Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Opinions on pack animals..

A good mule is prolly best and I'm a horse guy. Saddlesore is right that it takes different handling w/ a mule. Only problem for me is I just know horses? I spent 6 days in the bob Marshall in June and my walkin horses did all I'll ever need them to do. My friend that I went in with grew up with the Cheff family that have outfitted in the bob for ever. They pack mules cause they are tougher. I plan on going every year from now on but once a year trips don't call for revamping my stock. I packed a 3 yr old walker and can't help but think if he did it at 3 he do just as good next yr? If u know mules great but if not it seams easier to get a good horse than good mule.

The best and most reliable pack animal is.........................................the one owned by someone else.

Lefty C

There are pros and cons to both mules and horses. If you plan on getting an animal and just using it once a year for a hunting trip, it's an accident waiting to happen. And it won't wait very long to happen. If you have to get one, a mule that has been used a lot in a pack string and is getting too old to be used heavily would be your best bet. Young mules are batsh!t crazy crackheads.

I probablly should have spelled out a little more detail from the start. My partner and myself are both in our fifties, we can both still carry a decent sized pack into National Forrest, but were thinking how much more enjoyable it would be with an animals to help us carry gear in, and animals out, six or seven miles.

I have a friend who has a ranch and deals in livestock quite a bit, and has owned a lot of animals, cattle, horses and mules. My partner and I were thinking about buying him a mule that he would let us borrow. He has the trailer, room to put him, and also knows animals and has trained mules before.

I was trying to get a handle on what would be the best animal to follow a couple of guys in six or seven miles, then we would approach him and see how he felt about us buying him a mule or other pack animal. I don't think he hunts, but his son has expressed an interest in going with us. He might already have an animal we could use, but I would rather offer to buy one we could borrow for the next fifteen years, then just ask to borrow his.

I'm sure he would be willing to teach us about the animal and the problems we could expect with it.

Why not offer to rent his. He would get some oney out of one he owns and it would be cheaper for you. Buying these critters are the cheapest part.Keeping them is what gets expensive

That is a thought.

What kind of terrain are you talking about hiking in on? If riding isn't a prerequisite, all you want is a critter for company and to haul your animals out that's a pretty easy find. A mule broke to pack and not ride will be cheaper than one to do both. But that being said, if you're not able to dally the lead rope around your horn and drag if necessary to get him started, ...

As you can see by the thread so far there are many many variables. But either way you go, if all you want is to pack not pack/ride, that should make your options cheaper and easier. Training one to pack is a much shorter, and easier and therefor cheaper option.

Just my $.02

Thanks, ya, that is pretty much our thinking. We both have some small physical limitations that lead to kinked backs and a sore knee or two, nothing that would limits us from hiking, however the thought of losing a heavy pack when going from say 7000 to 10,000 is mighty tempting. Most of our hunting is on the Sierra on National Forest land, no wheels allowed, not even a cart.

We usually hunt 200 miles from home, pre-scouting most of the time is not possible. Sometimes water isn't where it is supposed to be, trying to take extra water in case the creek on the topo it dry, can be a back breaker. Just having an animal to take in 15 gallons of water and a few other things could be a godsend. Then losing the water and replacing it with meat would make for a lot easier trip.

A good mule is best, but they are also the rarest.

The wrangler (you) has to be smarter than the pack animal. That's why most packers don't use mules or Arabians. Being green, you would probably do better with a horse each, IMO.

For what you want, renting would seem to be the best thing. It does not sound like you want to do other equestrian events or activities. You would do best with a short stout horse, 14 - 14.2 hands.

Another thing...

The best thing you can do is take a couple of trips with an experienced hand to learn what to do, what NOT to do, when and how to do it, etc.

Apprenticing can save your life or injuries.

Remember, all animals have their quirks. My buddy, an outfitter, who packs all the time was telling me how good one of his mules was. He said "He's a great mule. You can put an elk on him, as long as he can't see it or smell it."

I have 5 Pack Llamas.They can go where no horse or mule can.You only have to take about 30lbs of oats to feed them and they scrounge for the rest.Of course you are going to be walking yourself.My animals are large gelded males and go over 450 lbs.They can pack 90 lbs.Two can haul all the gear for two guys and you have three to haul out game.

I have been around Horses and Mules since I was a small child. Our family started out with 16 horses in which there were a couple Mules..Those were all pack and Mountain horses that already passed basic mountain training...

Theirs good and bad in both arena's.I have seen more bad horses in the hills than Mules but that doesn't mean much as the best Mountain/Pack animals I have ever been around, were Horses.Two were Palomino's and one was a quarter horse.

The worst ever was a Burro who hated water.Friends who worked with my Dad who wanted to hunt with us would just go out and buy a horse which had never been in the hills other than the foothills around Boise..Saw alot of Rodeo's in the mountains when game was put on them or a rifle fired and the smell of Cougars and Bears.

If I was ever to get back in the horse buisness,I would only buy Mountain horses or Mules that are tried and proven in the hills around what we do.I'm to old to go down or get stepped on or kicked or 10 feet sideways in an instant,

Jayco

You are right there Jayco.I get a lot of entertainment every year form folks bringing flat land stock to CO and using it.

Wonder what you do when you have 150 lb elk quarter and a llama that can only pack 90 lbs.

A good mule is 10 times better than good horse, but a bad mule is 100 worse than a bad horse.

A fourwheeler

I don't use the traditional saw 'em up in 4 pieces way. Instead I use the gutless method and take the legs off from the outside, and bone them out if too heavy

Hear this as joking but it is funny when folks talk about the flatland stock. My friend in Missoula rode us hard about our stock before the trip and till the day we went in. After two days he started asking questions and by the end of the week he said he'd have a walkin horse by elk season. He does and loves it? Just like guns you have many types to choose from and that ain't a bad thing if your happy with what you have?

Funniest thing is when guys bring thier daughter's or wives arena/gykhana horse elk hunting and then use a riding saddle with the Colorado type paniers that fit over them. Usually the horse has never seen them, they get packed unbalanced and over loaded.The bags are way down low so they are pressing on the horses sides into the ribs and the horse is struggling to catch it's breath, maintain it's balance from the uneven loads, and when they do stop to give the horse a breather ,the poor thing's legs are quivering with exhaustion

What he didn't realize about our area is we have tough trails here too. No we don't climb 10,000 ft but we climb more often and steeper. Our hills are very short compared to those pulls we made out west but like I said many more of them and we don't switch back and forth. I've got good friends that have hunted Colorado for years and years and the riding we have here gets their mules in shape for what they do.

Very well said about a good mule being better than a good horse and a bad mule being worse than a bad horse. The mules do look more mountain'ish though.....grin

Veryp

Veryp was a screw up with phone