going hunting on a bicycle

A fall would do wonders for your scope.

I use a dirt bike when it's muddy since I sold my old 4x4. But, I ain't peddlin'.

This is exactly what I thought of when I read your thread title, hahaaa

, I couldn't resist

Lots of kids around here ride their bikes to go hunting. Nothing like seeing a half dozen teen agers riding down the main drag dressed in blaze orange and camo with a loaded shotgun slug across the handlebars. "Welcome to the UP" I tell the shocked tourist onlookers.

When I lived in Florida, there was a Wildlife Management Area right near my house that was a "no motorized vehicle" area. There was a narrow entry point for foot or bicycle traffic only. In order to hunt there, I would put my blackpowder rifle, shotgun, or Winchester 94 (depending on the season) in its case and tie it to the large rack I installed on the back of my mountain bike. Plenty of other hunters did likewise as there was a dirt road that led back to the best hunting territory (heavy thickets), which was a few miles into the area. *shrugs* Even in the hot Florida sun, it made for a nicer ride out to be on a bicycle with some wind cooling you than to be walking with all your gear. =)

Getting to the hunting spot might be OK.....getting back could be interesting. The thought of carrying a deer, equipment, and a hunter back seems problematic. What's the tire load rating on most bikes?....plus balancing all that weight on uneven terrain? Some of our deer can run 300-350 lbs...add an overweight hunter and could be problems.

Come to think of it, I've heard guys haul mountain bikes out to Matagorda Island during dove season. The island is open to dove hunting, but no motor vehicles and you can't get there other than by boat, anyway, so they put the bike in the boat for the ride over, then ride to their hunting spot.

lugging home a dozen doves is one thing. . . , but riding home with a dressed deer on the handlebars is something else!

LD

According to Patrick MaCMannis,you let the deer do the pedaling.

Done it many times in South Texas while bowhunting Javelina.

It is a quick and quiet way to get down a long sendero when a herd is spotted.

On some of the ranches we hunt...it is no exaggeration to say that Javenlina can be spotted 3/4 mile down a sendero and the same thing happening down another.

One person may opt to take the vehicle closer to a group... then stalk the rest of the way...while the other person jumps on a mountain bike and goes after the second group.

It works very well (in dry weather).

Guess it depends what you are hunting. I don't fancy bringing an animal that weighs a couple hundred pounds home on a bicycle, even if the bike can handle it, the balance would be terrible.

They make trailers for hauling kids (usually have a yellow cover with a screen in front)? It would be a simple matter to take off the screen and the child seat, bolt on a flat surface and... viola! Instant deer-drag (roll).

Well, let's just say, I'm keeping my truck.

Putting the deer on the bike and walking the bike would be better than dragging the deer.

Putting the deer on the bike and walking the bike would be better than dragging the deer.

Click to expand...

That might work in Texas, but they say up in Indiana, the deer are bigger than a Colorado elk. I can't see a bicycle being a big improvement. LOL Down here, hell, if you can carry a jack rabbit.......

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Based on my experience in RVN, I tried riding a bike while elk hunting.
The Dinks pushed their crappy bicycles from Hanoi to Saigon carrying a 100 Kilo bag of rice on either side; over 400 lbs per bike as well as other, more offensive cargo. That's pretty much the length of California for those of you with geographic disability. My goal was not nearly as lofty but I found the game trails of Colorado a little much for my taste or energy level and have since found more elk in the places you aren't permitted to bring a vehicle of any kind. That's where I try to hunt now so I abandoned the project and sold the gun rack I had on my handlebars. Stashing a rifle on the bike is problematic unless you have a decent trail (which the Dinks had).
2-300lbs of deer or elk quarters would be no problem on a properly rigged bike set up to be pushed home: push bar attached at the seatpost and an extension at the handlebar on the operator's side. That's about 3x the amount I can carry out on my back.
HTH
Doug

I have an area up in the mountains where I road-hunt for quail. I usually take a jeep or atv's, but I guess a bike might be quieter. I may try this a couple times this coming season.

I went hunting with a mountain bike once. Was the first week of November in Elk Island park in Alberta and is a walk,horse or bike only hunting zone. Was great first thing in the morning to get way back into the zone. But the wet ground had thawed out on the roads when I started back and the gumbo was so thick on the tires I had to get off and push the bike alsong the sides of the roads to get back to the parking lot. Needless to say I canned that idea after that.

There's a new generation of off-road "fat bikes" that beg to be taken for a hunting trip. I see quite a few around here. They were developed as snow bikes for an extreme human-powered race on the Iditarod trail, now known as the Invitational.



They're based off of the Surly Pugsley and similar frames that can take extra-wide tires and rims. Mount good trailer on one and you could easily haul several hundred pounds of meat out of the woods, and get through some pretty rough conditions.



My own rig is more of an urban setup, but I do take it a little ways into the Chugach. That scabbard is the ideal way to carry on the bike, at least for leverguns.

I rode a Pugsley a few weeks ago, they are BEASTS!

Alot better than my Cross Check!