Parking the ATV off the public road to hunt a WMA.

[Lives2hunt]

I found a great WMA that has some roads which are too treacherous in places for my 2WD F150. SO I though I'd just park my Ford-unload the ATV (looking to a buy one ASAP) then drive it to the remote areas yet still on the road. Then parking & walking to the hunting grounds. Since I might be 1/2 a mile from the ATV & road what should & could I do to protect it from theft or vandalism?  Or is it just too risky to even consider doing this as sooner or later someone will try to steal it?

[bearfat]

Well...I park mine off the trail to allow others to pass but I leave my gun case (empty) in plain view. I have full insurance on the machine since it cost me 8K. The insurance is $110.00 for a year (just paid it today). It covers if stolen, going thru the ice, hitting trees, tipping over etcetera. Seems like I hear more about thieves targeting a guy in town and stealing it out from right under his nose. I keep mine in a shed with about 10 mins worth of junk piled in front of it. But if they really want it they will get it.

That's my advice. Just insure it.

I'm sure one could rig up some type of electrical cut off switch so they couldn't hot wire it, but tough to stop vandalism.

Insurance...I'm kind of keen on it since there were times I didn't have it and wished I had. Now the older I get the more insurance I buy.

[Lives2hunt]

I'll be sure and get a policy on it and maybe I worry to much. At the house it will be inside the garage but when hunting or scouting , it may be left alone for several hours. The lighter the machine the easier it would be to just lift it into a pickup and off they go. I was thinking about trying to drive it off the road and try to camo it up enough so it wouldn't stick out, but most of the people driving those management roads are going pretty slow as it is so that might not work either. Maybe a strong chain through the axels to a tree.

[Dogshooter]

I hunt well away from my 4 wheeler and have never had a problem but I live in Wyoming. Other parts of the country, may be a problem. Mine is camo and I parked it in heavy brush to conceal it one time. Took me a couple of hours after dark to find it myself. And also, Bearfat is right. Insurance for them is pretty cheap. I keep both of mine insured.

[wolfsong]

I don't like beating my full size Chevy truck to hell on rough roads when I'm hunting, and my Toyota 4x4 is a standard cab so not much room, especially if I have a buddy with me. So we use our quads a lot to get to the more secluded areas. we still do our approach on foot, so we have to ditch the quads. We look for natural cover and then throw a camo tarp over them. Depending on your own level of concern, you can erase your tire tracks leading to your concealed quad. The tarps work well in obscuring the obvious. And I heartily agree with carrying full coverage insurance. Peace and God bless, Wolfsong.

[old geezer]

You might want to check to make sure the WMA you're looking at allows atv's.  We have one close by here that doesn't.