Mountain Bikes

Thought it was a great idea once, and did it uphill on a 15 year old logging road with a 70lb pack...quads gave out a hair over a mile in. Walked the bike the rest of the 3 miles. The pack on my back and walking the bike was easier than trying to pull the bike with pack strapped on the bike.

Going downhill at night with a ~60lb pack was a bomb-run...not much physical exertion but dangerous; I was dodging terrain, animals, sasquatch, etc at 40 mph and I knew even the disc brakes weren't gonna cut it if Barry-the-Bobcat didn't get out of the way fast enough. I can't imagine doing that with a meat-filled 90-110lb pack...way too unsafe.

I may try it again on easier terrain some day but I quickly learned that two legs and a good pace is much easier.
 
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I ride a 21 speed shockless bike that I put a rack on the back with a plastic milk crate bolted down to carry my day pack and gear. Works well.
 
They are great in the right place, but not for everywhere.

The 2nd pic is my current setup with a fatbike and panniers. I now use the panniers for packing in camping and hunting stuff and will get the cart when I have an elk down. I hauled last years elk out 8 miles in one trip, splitting the meat between the cart and panniers. Not recommended, but I was trying to beat a huge storm rolling in.

bike2.jpg

bike1.jpg
 
Last year I rode in a gated area 5 miles to set up base camp, really really sucked with a 50#pack of gear up gradual slope over the 5 miles, I was gassed to say the least.

The way out I coasted mostly as it's a gradual downhill grade, but got pretty western with only a headlamp at 10 pm with my pack full of deboned meat.

This year I'll just be packing it in, not really worth the effort it took and only saved time on the way out.
 
Agree with others that it can be a help in certain circumstances and downright dangerous in others. I’ve got a fat bike (Salsa Mukluk) that I use a ton for scouting, but only occasionally for actual hunting due to issues mentioned above with pack weight. I use it on day hunts where there’s limited ascent/descent and good amount of ridge traversing on decent trails. I’ve got one spot I hunt where it allows me to get 5-7 miles in on day hunts and away from the masses of other hunters. A good portion of that is a single track out a ridge line with lots of good glassing spots. The bike lets me quickly get to where the animals are since they can be hanging out at any number of places below that ridge.

My bike has a seat rack and panniers, but I don’t use a cart due to the single track trail. So it’s still multiple trips to pack out the kill, but the bike does make pack out easier in this one particular place that I hunt.
 
When it's steep, walk it... Been there done that. May suck a bit though the epic opportunity to cycle with the camp comforts that ultralight packing lacks (been there, done that) and the ability to save a couple trips of foot packing that steep hill(s) with game makes walking a cycle one step at a time.

Too many perks to ignore if placing a boots only packer with a full elk and a cycle w/ trailer and a full elk.
 
Picked up some channel and angle aluminum to weld up a cycle trailer.

What do you really enjoy about your trailer and what is the PITA portion?
 
This will be year 5 out of the last 6 on closed roads. Single wheel BOB trailers were a pain in the ass with any weight and tipped over constantly unless moving pretty good. The modified Burley trailers stay upright but get hung up if going down a trail because of the width. It takes a bit of work to silence either version.


View attachment 133957
How does that hook up to the axle
 

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