elkslayer338

Well we still prefer Gods Quads over man made one's when it comes to the back country, but they come with a risk.This year my dads horse took a flip or two down 100 ft or so. she got a Little cut up but she was ok. Now my dads Weatherby was in the scabbard "not Good" took some hits. We had to re-site it in. Thank Big man my dad got off him fast "not bad for 71 years old" and was not hurt.

IT just would not be elk hunting to me, if there were no crazy horses in camp.

About two years ago on the Elk hunt I was just getting ready to water two horses down from camp. Well mounted up and started out of camp thats when I saw a cloud of dust coming up the trail. A closer looked reveled it to be three Quarter horse halter tied "Not a good Idea in the mountains" coming strait at me. So I yell out to camp "TROUBLE ON THE TRAIL" and my dad ran to help get our horses out of the way. They went by camp side by side. well after that I mounted up again and started for the water hole. I get about 1/4 out of camp and run into a rodeo. These guy's had big trouble, horses going off every Ware on the trail and on the sides. So I turned around and went back to camp to wait it out. Tied up my horses and MY dad asked why I was I Back so soon. Told him "TROUBLE ON THE TRAIL" and explained what I found down by the water hole. It was about 30 minuets latter that they started by camp. They were trying to train a new pack horse and had hard packs on him. well he did not like it at all and started bucking in a circle for about five minuets almost took out my solar power station and the wall tent. I had to tell the guy's to move the rest of the horses on down the trail to get him to leave it.LOL
when they left he did to bucking the hole way. LOL

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My Quad has four Hoof's ,and runs on Methane!

EKM

Excellent story....
Amen to using "God's Quads".
Elk Hunting just isn't the same without them, ESPECIALLY if you are making it a point to "get-back-in-there."

ATV's are illegal off of the graded roads in the areawe hunt, not even for game retrieval, and for that I am eternally grateful to the USFS. I have taken elk within just a few minutes following contact withother hunters on horseback. This includes bothriders coming through elk ambush sites (packing or hunting)AND having them coming up behind me or after they passed mewhile I was on the trail.... and still gotinto the elk within VERY short time frames.

On the other hand, they do provide an element of surprise, risk, and entertainment.... both good and bad. Glad your dad steered clear of that wreck. Other folks aren't so lucky, and come elk season, there are lots of folks are oblivious to "horse danger" even when it is right upon them with ample warning signs.

Ifone isnot an "currently seasoned cowboy" or just want to reduce risk a bit, then consider just usinga pack horse (we like draft horses.... real mellow) and lead them while you walkand let them do the "heavy lifting." Going on "empty legs" we have thrown our back packs into the panniers and thrown a Bosco/Arizona hitch on it and then simply carried our rifles and hunted our way into or out of the prime hunting "killzone"--- nice light cruising.... practically effortless.

A good outfitter with a good pack string and good tame reliable and trustworthy stock is a key aspect of what one should be paying for. Nothing worse than a sh!thead "bronc" that is little more "an accident looking for a place to happen."

elkslayer338

We as well hunt in a no motorized vehicle area but I have had to rent horses for the last twenty years from Sombrero Ranch. WeCan always
count on a couple that are bad, you know the ones that won'tpack game, go off trail well, or just dam unpredictable. In other words, lots of habits to change in the short time thatwe have them andout of the some 150 horses we had only had one to return. His name Hurricane "flip" he was about 5 years old and had a real bad issue. He would, when tied to anything solidgo into a frenzy "vary bad vary bad indeed". But, other then that he was mellow.
Well, we went down to get my cousin in law and the last load into camp.
It's about seven miles to the ranch and when we arrived I informed my cousin in law to not tie him to anything. well he forgot and when we hit the gate to leave the ranch we checked our loads. He got off his horse andtied it to the fence then he forgot what I told him... He tied up hurricain.... KAAAAAA BANG POP SMASH AND DASH . Thats the sound of the old 4x4 post snapping off and overthree guy's and of course the other horses did not like it much. Well, we fixed things up and headed out.(my cousin in law was leading Hurricane) We had now reached the 4 mile markand in some steep ground, But you can get a cell call out "It's the only spot on the trail" So, we are riding I then grab my phone to make a call watchingFlip "HURRICANE" being lead by my cousin in law. Well, he went to make a call and took flips lead rope and wrapped it around the saddle horn"not good"...KAAAAAA BANG POP SMASH AND FLIP" Hurricane FLIPPED over and flipped over my Bros horse too. Their it was the dam horse was stuck on his back kick en like hell. Had a new guy in that year " He asked what do we do "I reply " Get a camera it will be a few minutes". Well,Hurricane finally figured that he was stuck. So, I snaked in and cut the cinch to free the load so he could get on his side.WhileI was at that spot I called Rex Walker and told him to bring me a replacement before I shotthe dam thingand had to pay him the money for it. LOL
(I will dig up the pic, let me find it)

EKM

Given the high numbers of elk hunters on here (91 successful ones in a 1 year plus poll)I am surprised by the absence of related horseback experiences.

If you've ever dealt with horses on an remote/away from home elk hunt, then you've got stories.

ironranger

I've rented horses from Sombero on two different occasions and we simply used them for hauling our gear and walking them down pack trails to get back in farther. During that time, I both experienced and heard stories from others I talked to.

One guy we met said he sold his stock after one of them flipped over backwards on him and broke his pelvis. Then another two other hunters that we met said that one of their group had a horse flip him onto some rocks and they had to drive him into town in the back of a truck as he was pretty busted up.

As for my own limited experience, I found that they all have their own personalities. First two we had...one wouldn't cross even the smallest trickle of water without some forceful pulling on the halter. They liked to be within sight of each other and one didn't like the other eating out of his grain pile and the kickin began abruptly. It was "Drop the lead rope and run". The 2nd year it was just two of us so we had one draft horse named furla. She was huge and hauled everything we had with ease. Then on the last few hundred yards to the truck, she spooked knocking Broc out of the way and then turning as she hit me. Sent me reeling thru the sage brush. Got lucky with only a bruised chest and twisted ankle. Best lesson I learned is always be ready for anything around them and no sudden movements as they don't seem to like that. It's definitely a learning experience...

James B

I have had horse since I was five years old. One could fill volumes with horse stories. They are their own self, some you can live with and some you can't. My wife is a real horse person and she has taken over that department. A horse is the only animal she would allow in the house.We had four draft horses but are now down to one and just one quarter horse left. As you get older, the ground gets harder and it seems further away too.

MThunter

This was my first year doing the horse thing. I really enjoyed it, but what a pain they can be. I leased two horses. The one I named Prickley Pete because he had such an attitude. He would decide to stop and eat on the trail while everyone else would be going along, and it would take some serious whacks to get him going again. My other horse was a really sweet mare, but had the unfortunate problem of being unable to walk and do her business at the same time. So we'd be going along the trail and about get ripped out of the saddle because my pack horse is back there dropping a load off. what fun

elkslayer338

Yes horses add a whole different range of events in camp. Some are like kids always getting into stuff,and some are just spawned from hell. One year I had a horse that would eat anything .You name it hechowed it, well I was sitting on a down fall with my dad to have lunch. We let the two horses graze around us. I had my back to my horse Franky andI was talking to my dadthen I caught him starting to smile. Right atthat momentthe dam horse took half my sandwich "witch was elksalamie and mustard" Crazy horsehe came back for more! LOL