Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire wild horses ...

I still think we should burn up all the Arab's oil first. They need to get back to their roots of trading salt on camel back. They were a lot less dangerous then.

Naive... Arabs have more oil than we will ever burn. Alternate energy plans will start discounting the value of oil anywhere and everywhere...
art

I agree there. Let's find some other energy source that isn't releasing the energy stored up over millions of years in a century or two.

If we as a nation put the same effort into achieving renewable energy sources that we did into the effort to put a man on the moon in the Sixties, within a decade we could tell the Arabs (and the Israelis for that matter) to perform a unilateral act of copulation. Without the need to try to control oil and hence have some control over the state of our country's economy we would have no more political interest in the Middle East than we have in equatorial Africa or Outer Mongolia.

Hydrogen fuel cells, wind, tides, stuff we haven't thought of yet - I realize there are great technical difficulties to overcome, but that's exactly what this country is really good at.

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BTW, getting back to wild horses - I think we should shoot every stinking one of those drug dealers, or hang'em, whatever. That's all I ever hear about, someone being drugged by wild horses. Probably get'em from Mexico, the drugs that is, another reason to close our porous borders. GEEZ LOU-FREAKIN'-WEEZE!! I mean, it's bad enough that our nation's youth is being seduced by drug dealers wearing fur hats and driving tricked out Cadillacs, but DRUGGED by HORSES? No wonder they call them wild horses, you'd never see some decent, church going, tame horse selling drugs, that's for sure, thats for damn sure!!!

(psssst, Jim - that's "drug" by wild horses, past tense of drag, not "drugged".)

What? Oh, never mind...

Alternative energy? Pshaw. Bigger V8s. More V12s. Turbine powered motorhomes. We'll show them.

Big Sky,

Yep, sounds like you got it right. I have zero use for Grizzlies, Wolves, Spotted Owls, Snail Dartters and other such nonsense but it's ok with me if you do. I'll pretend my tax money goes to support the horses and you pretend yours go to support whatever you wish. I agree with Ranger One, I like knowing they are still there but I also think the program is terribly mismanaged. The smoke stacks here are not too bad unless there is an invershion. Yes I spent the first 36 years of my life in Northern California (except for Army time), born in Auburn, raised not far from there. Also lived in Washington state, Utah twice, Georgia and Japan. Just happened to be here when I retired, but would rather live in Idaho or maybe Montana.

Folks look at horses different it seems to me. Some of us look at a horse or mule as a tool, nothing more. As a tool you don't abuse it and you keep it in good shape so it can do its job but it is still just a tool. Use it up, wear it out, discard it and get another. Might miss a favorite tool for a while but a new one will take its place.

Other folks look at them as pets or worse yet children. Get all emotional about a fourlegged critter and imbue it with emotions and atributes the critter never though about if it thinks. Nobility, bravery, beauty, etc etc.

Vets love this sort of people. So do feed and tack dealers.

There is an old gal up in the north part of the county that keeps some rescued wild horses. A more useless set of glue factory candidates I never saw but she's happy as a clam. The old plugs seem to enjoy it too if feed consumption is a measure.

I went to a sale they held in Navasota a while back. Jug headed, sway backed, wall eyed, cat hammed, spavined, and I wondered how a "wild" horse acquired saddle galls but what do I know.

I wouldn't have give a ten dollar bill for none of them but some of the little gals there saw beauty that plumb escaped me. But then horses is tools to me.


BCR

Yeppers Boggy, we have used up a few over the years, some better than others but the current group is as good as those they replaced. It's the training that is the PITA.

Snuffy1, stay in Utah, there's lot's of folks there with your same mentality. It's why I live in Montana now. Besides we have lot's of grizzlies and wolves. Utah has lot's of wild horses so you should be thrilled. It seems you've found your place in space. Enjoy.

Of course the outdoors is just for you guys that have good knees and backs, do not let any one else in, Yeah I get it. But sorry buddy I'm gonna ride my quad as long as I am able. I have earned these bad knees and back, I worked since I was thirteen and that was a long time ago. I did not get these bum knees playing football or tennis or some other such "SPORT," I worked putting in floors and laying out ship parts on floors for nearly 20 years. Now I ride cause I can't walk too well Besides I ride a sport quad and ride pretty fast and stay on the trail where I belong, and believe it or not after a few hour of riding I pay for it in days of pain but at least I get out. So if you want to bury my lard gut pal you gotta catch me, and I can shoot back <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Bullwnkl.

Bullwnkl,

Right on Bro! Our taxes and hard work (and military service) have helped make life good for some of the flat bellies. Now they can just put up with our ATV's. I keep mine on trails too and I occasionally pick up other people's litter.

Jim

Ahh we all have our opinions, pet peeves, and sore spots it seems. It's good that we all get the chance to poke someone else in the sore spot now and again.

I like my horses. They aren't tools. They, unlike my Makita hypoid drive saw, sense pain, have fears, and do on some elementary level make decisions. It's usually something like "can I eat it, or not?" or "if I stick around will it hurt me, or not?" but each one has it's tendancies.

Some of my horses don't like to be caught because the prior owners only caught them to work and they didn't get treated well for the effort. Others come at a trot and seem (key word) to like the work. I like those better because I'm less likely to have to go looking for them in the hills.

I've never seen a perfectly good tool decide not to work that day. I have seen "gun dogs" born and bred for the job that are afraid of guns. I've seen "water dogs" refuse to retrieve if the water was too cold. Those are decisions they make in their own low wattage brain.

Animals don't react like machines but neither does my hunting partner. He farts and snores and gets lost easier than I do. I have to put up with it just like some of the things I have to deal with from the ponies. He's a good elk bugler and an enthusiastic hunter, although his skill and care during the quartering process needs refinement.

I've ridden quads. They're a good way to get around. You don't have to worry about them spooking if you stop to shoot a grouse, but my horse quit doing that a while ago too. One thing they don't do is prick up their nonexistant ears and let you know something or someone is coming or standing in the brush next to the trail. That comes in handy sometimes.

Quads don't find their way home in the dark worth a damn and if you let go of the throttle they just stop. As long as there's no overhanging branches I can catch a catnap in the saddle and still get somewhere. Quads, like hookers, will let anyone ride. Not all horses are so slutty. Some are really hard to steal because they're picky about who gets on their back and they run from strangers.

It's a tradeoff we all make at some point and of course the ones we make are the best. If you choose to shoot a rifle you shoot the best one. If you don't like magnums because (in my mind) you're too much of a weenie to deal with a little recoil than you make an excuse that magnums, for some reason not quite explained by any ballistics table or chart, aren't as accurate as your *insert cartridge type here* and take offense when someone disagrees...even if they don't mind the recoil and can hit everything you can with their chopped down antiaircraft cannon.

I've even seen people so bold as to use the words Dodge, good, and truck in the same vicinity even though that would be an oxymoron of the highest sort.

I respect them anyway. Even if they can't afford a real truck or shoot enough gun we have more in common than we have to disagree about. If we were all the same the world would get boring in a hurry and all the places I like to go and things I like to do my own special way would be the same as everyone else's and that would make the woods too crowded with people trying to get away from each other by using the same route, method, and leaving the same boot tracks. At least they wouldn't snore and fart like Art then but that's a small compensation in the long run.

Yeah, steelie, and the bestest thing about a horse over a quad is if you get hungry you can eat the durn thing. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

BCR

And besides that, when's the last time a quad dumped all over your campsite?

(I must admit, though, that a quad I was once riding tried to run me over while I was on it. Then again, I've been bitten and stomped on by horses.)

My buddies quad refused to get back in the truck once. The ramp worked great all the other times but tie a 400 lb. bear across the rear rack and they get all finicky and stand on their hind wheels. It makes a nice picture and story though, even if the quad isn't a nice looking as my horse.

I don't know if he'd try and shed the bear if I loaded him with one. I saw a little blackie a while ago. He was eating something next to the old skid road I was riding on. I saw him first, the horse was looking elsewhere I guess. I was somewhat concerned about a few things. One was that the bear wasn't running away. That was weird. The other was I was pulling a young molly mule and I'm fond of my rotator cuff. The third thing was what my horse would do.

The answer was nothing. The bear finally noticed us and left in hurry, but not a rush, my horse and mule watched the bear and kept walking like it was someone's poodle. The bear paralleled us on the grade above the road and the animals didn't give it a second thought.

I think on a quad I'd have nothing to worry about because I'd never have seen that bear in the first place.

The folks out here had this feral horse management thing all worked out in the fifties and sixties. There was a ready market for any a guy could round up, Fido has to eat something.

Any of you fellas ever see the movie, "The Misfits" with Marilyn Monroe? This movie did for feral horses, what "Bambi" did for deer hunting.

Eventually we wound up with the ridiculous wild horse and burro act.

As mentioned earlier in this thread "feral" is definately the proper adjective for this discussion as it describes a domestic critter which has gone wild, such as feral cats, feral dogs, feral pigeons, feral hogs, feral goats, feral horses, and perhaps the occasional feral child. Absolutely none of which belong in a natural envirenment.

And speaking of old management techniques, can any one define the phrase "creasing a mustang"?

If a cowboy considered himself a fairly accomplished rifleman he might try clipping a hose in the mane with a bullet. If done exacty right, the bullet impact would stun the horse long enough for the cowboy to hobble and rope the animal, and leave the horse with an abrasion on his neck which would heal quickly. If not performed corectly said cowboy had a clean miss, a horse with a permanently crippled neck (Fido doesn't care), or a dead horse (coyotes gotta eat too).

Hey Big Stick, this sport sound challenging enough to perk your ears up for?

Horse Creasin' sounds like right proper entertainment..................

Big Sky,
Sure I responded to this once but don't see it anywhere so,
thanks for the advise and Utah does have some beautiful country but it just doesn't feel like home. Seems people here don't have much use for a guy if he doesn't believe as they do, say did you say you were from Utah? My folks moved to Idaho Falls in 1966 after I got drafted, they stayed there until they died a few years ago. I always liked it there when we would visit, but the wife wants to go to a warmer climate so we got some talking to do maybe Arizona or New Mexico.

And they are not bad really...once you get past the thinking you are eating "My Friend Flicka" <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Alpo, used to make a dog food out of horse meat, my dogs liked it so I guess horses are good for something. As to falling asleep on a horse.... well I guess thats ok...and what about the deal with women riding horses....theres a subject for Mythbusters. Anyway there are a lot more advantages to me riding a quad. Besides you don't need to dig as big a hole to plant a wanna be cowboy and his horse as you do a lard gut quad rider.

Bullwnkl.

Steeleyes, you sure like to stir the Sh#$ don't ya....and it's not a bad thing if you have the ability to back up the words. Pickin on guy because he don't shoot a loudboominhardrecoiln super mag is just plain stupid with out backin you statement up with facts. I like to shoot the big rifles and have a couple that are darn accurate. i know that given the chance I could drop a worthless ole horsie at a couple hundred yards no problem. i could do the same with my tired old 06. Then you go picken on a mans truck....have you deciency man. A truck is a mans castle what next you gonna claim that there is only two kinds of music...country and western... OMG not that. Maybe you better go for a ride before we quad riders ban together and get horses banned from our trails.Wait a moment what trails do we have the tree huggin horsie crowd is takin them away as fast as possible. Say how much land does one need to run a horse on? If I get one it's gonna be called Makita <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Bullwnkl.