A controversial subject, I know -- currently I am less interested in questioning the ethics, etc. than in looking at the practicality of it.

John Barsness had a good article about this in the first issue of Successful Hunter (maybe I should make that my username ... NOT!). I know in Africa driving in the bakky is a regular thing, and there are the extremes of the truck-mounted towers that make some south Texas hunts sound more like reenactments of el Alamein.

I've been on three hunts that involved some use of vehicles as more than just transportation to the general area.

I hunted elk on an Indian reservation where we did quite a bit of what Barsness calls the "F350 spot and stalk." We did spot the herd from the truck, then parked out of sight and stalked up the ridge, where I got massive tunnel vision and shot the first legal bull I saw instead of the big 6x6 next to him.

I hunted deer in northern Maine -- when conditions are right, that involves a lot of driving the logging roads, looking for a BIG track. We found such a track, parked the truck, loaded our rifles, and followed it four miles over evil blowdowns and mucky swamps until it completely disappeared in a riverside bog. Since my buddy wasn't exactly sure where we were at that point, I grudgingly agreed that the deer probably swam the river. Fortunately, we found a road nearby; every time I doubt that it was really four miles of tracking, I remember the hour and a half walk back to the truck. (We never saw a legal deer in 8 days, but that's northern Maine and it was still one of my most memorable hunts.)

Most recently, I hunted pigs in southern California. We spent some time glassing, still hunting, driving, and throwing rocks into canyons. We also spent a lot of time driving around looking for pigs. My partner saw more pigs on foot (and more overall) due to luck of the draw in where the guide positioned him on a couple of the drives. I saw the most pigs from the truck.

However, I found it awfully hard to see much of anything indistinct from a bouncing Jeep. Often I wondered if we would be better off on foot. But I can't quarrel with the fact that we did see pigs from the truck quite a few times, including several feeding right next to the road, unaware of us -- until we got out and tried to maneuver on foot for a better angle.

So, when do you consider the lawful (of course) use of a vehicle to be a useful part of hunting, and when is it a hindrance? If you opt to use one for some part of your hunting, how do you overcome the possible shortcomings?

For the record, I prefer to hunt on foot, just because in the DC area I spend way too much time sitting in my truck anyway.

John

I hunt some of the more remote areas of Kalifornia and Nevada. In these areas, w/o a 4WD, you are not hunting.
I use my Jeep to scout for sign. I often remove the windows, and in the desert, the doors as well. This way I miss little. In a Jeep I can cover several times the area I can on foot.
This is the way I find the areas I wish to hunt. Shooting from inside a vehicle is always illegal here, and I don't do it. Shooting from a roadbed is illegal too. But, in the desert, we have desert washes that extend for many miles. In fact I know one good game area that extends for over 60 miles of desert wash.
In our Kalifornia Sierra Nevada Mtns, near my home, I do something similar. I select the area I hunt from the sign I see from the old logging roads.
In all cases, for big game, it is then a foot job. Still hunting, taking a stand, or, in the desert, tracking.
Even getting close to the better camp sites often requires a 4WD. My truck camper is mounted on a heavy duty Dodge 4WD truck. Without the 4WD feature, I'd be forced to camp several miles from any potential hunting area. E

In Australia we do a lot of shooting from veichles & professional shooters would rarely shoot out of a veichle.

I have no problem hunting from a vehicle and spot and stalk methods...In many places it is the key to success...and I have wornout as much shoe leather as anyone...both are effective, depending on a lot of different equations....

When I hear this holier than thou book references being preached as gospel, I just take that with a grain of salt and know that person has been reading too much propaganda....I have known some scribes that preached holiness of the hunt and they mostly shot all their game in winter feed grounds and poached most of it, they also served time for it and rightously so.....It seems most things today are not what they seem, and the internet is no exception.....I suspect much game today is shot out the PU window...If legal then so be it...If I were meat hunting that is exactly what I would do.

Let him who has hobbled a few miles up and down hills with knees like mine throw the first stone.

Like everything else, road hunting is a valid method for taking game. But, you would be cheating yourself if this was the only method you prescribed to. I will cruise the roads if scouting a new area, or if my feet need a break. I am breaking in two new young hunters who can't make it all day on their feet, especially when it's cold and snowy.

Gentlemen,

I agree with Ray about meat hunting. I have shot a lot of game from a vehicle in Africa. When meat hunting, it isn't about sport, it is about making clean kills and not damaging the product.

At home in Western Oregon, I have a hard time road hunting. The brush is usually too thick to see anything more than 20 yards off the road. In many parts of Eastern Oregon, however, spotting game from the Jeep, then stalking is a very productive way of hunting.

Joel Slate
Slate & Associates, LLC
www.slatesafaris.com

7mm Rem Mag Page www.slatesafaris.com/7mm.htm

Spot lighting rabbits and foxes from a 4x4 or quad is great fun and I would love to try hunting pigs or roo's from ones of those fancy hunting rigs they use in Australia. My own personel line is drawn on deer as I enjoy stalking them far too much, but I have no problems with using a 4x4 to cut out some of the walking or for getting carcasses out.Hell a little off roading adds a little more spice to a hunting trip....

Where I see the real problem is when people use them with no consideration for others...

Some people are members of the NRA.

I tell my dad he is a member of RHA .... Road Hunters of America.

Like it or not road hunting is a commonly accepted practice in many parts of the world.
It would probably be shocking to actually find out how much game is killed using this method.

Im a believer that game animals do not use maps and therefore do not know how to avoid roads, hence the effectivness of road hunting. In the past Ive liked to use a 4X4 to decide where I want to hunt and then get out and go from there, if something looks good in the process it is fair game. This year for the first time I used a Rokon 2X2, that was almost as much fun as the hunt itself and got me into some great places. When I begin to dislike roadhunting is when there is enough access and so many road hunters that people are able to drive or ride to a spot and then benefit from other hikers reguardless of where the hikers go. I like to try to get away from such areas but it is tough to do in some places.

Like DB Bill said when each step is like a knife being jammed into your knee hunting from the bakkie takes on a new meaning. I had some problems accepting this method at first, but when it is the only way to get around you just do what you got to do. My young PH this fall said he compared it to using modern fire arms. If walking is the only acceptable way of hunting how do you justify using a Magnum rifle with a scope vs using a spear, eh.

I hunt a Ranch that prefers no off road travel, other than to retrieve a downed animal. I am one of the few people still hunting the Ranch as I park and then WALK. I seem to surprise the majority of game I see as they were on the lookout for a road hunter not someone walking. At 52 its getting tough to do the long days, but I survive. Lots of ibuprofin tabs.

Two days ago I hunted a range of steep hills that are known by everyone out here to hold good muleys and the occasional elk herd as well. It took us an hour to get to the top, staying out of sight in coulees and drainages. Near the top I spotted one of the best muleys I've ever seen on the Ranch. Another hour later we got to within fifty yards and my cousin popped him with his 06 through the shoulders. Twenty eight inches wide and twenty three tall, with several small points off the main beams with heavy beams as well. A small buck for Arizona but for this area a VERY good one. I doubt if my Cousin's first muley would have been as good if we had simply road hunted all day.

I like all the road hunters that central MT seems to have. It allows me to walk into areas that are virtually never hunted.

FN in MT

Depending on the country you're hunting, road hunting may be the only way to go. When hunting in a new area, I love to cruise the road looking for tracks in fresh snow or mud. I have tracked down both elk and deer using this method.

I have done a lot of both each has it merits in certain areas. I see no differants in spotting game from the road or from a horse then puting the stalk on them. Useing a vehicle allows one to cover vast areas. I just got back from a horse back elk hunt fun yes would of been fun from a 4 wheeler yes. I am a equal oppertunety hunter.

Personally, hunting for me means getting out into the trees and hiking around the top of a mountain, or at least sitting beneath a favorite perch looking over a clear cut. This is the way I prefer to hunt. However, this isn't always the way it is done. In fact I have never shot an animal using that method. Every animal I have every shot I've had to scramble out of a pickup for. My grandpa has a bad knee. He doesn't get to hike around alot anymore and feels his age more every year. When hunting with him, it is mostly road hunting with a few short hikes. Then sometimes, like this last doe I shot today, are just on my way to my next hunting spot.

I guess being a heater hunter is just more productive for me, even if it isn't as enjoyable

AmsoGreg,

i agree, animals do like to use roads. This year I went without my derylict friends and managed to get my dad out again. That alone made it a successfull hunt, but anyway we went to a place that was our old area and has now become so overrun with hunters that the DWR has implemented a short hunt for the area. Nearly everywhere one goes there was somone watching from a vantage point and they either got there from a truck or an ATV and nobody wanted to be the brush dog for everyone else. A lousy situation. I did manage to find some solitude and did some hiking though. I hope that in 11 yrs when I am 52 that I can get up a hill as well as Frank still does. Even though I had a fantastic hunting machine this year I still had to do some rooting around in the brush, It wouldnt be hunting to me without it.

Road hunting is hard work ,too,if done right.Dead crawl,not all vehicle are slow enough at idle,intense scurtiny on your side for all hours of daylight.Much more pleasant to wander along.

I don't have a big problem with spotting from a vehicle and then making a stalk into an area to finisn the hunt. The problem I have is that in the area of Northern Missouri where I sometimes hunt it means drive around slowly, spot the game in any field (whether or not you have permission to hunt it) shoot it from the truck, gut it, and get it back to the truck before the ranger or landowner shows up. That drives me nuts.

As for legality, in Kansas, it is illegal to PERSUE any game animal from a vehicle, so if you spot a deer from the vehicle and it spots you and runs, you can not drive around the field to cut it off, get out, and shoot it. But you can hunt on foot from the road if you have the permission of the landowners on both sides of the road. This provision was made for the bird and coyote hunters.

In Nebraska, you can spot from a vehicle and, if you are off the road, shoot from the vehicle provided the vehicle is stopped and not running.

In Missouri, it is supposed to be illegal to hunt from a vehicle at all, including spotting.