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The mechanized pursuit of wildlife by ATV hunters is a great hunting aid, but those who use them need to act responsibly.
Over the last decade, with the emergence of all terrain vehicles, Colorado^s public lands have seen an increase in hunters who use their ATVs to retrieve big game animals in the field and to transport them from a hunting area to their camp.
"ATV riders can displace wildlife out of good habitat because they can take their machines into fairly remote areas," said John Ellenberger, the Division^s state big game manager. "When used responsibly though, they don^t cause as many problems," he said.
Each year, the Division of Wildlife receives numerous complaints from hunters about ATV riders driving past road closure signs, shattering the silence and disrupting other hunters on foot or horseback.
Although ATVs are a hunting aid, especially when retrieving downed animals, they make it easier to unintentionally cross an area someone else is already hunting, frightening elk and deer away.
"This is not just an issue of improper use of ATVs by hunters, but also includes the use of ATVs on public lands during the summer months," Ellenberger said. These recreationists are just as capable of displacing wildlife from preferred habitats in the summer as are hunters in the fall, he said.
"The majority of hunters with ATVs are responsible and follow the rules and regulations on public lands," said John Bredehoft, the Division^s chief of law enforcement. "But the few who don^t can hurt the image of all ATV riders," he said.
Concerns about the use of machines hunters isn^t new to hunters.
"The evolution of animals cannot keep pace with man^s inventions," Aldo Leopold wrote in 1933. "The recreational value of big game is inverse to the artificiality of its origin," said Leopold, who is known as one of the fathers of modern game management.
In the past, the recreational value of hunting has come from its "wildness" and the fundamental ethic of "fair chase."
Today, however, with the onset of technology, the notion of fair chase by hunters on foot has been altered by ATV hunters and especially the few who hunt big game from backcountry trails while riding their machines.
"This is an extension of the hunter who uses his full size 4-wheel drive as a hunting aid, but the problem is compounded by the small size and maneuverability of ATVs and OHVs," Ellenberger said.
The U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Division of Wildlife, Colorado State Parks, users groups, counties and municipalities will all participate in a coalition of land management agencies to determine how to best manage ATV use on public lands. That effort includes signs that send a consistent message about "allowed" uses of motorized vehicles on public lands across the state.
The Routt National Forest in northwest Colorado and Grand Mesa National Forest in the west, for example, only permit ATV use on designated roads and trails.
"This may be the shape of things to come for the Forest Service," said Matt Glasgow, spokesman for the Grand Mesa, Uncompaghre and Gunnison national forests.
In the Gunnison and Uncompahgre forests, riders are still permitted to drive their ATVs off-trail. "But if a rider negatively impacts the natural resources, they can be required to pay both fines and restitution," Glasgow said.
A skilled rider can drive an ATV almost anywhere. ATVs are approximately 42-inches wide and can go through dense timber areas, over boulders and up steep embankments.
"ATVs can actually push big game animals up higher into the backcountry or onto private land and be counter productive to a hunter^s elk or deer hunt," said Kirsten Remmick, visitor information specialist for the Routt National Forest. "If ATV use is intensive enough, animals will begin to avoid the areas and then habitat is essentially lost for use by those animals," Ellenberger said.
Both Ellenberger and Remmick recommend hunters who plan to use an ATV during their hunt to check with the area land manager to find out about seasonal trail closures and the rules and regulations associated with public lands. Trails can be closed for a variety of reasons, so it^s best to check with local land managers for closures at the beginning of a hunt. Maps outlining trails on public lands are also available at local Forest Service and BLM offices across the state.
The key to proper ATV use is common sense, said Jack Placchi, Colorado State Parks Off-Highway Vehicle Program manager. "Certainly most hunters and recreational OHV users don^t condone resource abuse," he said. "There is also a need for awareness and peer pressure to steer people toward responsible driving. Just like we^ve reached the ATV clubs and OHV enthusiasts with the need to be self-policing, responsible and involved in creating and maintaining trails, hunters need to be in the loop as well," Placchi said.
Many ATV riders promote light-on-the-land recreation through the "Tread Lightly" program.
Principles of "Tread Lightly" are:
Travel and recreate with the minimum impact.
Respect the environment and the rights of others.
Educate yourself, plan and prepare before you go.
Allow for future use of the outdoors; leave it better than you found it.
Responsibility versus regulation is the current issue for ATV hunters that will determine the future of all motorized uses on public lands.
Already there are groups, most notably other hunters, that are asking for a total ban on ATV use during hunting season.
In some parts of the state, regulations have already been established by the Forest Service that limit ATV use to certain times of the day and then only to retrieve an animal that was harvested. On the Grand Mesa, for example, ATVs can go off-trail from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to retrieve downed game.
The Wildlife Commission is also considering addressing the use of ATVs by hunters. The Commission will proceed with consideration of implementation strategies to address hunter concerns with off-highway vehicles at upcoming Commission meetings.
The following is a list of Colorado laws pertaining to ATVs:
It is illegal to hunt, chase, pursue, harass or shoot at wildlife from an ATV, 4WD, snowmobile or other motorized vehicle.
It is illegal to shoot across or within 50 feet of the centerline of any state, county or federal road.
Firearms must be UNLOADED (no bullet in chamber) while driving ATVs or 4WDs.
Handicapped hunters can get permits from the DOW to hunt from a stationary ATV.
ATVs must be registered with Colorado State Parks for $15.25 per year.
Out-of-state registry is accepted, but must be displayed at all times.
Uploaded: 9/4/1999
Uploaded: 9/4/1999