E-BIKES - the way to hunt in the west

[Litehiker]

After an unsuccessful Nevada antelope hunt on foot I'm convinced that to properly cover the big distances here in the west a hunter needs to be "motorized". I saw ALL other hunters on ATVs, (many of them physically unfit to hunt on foot).

I now feel the answer, for me at last, is an electric mountain bike, specifically a 2-wheel drive E-Cell Super Monarch Crown bike. I will probably buy the camo version but it also comes in bright orange. You also may want to look at the 3-wheel, rear wheel drive RUNGU. It is a strange looking bike, having two front wheels, but very capable.

The E-Cell bike has two batteries, one for each motor. It is amazingly good at climbing steep hills. So yeah, re-charging these two batteries could pose a problem. My solution will be Honda's smallest gas generator that can easily handle that task with a full tank of gas and another 2 1/2 gallon can, depending on the duration of the hunt. In mountains I expect it to have a minimum range of 20 miles, plenty for two days of hunting before re-charging.

A fat-tired mountain e-bike is easy to carry on a trailer hitch rack like the excellent One-Up. No pickup bed or trailer needed so my compact SUV, a MAZDA CX-5, can easily handle it.

With an e-mountain bike you can get quietly closer to the game and won't scare it away for other hunters. It os less expensive than an ATV and can haul a bone-out elk and you and your gear back to camp. Plus it pollutes far less than an ATV and is kinder to the land - and your wallet.

 

[softtail103]

After an unsuccessful Nevada antelope hunt on foot I'm convinced that to properly cover the big distances here in the west a hunter needs to be "motorized". I saw ALL other hunters on ATVs, (many of them physically unfit to hunt on foot).

I now feel the answer, for me at last, is an electric mountain bike, specifically a 2-wheel drive E-Cell Super Monarch Crown bike. I will probably buy the camo version but it also comes in bright orange. You also may want to look at the 3-wheel, rear wheel drive RUNGU. It is a strange looking bike, having two front wheels, but very capable.

The E-Cell bike has two batteries, one for each motor. It is amazingly good at climbing steep hills. So yeah, re-charging these two batteries could pose a problem. My solution will be Honda's smallest gas generator that can easily handle that task with a full tank of gas and another 2 1/2 gallon can, depending on the duration of the hunt. In mountains I expect it to have a minimum range of 20 miles, plenty for two days of hunting before re-charging.

A fat-tired mountain e-bike is easy to carry on a trailer hitch rack like the excellent One-Up. No pickup bed or trailer needed so my compact SUV, a MAZDA CX-5, can easily handle it.

With an e-mountain bike you can get quietly closer to the game and won't scare it away for other hunters. It os less expensive than an ATV and can haul a bone-out elk and you and your gear back to camp. Plus it pollutes far less than an ATV and is kinder to the land - and your wallet.

Sounds like you have hub motors. Keep a close eye on your spokes. Make sure they are tight at all times. 20 miles if you don't turn up the power and use peddle assist. If you hunt where there is dangerous game be careful rounding corners. There are a lot of things to be on the look out for in the mountains on a E bike. I run Rambo and have found that when your battery dies while hunting it sure is hard to peddle those 75+ lbs bikes with super fat tires on them. Out west, not all national forests are open to EBikes either. Enjoy yourself.

 

[BillLarson]

It,harder to break your neck on a 4 wheel vehicle than a 2 wheeler.....

 

[cohunt]

I spoke with a colorado cpw field officer and he told me he had tried an e-bike and said they spook game just as much as a regular atv--- his reasoning was that the game animals are not used to the high pitched noise of the electric motor (humans can't always hear the same noises/frequencies that animals can) and so they still spook.

There are pluses and minuses when it comes to e-bikes vs std gas motored vehicles. Just got to weigh you options and make an informed decision based on actual users experiences ( not marketing )

 

[adam32+P]

If I'm going in the backwoods on 2 wheels it'll be a Rokon.

 

[dfanonymous]

Well I guess I'll be the toxic one.

I've never used a vehicle to hunt anything, and I've only exclusively hunted out west. Minus some time stationed in Virginia.

About the only places I needed help on foot, a ebike won't make, like river crossings working my way up to peak by peak (during high country archery). Because of the terrain and the distance being upward of 20 miles on foot, sometimes a horse is the best way.

But I don't have a horse, so I dun walk it.

 

[Litehiker]

dfanonymous,
Were you 79 when you last hunted on foot in the west?
Eric B.

 

[Litehiker]

Would that mean all the guys on ATVs are "too old for hunting"? I'm definitely in better shape for hunting than 80% of the guys I see riding ATVs but at 7,000 to over 8,00 feet that ridge running and gully jumping with a meat pack and rifle is a bit harder at my age. Covering more than one mile a day (one way) at those altitudes and on steep mountain makes for very little area hunted, thus the need for an E- mountain bike.

All I'm saying is that an E-mountain bile seems to make a lot more sense to me than an ATV.

 

[Litehiker]

I agree that hunting in the traditional sense means hunting on foot, which is what I've been doing all my life. But Nevada ain't Pennsylvania, my home state.
In the past I have backpack hunted in Nevada's Jarbidge Wilderness area and in Lamoille canyon. I did that in my 60s and also backpacked the Grand Canyon, North Rim to South Rim, at age 74 with Len Backus who was 71 at the time.

BUT... now that I live in Nevada I see a great need for motorized transport while in the backcountry in order to cover the necessary ground to find game AND compete with all the guys on ATVs. For me e-bikes seem the best way to do that. And let's face it, 99% of those guys on ATVs return each evening to their base "camp" which is usually a camping trailer of motorhome. Tent camping they ain't.

 

[dfanonymous]

And let's face it, 99% of those guys on ATVs return each evening to their base "camp" which is usually a camping trailer of motorhome. Tent camping they ain't.

Yes, absolutely. This is why I don't push my way on people. I rely on that fact, and that I can get as far away from them as possible to have the best personal experience.

 

[BillLarson]

If I'm going in the backwoods on 2 wheels it'll be a Rokon.

Protect your neck....

 

[Joe Bishop]

I think that I'll stick with horses, game don't spook, horses can take you places that you can only access on foot and pack it out.

 

[WahooYahoo]

Maybe you're too old for hunting then.

I'm not against ebikes or whatever, but the BEST is up for debate for sure.

Why not attack on the fact that I can pull a bow back?
No… I wasn't disabled last time I hunted the west. It's a physical sport.

Eric, I say do whatever makes your hunt possible. Good on ya for getting after it. I'm not in my 70s yet but I hope I have the gumption to keep at it.

I do think horses offer a better trip than an e-bike in many cases, but not all cases. Gotta water them horses and in parts of Nevada, that may be a deal breaker.

Good luck with it, sir.

 

[Oryx_Official]

It,harder to break your neck on a 4 wheel vehicle than a 2 wheeler.....

Tell that to the nurses in the ER...