E-Bikes

[WapitiBob]

BLM was in lockstep with the FS until the DOI Order. I suspect Dept of Ag will conform eventually. I'm against them but freely admit it's for personal reasons. I hunt in a TMA and e-bikes would allow more users to cover more ground. Going 20 miles on a morning hunt provides us with some separation. On the flip side, if everybody could cover ground, maybe they'd all spread out a bit more...

 

[Straight Arrow]

... if everybody could cover ground, maybe they'd all spread out a bit more...

ATV's allow for covering a lot more ground. How's that working out?

 

[Focus]

, if everybody could cover ground, maybe they'd all spread out a bit more...

That’s what I was thinking.

 

[Focus]

ATV's allow for covering a lot more ground. How's that working out?

Well if everyone’s playing by the rules and staying out of areas and off of roads/trails they shouldn’t be on with ATV’s it works out fine for me. I’m not road hunting.

 

[ARKANSASHUNTER]

e bikes fit the very definition of a motorized vehicle and therefore should be allowed where motorized vehicles are allowed and nowhere else. For the life of me I can't understand why the rules needed changed except to classify e bikes as motorized vehicles which they are by very definition. If you want to ride a bicycle, great, there are places for that. Want to ride an e bike, great, there are places for that. Why on earth we should open a can of worms for no good reason is beyond me.

If a throttle defines motorized I can easily build a gas, steam or electric vehicle with no throttle that will haul ass, sling dirt and tear shit up. Rest assured, if you change the definition of motorized vehicles there will be a constant battle against those finding loopholes and it will get complex which will require already understaffed enforcement agencies more nuanced and complex rules to enforce. For what? Easier peddling, is that the reason? Maybe I'm missing something.

 

[Straight Arrow]

... if everyone’s playing by the rules and staying out of areas and off of roads/trails they shouldn’t be on with ATV’s ...

Well, that's not happening.

 

[WapitiBob]

Well if everyone’s playing by the rules and staying out of areas and off of roads/trails they shouldn’t be on with ATV’s it works out fine for me. I’m not road hunting.

Yep, pretty much my experience. I use the atv every year and it's worked out just fine.

 

[Addicting]

I read this thread and just chuckle to myself. To the opposition, you can use whatever excuse you want. Your dislike for this law is purely personal to what you think hunting and out door enjoyment should be.

Getting pissy because your type of enjoyment is different than someone else’s is stupid. The law has been written and if E bikers decide to do a legal activity then who are you to judge or label them as being destructive or whatever negative thought you want to apply to it.

Did you out poor in protest when range finders were invented? After all, that is going to allow guys to shoot at 500 yards, it’s not fair hunting if your not using a Musket....

Give me a break, You May now commence in the angry replies to further trying to justify your personal beliefs against folks doing a legal activity.

And for the record I don’t own one, nor do I even ride a mountain bike.

 

[Sytes]

Well, that's not happening.

100% agree - then again, an attempt to think of any activity that does not have it's "bad apples"...

It's not the item, it's the person.

 

[MTGomer]

I have a good elk hunting spot under 40 miles from downtown Missoula.
I used to leave home at 1 AM and be at the trailhead at 2AM. Then I’d hike as fast as I could until 6, getting down the gated logging road to my spot at daybreak. Not that hard, but it was a little work. Enough that it is seldomly hunted and we see and occasionally kill 340+ bulls out of it.
I could leave the trailhead on an ebike under this new rule at 5:15 AM and be in the same position at 6 with almost zero energy or effort expended and smell a lot better and make for better elk hunting.

This rule will just make a bunch of places like that another overhunted spot with less elk and more pressure. But hey, as long as somebody else enjoys it, that’s what matters. Screw guys that aren’t lazy road hunters and definitely screw the elk and their security habitat.
Restrictions don’t prevent you from accessing good elk hunting. Good elk hunting exists because of access restrictions.

 

[Focus]

I have a good elk hunting spot under 40 miles from downtown Missoula.
I used to leave home at 1 AM and be at the trailhead at 2AM. Then I’d hike as fast as I could until 6, getting down the gated logging road to my spot at daybreak. Not that hard, but it was a little work. Enough that it is seldomly hunted and we see and occasionally kill 340+ bulls out of it.
I could leave the trailhead on an ebike under this new rule at 5:15 AM and be in the same position at 6 with almost zero energy or effort expended and smell a lot better and make for better elk hunting.

This rule will just make a bunch of places like that another overhunted spot with less elk and more pressure. But hey, as long as somebody else enjoys it, that’s what matters. Screw guys that aren’t lazy road hunters and definitely screw the elk and their security habitat.
Restrictions don’t prevent you from accessing good elk hunting. Good elk hunting exists because of access restrictions.

If your hunting spot is on National Forest land it shouldn’t be affected by the recent Interior Department ruling. National Forest land is administered by the Dept of Agriculture and they classify all e-bikes as motorized vehicles.

You could save yourself some time and ride a regular ol’ mountain bike to your spot though. That’s allowed and I’m assuming always has been.

 

[Addicting]

This rule will just make a bunch of places like that another overhunted spot with less elk and more pressure. But hey, as long as somebody else enjoys it, that’s what matters. Screw guys that aren’t lazy road hunters and definitely screw the elk and their security habitat.
Restrictions don’t prevent you from accessing good elk hunting. Good elk hunting exists because of access restrictions.

There are numerous post on here since I have been a member that complain about their spots getting ruined. From getting crowded to I’ve never seen that many people that far in.

A electric motor on a mountain bike might get them there faster, but they are already there.

 

[Focus]

There are numerous post on here since I have been a member that complain about their spots getting ruined. From getting crowded to I’ve never seen that many people that far in.

A electric motor on a mountain bike might get them there faster, but they are already there.

To expand on your post, I’m one of those guys that’s contributing to the crowding. I didn’t need an e-bike to extend my range.

Things like a meat-hauling backpack, better boots, trekking poles, better clothes, a role model like Randy Newberg showing me that it can be done by someone my age, a friend that showed me how to break down an animal to pack it out (not to mention all the videos by Newberg, Rinella, etc going into greater detail and “coming out heavy”), even this forum and the plethora of examples by all you guys getting away from the crowds........these things have had a greater influence on the distance I go from the truck now.

I don’t own an e-bike and probably never will.

 

[Guy]

Heck, I tend to think of myself as cheating when I use my regular ol' pedal-type mountain bike instead of hiking!

It is fun though. So far, I've just used it for pre-season scouting. Maybe someday I'll actually use it on a hunt. E-Bikes... I dunno… You guys are more up to speed on it (so to speak) than I am.

Regards, Guy

 

[sschultz]

In my mind the simplest fix is to close the effected areas to bicycles during hunting season. There must have been a reason they were closed to motorized vehicles in the first place. This same reason would apply to bicycles since motorized bicycles are the same as pedal bikes now.

Then close them to horses and llamas also

 

[Sytes]

Recurve met chopped limbs, added pulleys (cams) and presto...

Current stats? (Rough #'s)
Recurve effective range: 17 yards
Compound effective range: 45 yards

Wonder how those debates transpired...

 

[Addicting]

Recurve met chopped limbs, added pulleys (cams) and presto...

Current stats? (Rough #'s)
Recurve effective range: 17 yards
Compound effective range: 45 yards

Wonder how those debates transpired...

Now we have more Elk across the landscape. Even though I’m sure at the time it would kill too many animals and end hunting....

 

[MTGomer]

A electric motor on a mountain bike might get them there faster, but they are already there.

No, they’re not. The guys that need motorized vehicles are hunting closer to where their motorized vehicle is.

As to the suggestion about riding a mountain bike, I have done that. It is faster especially on the way out but it comes with the trade off of being a lot sweatier(stinkier) after riding uphill. I think the mountain bike would be a good tool if someone was conditioned to riding one, but I’m not. I could sit on the e-bike with the best of them though.

 

[Straight Arrow]

Wonder how those debates transpired...

Like a lead balloon that fell and exploded into a huge movement to successfully produce, market, and sell compound bows, arrows, releases, archery accessories, camo clothing, blinds, range finders, lighted nocks, wind indicators, archery shops with ranges, and a plethora of other products related to archery hunting and recreational shooting. Although the number of bull elk, deer, and antelope taken by bow hunters has increased, there does not seem to be a significant impact on the wildlife populations as a whole due to increases in bow hunters with improved equipment. Other than increased hunter density during archery only seasons and in areas with plentiful wildlife (such as Missouri River Breaks), the overall adverse impact on other hunters seems negligible, and even overwhelmed by the growing popularity of bow hunting.

On the other hand, "motorized" machines in the backcountry has been evolving into what some would refer to as a "scourge". Debates about "motors" in the backcountry have evolved into raging arguments and unhealthy contentiousness among the hunting community and other backcountry recreationists.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

No, they’re not. The guys that need motorized vehicles are hunting closer to where their motorized vehicle is.

As to the suggestion about riding a mountain bike, I have done that. It is faster especially on the way out but it comes with the trade off of being a lot sweatier(stinkier) after riding uphill. I think the mountain bike would be a good tool if someone was conditioned to riding one, but I’m not. I could sit on the e-bike with the best of them though.

Agreed. Anyone who thinks an e-bike is just a faster mountain bike has never ridden either. There is a very real limit to how steep of a trail you can ride with a 50lb pack, most of the places I have taken a mountain bike hunting I've had to push the bike in the entire way and then used the bike simply to pack out more efficiently. You can ride an e-bike with full pack up ridiculously steep grades.

@sschultz have you used horse, llamas, e-bikes, and mountain bikes to hunt? Not exactly apples to apples comparisons.