With the right accessories, a mountain bike provides a very practical way to get into the woods for bowhunting. Photo by Carl Warmouth.

From my perch 18 feet up in a sweetgum tree, I couldn’t even see my hunting vehicle, which was barely 40 yards away. I’d stashed the camouflaged bicycle in a brushpile, and it was hidden so well that I was beginning to worry that I might never find it again.

My eyes traced the route that I’d taken through the woods along the hillside bench, past the big red oak, and around the felled pine. I knew it had to be down there somewhere.

Suddenly, movement to my left broke my concentration. A patch of brown was moving through the trees, leisurely working its way towards me. Within a few minutes, a mature doe had closed the gap between us to within 30 yards of my stand.

Then it stopped abruptly to peer intently at something through the woods, head bobbing up and down as it strained to make sense of the object of curiosity -- and I saw that my bike was actually much closer than I had realized, less than 10 yards from the matriarch. The animal finally seemed satisfied that the inanimate object was no threat and resumed feeding on white oak acorns.

I waited patiently as the doe worked its way closer, and when it got to within 20 yards, I placed my top pin just behind its shoulderblade and released my arrow. The broadhead found its mark, and a few minutes later, I was giving thanks for my first kill of the season.

GOING MOTORLESS
Before I started bowhunting, I had no idea of the joy that hunting unpressured deer brings. Only one other archer was in my hunting club, and those first few weeks before gun season started were truly wonderful.

An unpressured deer is a different animal: It moves around throughout the day, relaxed and casual in its movements. It strolls into open areas during daylight without even considering that it might need to look up into trees to check for humans.

But when trucks, four-wheelers and marching hunters break the eight-month silence and begin spreading foreign smells through the woods, it takes almost no time at all before the deer completely change their ways, transforming, seemingly overnight, into nervous, mostly nocturnal animals that proceed with caution, scenting the wind before emerging from thick cover. They pattern human movement -- not difficult to do when humans are associated with running motors and exhaust fumes.

Hunters who want to avoid being patterned often park their vehicles a distance from their stands and take a long walk in, but unless you’re Ishi -- and who among us wants to walk through the winter woods barefoot? -- that’s a slow, noisy process. There’s no mistaking the sound of a human’s footsteps crunching through the leaves and snapping twigs along the way.

Getting to remote stands usually requires entering into the woods well before daylight; getting out requires long walks in the dark. Neither scenario makes for a silent passage. Striking a compromise between a quiet approach and a quick advance can be difficult -- which is exactly what a mountain bike can offer.

Covering several hundred yards quickly is a simple affair for a hunter on a bike. Moreover, a bike seems to make less noise -- or at least a less recognizable noise -- than does someone walking; it certainly makes less noise that an ATV. Of course, if you’re riding in before dawn, you’ll want to have scouted the route before hand.