Home Forums Gear Horses and ATV's Electric UTV's, ATV's, bikes, scooters...electric wheeled things in general

I've been aware of the Bad Boy electric buggies & the like for a while. Pretty darn expensive, and I'm not sure how quiet they really are.

I saw an ad on the Sportsman channel for the Quiet Kat, which is basically an electric scooter. It's pretty darn expensive too, but I notice there are now electric mountain bikes out there around $2k, which is more reasonable.

Our lease isn't huge, but it's big enough to make walking to stands impractical. At the same point, big old deer aren't stupid, and I suspect a lot of them hide and stay hidden when they hear pickups driving around - which they've heard every fall for decades. If there's something truly quiet that lets you go a few miles to & from stands, and is less conspicuous when parked, I think it would be a good advantage.

So any comments or experience from folks?

I prefer and enjoy walking, but that isn't always practical (I have an 8 year old that seems to enjoy coming with me)

I am very leery of bad boy buggies. Can't find a good review anywhere. Drove one and loved it, but until I start seeing some positive reviews I am steering clear

I have seen the ad for the electric scooter - seems like something that would be a lot better in theory than practice

If your roads allow it, find an old standard golf cart with a lift kit and some knobby tires. Won't go everywhere an atv will go, but if the main roads of your lease are in good shape that's probably your best bet

I test rode one of the new "fat" tire bicycles. expensive, but really nice. would work good for dirt trails.

Tex: I had an invite to hunt a very exclusive deer lease in Alabama. The camp rules expressly forbade internal combustion engines anywhere past the bunkhouse. They had a fleet of modified golf carts to use. I was impressed with that means of transportation and was able to access anywhere on the lease with no problems whatsoever. There were deep mud holes and I was impressed with the several steep grades we traversed with no issues. The only noise they made was breaking ice in the AM. When I went back to hunting my relative's lease, I was astounded at how far from my stand I could hear the approach of the gas powered ATVs and golf carts.
If I had exclusive control of a lease, no internal combustion engines on the trails would be the first edict I would institute as Emperor. The only two drawbacks I know of are the high cost of batteries and the loss of battery power at lower temperatures. The batteries are a consumable and cost about $100 each. They are 8 volt if I recall and you need 6 or 7 of them. Regarding loss of power at low temps, it was not an issue on the size of lease I was on but if your lease in Texas is large, it may be a consideration in cold temperatures.
A more cost effective solution to Bad Boy is to buy used golf carts and modify them with lift kit, heavy duty controller, ATV tires, rear rack for deer and new battery bank. A windscreen is nice as well as vertical gun holders.
I have added a secondary muffler to my 4 cycle Rokon in an experiment in noise suppression. I removed it because while it slightly quieted the exhaust signature, the running gear (chains, wheels, gears, miter box, etc.) just became more obvious. I have experimented with electric bikes and while they are great transportation for the hunter, they suck for hauling a deer out. The motors do not have enough torque for pulling a deer on a cart behind the bike up any kind of grade.

What are you going to do with a scooter if you kill a deer?

Get a REAL ATV, and the deer will prety much learn to ignore it

I have 3 Yahama Grizzly 700's with EPS. I have considered the same thing (electric ATV). The terrain in NE MO is quite steep and rugged. I have seen some modded golf carts but really wonder if they would be up to the task. If I shoot a deer, I can go back to it(after GPS'ing the coordinates) with a "real" ATV or even my tractor/loader. If I scare them with my regular ATV, it probably wouldn't be a issue.

I've seen deer just stand and look when noisy stuff goes by but as soon as it appears to be a sneak, the red flags go up and they're gone.

Walking is far more fun

If you are physically able, it is.

I think electric ATV's/Quads are the future, but they are not quite there yet, needing further improvements in battery or fuel cell technology.

What ever the impact on the deer, I personally hate the noise when driving a conventional quad and find after getting off, it takes ages to get back into "stalking mode"..

That said, I have not used them very much, and when I have, its been for carcass extraction on our larger Red and Fallow deer.

If/when I kill the deer, I'd take the scooter back to camp and grab the pickup. I can easily get the pickup to walking distance of the blind, but I just think the noise is an issue. The blind is 1.7 miles from camp

I've seen older deer that were very cagey around blinds, avoiding them except at night. Even during daytime, I've seen deer step out of the brush, look at the blind first thing, and bolt back in the brush if they see something that looked different. I believe the big old guys do learn to pattern hunters.

I was talking with a Polaris dealer regarding the electric Ranger and he said that they are not stocking them here in Nebraska due to the significant power let off in cold weather, which is when most of the hunting would be taking place.

Deer have short memories, and forget about noises in just a few minutes

My diesel tractor is a LOT louder than my ATV, but I see lots of deer across the fields who pay it no mind

The more they hear things, the less those things bother them

I also suspect the battery life isn't that long, and will be expensive to replace, whereas my 95 Polaris 400 still runs like a new one

Nope.

After years of sometimes walking all the way and sometimes riding my ATV and parking it right at the stand and sometimes parking a hundred yards away. I fail to see any difference in deer sightings. miles

I can say that if you keep your lease or farm quite all summer and just pryer to hunting season you start driving around with ATV's/UTV's or trucks. It will spook the deer or game.

My grandparents farm was a working farm with all the noises and smells that go with it. My grandfather every year shot a freezer full of deer and some very nice bucks. All from next to a tractor with a old single shot H&R 12ga. no sights with slugs, most under 30 yards shots.

For evening hunts he would take me on the tractor drop me off at my tree stand go the the end of the field turn around and come back. Many times before he got to the end of field going back to the barn there would be deer coming out of the woods to see what was going on with the tractor passing.

For years I combined several hundred acres of corn and soy beans, I've seen many deer just feet away when combining. Sometime getting up moving a little ways and bedding back down.

When conditioned to sounds and noises deer will stay bedded or move a short distance and watch. It's that different noise or smell that will spook the hell out of them, or surprising them trying to sneak up, purposely or accidentally.

If possible I would drive what ever you use as much as possible to condition the animals on your property to the noises. Don't stop if you see animals but keep a slow steady pace. Most of the time they will watch you come and go.

Suzuki is making a quad that the exhaust sounds like a feeder, so you can not only drive to your stand but you can call deer all the way there...

Grandpa drove a John Deere Model B tractor for all his deer hunting....

This is the rule rather than the exception around here. Drive a 3/4 ton diesel through the fields and they just stand in the woods and watch you go by. Sneak by on foot in full camo and they will bust you before you even see them.

Here's something a little cheaper. About $249 at WalMart/Target/Academy:

http://vanscyoc.net/blog/archives/1422-Mongoose-Dolomite-Fat-bike-First-Impressions.html

I ride my Grizzly all over my 180 acre property all year and use it to fill corn feeders in the fall. There are several deer that actually come to the sound of the ATV.

I've never noticed a difference in deer sightings between sneaking in to the blind on foot and riding my ATV up to the blind and parking it within 10 feet of it. I often start seeing deer within 10 minutes of shutting off the ATV and have killed bucks within half an hour of doing so.

If I was hunting a new spot where motorized traffic was rare, I would probably become sneakier, but if the deer are acclimated to the regular sound of a motorized vehicle, I have never been able to detect a disadvantage to using one as long as it fits the regular pattern.

Another thing to consider is practicality. On Saturday I put a total of 47 miles on my Honda Big Red at the camp, using a boom sprayer clearing out brush for shooting lanes and food plots. No way could an electric UTV do anything like this.

If you run out of fuel with a gasser, you can siphon a bit from your buddy or even hike in with a couple canteens of it and get home. Run out of fuel with an electric, you can be in a world of hurt.

And I've got a John Deere tractor that will outdo the hell outta your Big Red.

Comparing a tractor to a 4 wheeler is kind of silly, they are so far apart in what thy are designed to do it ain't even funny.

And your point is?

Every day I'm riding a 4 wheeler on the farm taking feed out, checking fences, etc. I don't know how many are the same deer that are just used to it, but the 4 wheeler spooks them a lot less than me walking. I know they can hear/see the atv way before I get to them but they don't bounce off until I'm in their comfort zone. If I'm walking, as soon as I'm spotted they are hauling azz.

I think the impact of an atv on deer is minimal. If you think it's affecting deer you're hunting then you're driving it to close to where you're going to hunt.

You can cruise slowly by and watch but if you stop, the flags go up.

That you use them as they are intended. Where I whitetail hunt, carts are mandatory and they work. That's all.