Battery Powered Trail Bikes

[steelheadboy]

Corey and Donnie were using BAKCOU bikes to access backcountry elk hunting areas in Idaho last season. Are many of you all using bikes, whether electric or not?


https://bakcou.com/

 

[ribo451]

Do you have a link to a video if there is one. I would like to check it out. I have been wanting one of these for a while but most of the places I hunt they aren't allowed so I haven't spent the money on one yet.

 

[wapiti_will]

Tried out hunting off my regular mountain bike a decade or so ago...after building multiple trailer prototypes and finally coming up with a super light design that could haul a lot of weight.  However, I found a lot of limitations in where I could hunt off my bike, so I transitioned to more backpack hunting.  A few years ago I built an electric fat bike with a nice Rocky Mountain bike and an ebike kit from Luna Cycle that ended up being cheaper and likely more capable than the Bakcou, QuietKat, Rambo, etc.  I use it where I can for covering a lot of ground...scouting, glassing, and calling into different basins.  However, will all the torque an ebike can provide combined with your own pedal power...even the strongest chains/components I can buy seem to fail when I'm hauling my trailer and gear up a hill into the backcountry.  Changed my gearing this year to improve chain angle in the hope it helps, but we'll see next time I put it to the test. 
All that to say that I like that I can cover a lot of miles quietly and with ease on my ebike, but they have lot of limitations and probably aren't worth the investment if you can't put them to use in your hunting area.  I think if the areas you hunt allow the usage of ebikes, then getting your hands on one could be valuable, but if its only used occasionally then it may not be worth the cost....just my 2 cents.

 

[Elk Noob]

If you're in an area with a lot of old logging roads they'd be awesome. Here in CO there is no point, besides they're being limited on trails all over.

Someone posted up a video on Archery talk about a year ago with "real world" examples of hunting off bike, it was a husband and wife duo,. Long story short, they hated it and didn't even make it as far as if they hiked.

 

[Wyo67]

I can't see using them where we hunt in Wyoming.  We've had so much blow down with the beetle kill from a few years back and high winds the past couple of years, it's difficult enough to walk our old trails.  Keep in mind to that Wyoming wilderness areas are off limits to all mechanical/motorized equipment (pedal powered bikes as well).

 

[wapiti_will]

If you're in an area with a lot of old logging roads they'd be awesome. Here in CO there is no point, besides they're being limited on trails all over.

Someone posted up a video on Archery talk about a year ago with "real world" examples of hunting off bike, it was a husband and wife duo,. Long story short, they hated it and didn't even make it as far as if they hiked.

Yeah, I think you need to be hunting a specific area that would really benefit from a bike.  I first started down the road of hunting off a bike when the USFS gated a road I used to be able to drive up to the edge of the wilderness.  So it was a nice road to bike up and still allowed mountain bike traffic from the gate to the wilderness boundary.  Saved me 5 miles of hiking with all my gear and was awesome to be able to hop on the bike and fly back to the truck to grab something and be back at my spike camp in no time.  Over the years the road got overgrown and covered with blow down, and then it wasn't worth the hassle anymore. 

 

[steelheadboy]

If you're in an area with a lot of old logging roads they'd be awesome. Here in CO there is no point, besides they're being limited on trails all over.

Someone posted up a video on Archery talk about a year ago with "real world" examples of hunting off bike, it was a husband and wife duo,. Long story short, they hated it and didn't even make it as far as if they hiked.

Yeah, I think you need to be hunting a specific area that would really benefit from a bike.  I first started down the road of hunting off a bike when the USFS gated a road I used to be able to drive up to the edge of the wilderness.  So it was a nice road to bike up and still allowed mountain bike traffic from the gate to the wilderness boundary.  Saved me 5 miles of hiking with all my gear and was awesome to be able to hop on the bike and fly back to the truck to grab something and be back at my spike camp in no time.  Over the years the road got overgrown and covered with blow down, and then it wasn't worth the hassle anymore.

Yes sir. Blowdowns are a what stopped me from MTB biking more often on closed logging roads in my hunting areas. I did buy a few fire service maps that show roads that are maintained for forest fire equipment access. They are usually locked gate roads but clear of blowdowns most of the time...not always.

 

[WyatBaker]

Mountain bikes works better in country road hunting. I often use this.