ATV and Deer Hunting Question

[8andcounting]

I mow trails all summer to my stands - i walk to my stands but if o wanted to drive atv I would

 

[labhunter66]

Make a trail like ^^^^^^ said. You got until Friday.

Pretty hard to make an established trail in that amount of time.

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Yes the main thing is getting him out there, seeing deer would be a huge plus. He's not a trophy hunter, he just enjoys to be out there. He was approved to shoot from a vehicle, but the land we hunt would not have very good odds at shooting a deer from the road.

Have someone give him a ride out there that isn't hunting and you're golden. Your shoot from motor vehicle permit definitely covers that. Just don't have another firearm in the vehicle and you're fine.

 

[bowhunter88]

Pretty hard to make an established trail in that amount of time.

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There will be plenty of new "trails" by the end of this weekend.

 

[Retired Educator]

A trail is defined as one normally used for travel. No matter how many times you drive into your stand, it's not a trail normally used for travel. You are the only one normally using it.

Others are correct in the use of a disability permit. Follow the rules and eliminate all possibilities of a problem. When we try to skirt the rules is when we end up in trouble.Speaking from experience.

 

[KJS - ND]

I'd say established trail will be determined by the warden if necessary. Unless your warden is a total a$$hat, if you drive the trail a couple times before opening day it would be established (per Bob Timian)- especially if the warden finds out you are taking someone w/ medical conditions to a blind.

I've got trails through my pasture to blinds that I'm (or people I grant access) the only one who travels and I wouldn't worry about the warden writing me up for being off the trail.

 

[johnr]

Maybe a helicopter would be a nice option

 

[RustyTackleBox]

i have driven my truck right up to my stands and put out corn and mineral blocks, also my brother parks his utv right next to stands all the time and I have parked my atv near where I am and it never bothers them. hell it's a damn bumble bee out there (canam yellow and black). in my experience the best method is to use an atv or truck to drop someone off in a stand and drive away especially if you have been putting out corn and using a vehicle to do that (its like ringing the dinner bell)

 

[Buckmaster]

I tore my patella tendon last Thursday. Talked to game warden about someone dropping me off at my blind. He said if you have your handicap/shooting from vehicle permit you can get dropped off as long as the person dropping you off is not actively hunting. So you can go off trail

 

[3Roosters]

In blue plate country as i understand it, you are only allowed on their massive forest road, atv and trail systems is if you possess your deer gun license and then only before shooting hours, and from 11-2 pm, and after shooting hours. If you don't have deer gun license, it appears most atv trail systems, forest trails are off limits to recreational riding during deer gun season.

 

[wjschmaltz]

Permission from landowner is all you need to drive off trail.

Unless there was a rule change in the last 5 years that I'm not aware of, this is not true.

Several years ago we had a warden hunting with us. We were driving in a large pasture on a disappearing trail that maybe gets drove twice a year - when the bulls are pulled and when the cows come home. The warden told us that as long as this is the path we usually take, it is legal.

In contrast, I had a friend get wrote up for off-trail hunting while checking his water tanks. The deer rifle was in the case in the back seat. I'm not even sure he had his tag with him.

As for the ATV spooking animals while and hunting, if that his only option then it's certainly worth a shot. Go in before dark and stay all day if needed. First deer I ever shot, we spent the whole morning sitting on a hill. We finally called it quits and walked to the pickup. As we were loading the vehicle, a nice buck walked within 50 yards for the shot.

 

[dean nelson]

A warden can write you a ticket for a lot of things that doesn't mean it will stand up in court! In the end the landowner gets to determine what is and is not an established Trail so long as there is some sort of visible Trail and it's not one used for Harvest! That's the only thing that they actually do stay in their rule is no Trails left over from trucks going to and from a field. You mow a path and put a few dents in that grass you're going to find a warden running out of jurisdiction really quick.

 

[Allen]

A trail is defined as one normally used for travel. No matter how many times you drive into your stand, it's not a trail normally used for travel. You are the only one normally using it.

Others are correct in the use of a disability permit. Follow the rules and eliminate all possibilities of a problem. When we try to skirt the rules is when we end up in trouble.Speaking from experience.

When I had an elk tag, the NDGF put on a slideshow for us tag holders that defined a traversable trail as one where the wheel tracks were mostly devoid of vegetation. That's been the standard I have used for quite a few years now.

 

[KDM]

I use my ATV for my day to day back country ground work from tree planting, stand maintenance, food plots, putting big rocks in section lines, cutting fences, leaving gates open, depositing adult beverage containers in field approaches, tearing down posted signs, and removing unwanted tree stands and trail cameras that clutter up the places I want to hunt. You guys know.......doing hunting stuff. For me to "establish" a trail with my ATV by the standards of no vegetation in the tracks would take 100 years. ATV's are designed NOT to leave marks on the ground and as of now, I can see the paths I take all year, but the grass certainly isn't gone or even diminished in the tracks and that's the way I like it. So I guess I'll have to live with NOT having an established trail. (Sigh)

 

[Livetohuntandfish]

I have a hard time with a trail that has no vegetation on it. I have many large fields that we haul out of during harvest that would qualify then as a drivable trail. I guarantee if i see someone driving those it’ll get called in. I always understood it as a section line that’s established or a gravel road.

 

[RustyTackleBox]

I use my ATV for my day to day back country ground work from tree planting, stand maintenance, food plots, putting big rocks in section lines, cutting fences, leaving gates open, depositing adult beverage containers in field approaches, tearing down posted signs, and removing unwanted tree stands and trail cameras that clutter up the places I want to hunt. You guys know.......doing hunting stuff. For me to "establish" a trail with my ATV by the standards of no vegetation in the tracks would take 100 years. ATV's are designed NOT to leave marks on the ground and as of now, I can see the paths I take all year, but the grass certainly isn't gone or even diminished in the tracks and that's the way I like it. So I guess I'll have to live with NOT having an established trail. (Sigh)

you need a little more whiskey throttle KDM... it helps establish the trails