Speed of road hunting. Some like it fast....

[BiG Boar]

Third post of the day, may be more to come, can you tell I am bored or what? Going to the coq gun club to put a few more bullets through my shoulder after work here in a couple hours. Anyways, my question may seem obvious, but to us newer hunters, how fast do you go when road hunting. Try to be as exact as you can tell. I mean it seems I am just kinda cruising and all I see is the butts of bears running for thier lives? I mean a diesel makes more noise, maybe thats my problem? Any tips or tricks to driving styles would help. Slowing down around corners, getting out at all clear cut blocks? Anything will help. Also post what kind of vehicle you are doing it in, quad, dirtbike? ect. BTW whoever comes out with the fastest speed wins an award...but you have to have bagged something, I just dont want your fastest gravel road speed.:shock:

[Jetboater]

if you want to shoot something get out of the truck and walk grassy roads...
I dont know how to road hunt so I am no help...

[Mr. Dean]

I've seen several critter while cruising the bush but haven't ever been able to connect on one. My luck is that of yours.

BUT!!!
I've gone back and hiked into areas that I have seen animals in while driving, and have been successful.

Normally on scouting tours, I'm creeping along, scanning not only the bush but also the roads edge for sign or anything that looks interesting.

[grumpy]

get out and walk
last year at logan lake I was watching a herd of deer when their ears all came and they started running, then I could hear the diesel coming up the hill they ran at the sound

[bighornbob]

Driving speeds vary from area to area and to species. Bears right now will be usually in the ditches eating the new grass, so thats why you are seeing their butts taken off. Ever walk down a road and have a truck come up on you, you hear it at least a minite before you see it. I am sure the animals hear well before us.

If I am bear hunting and I see a ass running into the trees and it looks big I pin the truck even more and blow right by the bear as fast as I can. I drive a couple hundred meters away untill out of sight and hearings and park the truck and wait about 5 minites and slowly walk back. You be surprised at how fast the buggers will be back in the exact same spot feeding.

If you know which roads grass up first or you see a few butts on them, park and walk the road instead of driving it.

For deer hunting I drive untill I see an opening and then glass. I dont drive into the opening and try and glass the whole thing from one location. It depends on the cuts but each 50m of driving gets you another couple hundred meters of glassing before you get into the opening. Knowing the clearcut will give you the best spots to glass from and where to slow down if you know there are depressions you were not able to glass.

Glass at the start of the clearcut, the middle and the end. Only glassing from one spot say the beginning you may be missing animals that are standing behind a bush or a X-mas tree. When coming back I always glass again even if I just drove through 5 minites earlier. You never know when an animals may have moved or stood or just the different angle of glassing opening up a different view.

Driving slower then faster is always better but you dont cover a lot of ground. If there are a lot of guys road hunting then its just a mad scramble for the cuts. I always glass a cut even if a guy has just come out of there. Never assume there is nothing there just becuase he came out of there. My dad and I shot a young meat buck one time in a cut that 3 guys in a truck just came out of. We drove in and stopped to glass and spotted a 2 point bedded right in a landing 150m from the road. Two minites after we shot, the guys came back in wondering what we were shooting at. They were shocked they missed the buck and so were we until we found out none of them had binos. Always assume you are a better glasser then the guy before you.

Also get out of the truck and glass is better then glassing from inside. If you want to glass from inside do it at least from an open window. Never glass with the truck running, the vibration is tough for proper glassing.

These are just some things I have read about road hunting as I always walk into my spots.:rolleyes:

BHB

[Fisher-Dude]

Animals love the sound of diesels. It lulls them into thinking it's just another logger that's gonna rip by at nine-oh.

This tastey little bugger stood broadside 60 yards from the Duramax last fall, complete with the dog whining with excitement. Speed at the time of sighting was about 12 - 15 kmh.


http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e70/Fisher-Dude/Hpim0317fix.jpg

[todbartell]

Id say 10 km would be fast as you'd want to go without spooking most of the game. Diesel isnt helping you. Personally I fall asleep while road hunting, cant stand it. Id rather get out on ATV to scout side roads and then hunt on foot. Success will follow

[Fisher-Dude]

Id say 10 km would be fast as you'd want to go without spooking most of the game. Diesel isnt helping you. Personally I fall asleep while road hunting, cant stand it. Id rather get out on ATV to scout side roads and then hunt on foot. Success will follow

You get your driver's licence yet Toddler?

[browningboy]

I know people that road hunting is all they do and enjoy it but with the price of gas, it will be a dying trend I think? Anyhow it depends on what you think is good, one guy I know gets his animal every year using this method so what ever turns your crank!
I like my quad and when I'm moving from one spot to another we go 70 kph along the mains and still come across game! Its just shit house luck!8)

[islandboy]

I have never seen the point of road hunting. I have chewed up a bit of gravel occasionally, spit out sand now and again. But a whole road, I just can't imagine the point. :biggrin:

As for hunting game I like the walk in the woods, it gets the digestive juices flowing. :cool:

[Rob]

I road hunt if Im taking the kids(4 & 2 yrs old). Dont have much choice if I want to hunt when my wifes at work. There are a few spots around Merritt/Logan Lake that I go for bears, if Im in the truck, Im usually puttin around(10-15kms?). The nice things with spring bears is their usually on the roads/ditches or not too far from the road. I only shoot if I have a really good shot(common sense). Im not running a diesel but I can see maybe have an issue with the noise. If you a mtn bike you can use that. Park your truck and ride the bike in. Rob

[Phil]

I always make use of road hunting while on my way to my honey hole. It has payed off a few times. I usually cruise my quad at 10 -15 km/h but to be specific I seem to land on 12 km/h most times. I have killed more things while walking than driving though. If you're more into staying to the main roads I recommend walking and glasing ahead as far as each corner. Don't worry about other vehicles passing you as you walk as they will provide noise cover.

[BlacktailStalker]

I go as fast as it takes to get there first, as in, to get to where I start hiking from :biggrin:

[hillclimber]

When road hunting i usually throw the truck into first gear and when it starts to rev high that means that im going to fast. Usually this makes me end up doing 12 or 13km/h

[tufferthandug]

I like to road hunt with my pedal bike. It's a Kona with ATV gun racks on the handle bars, light ones.

Bears have no clue when you come around the corner on a pedal bike. The only thing is that since you pass up 98% of the bears you encounter... It's a little tricky to get them to run away.

[silvicon]

go slow, make sure your rig does not rattle.
works good with two people, one watching the passenger side, the driver watching the left.

[Shooter]

One tip to road hunting..... Get out of the truck often. I have seen more deer that will stay just barely out of sight over a bank than anywhere else. Deer that most people would go right past because they can see 98% of the cutblock so they figure whats the point of walking down and glassing the rest. Deer are smart creatures and many times will out wait you. Get out and walk to where you can have a good vantage point and take a few minutes to glass and watch very closely. Again many times the deer will stand so still and be so well camoflaged that they are near impossible to see, but if you stay for long enough they always get nervous and move. Thats there biggest mistake usually. If they start to head for the timber some times a sharp whistle will stop them for just long enough to get a quick shot off.

[hunter1947]

I really can't tell you how fast to go when road hunting ,never have road hunted. I call it road hunting when I am on my way to my hunting spot and I go about 60klm an hour. I guess you can call it road hunting getting from A to B ???.

[Pete]

At the cost of fuel...... walking is going to become a lot more popular.

[Fisher-Dude]

One tip to road hunting..... Get out of the truck often.

That's why I pound coffee all day (and Brownie pounds beers) so that I have to stop often. Geeesh, I'm giving away all my road huntin' secrets! :???:

[2slow]

Best speed for road hunting is slow enough that you can check out tracks as your going by side banks etc If your going so fast that everything is a blur than that is no good. Keep looking as far into the bush as you can and if you spot an animal standing in the bush don't slam the brakes on go by about 1/2 a km then park and slow stalk back to it. Sometimes when you get close to the spot they will be back on the road or still feeding in the bush. They usually wont go to far if you don't slam the brakes on.

[bochunk2000]

One thing I've found is that you will do better if you keep the RPM's as steady as possible. The constant noise without the fluctuations seems to alert them less. Also NEVER shut off the vehicle when you get out to glass or to shoot something you see. The sudden change in noise level will set them off running. For bear I like to cover a lot of area on the quad and if I find those grassed u[p roads in the spring I get out and walk.
Steve

[TSW]

Last year we took a new hunter out who wanted to shoot a bear. As we were driving down the gravel road we told him to be prepared, even though we were driving quickly to get to "the good spot." We came around a bend at between 45-50kmph and and saw the typical scene--a bear's butt as he was running into the bush. We stopped the truck, right there, got out (didn't shut it off and careful not to slam the doors) and whipped out the predator call. That bear stopped dead, and worked his way back towards us to where we could see him and get a shot (60 yards). The young man took the shot and downed his first bear, not a monster, but darn near 6ft (with the best fur I have seen on a blackie!)

All I can say is, if you're hunting blackies (especially road hunting), don't forget the predator call!! It won't work all the time, but when it does, you'll be glad you brought it along!!

[sfire436]

If I do need a day off the my tired feet, I will road hunt. But I feel the only way to do it is slow, keep your eyes on the road as well for sign. Secondly, always stop at clearings and glass. Youd be suprised.

[mud-dog27]

i like to keep it under 30km/h if im scouting an area and get out if something interest me andas for noise most of the time the animals dont care about the noise but like someone said it all depends on the area cause ive sat lookin at a deer 10' off and it could of cared less that i was there yet ive also seen em run as soon as they se ya

and as for vehicle i drve a loud jeep thats shakes rattles and makes enough noise to wake the dead and then the other vehicle i hunt in is my buddies F350 thats more than loud

[Geo.338]

It depends if I am driving or my partner is driving .We constantly have to tell him to slow down though he did speed right up to his bullmoose that he shot last year .I have heard it said that some animals are not frightened by the sound of a diesel because they hear and see these trucks all the time and most of them do not stop or harrass them .
I have a theory yet to be proven and it is .If you drive at a crawl animals on the road will hear you and before you get to them they will slowly walk off out of sight .If you drive a little quicker you may get to have a look at their backside as they bolt .Sometimes you get a shot but mostly not .

I think that road hunting is a game of luck and timing .If you happen to be first up the road and animals are on the move you may get lucky .If there is a convoy of traffic then you best be getting off the beaten path.

Just my .02. Geo

[308Lover]

Is this a serious thread or are you pulling our chains like "Hijack this thread"? I drive about 90km per hour on the better FSR's. If you see skid marks more than 30 feet long, it's me backing up to where a dee/bear/moose/cutie pie was standing a moment ago.

[savagekiller420]

well i road hunt a fair bit usually on the quad but sometimes in the truck and i find as slow as possible and like someone else said whenever u come into an opening stop and glass as much as possible!! I've bagged many a deer road hunting...as for diesels id have to say it doesnt make much of a difference

[hunter1947]

I do know some of my friends that do road hunt ,they told me that they go very slow ,sometimes only 10kl hour.