Guilty as charged!

[FTD]

About 35 of us go up into the south side of the Stanley Basin here in Idaho every September for a 5 day romp and stomp. Some of you may know, this is the height of Elk season up there and that is where you get the trophies. MONSTER ELK! Anyhow, when we pass these "hunters" on the trail and they give us that look... should we be feeling guilty? They SHOULD be way up out of the trail system anyway to get Elk correct? One hunter we came up on on the trail was on a Fatcat and he piled it up into a tree. I sure have mixed feeling on whether to feel bad for 12+ guys romping past these hunters.

Hoss

[ThumperWR450F]

if you were riding your bike and heard a gun go off you could get scared and hit a tree.if they complain just tell them that they are bad aim's and woulda missed anyway and you were just saving the embarrassment of a bad shot.than again would you really want to make 12+ guys with guns mad ?? do you have some sort of death wish ? you might be the next thing they have mounted in there trophy room .

[FTD]

You must have missed my point. 12 or of us... four stroke riders... will pass them... 2-3 hunters on a trail... with horses, bikes or on afoot. That seems to piss them... hunters... off.

[Burnrider]

Elk hunters are crazy. They do carry guns and there are cases of shootings every year where hunters shoot other hunters decked out in orange. We avoid opening weekend hunts, and ride areas where we can dissappear in a hurry. There are hunters in dedicated OHV areas that act like they own it when the hunting season is on. I don't trust them because we have had words with them. In some cases they will steal game from each other at gunpoint. They ain't no choir boys.

[tctrailrider]

FTD,

Here in Michigan we have firearm deer season for two weeks in November. Can't ride at all during the season. Even if we could I would pass. Making guys with guns mad is a bad idea. I also think we should give them the woods for this short period of time.

[BrandonW]

Last year, during the opening of pheasant season, three buddies and I went for a nice ride on some state land. When we were heading out, at about 7 am, there was this one truck heading the same way we were. When we pulled up behind him, we sucked his dust for about a minute, we was not going to pull over, we we passed him on the left. He saw us going by, and even inched over a little to the left as we went by. I happend to notice his Silver Soda sitting in his lap as we rode by. Two 10 year old boys in there too. Thought nuthin' of it.

Then, when we were riding out, his truck was on the side of the road, and he was "hunting" about 30 yards off it it. In an area that was open for hunting miles by square miles. As we went by, he stood up and glared at us. Kinda made me chuckle.

When I encounter horses on the trail, I shut off and let them pass, when I see bikers, they usually stop and pull thier bike off the trail as I pass. Conflicts happen, it is all in how you deal with it. As long as you are not staying in the area, purposfully "rev'in" the engine, or honking horns, I think that they are usually pretty tolerant.

If they are going to "hunt" within sight of thier truck (or beer cooler, if that is the case) then they should expect other public land users. If they get stressed over it, well, that is their issue.

[geo199]

being a hunter in addition to an off road rider i understand both sides obviously better than some of these previous replies indicate. personally i won't ride in the woods during any big game hunting season to avoid spooking the game for others. we think we go by and its all over but the wildlife doesn't like the noise we make and you could be ruining another persons entire season by chasing that big bull/buck away. it's all about respect imho.

cheers

[cowboyona426]

Best advice- just be corteous. Most people won't mind if you casually cruise by, but if you drop to gears and throw roost and go screamin by with the front tire up in the air, they're likely to get a little pissed. ? Myself- I use my bike to hunt on (ride the bike to a good spot, get off and walk- not ride down the trail, see a deer/elk and blast it from my bike). The only people that will be really offended by your bike is the greenies, in which case you do drop a few gears, throw roost (preferrably at the greenies) and fly by with the front tire in the air If you're in a multiple use area, your bound to run in to other people. I would say to not make a habit of riding during hunting season, but we've all gotta have our fun. My 4.26 worth.

[ZEKEDAWG]

I too hunt and ride. I ride to some of the hunting areas but hunt from foot. If I were hunting in an area that is frequented by ohv's then that is my decision and I should expect to have company. But you can ride all year there are only certain times you are allowed to hunt. So during the hunting season I try to avoid areas where others may be hunting or at least stay on the roads and out of the good spots. If you are on public land then it is their for public use and should be there for the public to use in anyway that is legal and that they want. Where I live the deer know whats up the first day of deer season because there are a bunch of beer drinking idiots driving around in the woods on quads and in trucks. ( i am sometimes one of them) Plus the hunting seasons can run from july through january, i am not going to quite riding for that long. The animals get used to noises that they here often, chainsaws,cars ,mototrcycles, logging equipment etc. In heavily hunted areas try riding in the late morning and cut out around 3 pm that will minimize the run ins.

Another way to look at it is should they hunt in your riding area?

[BrandonW]

Plus, I bet that I scare wildlife towards them just as much as I scare it away.

Another story that is negelected to be told by our liberally biased media!!

I am going to go get a job with FOX. This is easy...

?

[ColoradoXR]

I am also and avid hunter and avid dirtbiker - just turned in my tag apps yesteday. I am also a fair hunter and respectful dirtbiker.

First and foremost, riding during hunting season is just plain dangerous. A .308 can travel for miles and can punch through trees, etc. You may get hit from a shot taken miles away - you just never know.

To all you guys that call hunters "crazy", etc., you are sadly misinformed and obviously sterotypical. I know that seeing a dirtbiker won't send me off into a murderous rampage and start leading all of you out, although I would be pissed and would probably have some words for you on the trail. Hell, I give shitty looks to hunters on ATV's, partly because they are cheaters, but mostly because I know that when they are around, there isn't an animal within miles of me. How can you stereotype a group when you are a member of a group that is largely negatively stereotyped (newsflash, no one likes the sound of a dirtbike, except a biker) Judging from what I know, there are more ethical hunters than ethical dirtbikers around these parts.

Secondly, riding during elk season is just plain disrespectful. I know it's your right, but would it be too much to lay off for a week and let the hunters have their day (week). They get one week a year to satisfy a love that is more beloved than the desire of 99% of the dirtbikers that I know. Before you say, "you're riding with the wrong guys", tell me if you freeze your ass off in the middle of the winter to ride your dirtbike for a week straight. Tell me the last time your buddies called wanting to ride and the the response was "I gotta work",

You could go to the track or you could just lay off for a week. So, the answer to your question, "Should you feel guilty?" The answer is unequivically, YES. If you're going to ride during their hunting season, then don't bitch the next time one of your riding areas gets closed. There are a lot more politicians, police officers, etc. that are hunters than dirtbikers. So with that said, they are the ones ultimately making the decision on what lands to close to dirtbiking, in order to make hunting and other forms of recreation a more enjoyable experience. So, you reap what you sow.

Sorry if I upset anyone, but I just applied for my tags and "buck fever" has set in. I will be dirtbiking all summer, but just to pass the time until opening day...

[geo199]

well said coloradoxr,

an intelligent and informed opinion!

[Sean_McCutcheon]

Yes it is very stupid to ride during hunting season. There are people out there that will shoot you just because you are scaring off there game. Not a time to mess around.

[FTD]

OUR season starts the end of AUGUST and doesn't end until the end of OCTOBER. To me, the best mountian riding is in September and in to October. Why should I stop riding on my favorite trails for 2 months? I have spoken to quite a few of the hunters up there and they say if the hunters are hunting near the established trails... they don't know how to hunt big game. The hunters I have trouble with are the ones that are coming down from where they should hunt get get a decient bag and still give us additude. We do respect hunters... we stay on designated trail systems so they do NOT shut us down. Hunters have available access of the trail system maps. If I wanted to hunt big game instead of ride, I would educate myself to the trail systems and go to where the BIG guys are. I prefer to bag my meat from a home grown Black Angus that has been fatted out on corn and grain laced with mollasses.

Colorado only has 1 week to bag an animal? You must have TONS of game or minimal hunters. People here take 3 weeks of vacation to find the bag they want. I guess the repopulation of the grey wolf in the Stanley basin wasn't such a good idea huh?

Hoss

[lewichris]

actually it is quite funny. Alot of the trails up here in north idaho are open until the end of august. then closed to motorized vehicles. Not mountian bikes. I dont know but down south it may be similar. Now if it is an approved ORV park or OVR trail system that has been there for years the unters are going to stay away as are most animals. RIGHT? If it is just trails up in the mountians and on logging roads hell why not lay off for a bit. I hunt and ride also. my true love is hunting. But i hunt mostly on private land. Now on the other hand lots of guys ride their 4 wheelers up there to hunt. Not only hunt from but to get where they want to hunt. Granted they are alot quieter. Hell i saw a guy pull out a nice 4 point last year up on canfield mountian. A very well known trail system. They had no problem. So this is a tough call. And NO the hunters are not going to shoot at you or shoot you... Besides if they wanted to shoot at you most are extremly good shots and would hit you reguardless. LOL this is a fun topic to write about.

[ColoradoXR]

Yes, we do in fact have only one week to hunt big game in Colorado & there is an over abundance of hunters. Yeah, you may see that the elk season lasts for a month and a half, but each guy only gets one tag for a single, one-week period. If you were to educate yourself before you enter an argument and make an unbiased decision instead of basing opinions on stereotypes, you would see that it is basically the same in Idaho. You would see that there is more elk killed in Colorado than any other state, by far. In recent years, there were in upwards of 250,000 tags issued and close to 60,000 animals taken. I could bitch about all of the out-of-staters that come out here in their 90K motorhomes, pulling 10K ATV's, but that's another unrelated can of worms I won't open in this forum.

Another huge hole in your argument is that not all hunters go for the "big boys" up top. Some only have a cow tag (again, thanks to all the out-of-staters filling up the quoatas) and hunt much lower for this quary. We don't all have the luxury of walking 50 yards to the barn to fatten up Brutus on corn and molasass-laced hay. Some people hunt for this meat store and your screwing with their family eating.

I'm sorry, but you don't know what your talking about. Perhaps I could claim that because you ride a dirtbike, you go off trail, tearing up land or sneak on private land to "poach a sweet trail". But I won't because I don't and I'm also a dirtbiker. However, rest assured that there are many non-riding, important, decision making people out there that think this to be the case.

You can argue all you want, but those individuals only have a week to fullfill their dreams, you have all spring and summer to fullfill yours. Don't be bitch when some Idaho senator introduces and passes a bill to shut down your favorite high-country riding spots because you pissed him off when he was out on his "once-in-a-lifetime hunt". It can happen because it's happening here. One of the best riding spots west of Denver (Kingston Peak) is going to be affected because James Peak was designated a wilderness area and that's going to affect the riding access. You wanna know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna put away my dirtbike away and pick up my rifle because the elk are going to move in and there's going to be one happy lawmaker and a bunch more happy hunters.

[racemile]

ColoradoXR,

uuummmmmm......don't we have a bow season that starts around late august? Followed by a black powder season in september? Followed by a rifle season for 3 differnt weeks in oct and november? Then isnt there a....private property season in December? And all of these seasons specifically geared towards deer and elk?

I really could be wrong on this. It's been 5yrs since I took to the woods, but, I dont think so. ?

I would agree that everyone that uses the forest needs to respect the rights of others. But, at the sametime, I have come blasting down a trail only to have a deer standing there in amazement at my unique riding skills. If there are bikes there and have been for awhile then I dont think a bike would be a change for their environment.

Just my opinion

Race.

[racemile]

Besides, with CWD (chronic wasting disease) rampant through our deer and elk populations, I don't know that taking this meat is a good thing for anyones family. This nasty little bug has been rumored to be passable to humans and is fatal. It is usually carried in spinal/brain fluid, something that you will contact when cleaning an animal.

Race

[geo199]

this is why i stopped after my first post on this subject

colorado. your informed and logical arguement is meaningless here.

[FTD]

I had a post firing back at but I decided not to...

Mr. ColoradoXR,

My point is, if a hunter is going to hunt by a designated trail, he or she should expect some traffic on that trail that come in a sort of a motor attatched to it and yes, sir, it will make noise. I will respectfully conclude my post at this time.

Hoss