ATVs

Ken with his Silver Dog Howler in hand. These 4
coyotes were shot on the first day of the National Coyote Calling Contest 2000 held in
Rawlins, WY. We called in 4 and shot 4 on the first day.
| Steve's ATV |
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My Honda FourTrax 300 ATV. I'll describe some of the
customizations to the ATV that make it more accommodating for hunting coyotes. If
it looks like I'm holding these 4 coyotes up, I'm not. They are
hanging from two 2x2s mounted to the back rack. We take a loop of rope, go around
the two front legs and then clip it to the eye hooks in the 2x2s with a carabiner.
Same thing for the back legs.
There is an ATV rack pad with bags from Cabela's. They run about
$50. We had to add another 1/2 inch of high density foam padding. It just
didn't have enough for a comfortable ride. And believe me, you want a comfortable
ride.
The front rack has an extension, also from Cabela's to raise up the gun case and
give more storage. The extension only goes about 5 inches up. This would not
allow for a gym bag to fit, but extra coats and smaller items were ok.
The gun case is mounted to the rack with U bolts. The case is large enough
to hold two guns. I either carry a two rifles or a rifle and a shotgun. Ken's
soft gun case is hanging from the 2x2s. It's hard to see in the picture, but the
case is directly under my right arm. This is the same case pictured on Ken's ATV.
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| Steve's ATV with Upgrades |
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As I continue to try and improve the hunting experience, (that is,
I wanted to make things easier for me) I made some more adjustments to the ATV. First,
I added 2x6s on each side of the front rack to raise up the gun case. This gives you
roughly 11 inches of space under the case. Now we're talking. I can get
anything and everything under there now. Even a coyote if I had to.
I have a 2" x 20 ft. ratchet strap along with a 15 ft. tow strap.
There are two stakes and a hammer in the back pouches. With this setup, I can get
myself out of just about any situation I get myself into. This includes the bottom
of a gully or too much mud.
I picked up a piece of sheepskin at a garage sale for $2. I helps keep you
rear end a bit warmer in the winter and protects the seat. |
| Steve's ATV with Upgrades (rear view) |
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I also added a mud flap. Once again, Cabela's came to the
rescue. If you look at the coyotes in the top photo, you can see they are very
muddy. In the middle of the day, the roads turned to gumbo and mud was flying
everywhere. This will help keep your coyotes cleaner and nicer looking. I
painted the 2x2s black to match the rear rack and added some leather pieces over the U
bolts. The leather keeps the bolts from rubbing the fur off your coyotes. I
was using duct tape before. It works fine also.
The bullet hole in the tank is Ken's handy work. Did I say he was a good
shot? It's only a sticker, so don't get all excited. |
| Ken's ATV |
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Ken's ATV has some similarities and some differences, compared to
mine. It has the extension to the front rack that will raise the hard gun case,
just like mine. The soft case is clipped to the front rack, where the gun can be
slide in and out easily. The coyote on the front makes it more difficult to get your
gun in an out and we'll have to make some adjustments here. We
don't hang the coyotes from the back, because Ken has an extended platform going past the
rear rack. A dog box mounted on the platform. This picture has the top of the
dog box off, because we were hunting in a contest that didn't allow decoy dogs. We
used the dog box for extra storage space. It held an electronic caller, shells, and
extra clothing. All within easy reach.
An additional gun rack for a rifle or shotgun is next to the dog box. You
can see the black Y shapes on each side of the box. You can also use this for
holding the coyote decoy. |
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