When you says cheap codura scabbard, is this what you mean? I don't use a pack animal as Where I hunt in this particular way I basically day hunt. And I have found that my lower cam hits my horse sometimes, like you said, and I am not sure how much damage .if any, it is doing. so I am really considering a bow scabbard. How well do they protect the bow from bouncing against a horse? Can you lope/trot with them on your horse?
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That looks to be like the one i have. Mine is the cheapie Cabelas sells...but I've had it for 20 years or so. They will bounce a little to a lot when loping depending how you mount it.
I probably should mention- i'm NOT a horse guy. I ride about 3x per year...and then its only due to necessity.
It sounds like you do not have your own solid animal you ride regularly. I can tell you this, You don't want anything impeding you or making it more difficult to ride. These scabbards hold your stirrup out further. you can rig it in front of your leg...or to where your leg in under the scabbard...but then it sticks out.
It becomes a personal choice. IMO, Best for a casual rider to put your bow in a cheap soft case and strap it to the top pack on a pack animal. My bussies that are fine horsemen can pack on their backs, carry it, have it on a sling- no problem. But these guys are used to bailing off a horse.
So heres an example. I still have a lump at the base of my back from getting run over by this beast in a bad rockpile.
Here he was laying down on me up the trail- we renamed him 5 mile because he only made it 5 miles on an 8 mile trail. I had nothing but problems with him and then I find out later that he was an auction horse my buddy picked up before the hunt.
When you get an animal like this it’s nothing but trouble. You don’t want your bow in the scabbard on an animal like this. My buddy rode him the last 6 miles or so down the trail fighting him the whole way but he got down.
So some of this is experience, or lack of- I was fighting the horse and lost ......but my buddy made it work.