E-bike for late season elk hunting?

[rockymtnsam]

As the title suggests, I’m looking for an e-bike for late season elk hunting. Go ahead and get your jokes out of the way, I can take them

In short, we typically hunt elk and mule deer during 3rd or 4th season in Colorado and often have quite a bit of snow. However, we usually park and have quite a bit of walking up the mountain. Last week we put in 8-10 miles a day, sometimes a mile or two of that is walking a down a fire road or logging road that leads to the backcountry.

I haven’t been able to find much info on e-bikes that do well in the snow, but I have seen that a lot of the fat tire bikes do well. I’m looking for something with fat tires that can handle deeper snow on flat roads and moderate trails that doesn’t break the bank.

 

[BigAntlerGetter]

So you park your truck then want to ride a a bike further up the road? I ask because e-bikes are considered motorized vehicles so you cannot have them on a regular hiking or mountain bike trail.


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[rockymtnsam]

So you park your truck then want to ride a a bike further up the road? I ask because e-bikes are considered motorized vehicles so you cannot have them on a regular hiking or mountain bike trail.


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A lot of the closed roads have a gate at the front but show snowmobile, mountain bike, hiking access etc, my understanding is that we can ride up most of those up to a certain point.

 

[BigAntlerGetter]

Snowmobiles are different than motorized vehicles since they are across snow. Unless the road specifies ohv, motorized access your e-bikes would be illegal

I deal with it every year in my area, same exact thing winter access for snowmobiles but trails are bike, horse and hiking. No motorized access, the guys I catch always give me the “well it’s a bike” but USFS and blm classify them as motorized vehicles.

To be sure you can call the USFS or blm in the area and ask them by trail number if e-bikes are legal on those designated routes

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[mtnbound]

A lot of the closed roads have a gate at the front but show snowmobile, mountain bike, hiking access etc, my understanding is that we can ride up most of those up to a certain point.

An E-bike is not considered the same as a mountain bike in most areas, so I would confirm that it is legal to use it behind the gate.

 

[HunterGatherer]

Legality of e-bikes is determined by the individual ranger district or other governing body. They went from no regulation to full ban and now they are starting to allow them in a lot of places. They even opened up a bunch of the MTB trails around Moab to Class 1 bikes recently, for example. So if you are looking at one I would recommend a class 1.

To your actual question, I ride my e-bike a ton but they are not great in soft snow. It really varies based on the snow conditions. I’ve had days where I rode into areas on frozen snow and then had to push the bike all the way out when it got warm enough to soften the snow - typically in the Spring.

For the specific use you mentioned, late season elk, it’s really going to depend on the specific conditions and access routes in your unit. Some days they save you 10 miles of hiking , some days they are worse than walking.

 

[rockymtnsam]

For the specific use you mentioned, late season elk, it’s really going to depend on the specific conditions and access routes in your unit. Some days they save you 10 miles of hiking , some days they are worse than walking. View attachment 969476

Thanks for the response! This is part of my concern, that if I get further back and the snow is deep that it would be more work than it would be helpful. I appreciate it.

 

[mtnbiker208]

A lot of the closed roads have a gate at the front but show snowmobile, mountain bike, hiking access etc, my understanding is that we can ride up most of those up to a certain point.

Typically the rule is no motorized wheeled vehichles behind the gate. ebikes fall into that. Mtn bikes don't.
what is your definintion of deep snow? I ride a lot of bikes and have even done a winter over nighter on a fat bike. Anything over 4 inches of powder will be a no go. Fat bikes do well on a packed snow surface. They suck on an unpacked surface. if you are going to be into snow riding, 5 inch tires work best. and a rule of thumb for winter riding in regards to tire pressue, is, when in doubt let air out. groomed snowmobile trails i will be running 3-4 psi.

 

[mtnbiker208]

It can be done, peddled in to pull my collapsed tipi.

 

[HunterGatherer]

Typically the rule is no motorized wheeled vehichles behind the gate. ebikes fall into that. Mtn bikes don't.
what is your definintion of deep snow? I ride a lot of bikes and have even done a winter over nighter on a fat bike. Anything over 4 inches of powder will be a no go. Fat bikes do well on a packed snow surface. They suck on an unpacked surface. if you are going to be into snow riding, 5 inch tires work best. and a rule of thumb for winter riding in regards to tire pressue, is, when in doubt let air out. groomed snowmobile trails i will be running 3-4 psi.

I want a track and ski for my e-bike. Then I can ride the OSV trails . Seen a few kits but they look pretty hokey and not sure you would have the float for soft snow. Would be good for groomed and packed trails though …