Chasing down elk heard with mountain bike?

LostArra said:
Semantics. We hunt like you describe all the time, actually most of the time but we call it "getting set up for a shot" and it involves a lot of sneaking and moving quickly at times to get in position for a bow or rifle shot. Find elk, then find a way to get close. Since I don't call I really don't know how else to kill an elk other than sit on a water hole.

Never ever has a situation occurred that a bicycle would have provided an advantage to that process even if I was in an EPO'd Lance Armstrong mode. I have enough trouble keeping up with my pack. I would probably lose the damn bike somewhere as I head off into unbikeable country to get set up which may take 200 yards or 2 miles.

"Chasing" to me is catching up with something that is eluding or evading and if elk are exiting the area to evade a hunter a bike isn't the answer.

I can definitely see using a bike as transport to a hunting area on a road or legal trail in fact I did it this fall to get to my treestand where a rancher didn't want me driving any vehicle in the area.
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For sure! Once they start running, Usain Bolt on Lance Armstrong's bike won't help at all. I've never seen a situation where I was like "damn I wish I had a bike". But it could happen I guess.
 
You should definitely visit your hunting area this summer with a Bike and give it a go. Yes, a bike can be a great add-on to help you be more mobile. As already stated, if there is a trail system that allows you to access some good country, then glass and find a herd, it will be an asset.

As far as “chasing down a herd”. I would agree with others and say 99% of the time it wouldn’t work. Where elk will go, you can’t follow on a bike.

As far as tent vs. hammock, I will let you decide that. But whatever you do choose, be ready to ride out a blizzard. They do occur in Colorado in September. It happened this year.
 
I have successfully hunted mule deer off a bike. I took the deer out on a frame pack on my back. Sometimes resting the pack on the seat when I could cost. Never again. I walked funny for three days and was thankful to have avoided becoming a pile at the bottom of slopes. I would only attempt it again with panners or a trailer.
 
Cool, man! My wife's family are all in Indiana. Would love to know of some good places to ride out there. As far as I know, bikes are not allowed off trail in any areas on public land. They're not even allowed on trails on many types of federal public land. Wilderness, BLM, National Forest, National Monument, National Park, etc. are all types of federal public land that have different rules, and many also have location specific rules. Oh, I would also add that most CO State Trust Lands are generally off limits to the public. Treat them like private property. There are also city and county open spaces that also have their own rules (one of which is often: No Hunting). If you're dead set on trying it out, cover your butt and learn the rules out here first.

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The title to your thread definitely makes anyone with some elk hunting experience laugh.

You can use your bike. You can cover ground to where you will camp. You could get from where to camp to where you’ll start hunting. But that’s about it.

Once you start hunting it’s time to leave the bike behind. The only thing you can really dog a herd of elk with is either a helicopter or a good set of boots. Boots are cheaper.
 
Indian Summer said:
The title to your thread definitely makes anyone with some elk hunting experience laugh.

You can use your bike. You can cover ground to where you will camp. You could get from where to camp to where you’ll start hunting. But that’s about it.

Once you start hunting it’s time to leave the bike behind. The only thing you can really dog a herd of elk with is either a helicopter or a good set of boots. Boots are cheaper.
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Ugh, I hate helicopters. I spent many months in Iraq as a trainer flying around. I'll take my chances with my boots in the griz country before I get on a helicopter again!

We have one really nice late cow area where you can dog herds from the roads (along with about 10,000 other trucks, SxS and ATV). This is the only place I could see a bike being useful. Even there you have to get at least 1000y-1500y off the road to get to the herd, but you can follow them on the road. Other than that I don't see a bike being super useful.
 
mtnbiker208 said:
One thing i have discovered is, there is a lot of people saying things can't be done. Mainly by people who never thought of doing it that way.

With that said, the bike can and does work well for elk hunting, wether day hunts or packing in camps and hunting out of camps, but if you think you are going to buy a bike and go hunting off of it, is really naive.
A physically fit rider with good equipment can go many places. Todays bike packing gear is great. Now, the more technical and steep the road\trail is can determine the effectivness, I have found gated roads work really well off of a bike, but i have also used singletrack trails. I would rather use a bike any day of the week over a sideby side or atv, and i hunt where i can use the bike. But i have been mtn biking since the late 80's.

the bike does not matter as much as the rider, but i have used old cross country races bikes, what ever i had laying around, but the last few years, i built a bike for hunting and bike packing, front and rear racks, frame bag, pogies, basically lots of bikepacking stuff. I do ride bikes year round and find it fun, but like anything there is limitations, The biggest i have came accross is snow. A couple of things that you won't think of, sweat management, you will sweat climbing the hills to get into your area. Where do you leave your bike and do you lock it up? Wet brakes, they squeel loudly. Other hunters who just don't like you, because you are on a bike. This one is the biggest and causes the most issues.

One thing that i have found, is that animals, don't always know what to make of you. You have the silloute of an animal, but not really, but you do. Alot of times, they stop and look at you trying to figure you out. Think about it, your head sticks up and you have something coming out from behind you. So i say go for it and learn. All tools have there time and place, you just have to figure out what the time and place is for bikes and elk hunting. For me, it is all the time. I almost don't know how to hunt if i am not using a bike.
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I mtn bike in N AZ where I live frequently and agree that "...animals, don't always know what to make of you..." when I am riding on trails. It most often seems that unless I am descending fast and suddenly come into their view, elk will take several moments to try to figure out if I am a threat or not. I've had similar experiences with bears too, but I don't see them as often. Neat experience for sure!
 
eddyprice said:
I mtn bike in N AZ where I live frequently and agree that "...animals, don't always know what to make of you..." when I am riding on trails. It most often seems that unless I am descending fast and suddenly come into their view, elk will take several moments to try to figure out if I am a threat or not. I've had similar experiences with bears too, but I don't see them as often. Neat experience for sure!
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like going vertical while scuba diving
 
The comparison of midwest "elevation" changes to the west is hilarious.....and shows ignorance in the extreme.

Nothing but up/down country, rocks and blowdowns where I hunt...it's very rough going and packing a saw or not you'd never bring a bike back there.

But then I hunt there to avoid humans and find more animals so to each their own.
 
Hell I can barley travers some elk country on foot...hell dragging a Mountain Bike through it. Then the other bitch is leaving the bike and having to go back to get it when you want to head off in another direction.
 
I have lived and hunted in Colorado for 16 years now. I use my mountain bike every year for hunting, but it almost never gets used for elk hunting. The spots I normally hunt are just too steep, too rugged, have too much blowdown, etc. to really consider taking a bike.
Where the bike shines for me; spring bear hunting in Montana, where I can run deep into closed logging roads. I also use my bike out in Nebraska and in eastern Colorado, getting back on closed roads or way on the other side of big corn fields and stuff like that. For accessing closed roads, a bike is money.
On the topic of hammocks. I know guys that do it, but Colorado high country is really not the ideal environment for a hammock. In fact, if you are not an experienced hammock sleeper, a hammock can get you in trouble quick. People from back East don’t realize how low the humidity can be in the high country. Add to that a 20mph wind and the temps dropping into 20’s or 30’s at night, and it will absolutely zap all your body heat in short order. It is NOT the same as sleeping in a hammock in 20 or 30 degrees in the east with high humidity. Another consideration is deadfall. In many places I hunt, if you are in the trees enough to string a hammock up, you are also likely in the potential path a dead tree falling on you! There are just too many ultralight tarps, one man tents, etc. out there, that a hammock just doesn’t offer any benefit over them.


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I have used a mountain bike for the last four years. However, we know the area well, the old logging roads are kept clear from deadfall, and we primarily use the bikes to get from the gate to camp, from camp to where we start our hunts, and to retrieve quarters. We use trailers on the bikes to haul gear/meat. I think it’s al about knowing the area you hunt and being realistic about your approach/planned use.
 
I've definitely employed my old '92 Specialized HardRock a few times for this one spot out in D11. It's 7 miles in, all downhill. Which means it's all uphill when you're leaving so I look at it as conserving 1/3 of the energy expended that day. (Since uphill burns more energy). Real quick that downhill road can have ya hitting 35-40mph. But it's got a lotta shale stone in it so if you don't pre-emptively run your tires hard you're likely looking at a pinch flat at some point.

And this one time, I'm bombing along right, scrubbing off just enough speed to be a little below "ludicrous speed".. as I round a turn, I look over across to the other side where it wraps back around and see a Family herd with the Mama Doe... so I come to a stop and wait so I don't spook them, and they have time to cross the road over there and I watch them descend onto slopes where I just might not pull the trigger if it were a buck because they are that dang steep!
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Well.. turns out stopping for those Does saved my @$$ because unbeknownst to me, just around the corner there had been a massive rockslide that covered the entire road with debris and it would have been... "interesting" trying to come down from speed before arriving at that debris had I not seen it until after the corner! (There had been a rain in-between last visit to this one, musta caused it)
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Congrats! Good looking bull.

I don't recall saying that hunting with a bike doesn't work. It looks fantastic for accessing elk country on trails and even towing meat or camp. I recall the question being "can I follow elk with a bike?". I think that would be rare.
 
Titan_Bow said:
I have lived and hunted in Colorado for 16 years now. I use my mountain bike every year for hunting, but it almost never gets used for elk hunting. The spots I normally hunt are just too steep, too rugged, have too much blowdown, etc. to really consider taking a bike.
Where the bike shines for me; spring bear hunting in Montana, where I can run deep into closed logging roads. I also use my bike out in Nebraska and in eastern Colorado, getting back on closed roads or way on the other side of big corn fields and stuff like that. For accessing closed roads, a bike is money.
On the topic of hammocks. I know guys that do it, but Colorado high country is really not the ideal environment for a hammock. In fact, if you are not an experienced hammock sleeper, a hammock can get you in trouble quick. People from back East don’t realize how low the humidity can be in the high country. Add to that a 20mph wind and the temps dropping into 20’s or 30’s at night, and it will absolutely zap all your body heat in short order. It is NOT the same as sleeping in a hammock in 20 or 30 degrees in the east with high humidity. Another consideration is deadfall. In many places I hunt, if you are in the trees enough to string a hammock up, you are also likely in the potential path a dead tree falling on you! There are just too many ultralight tarps, one man tents, etc. out there, that a hammock just doesn’t offer any benefit over them.


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Just a question how is high humidity going to feel warmer? i totally understand what your saying about the hammock in colder weather but i've never felt warmer in humid cold air vs dry cold air?
 
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