I have been fortunate to acquire some shooting on a good-sized piece of ground located an hour's drive from home that includes areas I can't access with a full-sized 4x4. As this is due to narrow routes, rather than inherently difficult terrain, I'm wondering about the practicality of getting into the ground on an ebike and using the bike's power to assist extraction.
It's only roe and muntjac, and extractions are max. 2,000m, so you might say "just put them in the roe sack or drag them!" And fair enough, until there's more than one deer down, and then it becomes a proper slog, as well as being costly in time: which is why I'm wondering if there's a better way.
I've seen YouTube videos of US hunters using ebikes for insertion and extraction, and was thinking that this might be an approach I could take: load the bike on the car at home; drive to the ground; pedal to the start of the stalk; and use battery power for any extraction, making everything quicker and less strenuous. Except, I'm guessing it's not as easy as that, or everyone would be doing it.
I'm still learning about what's available bike-wise in the UK, but from what I've seen so far, it doesn't look as though the UK market as a whole is interested in the types of machine the US hunters are using: i.e., ones with decent off-road tyres, more torque than speed, and the ability to go 100% electric (no pedal assist required). Nevertheless, some UK dealers do appear to be supplying bikes in an off-road-only spec that offers greater power and a throttle control to access it.
I'll add that I'm interested in ebikes not electric motorbikes. This is because almost all the off-road electric motorbikes I've seen seem designed for scrambling rather than utility work. The exception is the UBCO 2x2, and that's expensive enough to make a S/H quad on a trailer look like a better bet... except I've nowhere to store either at Gain HQ, whereas finding space for an ebike and carrier wouldn't be a problem.
So, before I start quizzing the nation's ebike dealers about an application they've probably got no idea about, and might conceivably object to, I thought I should tap into the collective expertise of the SD to see if anyone has any direct, personal experience of this approach, successful or otherwise.
Thanks in advance!
It's only roe and muntjac, and extractions are max. 2,000m, so you might say "just put them in the roe sack or drag them!" And fair enough, until there's more than one deer down, and then it becomes a proper slog, as well as being costly in time: which is why I'm wondering if there's a better way.
I've seen YouTube videos of US hunters using ebikes for insertion and extraction, and was thinking that this might be an approach I could take: load the bike on the car at home; drive to the ground; pedal to the start of the stalk; and use battery power for any extraction, making everything quicker and less strenuous. Except, I'm guessing it's not as easy as that, or everyone would be doing it.
I'm still learning about what's available bike-wise in the UK, but from what I've seen so far, it doesn't look as though the UK market as a whole is interested in the types of machine the US hunters are using: i.e., ones with decent off-road tyres, more torque than speed, and the ability to go 100% electric (no pedal assist required). Nevertheless, some UK dealers do appear to be supplying bikes in an off-road-only spec that offers greater power and a throttle control to access it.
I'll add that I'm interested in ebikes not electric motorbikes. This is because almost all the off-road electric motorbikes I've seen seem designed for scrambling rather than utility work. The exception is the UBCO 2x2, and that's expensive enough to make a S/H quad on a trailer look like a better bet... except I've nowhere to store either at Gain HQ, whereas finding space for an ebike and carrier wouldn't be a problem.
So, before I start quizzing the nation's ebike dealers about an application they've probably got no idea about, and might conceivably object to, I thought I should tap into the collective expertise of the SD to see if anyone has any direct, personal experience of this approach, successful or otherwise.
Thanks in advance!
Love his comments to the feline loving brigade 
