Hunting With All-Terrain Vehicles

All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) are special-purpose vehicles that require careful, responsible handling and good judgment.

• They're useful for traveling into back country, but they can damage the environment if used recklessly. They also require training and practice to handle them safely in rough terrain.
• Studies show that the majority of ATV accidents occur when the rider unexpectedly encounters an obstacle, such as a rock or a ditch. Maintaining a safe speed is critical.
• If you use ATVs to hunt, prepare yourself and your family by attending an approved ATV course.
• Before hunting with ATVs on private land, be sure to get the landowner's permission.

Always follow the rules for safe and ethical operation.

• Wear a helmet approved by the Department of Transportation.
• Wear protective clothing, including goggles, gloves, and boots.
• Carry firearms unloaded and cased, or on a proper gun rack.
• When using the plastic scabbard mounted on an ATV, clear the inside of the scabbard of debris and check your firearm's muzzle for obstructions.
• Stay on the main roads and trails.
• Pick your route carefully to minimize terrain damage.
• Don't drive over crops or planted fields.
• Don't shoot from an ATV.
• Use ATVs only to get to the hunting area or to haul an animal from the woods.
• Don’t cross or ride up or down creeks and streams. Missouri law prohibits driving an ATV or ORV in streams except when fording streams at customary road crossings or for agricultural purposes on land owned by the ATV/ORV operator. Doing so under other circumstances can result in fines and suspension of all state hunting and fishing privileges. This is because crossing or riding in creeks and streams:
  • Kills aquatic insects and small animals that fish depend on for food not only through actual contact but also through disturbing the sediment and habitat in the stream.
  • Destroys habitat needed by fish and the animals they eat.
  • Destroys vegetation on the water’s edge which then allows erosion to take place.
  • Muddies the water, making it less pleasant for swimming, canoeing, fishing, and other recreation.

Considerations When Hunting With All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs)

• In many states, it is illegal to hunt from any motorized vehicle, including ATVs; this includes molesting, stirring up, or driving any game animals or game birds with a motorized vehicle.
• It is illegal in some states to operate an ATV off the trail, or there may be trails specifically closed to ATV use.
• In many states, it is prohibited to operate an ATV off roads or trails in a manner that damages or disturbs the land, wildlife, or vegetation.
• Some states require that ATVs be equipped with approved and operating spark-arresting mufflers and comply with sound regulations.
• Check the Missouri Wildlife Code 304.013 regarding operation of ATVs on state land.

Shooting from motorized vehicles is unsafe, unethical, and illegal.