So maybe it wont make a difference. Guess I'll just have to try it out.
1 more thing: i put out my trail cam last week at about 5pm. when I retreived my cam,I found pics of deer on it at 5;45pm THAT DAY!!!

[wabi]

The landowner and I disc & planted a small food plot last week on his farm. We had been working about 20 minutes when a doe stood up in the next field (about 40 yards away), watched for a while, then casually walked off.
He has a small farm (about 70 acres) with large farms surrounding it, but urban sprawl has also brought in a few new roads with houses nearby. The sounds of vehicles are all too common, and the deer ignore the sounds for the most part. One big advantage to an ATV in an area like that is that you are not leaving a human scent trail to the stand. I have another buddy who gets his daughter to drive him to his tree stand on the ATV. He climbs up without ever stepping on the ground, and she is soon gone. He simple calls her on the walkie-talkie when he's ready to return (or need help getting a deer out).

[crazyfarmer]

I wouldnt park within atleast an 1/8th mile of my stand... I normally dont drive anything close to my stands, unless im putting them up or moving the.


the stand I take most of my big bucks out of is atleast 1/4th mile from any truck.. long walk, but its worth it


they less I disturb the area the better

[mikej]

i drive an atv almost right to my stand and have had no problems see/ taking deer i leave it about a 4 to 5 minute walk from the stand

[cdup]

I have parked my atv right underneath my stand number of times. Some of my stands are box stand in the middle of pipelines.( a cut though the middle of a section of woods for the natural gas line that run to each gas plant). Very seldom a deer will pass within bow range but I have had number of deer come right up to my atv at times and smell it. In mine own opinion curiosity gets the best of them and they investigate. I also have a stand that is actually attach to my bike. It's a ladder stand that is around 10 ft high including the height of the rear rack to the ground. I wrap the atv with netting and have taken deer from it including a mature 8 pt. The stand folds down and secures to the rear rack when done. I don't use it that often, but it gives me another chose when time is short or funds are low on putting out another stand.

[flbuckmaster]

I am paralized from the waste down and I hunt from my Kawasaki mule with a 10' lift I built on the back. I approach my hunting area in "stealth" mode at a slow pace. The deer dont pay too much attention to me but I would park your atv downwind of your hunting stand.
Some of the deer I have taken from my portable stand;

my "stand" in actual hunting situation;

good luck,
jay