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Black
Bear Hunting in West Virginia with a Yamaha Rhino
SxS
::Continued::
The Rhinos were equipped with heaters and radios
and with their narrow footprint, one could get
into most areas a truck couldn’t and would
prove to be a valuable asset during the hunt.
The choice for some was easy, leave the $45k truck
in a safe area and use the SxS to get the job
done, and if damage was to occur, it was a cheaper
repair then the truck by a long shot!
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With the
harsh terrain & bitter cold temperatures,
the Yamaha Rhino really comes in handy
not only for getting around the wilderness,
but also to keep warm. The Yamaha Rhino
utilized on the hunt had a heated enclosed
cabin, which was an added bonus
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Being a guest on this hunt would see me being
shuttled off by several members of the group as
the week rolled on. In a truck, in another truck,
in the Rhino, driving the Rhino, it did not matter.
As long as everyone has a ride and could get to
where they needed to get to was the main goal.
I can say that driving the Rhino or using it sure
was a lot easier riding over the truck even if
it gave up the comfort of laying the seat back
for a power nap! I have already decided that next
season I will have a fully equipped SxS ready
to go and can combine the hunt with some fun offroad
driving just adds up to good times. I can foresee
SxS’s growing in number for even more hunters
who have access to hunting grounds that allow
their use.
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Even though
the truck was handy for hauling the bears
home the Yamaha Rhino & ATVs proved
to be the most versatile for dragging
the kills out of the woods
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Now adding all this up to tell the actual story
of my hunt is pretty easy. I had a blast and never
fired a shot, but making a kill isn’t always
the goal. On on occasion a bear was on the run
and we piled in the Rhino for a very technical
decent into a bottom where the dogs were shown
to have the bear. Even using the SxS we were too
late and all we could do was listen to the radio
and take a look at the scene at one almost completely
vertical section where the bear out climbed the
dogs. It was an amazing site seeing how these
animals can climb things so fast and with such
skill.
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| After
a 5 mile track, the hunters finally found
the black bear that the dogs had been tracking |
It took the dogs a few tries but they alsomade it
up and the chase continued. There would have been
no way to get in there in any short amount of time
without the use of the SxS. While we weren’t
successful, we were close and looking to better
our record. It wasn’t long before another
bear had been found and the dogs were working the
track after almost a 5 mile cold trail that tested
the houndsmen. In the end, the hunter and hounds
found their target and we had scored a very large
bear as darkness crept in on the first day. The
attributes of the nimble Rhino once again came into
play as it was maneuvered around rocks and trees
to a point where we could get the bear to it for
the haul out to the road. This feat would have taken
hours with 5 or 6 guys dragging the bear, but took
mere minutes with the use of the SxS as it proved
its worth once again.
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