Riding ATV to deer stand

[motley man]

Who rides to the deer stand on the ATV and parks it close by? Any ups or downs to it, and how close to stand do you park?

[Musky Buck]

Well Motley if on a calmer type of day looking for a mature buck only I'd want no part of riding the ATV out. I don't own an ATV but I'd leave it at home and go get it when you need it, the walk out in the dark for me is scouting along the way, I have made 3-4 black earth spots on my route where deer often cross to check for fresh track in them, then I again smooth it over so I can tell if a deer went through it or not. I also make note of the size of the track, can't tell other than it's a fawn or buck/doe but I get a little intel into which trails they are using or if there isn't much around, but we all hunt different situations.

[Born2Fish]

We took ours to our areas every morning. Granted we both rode on the same one and I got dropped off on the trail about 200 yards away from my stand and she parked about 600 yards away from hers. We still ended up seeing lots of deer and getting 3 bucks out of the area.

[LightningBG]

We leave our on the trailer and walk in. Then go get it when (if) we need to bring some deer out.

[Jarrid Houston]

I would say that every area is different. For some, its probably not a problem to ride out, and for guys like me, and where I hunt. I want nothing to do with any noise except the natural sounds of the woods, and me walking as hush hush as I can to get to my spot!

[TProGuy]

I don't own an ATV, so I can't comment on my own personal use, but I wish more people believed in leaving them on the trailer, or at least a longer distance from where they hunt. I hunt in the Crosslake area on public land, and on several occasions have witnessed people taking their ATV off the trails and riding them right through the middle of the woods, blazing their own trails directly to their stand...this is at 6:30 in the morning, leaving it right under their stand, then riding it out when they're done hunting at lunch time. It drives me nuts!

[Steve Foss]

If deer in the area are used to the sounds of motors, they won't give it a second thought. If they are in remote areas and rarely hear a motor, it'll matter.

[MrCrappie]

A hunter in my camp on Saturday, shot a spike that was sniffing a gutted doe strapped onto his ATV about 60 yards away from his stand. He shot the doe a quarter mile away an hour earlier.

[DinnerPail]

As long as they are used legally do what you want. I use mine for a 4 mile ride from which I walk up to 1 1/2 miles depending upon which stand I sit in.

[Surface Tension]

Been hunting Whitetail for over 35 years. We didn't have an ATV or sled for a lot of them.

In the times we've had a sled or ATV to use its sat on the trailer and only used to drag out a deer at the end of the day.

We did that for a few reasons.

Didn't want to smell like exhaust.

Didn't want the sight and smell of an ATV sitting around.

Wanted to get into the woods and stand with the least amount of noise.

One more thing to unload and load.

Could come and go as we pleased.

Even with that ATV on the trailer, we often just leave it there and drag the deer out.

The way I figure it, you have to walk back to the trailer anyway so you might as well grab something.

I guess its nice to know that we could use it(ATV) though.