Looking at a very mountainous property that is only accessible by some 4 wheeler trails and I don’t have the funds for a 4 wheeler, so I’m looking for alternatives. Thought about a mountain bike she retrofitting a bike trailer to haul gear and game. Anyone have experience with this setup?

Yep. If I'm going turkey hunting I just bring my kids little wagon that is designed for a bike. But for deer I have a game cart I've attached a hitch too. Haven't dragged a deer out with it yet. But I was able to set up a climber and all my gear on it and used a piece of pool noodle to cushion it under the seat rail. Had to elevate it so it doesn't touch the back tire when turning.

I’ve used a bike for deer and turkey hunting for a few years several years ago. I always packed them out in a backpack. I would be very cautious about using one with a trailer in steep terrain.

A bike by itself sucks on steep terrain. Ride if flat, walk if not

Sorry, learned my lesson on deer hunting on my bike. Pedaled up the mountain one morning , got to the top and as I un latched my rifle from the handle bars a young buck stepped out on the trail and stared at me. I loaded and fired quickly and he went down. I walked the bike up to him (85 pounds), laid it down and lined him up with the frame. Tied his front hooves to the handlebars and his neck to the center fork over the front tire and straddled him on the center bar in front of the seat. Stood it up and fastened my gun and got on!Easing down hill was easy, got some funny looks from a couple of guys going uphill. Nice I wasn’t getting bloody, there wasn’t any blood. I noticed there as a big notch out of one of his antlers.......suddenly......he shivered and began to jerk his head up, but I had him tied pretty good! I was doing pretty good , until, he got his back hooves on the pedals......I lost all control as we tumbled down the mountain trail and crashed in the parking lot in front of a group of hunters. He had no problem freeing himself at that point and vanishing in the brush. Bike was ruined, I’ve hauled a gobbler, being sure he was completely dead, but never again a deer!

Sounds to me like the bike part worked out great, just need to make sure he was good and dead.

I've thought about getting a setup like that at my club. I went after the season riding around trying to jump some hogs on fields. I was amazed at how easy, quickly (and quietly) I could get around on the club property. Our place is relatively flat. I rode up on a couple deer that didn't jump till I was right up on them. I don't think they recognize what you are when you are on a bike coasting along.

If you don't mind could you post what trailer that is?

Hate to laugh at your pain but that is funny! Bike would be great but the downhill thing with a deer could be a horrible disaster waiting to happen!

Rambo cart. Very light and well balanced.

You guys can believe anything I tell you...except THIS time! Sorry, had to do it!

Ive used a bike in wma for turkey because of all the closed gates but never for deer

Don't worry about not being able to get a 4 wheeler pal. If the land's got turkeys, you can ride on the back of mine

I’m way to outta shape to be riding a bike up and down mountains and definitely couldn’t pull a deer out of the woods on one.

The club I’m looking at has a 3200 acre parcel of property that is new, and supposedly 2 different flocks of 70+ have been seen on it, and another 2700 acre parcel that 4 different guys limited out on last year. The kicker.... no guests lol.

Thanks for the input so far guys.

blade, is that an electric fat tire bike? if so, i want to know more. thanks ...

Yes, it is. I've deer hunted one season and turkey hunted a season on it so far. I really like it so far.

I knew that was too good to be true....well played! Hahaha

That's a nice setup! And nice buck deer to boot.

Thanks!

blade, does it do hills well? my club is in coosa county with a lot of short, but somewhat steep, hills and dales. do you wear a head lamp for going in the dark? i don't think i'd make a round trip of farther than 7-8 miles. club house has electricity for charges. i weight 206; loadout for a hunt would be maybe 12-15 pounds max. bike brand?

We are pretty hilly as well. Haven't found one I couldn't go up yet. I have a handle bar light mounted and a taillight. This battery will go about 25 miles without recharging. I'm about 185 but a couple of the guys that have this bike are pushing 300 with no issues.

Long story, but this bike is a custom design. We had a half dozen built. Its a Rambo frame, 1000 watt 48 volt engine, internal 3 speed hub, Shimano and Batang brakes, shifters, throttle, controller etc. The sprockets are geared pretty low on purpose but still has a top end of 28 mph. It can go all electric or pedal assisted electric or just pedal power.

That sounds like a heck of a machine.

Hunting season is WET! Keep that in mind. Mud is slick on a bike!

wow ...

Haha, yes it is. You learn quick to keep your feet down in the thin slick stuff. The thick sticky stuff not a problem.

Is anybody still building the electric bikes? Were you able to establish a good average price they could sell for? An electric bike that could pull a bunch of old fat turkey hunters would sell well.

Regarding the mud, it helps if you are a little taller. Some of our "vertically challenged" individuals have a harder time reaching the ground.

Timber,
I thought about selling the design I came up with but I heard that the Rambo bikes really were not selling that well.

I’m vertically challenged as well, haha. I had a shock absorbing fork on to begin with but swapped it to lose a few inches of height, have a low rise seat and the shortest stem on the handle bars. This frame is a big frame. But with those mods, I easily flatfoot.

Several companies are commercially selling them. I don’t know how successful they are. Rambo, Quiet Cat are two fairly popular brands. There was definitely money saved in having them built and ended up with a good design.

Bahahaha. Didn’t know you were on the site! There’s a reason it looks just like it! Because it is! I’m in Monroeville so you know who I am. Pud has mine right now so gg could use it at the beach this weekend. He’s gonna swap the brakes to hydraulic for me.

https://s8.postimg.cc/ai21dorxh/20180127_095235.jpg

I'm new to this posting pictures thing. Hopefully I have it this time.

Use direct link and post into the box. Don’t use the photo button. It will show up in the thread.

OK, thanks on the posting. Pud told me they used them to get to the beach and watch the Blue Angels. He said they worked great.

Yeah. He said about 20 miles round trip in the heat and still had three bars of battery.

As y’all probably have figured out, Steiner is the designer of the bike I have. It’s been top notch.

Motorized bikes aren’t allowed on AL WMAs from what I can tell.

I think if they are under 750W they are considered non motorized vechicles. At least on federal land. I would assume the same applies at state WMA’s but not sure.

I resemble that remark!

Yeh but i doit in south alabama wer its flat. I dont do it much in north bama

Check out QuietKat. They are electric bikes

What type of battery do you use?

Man I'd like to have that sorry bout your loss tho that'd made me sick

I picked up a cheap bike this summer for a couple of 1000yard fields I walk across but it's accessible by truck if I kill one

beeline,

The battery that I use is often called a bottle battery. They are made specifically for bikes. It is a 48 volt 12 Ahr lithium battery. I specified Samsung -25R cells. There are many different brands and types of cells used in bike batteries. Some are better than others. The -25R cells are not the latest battery technology but they have proven themselves over the years. The controller in the bike is set to a maximum of 30 amps. The battery pack that I am using can supply up to 50 amps.

I would really like to find a confirmation on this

I have heard that 750W is the maximum allowable regarding on street usage. I haven't heard about any limits for off-road but I also have not ever operated one on federal lands. The particular motor that I am using can have its output changed via software so you could set it to whatever you want. I also can't imagine how they are going to check to see if an electric bike is above or below 750W.

The WMA regs on the back of the maps say no motorized vehicles. So if 750 and down isn’t characterized as motorized then sounds ok. But unlike more than a few other states, Alabama doesn’t have a specification of what non-motorized is. So when a person is on federal land that’s in the confines of a state administrered WMA it would seem to me the state rules are deferred to. At the very least there is not clear direction

oregon has a ton of hunters that use bikes. ANY bike with a motor is recognized as a motorized vehicle by the timber companies. This year they even stated that on the permit info

The shock absorbing forks are a waste for climbing hills, wasted energy for guys that pedal. Lock'em out

I built an ebike last year and did a lot of research and I agree with CatHead. Outside of the far western states it appears anything 750w or under is good to go. You might want to check with the local warden beforehand but well worth the call.