LAST UPDATED: May 1st, 2015
Every year my pre-season scouting finds me looking for hunting hangouts that no other hunter wants to mess with. This typically means sloshing through boot-sucking swamps, thickets, and hard to reach hideouts. I learned a long time ago that success in hunting can simply be a matter of going a little deeper into the woods than the next guy. Pushing further down the trail typically means that I’ll have the woods to myself. It means unpressured critters and the opportunity for success rarely found next to the truck. In more recent years I’ve learned to employ an old childhood favorite…my bike…to aid me in getting to those hard to reach hunting hotspots. That’s right! A bike and bow are just the ticket for stealthier hunting this next season when in pursuit of turkey, deer, and countless other critters.
A bike and a bow are a deadly combination in the deer woods
No ATV’s Allowed
One of my favorite deer hunting spots actually came from a tip from an old man that lived down the road from our house at that time. He often talked about this public land whitetail honey-hole that was tucked a couple miles across a lake. There was only one trail accessible to the public. All the other access was through private property that was tightly posted. The public access trail had a big sign posted for all to see, “No Motorized Vehicles.” I remember the old man saying, “It would be a killer place to hunt!” And then he laughed and said, “But you’d have to have a bicycle to get in there.” At that moment it clicked. I realized I had been missing out on some of the best spots simply because I had not put a non-motorized mode of transportation to work for me. The next day I pedaled in to this new spot and found exactly what I had hoped for. Deer sign was everywhere. Tracks, trails, rubs, scrapes…it was all there. And not one stand or even any sign of another hunter. It was all mine. And to this day, I never see a soul on this ground. The bottom line is, go beyond the gates that lock out many other hunters that won’t hunt without their 4-wheeler. Find places where no motorized vehicles are allowed, and you’ll likely find places without hunting pressure.
Leave the crowds behind and bike your way to unpressured hunting hideaways
Silence is Deadly
I’ll never forget the time I was riding in to chase turkeys in a limited access chunk of public hunting land. I was riding by the moonlight and was less than a quarter mile from the truck when I rode up on a man walking down the trail with his dog. I honestly don’t know where they came from. There was no other truck parked at the gate or anywhere else close by. He simply appeared to be out on a stroll to smoke a cig and walk his dog. As I saw the image of the man on the trail in the moonlight I quit pedaling and just cruised, trying to see how close I could get before he caught on to my presence. Funny thing is I rolled right up next to the poor fella and nearly scared him and his dog to death as I pedaled past them. Startled and a bit embarrassed, he simply said, “Man, I never even heard you coming!” I smiled, apologized, and kept on riding back to where I knew I needed to be at first light. I knew then that I was on to one of the quietest means of transportation that I could possibly use in the woods. A bike enables me to be more aggressive on my approach. The silence it affords allows me to ride tighter to my hunting spots, and the critters never know I’m coming. This has proved to be an effective means of transportation for me on deer, turkey, and coyote hunts.
A bike allows you to quickly and quietly cover more hunting grounds
Quickly Cover More Ground
Outside of deer hunting, turkey and coyotes are some of my favorite critters to pursue because of the fast paced calling opportunities they provide. Few things compare to watching a wild animal respond to your call and come within range for a shot. But calling is a numbers game. You often have to cover lots of ground in your efforts to locate game. In many cases this means your legs will do the real work when you hunt this “run and gun” style of calling game. Where possible, the bike option allows you to cover far more ground between calling sets. You won’t have to walk back to the truck or ride a noisy ATV between sets. You simply hop on the bike and ride to your next calling stand. In a fraction of the time it would take you to walk, you can be biking your way to the game. You’ll be less fatigued and ultimately be much more successful as you quickly cover more territory in those prime hours of the day.
Hunt more efficiently this next season by adding a bike to your bag of tricks. You’ll quickly and quietly cover more ground and find greater success as you pedal your way to new bowhunting adventure.
Brodie Swisher is a world champion game caller, outdoor writer, and seminar speaker. Check out his website www.thrutheseason.com.
