Tips for Hunters
In the back of your mind, one of the reasons
you purchased your ATV was to help you out on the deer or elk hunt.
There is no question that an ATV can be a great tool for that very thing.
However there are some inherent dangers that accompany the combination
of guns and ATV's or any OHV. Here are just a few points to keep
in mind to assure that you return from your hunt successfully and safely.
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NO ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES or Drugs! No
kidding, just don't even bother to take along a six pac and you will not
be tempted to have a cool one to take the edge off the day. The use
of alcoholic beverages or drugs is attributed to more hunting accidents
than any other single factor. Even if you would rather not believe
it, it is true. The use of alcohol and drugs in any form clouds vision
and judgment to the point of severe impairment much faster than its users
can even recognize. This applies even if you are not using an ATV.
If you are carrying a rifle or any firearm your blood alcohol or drug level
should be 0.00. There is no safe level of alcohol or drugs in your
blood. Here are some of the things that have been attributed
to the use of Alcoholic beverages or drugs on the hunt: 1)
You can become lost, requiring massive resources to locate you after your
buzz wears off. 2.) You can shoot yourself - suicide is a self serving
tragedy - don't go there. 3.) You can shoot your own hunting partners:
There's something out in front of you moving in the bushes... you raise
your rifle to get a view... BLAM What was that? You didn't'
think your finger was anywhere near the trigger, but you are on your butt
from the recoil. Off in the distance you can hear someone writhing
in pain then silence... eternal silence. When you stumble over to
the spot you find your son covered in blood... it looks like his leg is
blown off. Then you think to yourself... If I had just not
had that beer a while back. (This tragedy is repeated time after
time almost every year) 4. You can miss judge the safe speed required to
make a turn on the trail. At 35 MPH you plunge over the side of the road
and roll your ATV. You feel every one of the 536 pounds as it rolls
across your chest. 5. You can pass out and waken to find that the
weather has turned from a warm fall day to a 10" snowstorm in the insuing
hours. When you rise to return to your ATV you can not find it, much
less the trail back to your camp. Eventually hypothermia convinces
you to sit down and rest.... in peace. Okay.... I know I rammed
this down your throat, but there is just too much to loose. I may
be the target you mistake for a deer or elk. You'll have to excuse
my desire for self preservation.
-
Always scabbard your rifle while riding your
ATV. You may have the physical prowess to carry your rifle while
you drive, but ATV riding is a two handed sport. Keep your rifle
protected from elements by keeping it in the scabbard. If you get
mud up your barrel, you are done hunting until you clean it out again.
-
The time honored sport of road hunting remains
illegal. It is not legal in the State of Utah to shoot across a roadway.
-
If you really want to find deer/elk while
you are riding you must go very slow... under 4 MPH and make as little
noise as possible. When you see a deer. Turn off your motor.
Remove your helmet then take your rifle from the scabbard/gun case.
Get off your ATV, then determine what is behind your target, raise your
rifle, take careful aim for a one shot kill of your prey and squeeze
the trigger and fire. If you move slowly you will not spook your
game. You may be the focus of their attention, but they are not likely
to jump and run if you do not act alarming.
-
It is not legal to take your ATV from the
trail to retrieve your prize in any National Forest. Some BLM areas
do permit this.. You must drag your game to the trail to load it
on your ATV. I don't make the rules, I'm just telling you what they
are.
-
Wear your helmet at all times you are on your
ATV. This is not the law, it is just good sense.
-
One advantage of hunting in an area that permits
ATV travel is that deer and elk that are familiar with ATVs in the area
are less spooked when they approach.
-
If you skipped the part above about No Alcoholic
Beverages or Drugs, because you wanted to ignore it anyway, go back up
and read it. You will be no good to our cause if you are not around
to support it.
-
Please don't haul your deer all the way home
strapped to the back of your ATV in the back of your pickup. To those
of us who are hunters we are not offended by your trophy, but there are
many out there who believe that bambi is real and are seriously abhorred
by the vision of a slaughtered animal. Just be a good citizen and
put your prize where it won't be seen by the non sporting public.
If they associate ATVs with slaughtered deer, then we will find no support
from them in keeping our mountain roads and trails open.
-
Haul out more than you haul in. Critics
of hunting and motorized use of the forest also point to the amount of
trash that is left behind by those who visit. It matters not that
those without motorized transportation are more likely to leave behind
their trash, than those with motorized transportation, because it is blamed
on the motorized travelers anyway. Respect the use we have of the
forest and public property by making sure that we are found to be the volunteers
who leave it better than the way we found it.
-
Tread Lightly. It is only a natural
thing for the kids to climb on the ATVs while in camp and start putting
around a bit. There is no real harm in this right? Well, not
exactly, as long as they don't start making new trails around the perimeter
of your camp. This is actually one of the most dangerous activities,
because they tend not to be adult supervised, nor are helmets worn.
What starts out as innocent fun, can easily result in serious injury and
damage. The best practice is to stay on the trail. Some riders get
mixed up with the reason why they are there. If you start tooling around
like it is play time at the sand dunes you will have few good shots at
deer, unless you don't plan on hunting anywhere near your camp.
Mountain trail riding requires different rules and behavior than does open
area/sand dune riding. Even if you have a 650 Sand Thrasher,
if you take it with you on a hunt, you are using it as a utility vehicle
and thus you should not ride as though your plan is to break air over the
next hill. It may be fun to spin brodies in the loose gravel on the
trail, but it is an unwise practice. When others find such evidence
they point to these as "abuse" of the environment. By "Tread
Lightly" we mean that you should leave as little evidence of your having
been there as possible.
-
Use of ATV's in muddy conditions in National
Forests causes severe damage to the trails. If you find yourself
in conditions such as this, please wait until the trail dries up or freezes
over before you ride your ATV. No one enjoys deep ruts cut in the trail
by 4WD vehicles or ATV's. It is damage like this that closes trails
for "revegitation"
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Did you really read the caution on the use
of alcohol and drugs?
-
Never go hunting on your own. Always have
someone with you to help you out in a pinch.
-
Stay in contact with your camp with the use
of an FRS radio or a short wave radio. You can get a FRS radio from
Radio Shack that plugs into your cigarette lighter it makes a great camp
base station radio.
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Visit the area you plan to hunt before the
season. Learn the trails that are open and the potential hunting
grounds for your hunt.
-
Have your hunt planned and marked on a map.
Leave a copy of the map at home and in your base camp. Clearly mark
the places you intend to hunt. Also take a copy of the map with you
and stay within your plan. If you choose to change your plan, then
mark it on your map, and call home with your cell phone and let your loved
ones know you are moving your hunting area. Give them the map coordinates,
or the GPS coordinates of the new hunting area.
-
If you read the warning on Alcoholic beverages
and still plan to have a six pack, then please be sure you stay home from
the hunt. Drink all you want and enjoy the excitement of your favorite
chair in front of the weekend football game, but don't go hunting!