Pinched on public land

[Matt O.]

One time when I was little my dad and I went somewhere (forgot) with people that had Attex racers and a Swamp Fox. We only had the Bigfoot back then. I think it was a racetrack near a fireworks store, a police car came and we had to leave. I was 5 or so, but I remember seeing those magically fast yellow things

That was around 2002 in PA. It was supposed to be a offical ride held by Dave Copland who had a Attex web site for a few years. This is the first time Nick and I met Don K., the Gerbers with those nice Attex's, I think Joe M. was ther that day also. I think he was the one selling a Attex with very wide ballon tires. I should have bought that machine. If I remember correctly I bought a Attex or Amphicat top from Don that day? I remember the cops showing up and Dave had to smooth things over.

Matt

[Drooper]

Look on the bright side, at least we've had two days of sunshine!

Getting back to the thread, if I had to rely on riding on public land there isn't any here in the UK, so if I wasn't blessed with 13000 acres of private land there would be no point in having an AATV. Our gun laws are very strict too, but at least I get out with my rifle on my Max IV most days.

[North Country Tough]

Look on the bright side, at least we've had two days of sunshine!

Getting back to the thread, if I had to rely on riding on public land there isn't any here in the UK, so if I wasn't blessed with 13000 acres of private land there would be no point in having an AATV. Our gun laws are very strict too, but at least I get out with my rifle on my Max IV most days.

You are a blessed Man Drooper,13 K acres heck thats half of England LOL,I have been lucky to spend some time in the U.K and never gave AATV,s much thought while there, mind you wasn't in to the internet so my problem,trust me you still have alot to be thankfull for in Britian and good on you for having a AATV and a place to use it I personally think that is a blessing, have fun.NCT

[Rottsrool]

Pro Trespasser, THATS Funny !!
Now if everyone did it like that and respected the area they are using, maybe land owners would be more willing to let us ride their property.

[Adondo]

I also consider myself to be a "pro" trespasser. My Jeep Commander is white. (Nobody except gov't buys white for heaven's sake) It's bristling with lights, a roof rack, "surveyor" storage tubes, and I put a "unit number" in big black letters/numbers. (The number is meaningless) It looks official, like a power company or surveying rig, and we go just about anywhere we want. (My buddies and me) We've lost track of the KEEP OUT signs we've come out past. Generally, we'll go in somewhere, and cross country until we pop out past a sign. Never been challenged. We've had farm hands wave at us as we've been on field roads etc. Once, we were on an irrigation ditch maintenance road, passed an official truck whose driver was eating lunch, and he waved back as we went by.

But, like MAXII420 says, we also pick up trash. One buddy who has since quit smoking even pocketed his butts. We leave NOTHING except tire tracks. It helps to look official, as the irrigation sprinkler and metal thieves generally drive decrepit rigs and are looked at with a magnifying glass. A good part of the time though, a buddy who is on the museum board (Both the railroad and history museums) gets permission from area farmers and ranchers, so we aren't always UN-official. We are known in fact to be "on patrol" for vandals and thieves when we're out, so when/if we are ever challenged about trespassing, that hopefully will be in our favor.

With the AATV however, that gets complicated. You can always "escape" easy in a Jeep, but you have to have something to load the AATV into, and that'll be parked somewhere that you have to get back to, not to mention 10 minutes of loading it back up. If you have an enclosed trailer or toy hauler, you can hide the 6x6/8x8, but otherwise, you'll be seen. Fortunately, there are limited public lands to ride on, but they're few and far between.

[Sard]

That's a problem up here as well. If you want to ride you are pretty much doing it illegally. All the nice trails are in municipal boundaries and my community is changing the by-laws to prevent any kind of off-road vehicle use (this is being slipped in during the off season with little public notice, I pay more attention to local and provincial politics than average, but the month it was up for review completely slipped by me), and with recent changes in the petty trespass act for private land, there have been a lot of convictions so you don't want to risk the sections of trails that go over private land. There is lots of public land, but its all leased to oil and gas, and forestry companies who are almost impossible to get permission from either because they won't give it or there is no way of contacting the right person. Not to mention our new land use framework which is still being rolled out for the regions of the province.

Part of the problem is that a lot of the guys out there are leaving garbage not picking it up. It gives everyone a bad name. The other is that the type of equipment you run determines where you can go. There are a lot of nice snowmobile trails but unless you are part of the association and run a snowmobile (other vehicles with tracks don't count) I'm told you can't go on the trail because it is leased.

You can still ride in wildland provincial parks (and there are some really nice ones) as long as you are careful to stay only on existing trails and keep your registration/insurance up to date.

I make a point of only riding where I am supposed to, to try to keep good public will. But given all the guys that think atv use is about getting drunk on a trail and leaving garbage everywhere, I think its a lost cause. Too bad AATV's get blamed for it as well.

[Czechsix]

Maybe I'll just register mine as a boat, ride wherever I want, and point out to the helpful ricky rangers that it's gonna be a helluva lot of paperwork if they write me up for anything

[Adondo]

Not a bad idea about the boat thing. That should confuse issues in a court of law. I've thought about should I ever get hassled about somewhere there's an NO ATV sign. Hey, it's a AATV, it's not an ATV, so... what's the problem??

[Czechsix]

Not a bad idea about the boat thing. That should confuse issues in a court of law. I've thought about should I ever get hassled about somewhere there's an NO ATV sign. Hey, it's a AATV, it's not an ATV, so... what's the problem??

Exactly....I'd take a close look at the laws, and I'll bet that there are no specific injunctions against boats using roads. Might get away with it a few times, but I'm also planning on keeping the ride as absolutely quiet as possible while still retaining some performance. Pretty much the same thing you have to do here if you're on a dirt bike. Luckily my bike is street legal, but still a dirt bike so I can ride almost anywhere there's a road, but I really want to be able to take the Hustler out to many of the same places I take the Rokon out to. The other thing to concentrate on, at least from my angle, is getting out as far as possible. Even the rangers don't like to get into the boonies too much, so you're safer there.

[tracmaster]

I ride mostly on coal property in ohio...the way I do it is ..find a place that looks promising... take gps reading ...I use a garmin 60csx....go home and upload to google earth...I can then see the entire area for miles around...you can measure how far from pond to pond......etc...you can see houses roads, ponds, even atv trails... goggle earth is the best thing that has ever happened for outlaw atvers.... I try to avoid deep mud and look for large area that have multiple ponds....stealth is the way to go..i bring nothing shiney....my brake and taillights are switched so I can turn off them when my headlights are on...I usually go for 2 or 3 days..and am dropped off before first light...I never leave my truck parked on the road or path...I like to drive around the pond until I find a suitable camp out of view from the trail....no one has any idea I am there...and thats the way I like it..I do generally call home a leave my gps reading of my camp..just in case my bones need picked up....believe me you can find your own places this way...

tracmaster

[tracmaster]

Funny about the boat registration...they changed things here in west virginia..by giving you an atv reggy with boat tags...just had mine done..

[tbone9]

One time I was at the boat landing with the max and amphitriler loaded up ready to go camping on an island. The warden asked why I needed a boat registration on it. After I explained it to him he was alright. Then swam it to the island pulled straight up the bank just enough to get the trailer out of the water. That afternoon another tree cop gave me grief about riding on the shore. After a few exchanges I pointed to the adjacent island where a group drug there boat up on the shore such as me. He reluctantly said he'd let it slide this time. I guess it's all about educating these guys.