There' s been a lot of talk out here lately about ethics and anti' s, so I thought I' d post this here to get your views:

My wife and I have horses. She doesn' t hunt, but supports my hunting addiction. She frequents a local internet horse board and constantly sees anti-hunting threads. Seems to me that the majority of horse people (at least in my area) are women, hate hunting, and are ignorant to our ways. Because of the time of year, there' s much discussion about hunting and the fear of getting shot while riding. A legit concern yes, but to hate hunters for that fear, no. Another reason I posted here is because these horse women really have it out for bowhunters in particular. They hate us. Obviously fear breeds stupidity. How about you and your area? Any suggestions out of the norm on how to talk to these people?

There is this one lady that owns like 40 horses. She is crazy. Hates hunters cause she is afraid they might shoot her horses. Hates me for riding my atv any where near them, in fear that they will spook. Not likely with 18 wheeliers going by with the Jake Brake' s on.

I have found that most women with horses are very hard to reason with, my stepmother included. Another neighbor is the same. Neither likes hunting, but tolerate it. They can' t seem to think straight. EVERYTHING evolves around their horse. Nothing else is important.

Why would they be afraid of bow hunters?

I think a lot of it is based on the mindless blather that illeducated people spew at eachother to make themselves feel important. The more scandalous something is the more people want to hear you talk when you are saying it. Some idiot shoots a dog in the woods when he' s hunting(and I still don' t know how people manage to do something like that) and after the story has been told and retold....at the bridge table, on the telephone and on the internet, it was some goofy hunter who shot an Arabian out from under some poor lady who was out for a ride. I was cussed the other morning by some 20something guy because I was obviously going out to hunt. I smiled and acted like I didn' t understand his insult. I think it was the best course of action. When I have a chance to talk sensibly to anti' s I give it a try. Some of them are fools. Some of them are imature and can' t deal with reality. Some of them are inteligent people who may or may not change their stance.

just my $.02

David

Maryland is a horse state. It also has the biggest collection of whacko pinko liberals East of the Mississippi. We have a couple major watersheds here that are bowhunting only. They have tried in recent years to open up more of a vast park that runs from DC to north of Baltimore on the west side, primarily because the place is overrun with deer and they' re eating the place bare. ANYWAY... there are big horse trails through the place. For years the horse people locked out the hunters with the claims of shooting their horses and killing the " Cowboys and Cowgirls" . They did manage to get a couple new areas open a about 3 years ago. The kicker(this is a state park), the bowhunters have to pay a trespass fee of $50, have to apply for each days hunt and the area is only open to hunting 3 days a week. Horse people tear the woods up, have whole hillsides washed out because of their trails but pay nothing. The hunters have to park in a couple designated spots and walk in. One place I know of you have to walk in about 1/2 mile before you get to the huntable land. Horse folks can pull over anywhere, unload their horse and go to it. Len was hunting a little private piece of land next to the park one day. About the time things are getting right, here comes this horse lady off the park and onto our land. First she wants to know why he' s hunting. Len informs her he' s killing deer and she' s on private ground, do an about face and get. Well she insist she' s cutting through to another piece of ground. Len insist she' s not. Get back where you belong. She was downright indignant about it. Women!! HORSE PEOPLE!

Anyway, as a result of the fiasco of applying for a daily permit and the parking hassle etc... not many people hunt it and the deer herd is still growing. In the winter at the park headquarters it' s not uncommon to see 50 deer feeding on the stubs of bushes and lawn around the buildings. It' s that way for miles.

i live in the most part of the united states that has horse farms around everywhere.the horse farms only have the tennessee walking horse,which one of the most popular breeds around,i have not heard anything yet about horse people hating hunters ,but i' m sure there is some of them do hate us.




go deep hunt hard.

In Delaware we are trying to get Sunday Hunting passed. The horse riders are fighting it because of the fear of getting shot. #1 who paid the most money for our state land. # 2 we don' t want to hunt on state land but on private property. #3 how many of you have been shot on any land? I sure hope it passes for the guys that have to work on Saturdays.

I AM A WOMAN, I OWN SIX HORSES AND I LOOOOOVE HUNTING

They would really get a kick when you loaded your gear on a pack horse, after saddling your horse, and head off into the woods with your recurve ready.

Then packing your harvest for the day out, on the back of a horse!

Sounds like a lost tradition to me.

people that are concerned about their safety when riding on public land should take some responsibility for themselves its unbelievable how many that ride in the state parks around here won' t even consider wearing hunter orange I have talked to several people that were riding and mentioned that they should wear some orange when riding during hunting season their response is just about always the same " why I’m not hunting " they should close all hunted state parks for all uses other than hunting on Saturdays during hunting season it would only be fair. Oh by the way most of the people I know that own horses don' t hold hunting or hunters in high regards not all but most

Wow did you hit the nail on the head with this one. This is exactly what I find in my area.

davidmil: that really sounds like a nasty deal you guys have going down there. That' s a shame.

I think that some if not most horse owners think they are the ultimate in animal stewards and that no animal should be hurt. One post that my wife read was about a lady who found an arrow next to her barn. By this find, she insisted that the bowhunters were out to get her and were tresspassing and using bows illegaly during gun season (not illegal in MI by the way). I don' t know, people are freaks. If you don' t like hunting, fine. Don' t think because you have to have a place to ride your horse this can take away my rights to hunt. Don' t think that because I hunt I am mean. In fact, there are WAY more horse owners that abuse horses daily than any hunter would to an animal ever. FREAKS!!!!! Ok, sorry. Done now.