Originally Posted by Rock Chuck
Originally Posted by sbhooper
Originally Posted by Rock Chuck
That's very true but most people don't have the luxury of riding a horse every day.


LOL! I don't consider that a luxury. I grew up on a ranch and my dad was a 100 percent horse guy. I did the team roping/calf roping thing etc., etc. I frickn' hate those hay burners!

They are great to pack out meat, but as long as I can do it, I will hunt of foot. I realize their worth for pack-in outfitter camps, though.

I took horses elk hunting one time and had a belly full of dealing with them.

I would venture to say that most outfitter horses are about as tame and mountain savy as you can find-but they are still horses!

My boy and I were leaving elk camp one year north of Hayden, Co. There were search and rescue people all over a big horse camp. It had started to snow heavily and the hillsides turned to mush. I told the kid that is what happens when you hunt with horses on greasy slopes. It got the point across of how dangerous mountain hunting is.
Sounds like you need to take a hard look at donkeys or llamas. You do the boot work while they haul the load. Llamas cost a fraction of what horses cost. They can haul 80lb so 3 can pack out a boned cow, 4 will handle a bull. Those 4 will eat about as much as 1 horse. They're more sure footed than horses and easier to handle.


I like the idea of llamas. They are super-cool. Mules beat horses, in that they are not going to go where they don't feel safe. They won't do it! Lots of good outfitters use mules and have it together. A good mule is a thing of beauty.

I don't have enough hard hunts left in me to buy the llamas and all the gear that goes with them, just for a few days in the montanas.

You did not "seen" anything, you "saw" it.
A "creek" has water in it, a "crick" is what you get in your neck.
Liberals with guns are nothing but hypocrites.