Four Wheele for the Mountains Considerations

[TVW]

mine is 65" wide but where I hunt in wyoming I have no need for a 50" trail. they each have a purpose but after spending 20 years on a quad, freezing my ass off, or wiping dust out of myself and gear, I opted to upgrade to a climate controlled cab. in the last 5 or 6 hunts out west to either Idaho or wyoming I have seen two people on quads. both were game wardens and they both said they wished they had a SXS. Like I said earlier I use my UTV to get myself and my gear in. sometimes I hike in farther and setup a spike camp if I glass and find a nice bull I am interested in. I never hunt off my vehicle. many folks do though.

Fair enough.

I was just pointing out that you cannot in fact take a SXS everywhere that you can a quad as you stated, cause it's not even close. I'd hate someone to buy one thinking that was going to be the case and be heavily disappointed.

We all definitely have our own experiences, just sharing mine based on living in Idaho and hunting and recreating in the West my entire life.

 

[Remington92]

If you're wanting to haul 2 grown men very far Id skip the ATV and go SXS (if you're ok with used that can be done somewhat affordably). If its just a single rider on mostly roads during archery season I can tell you I rode an old Polaris 325 trail boss 2x4 for many years and did fine without 4x4 or winch.

That being said I now run a 2011 Polaris Ranger 700 and its much more useful hauling 2 guys, gear, and game. (Still dont have a winch)

 

[406flyfish]

4x4 and winch are a must. I flipped over last winter and luckily was able to self rescue with the remote winch and some pulleys. 500cc at least for an ATV. Hondas are bullet proof.

Love my UTV though. Get a windshield and you don’t even need a heater or windows. Opted for 50” so I’m not limited to where I can ride since MT is mostly 50”.

 

[ND_Hooligan]

4x4 and winch are a must. I flipped over last winter and luckily was able to self rescue with the remote winch and some pulleys. 500cc at least for an ATV. Hondas are bullet proof.

Love my UTV though. Get a windshield and you don’t even need a heater or windows. Opted for 50” so I’m not limited to where I can ride since MT is mostly 50”. View attachment 698521

Starting to research 50 inch UTVs. Not too familiar so can't tell what brand you are running. Sounds like it is working well for you so that is great. Probably a little crowded for 2 but the 50 inch would open up lots of country to me where I elk hunt as the main trail I'm looking at is restricted to 50 inch. Hunt 4th season CO so I am thinking the UTV would be much more comfortable than the ATV.

 

[GunsAreFun]

Another option is do some suspension (at least shocks) work on your truck and air down the tires when going over the rougher roads.

The issue is less with ground clearance. It’s with the width of some of these roads. I’ll destroy the body getting in.

And then some of them will have 2-3’ deep ruts and are too narrow to get around. I’d need 40” tires to make it through that or just zip around in an ATV/UTV.

 

[406flyfish]

Starting to research 50 inch UTVs. Not too familiar so can't tell what brand you are running. Sounds like it is working well for you so that is great. Probably a little crowded for 2 but the 50 inch would open up lots of country to me where I elk hunt as the main trail I'm looking at is restricted to 50 inch. Hunt 4th season CO so I am thinking the UTV would be much more comfortable than the ATV.

Can am Maverick Trail 1000

Have almost 1k miles on it and no issues yet. I’m 6’5 225 and my friend is on the bigger side and it’s just fine space wise. Added a windshield, roof, bigger tires, winch, light bar, and a rear cargo rack.

 

[ND_Hooligan]

Can am Maverick Trail 1000

Have almost 1k miles on it and no issues yet. I’m 6’5 225 and my friend is on the bigger side and it’s just fine space wise. Added a windshield, roof, bigger tires, winch, light bar, and a rear cargo rack.

Good to hear. I will look into those a little more. Up here in ND I would have to fully enclose the cab and add a heater so will look into that too but it sounds like it is what I'm looking for as far as hunting goes.

 

[wapitibob]

I've had a Polaris 500 HO for 19 years, works just fine with 2 people. A little tight with 2 people and an Elk. The only time the winch is used is to raise the snow blade when plowing snow. It fits in the back of my F150 with the tailgate closed.

 

[Calicoastie]

Don't know what terrain your looking at. Up here picked up a can-am outlander 6x6 1000cc. It's light enough to get under the weight restrictions in areas. The defender(sxs) version is an extra 1300lbs same engine.
The difference between them? The defender feels like she's struggling with life. The outlander wants to run hard.
With factory tires zipped through bogs, tundra, mud. With hardly a second look. The 4x4 atvs we saw were again having to pick and work through the area. Three defender got through, upgraded tires, picking paths.

Friend of mine who pointed me to the 6x6 outlander, used to run argos, now swears by the outlander. And he runs off trail for miles through tundra.
I don't know what they go for in your neck of the road used. They rarely come up for sale out here.

 

[jhm2023]

In my opinion, once you load a single atv with two people plus gear, you're going to wonder where the hell you can put dead animals, quartered or otherwise, and it won't be a fun ride. If you're set on two people and one machine, I would suggest a Can-Am Outlander 6x6. It has two dedicated seats and a dump bed, it will go places a 4x4 atv can't go, ride smoother, get stuck less, have more stability going up and down steep terrain, and carry a fair amount of stuff (700lbs in the bed /1,650 towed). They're also the same width as a normal 4x4 atv for skinny trails. My 6x6 will crawl right up, down and through stuff that a regular atv will struggle with or just dig into and it's pretty sweet.

 

[mrcvelo]

I have a Canam Maverick x3 four seater. The ride quality is great. When hunting there are 1-3 of us total, leaving the 4th seat to store our gear. It isn't perfect, but it works and is a good tradeoff since most of my rides across the year are trail riding and not hunting.

I am considering the adventure rack which should help me more easily carry rifles and would make things better.

 

[OkiechasingElk]

I run a 2017 Polaris 450HO. It did everything i needed it to do last fall, including get up a pretty nuts climb to a 13k peak. First time it's been above 1100' feet, and it performed flawlessly.

I would not have ridden on the back on that climb.....

Absolutely on 4WD. You won't need it often, but when you do, you seriously need it.

It was solid for 1 guy, 2 guys on regular roads/trails would have been fine, but it would not have ran as well as I prefer. (I'm a big dude 6'5" 240. Most my buddies are solid sized humans as well) If you are talking a couple of 5'8" 150 guys, I could see it working out just fine.

Update.....Proud owner of a New Polaris Ranger 1000. Went and ran around our whitetail lease some a few weeks back and decided 1 ATV just isn't going to get it done for me AND my two full size teenage boys come hunting season. Needed another Vehicle...

It took 5 days of concentrated effort convincing the wife we both need it and could afford it. Also had to practice a little abstinence for a few days but the wife finally caved.... lol

Still have the 450HO. The 3 of us will be able to get around just fine now in the Ranger and Sportsman.