Mountain Bike for Turkeys

Mountain Bike for Turkeys Bill Cooper 4/10/16 Spring turkey hunting often involves hiking many miles, particularly if the gobblers do not cooperate. Or, if running and gunning is your style, the necessary miles can eat up a lot of shoe leather and personal strength. If that is your case, you may want to consider riding a mountain bike into your next turkey hunting destination. My wife and I were in the second mile of a three mile hike, in the dark, which became necessary to reach our turkey hunting destination before sunup. We broke our stride when a small beam of light bounced up the logging road behind us. “Someone else will be hunting in here today,” Dian said. “That’s a flashlight.” “Well that guy is in a big hurry,” I said. “He’s on a mountain bike and covering ground in a hurry.” A minute later the biker over took us and passed us up, headed in the direction of our honey hole. We worried that our long hike into a public hunting area might be doomed by the guy who got there first on a mountain bike. I determined then and there that would not happen to me again. I would become a mountain biker, too. Twenty minutes later we came to a fork in the sparsely graveled road. Fortunately, the biker went to the right. We were headed left into steeper terrain. “We were lucky he went right,” Dian said. “Yeah, we could have lost our spot even though we started very early. That young man is smart,” I replied. “He covered a lot of ground in a hurry and it seemed relatively effortless.” Had the biker taken our turn in the road, he would have arrived well ahead of us. He would have had to park his bike for the climb up a steep hill, but he still would have been well ahead of us. We would have never caught up to him. I never saw the biker again, but every time I hiked into a public hunting area, which had a network of gravel or logging roads, I thought about the advantages of riding a mountain bike. I had to join the growing crowd of mountain bike turkey hunters. I have always loved to walk and still do. I have never purchased an ATV or similar vehicle. I stubbornly clung to my ideology that walking is healthy and that hunting on foot is the way that it should be done. I turned 64 in 2013 and faced some long hikes for the fall turkey hunting season. Still in relatively good shape, I struggled with the idea of buying a bike. I began scouting a month before the season opener. Right off the bat I did not find turkeys in their usual haunts. I needed to cover a lot more ground and do it quickly. Doing it on foot was going to be an extreme challenge and time was running short. I bought a mountain bike. The area I hunted had a long, sloping hill for the first mile. I covered the three miles into the heart of the area in a matter of minutes. When I arrived at a steep hill, I simply chained my bike to a tree and continued my scouting trip on foot. However, I had put myself far ahead of what I would have accomplished on foot. I immediately knew that a mountain bike would be a part of my turkey hunting arsenal in the future. My scouting trips became a daily affair. I covered 8 to 10 miles a day, well over twice what I covered on foot. Not only did I scout more area, I had a wonderful time riding my new found means of transportation. I expanded my turkey searches into new areas, knowing that I could cover lots of ground and still be back at the truck at a designated time. Riding my new mountain bike had both physical and psychological benefits. I found that I was anxious to scout more often. Too, the ease of riding the bike soothed my mind from thoughts of making long, hard hikes into potential turkey hunting areas. As a bonus, the increased number of trips I made helped to get me into better physical condition. Turkey season became a cinch. I did not experience the usual tired, worn out feelings which accompany turkey season after the first week. I soon began adding accessories to my mountain bike. A headlamp on the handlebars made for easy riding in the dark. A series of straps made it possible for me to strap my backpack and shotgun onto the bike as well, freeing my hands for steering and making my rides much safer. If you want to purchase a mountain bike for hunting, buy the best bike you can afford. Turkey hunting often takes place in rough, rugged terrain. Well built bikes will serve your needs better than cheaper bikes. Tires take a beating, so purchase tough tires to prevent flats. Pushing a bike out of a rugged area is not much fun. Buy the attachments like water bottle racks, too. You will be happy you did. Riding my mountain bike while turkey hunting is now second nature. I wish I had thought of it sooner. I could have covered a lot more territory in the 40 years I have been chasing wild turkeys. Too, the exhilaration of passing up other turkey hunters on the way into a prime turkey are is priceless. However, one guy got me last year as I passed him and his hunting buddy. “Well, that old guy must be smarter than he looks,’ he said smuggly.