I'm about to buy a mountain bike to ride in and out to and from the stand. I always walk in and never drive in on days I hunt unless I'm going to get a critter out but I'm liking the idea of a mountain bike because it'll be much faster and I can carry a few more items if needed. Anybody else use one? Tell me what I need to know about it.

I don't but Im not opposed to it.

Get a gun rack/bow holder for the handle bars.

One of my buddies does it occasionally and it works out well for him.

They suck in loose sand. I saw some advertised for hunting a while back that had fat tires on it, seems like that would work pretty good. Probably high dollar.

The fat tires are just a little better for sand and loose dirt, also don't forget a flat kit, or 2 or 3 or more. Bicycle tires will pick up the smallest stickers and then go flat. A small goat head or grass burr sticker will get you a real fast slow leak, usually as far from camp as possible.

The biggest problem is the deer are not used to seeing bikes, you really need to spend as much time as possible time at the lease before the season.

Never have but not opposed to it either, only have a few stands I could ride to.

I'm thinking solid foam tires. I'm not near as worried about the deer being used to it as I am spooking off the hogs. They get hunted pretty hard and are wired, that's why I usually don't drive in but it's a 30 minute walk to my good spot. I think they are cheap enough I'm gonna give it a whirl if nothing else I can ride around the neighborhood with my AR strapped on it and see what kind of hood rat stuff I can do.

I used my mountain bike a few years back to get to my stand and back and I had a rack on the back that worked well for hauling a bag of corn to feed.
About one bag is all I could haul and still be able to ride.
It was up in the hill country so I used it on an old jeep trail which was mostly hard packed and rock.
I hauled two deer out that season using the bike. I gutted the deer of course, and then tied the deers legs together with the bike laid on it's side I placed the deer on top of the bike and placed the bound legs around the seat and post.
Then lifted the bike up standing on the opposite side of the deer with the bike in between and walked the bike out.
It beat dragging.
One thing I found riding in early in the am while it was still dark was that the dew formed on the rims and when you applied the brakes they screeched loud enough to let all the animals in the woods know you were coming. Had to make sure I dried the rims and only used the rear brake.
Fast answer is yes, it works, so go ahead and do it. Stay on a trail and you won't have to worry about flats....Never had one!

still enjoy walking to & from, enjoying my surroundings... People be supprised by what they miss... each their own...

you might want to wear blaze orange too ... one year in CO I was hunting, started hearing something coming thru the woods at a high rate of speed, out pops 3 mountain bikers wearing tannish colored jackets about 20 yards away ... they froze when they saw me and gave me a puzzled look. then asked what the heck I was doing that far out in the woods wearing all that bright colored clothing and carrying a rifle. I said "are you aware this is opening morning of elk season and the woods are full of hunters looking for fast moving elk looking creatures making noise going down a trail?" ... I said ya'll might want to skidaddle back to your vehicle and put on some bright colored clothing to not look like a fast moving elk looking creature.

why not get an electric bicycle?

Buy thorn resistant tubes, and the Kevlar tires. Spend the few extra dollars on that and you will spend less time fixing flats.

https://www.amazon.com/PACK-Money-Saver-...t+bicycle+tubes

https://www.amazon.com/Schwinn-Terrain-B...tain+bike+tires

I've thought about it also. I may try it, but I'll drive halfway in my truck as I am on the complete other side of the lease.

I've thought about this and think I will grab my son's bike this season and give a try - at least for afternoon hunts. Would be nice and quiet, and probably less impact on game than walking.

I think in the morning, even with light, it might be a little rough getting to my stands. If a successful hunt, easy enough to ride back to barn and grab the Mule.

Enjoy walking

This might be of interest to you:

http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/9221043/m/9211040312/p/1

used a bike many years ago, works great

I enjoy a walk also but I've made this walk a thousand times over the last 20 years sometimes I just need to be in the stand as fast as I can after work or on short notice. This won't keep me from a stroll but will allow me a little more time before or a hunt to get ready and get me back to the truck faster in hot weather when I need to move a hog out fast.

CMC, I used one in a "horseback or foot only" area elk hunting once, worked great with a sturdy bike. Was a tad top heavy as I kept my day pack and rifle slung, but very manageable with gear adjustments on the fly.

BTW, met up with GW at the entrance gate on second day, he laughed and said "that is creative as hell" "but walking a gray line"

You will get in super quite i can tell you that for sure.

this is good info. I called a ranch owner in Monatana last night that usually allows us access and she said they aren't even driving their roads right now because of the drought the fire risk is too high. She isn't allowing anybody to drive in so most folks are not going or taking a horse but I may just throw my bike in the truck when I go just in case.

BTW I've already got one lined up for pick up in a couple days so I'll report throughout the year how it's going.

I have thought about that for many years. I enjoy walking, it is a nice short walk about 300 yards, but if I had a much longer walk I would give it a shot

I think my biggest worry with the "gray line" was not having a scabbard, but it was not a "motorized vehicle" as per code per the GW, he said he wasn't even going to think about it as it was so vague LOL

I used a strong, lightweight bike I borrowed from a friend up there, it was great, big tires ectra, figured I'd buy me one after that until I priced one out, geez, they are upwards of $1000 plus! 10 speed plus is a huge bonus, as was a small pad for the seat the second day. Only draw back I could think of would be no place to really haul much, so figured i'd still be huffing a bull out if I killed that trip.

most of what I think I would do would be on established roads so I'm hoping it'll be a fairly easy peddle. I'm thinking about getting one of those baby trailers I see the soccer moms in yoga pants have that they drag their kid around in and revamping it and see if I can haul some gear or a small gutted critter in. Or maybe I'll just leave it like it is and sit the deer up and belt it in like a baby. What a surprise when the warden opens that umbrella and there's Bambi staring back at him with his head hung over and tongue out.

A small 2 wheel trail "trailer" is a darn good idea, with the gear ratios, shouldn't be squat pulling one out, may be able to just put the pulling strap around the saddle post, or weld up a bracket somehow on the rear wheel spindle.

I can tell you it saves a huge amount of energy in the mountains as far as burning shoe leather and talk about stealthy. Still a good workout, but the gears make the difference I think. It was wet a day or two where I was, but fairly rocky, not sure what it would have been like in a silty type soil though.

Never used one for hunting but used one to change targets and it did fine. You might think about going to a couple of pawn shops and buying a used mountain bike and giving it a try before spending too much on an item you might only use once.

To keep less motion I would look into an electric bike.