Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Alabama boy taking ATV to Colorado hunting

Le sigh....

Sometimes it's embarrassing living in Alabama.

This is the easiest way to handle the jetting.

Dial-A-Jet

And that heater and windshield are pretty nice on that trip.

ATV's are a great tool when used properly. Where I go, there is a whole buncha folks bring theirs. Sadly, it's nothing but the younger guys from sea-level that cause all the problems. They generally come up to CO in large groups, and usually days early to the start of their season, to go 'scouting', of course. They run them bastids full-throttle to-and-fro around the hills on the scout trip. . By season start, any elk in the area are long gone or holed up in the timber. Then they bitch about lack of game and get bored by the lack of action by the second day. So, it just turns into non-stop quad races to occupy their boredom till the season ends. These same guys have never been around horses, llamas or pack goats and are the cause of many unneccasary rodeos and wrecks. When meeting a packstring on the trail, they're too fugging rude to pull over, shut the fugger off, and talk in a calm, conversational tone to reassure the stock that they are people, and not a threat or grizzle-dy bear, until they are past. It gets even worse if they come onto you from behind....... Boy, do I have some stories...

Everybody on an ATV expects to get way back and beyond to get the good stuff.

The problem with that line of thinking is you've passed by a schitload of honey holes to get there.

That's all I have to say about that.

Colorado does allow you to drive 100 yards off trail to retrieve game.

I took my unjetted Kawasaki 650 up there in '09 to around 7000 feet and was thankful for every cc. It felt like I was driving a 500.

Last I checked they don't close public land to other forums of recreation during hunting seasons. I say, as long as you follow the rules, run them trails to your harts content. If the locals don't like it they can hunt somewhere else. They don't have to pay the ridiculously inflated nonresident tag prices.

No. I'm not done yet.

The best spot is rarely at the end of the road.

TIFWIW.

What we seem to get are the guys from our big city to the south who get one tag in the party and bring along 6-8 buddies and rolling hotels, followed by the trailers full of ATVs/UTVs. The buddies are continuously "scouting".

You the prick that won't pull over and shut it off? Is it because you feel you've been ridiculously 'inflated' from behind?

Maybe YOU should hunt 'somewhere else' where you can afford it......

Whoa.

Read my grumpy old man thread.

Sheesh, tough crowd. They're a tool like anything else, you can use them for some things, not for others. Know the travel rules for where you are hunting, odds are the BLM, USFS, whatever, has a pretty explicit travel map that spells out where you can do what. Follow the rules and be respectful of other hunters and you'll be ahead of all the folks who've made a bad name for quads. Odds are darn slim you'll spot any elk sitting on an atv anyway, they're best used to get you places to start hiking. And if you take them places you shouldn't, guys like me will happily report you. I know of one fella who had to haul his ATV back out of one canyon in pieces. Nothing malicious, he just got caught in a spot it was illegal to have a motor in there. Stories like that warm my heart.

Jetting, no idea, the newer the better rigs seem to handle altitude changes.

Don't forget to give the State its tithe. There is a temp out-of-state atv tag that you should buy with your hunting license...even if your atv is street legal at home and you have steel license plates on it. It'll save you a ticket.

Also, you must have your rifle cased and completely unloaded when on the atv. Or even touching the atv...don't finish out your hike and lean your rifle with loaded magazine against your atv rack, that will also earn you a fine by the good people at the state.

I hunt with mine, not off mine, and logistics dictate they can't be used everywhere. Just like a truck or bicycle, they can be handy or worthless, depending on where you want to go. Not every trail that is open to motorized traffic is a trail you can get a truck or jeep down.

And do be careful and make sure everything works on your rig. Those mushy breaks or burnt out headlight that aren't a big deal back home on the ranch become a big deal quick on the wrong trail. There are some gnarly trails that are open to motorized traffic. Heavy loads to the front when you're going up...to the back when you're going down. And know what you're doing if you're loading or offloading your atv at night or in the snow, or both. People doing it wrong get killed or crippled every year out here in the square states.

well stated SD.....

you said " logistics dictate they can't be used everywhere", and I'll add my 2 cents. "Statistics dictate those that use them are mostly not the guys that are in the '10 percent of the hunters that kill 99 percent of the elk'."

I know, I live right off I-70 and watch the annual migration of westward-bound hunters hauling their quads, bikes and buggies to the elk woods. I also see them again on their way home. Very few of the rigs pulling quads have any antler showing. But I see a buncha rigs without machines, that have horns sticking up everywhere......

If big game hunting is open on any public land, ATV's don't belong there, unless ATV tags are available.

Never been to colorado except in the 1st grade for a family reunion. But I share the ATV hatred. I have belly crawled across a half frozen mud flat to jump ducks and as I was almost in range guess what, some lazy douche comes sreaming by on a dam 4 wheeler and jumped them and screwed my opportunity. It took me 30 minutes to get into position. Had people do it while turkey hunting too.

You never learn the land or the animals using it on a ATV like you do hunting on foot. If used to get to where the hunt starts, well I can see it but around here it more like parking it under a dam tree stand.

Truth.

Looks like you are part of the problem. You most definitely CANNOT take your ATV off road or off-trail to retrieve game except for select areas of Rio Grande Nat'l Forest. Here's from CDP&W:

Some of the replies to the OP's question come across as smug and condescending. He didn't even say he was planning to use his ATV off road.

Where I hunt, in the foothills of the Sierra Madres near the Wyoming/Colorado line, there are awful roads. I have a four wheel drive truck with all terrain tires so I don't need an ATV, but not everyone does. Lot's of people use ATVs on those roads and I don't blame them. If you get stuck out there, you're in for a long day.

And to say that ATV abuse on public land is exclusively a problem of out-of-state flatlanders is laughable. But I guess I'm not surprised that someone would say that.

Used to be that people could come here and ask honest questions without getting piled on by know-it-alls. I wish that hadn't changed.

Jfc, the guy asked if he needs his carb rejetted and v"he gets a lecture.

To the op... Yes, you have to get it re-jetted. If you can borrow an efi wheeler, then you won't have to.

Most of these negative replies are coming from Locals who just don't get it . It is out of state hunter who pay for most of their game management. I would love to here what they would have to say if all non resident hunter stayed home for a few years and then watch the Fish & Game transfer the full bill for game management to the local residents. They would be begging for non-residents to return. Where they like out of state hunters are not, the state and local business needs them or they would go bankrupt .

You are right... ATV abuse on public land is exclusively the problem of those who use ATV's. flatlanders or not.