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E-Bike for deer hunting?

3K views 18 replies 11 participants last post by  tactical lever 
#1 ·
Been pondering a fat tired electric assist bike for getting back to a couple far away stands. I'm a handgun hunter so carrying the gun on a bike is no problem. My route will be on old logging trail and old trails and from what I've read these things are good in dirt or snow.



How about it...anyone out there with failing legs or knees that has gone this route?
 
#3 ·
I used a mountain bike. Killed the deer, gutted it, raised the seat and put it in the gut cavity.
Ratchet strapped the deer to the bike, stood the bike up, and rolled the deer out.
I also put an blaze orange plastic cover on him to keep somebody from shooting him again.
This was when I hunted government land.
I rode in, pushed out. Worked purty good.
 
#4 ·
Not electric powered but I built this one from scratch for hunting and general work on the farm and at home. For times when its too wet to drive back to my shooting range I take it on a trailer, leave the car by the gate, load the trailer with my shooting equipment and pull the trailer back to the range with the bike. It has no trouble hauling a dead deer out of the woods.
 

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#7 ·
A friend and I made a cart from bicycle tires, a threaded rod for the axle, and electrical conduit. The prototype sucked and made dragging deer out twice as difficult fighting the constantly out of plane axis of the tires across all manner of logs, gullies, and deadfalls. So we quit that and never looked back. No need to reminisce on the failures of the past....they make me tired now.
 
#8 ·
Put the dead deer in a plastic toboggan and drag it out with the E Bike. I did that with a Honda 125 for years. Get the heavy built toboggan sold at the farm stores.

These days I use a 750 Grizzly. It will crawl up and over about anything in granny gear.....gotta hang on tight sometimes. The fenders are kinda dinged up from the trees etc but I got it to use.

I'm already on my second knee on my left side and had the right knee fixed back in January. Last night I slept on a bag of ice as my back is aching so. Ain't getting old a hoot!
 
#9 · (Edited)
Doing the routine and customary up-downs in church choir on Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings is haunting me. The folks sitting in the pews kneel for a good portion of the service. I cannot do that.

I blew the meniscus out of my first knee while dragging two deer out of the South Carolina forest. The "cart" I mentioned above assisted in driving me mentally over the edge of patience. By the time I got them both to the top of the ravine, I was injured and HURTING. I would have gone slower and been better without having that danged warped cart.
 
#11 ·
The battery is supposedly good for 20 to 50 miles depending on the level of assist you use and how hilly the terrain is. I stopped at a bike shop yesterday and they had a Trek E-Bike on the floor. Caught my eye right away...750 watt battery that's good for 700 charge cycles, suspension front and rear, 3" wide knobby tires....and then I flipped the price tag over...$5300!



I'm sure there are some quality E-bikes with a more realistic price tag but I'm wondering if this whole pipe dream of an idea would actually work out.
 
#14 ·
The battery is supposedly good for 20 to 50 miles depending on the level of assist you use and how hilly the terrain is. I stopped at a bike shop yesterday and they had a Trek E-Bike on the floor. Caught my eye right away...750 watt battery that's good for 700 charge cycles, suspension front and rear, 3" wide knobby tires....and then I flipped the price tag over...$5300!



I'm sure there are some quality E-bikes with a more realistic price tag but I'm wondering if this whole pipe dream of an idea would actually work out.
From what I've seen, they are all really expensive. I think the straight electric dirt bikes are probably about the same price. I did see an electric stand up scooter that was quite a bit less. Had fat tires and looked like it was built pretty tough. Probably be not too bad for cost, building a fat tire electric mini bike. Saw a little Jeep like sxs that was available in either electric, or gas. Or maybe an off road golf cart. Could carry a little inverter as well, and go forever almost.


Or if the goal is more mountain biking (something I've been trying to do more of, and hunting off of), maybe just a "better" mountain bike will make your life easier and the ride more enjoyable. If you don't mind going for a used one, you can get a really nice light bike with good shifters, hydraulic disc brakes, and a front shock in great shape for pretty cheap.


To haul the deer out, either a baby carrier trailer, or maybe a modified game cart?
 
#18 ·
cousin had one years ago. It was about unstoppable and his was kind of unreliable. I would have to guess by now they improved them. Probably the cheapest way to go though would be to find an old 100 or 125 dirt bike. Back before they made them so us old guys cant touch the ground. I had a trail 90 honda at camp for probably 20 years. Nephew blew it up. Still kick myself for being so stupid as to give it away instead of rebuilding it. thing would run darned near forever on a tank of gas. I know Yamaha makes or at least did up to recently a big tired trail bike.
I've always thought the Rokon would be the ultimate 2 wheeled vehicle for getting way back in rough terrain to hunt. They're not cheap, but not much, if any, more expensive than a good E-bike.

Another option would be a used older trail motorcycle.
 
#16 ·
I'm looking at the e-bike for use on national forest public property in Wisconsin. There's all kinds of regulations on what you can operate and where. I don't think the regulatory bureaucrats have figured out what they're going to do with e-bikes yet.
 
#17 ·
I kind of suspected that was the reason you were considering an e-bike.

Here in Michigan they're closing off more and more two-tracks. Worse on the National forest lands, but state lands are getting almost as bad. The way it's going they'll soon restrict us to walking on federal/state lands wearing sneakers or moccasins - no vibram soles allowed!

My hunch is the feds (for sure) and the state (likely) will rule e-bikes are "motorized" and ban them from going off designated ORV trails.
 
#19 ·
Picked up something neat a little while ago. Half for me, half for the kid. It's a Coleman branded mini bike, with 196 cc engine. Pretty easy to hot rod for the "big kids", very portable, and doesn't raise as many eyebrows when it's operated some places where most machines aren't allowed.
 
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