Breaking Rules, Tack, and Everything Else: My DIY Horseback Hunting Chronicle

[WyoHuntr]

Got a good chuckle reading this. I went down this road myself and it brought up some similar memories. You started off right by asking backcountry hunters. It requires a subset of skills that most horse folk do not possess. I started with a boatload of garbage advice from cowboy/gals that had apparently never been off a well-maintained trail, (definitely never packed meat & horns through timber). Balls>brains and a bit of hard-headed determination can take you far. You definitely took the tough road by using a 5yo with no mountain experience. (I've gone that route twice, and now I just mentally allow that some bullshit will inevitably pop up at some point because everything is new). Extreme conditions can bring out the inner idiot even in good horses.

*for the horse stepping off when mounting problem*: what worked for me is immediately backing them up to where they were supposed to hold. My trainer/farrier friend gave me that one. It annoyed my horse into submission with surprising speed.

A few things I've found on my journey:
- on my tack every rein or rope has a snap. Train wrecks and tangles can be hell when you can't undo at the halter. Plus, having a sharp knife in hand is super sketchy during a rodeo!
- if I put the horses in a train, I use a breakaway. Generally a beat up piece of bailing twine. Invaluable if one slips off a trail or wraps around a tree.
- electric fence setup is a good way to get horses fed while you sleep. As opposed to wasting hunting time grazing horses.
- ultralight backpacking gear makes a one man show much easier. Harcore horse guys tend to need an entire horse or two to haul in needlessly heavy camp crap.
- I run a britchen on everything. I figure I'm using saddle panyards, so it might as well have pack saddle traits. (I also use a double y cinch since my main horse is round as a 50 gallon drum).
- I've had better luck buying disposition/personality, than buying a horse for it's previous experience. Packing and composure around blood aren't tough to teach. (And if they don't stay composed, they don't stay! Too dicey when rolling solo)

Some make it out like you need to be an expert to even attempt taking a horse in the backcountry. Once you know how to generally keep a horse alive, I say go wing it! Even the best outfitters and packers have incidents, wrecks, and horse injuries. It goes with the territory. Figuring it out as you go can be pretty rewarding. To you and all the aspiring horse hunters, Good luck with your adventures!

 

[Pony Soldier]

To add to that is the trust you develop with your horses. In using them, they and you get to know how you and they will respond to situations. You need to be able to see a crisis coming and head it off.

 

[rayporter]

You need to be able to see a crisis coming and head it off

this is it in a nutshell!




the trouble is you have to have been in a few wrecks to see a crisis coming--and have a very great desire to not be in another.

 

[Pony Soldier]

That relationship is critical when you get back to your horse at dark and have a 5 mile ride out in the dark. Your horse will take you out the way you came in without any necessary light. Moonlight is nice but you don't need it.

 

[wymtnpounder]

Lot to this thread and I haven't had time to read through it but if you have a specific question feel free to message me. It may take a bit to get back to you, but I will

 

[Macegl]

Really enjoyed reading through this thread. I’ve been horseback all my life but mostly just for working cows and riding for fun/training.

The area I hunt, horses add more work than they offset, so other than packing out animals I generally don’t hunt off them.

Just a couple questions.
1) Does the older mare ride? Or is she strictly a pack horse?

2) Do you know anyone who can go ride with you?

A lot of the training around just getting your gelding used to things is a lot easier if you have an experienced horse there to help, but only when needed.

Overall it looks to me that you are doing a great job, and you have a heck of a gelding there. It says a lot about his personality, and yours the way you have worked through obstacles without a wreck so far.

As a side note for buying horses, if you can find someone who is well connected and respected in the area a lot of times friends will let them try a horse out for a week before they buy it. I’ve seen too many horse deals to buy a horse that I can’t try out. We haven’t bought a horse that wasn’t a weanling or a yearling for a long time, but we have let trusted friends try horses out they were interested in for extended periods of time so they knew what they were getting.
And yes I know there is liability in this on both ends, but sometimes being a good person requires a little liability, and I only do this with people I feel I know and trust.

 

[yycyak]

Whew, been on a bit of a rokslide hiatus. Lots to catch up on.

1. She rides, but she's buddy sour and likes to be a huge B about going out solo. But, when she's with another horse, she's great. Just plugs along with her nose in the butt of whatever horse is in front of her. This is the whole "It's not a bug, it's a feature" thing at times. (If I were a better cowboy, I could likely get this issue sorted out. Might be a 2025 project once this snow goes away.)

2. I have a few pals that go out with me from time to time. But it's the usual issues we all run into of a buddy says he is good to go, and then the night before something comes up. (I'm guilty of this myself - Young kids sorta wreck your best plans.) So I go out with buddies when our schedules work, but if not then I'll attempt to go solo.

2.1 The other issue is having buddies who are crazy enough to try over-nighting with the horses. A few of the dudes I know have horses that are actually their girlfriend's horse, and trying to convince their missus that taking a horse out overnight in the mountains is completely fine is another hurdle to try to overcome.

Really enjoyed reading through this thread. I’ve been horseback all my life but mostly just for working cows and riding for fun/training.

The area I hunt, horses add more work than they offset, so other than packing out animals I generally don’t hunt off them.

Just a couple questions.
1) Does the older mare ride? Or is she strictly a pack horse?

2) Do you know anyone who can go ride with you?

A lot of the training around just getting your gelding used to things is a lot easier if you have an experienced horse there to help, but only when needed.

Overall it looks to me that you are doing a great job, and you have a heck of a gelding there. It says a lot about his personality, and yours the way you have worked through obstacles without a wreck so far.

As a side note for buying horses, if you can find someone who is well connected and respected in the area a lot of times friends will let them try a horse out for a week before they buy it. I’ve seen too many horse deals to buy a horse that I can’t try out. We haven’t bought a horse that wasn’t a weanling or a yearling for a long time, but we have let trusted friends try horses out they were interested in for extended periods of time so they knew what they were getting.
And yes I know there is liability in this on both ends, but sometimes being a good person requires a little liability, and I only do this with people I feel I know and trust.

 

[yycyak]

Really quick update:

-- No, I'm not dead. After the end of November, life got a bit crazy with work, kids, and real life. My wife humours me and my hunting season and pony escapades from Aug-Nov. After that I have to get back to real life.

-- Weather turned nasty, and we had lots of snow and cold. That's not fun to ride in, or haul a trailer in.

The good news is it's now busy season for me at work, so I need to find a bunch of reasons to procrastinate and avoid doing day-job stuff. Catching up on rokslide seems appropriate, so you can expect more updates to this thread as we head into spring.

 

[Pony Soldier]

I work at alternating which pony is with who. Even to the point of solitary confinement. I work hard at breaking up those bonds. I also tie them up for multiple hours on trees and on the barn. I tie them up in the woods while I'm hunting so they just as well get used to it.

 

[yycyak]

Stoves
Lately I've been kicking around the idea that after my busy season is over, first week of May I might do a 3-day spring bear "Hunt." Realistically, this would be more of a gear shakedown trip/glorified camping trip.


With that in mind, I've been messing with a packing list for this trip, which includes a small wall tent and stove. Which then got me thinking about stoves, specifically in the context of how I'm running things these days: 2x horses, riding one and ponying the other.

Which then got me thinking about all the logistics: weight, bulk of duffle, all that stuff. Which then brought up more questions. So, with that in mind, I guess I have two questions I'm kicking around right now:

1. How do you "pack" a stove? Assuming it's not a giant obnoxious thing, just a regular pot metal cylinder that weights about 25lbs (Something like the photo below), where the heck do you put it on your pack horse? This sort of stove doesn't collapse or fold up. I'm assuming that you do something along the lines of load panniers -> load duffle/tend -> load stove on top -> tarp and lash.

(I have a feeling this might be in Joe Black's book, but I don't have that in front of me right now.)

2. How do you stop your stove from rattling? The stove pipe and legs all fit inside this unit. So that's handy. But, they are going to rattle around a bunch. Do you just bungee everything together, wrap the bundle in rags, and then stuff it inside of the stove?

***

But in logic-ing through this, I *think* it becomes a problem of weight. The classic wall tent + wood stove scenario seems to come in at at roughly 60lbs minimum, if not heavier. Add in pannier weight, plus other camp gear, and it starts to add up fast. So I wonder if it's even possible to make that work with just a single pack horse....

So if anyone has done it, let me know. More pack animals isn't in the cards for me, so options are limited. I'd love a decent warm tent and cot to crawl into at night, instead of a cold camp. But still trying to figure out how to pull that off.

 

[mntnguide]

So if anyone has done it, let me know. More pack animals isn't in the cards for me, so options are limited. I'd love a decent warm tent and cot to crawl into at night, instead of a cold camp. But still trying to figure out how to pull that off.

With your setup, I would highly suggest going away from Canvas and Heavy stoves. You just dont have the pack animal capability to make it work well. Get a lightweight style floorless tent and one of the many collapsible titanium type stoves and you can have a great setup for well under 15lbs. I run the Argali Rincon when it is just my dog and I during summer, but if i want to bring my stove, I pack my Seek outside Redcliff. Stove, Tent and all accessories is like 6-8lbs and i just throw it all in my bear boxes on 1 load with all my food and camp gear. The seek Outside Courthouse is like a mini wall tent, and ive used that as well before with multiple people and cots. The tent and all needed accessories is under 15lbs, add the SXL stove and your are still well under 20lbs for all of it. . Long story short, if you want to make things work with very minimal pack animals, you need to think lighter and lighter and use the stuff that is available now adays that makes it possible. Canvas tents and big cylinder stoves are great, they hold heat, and are awesome in the mountains, but they also basically are an entire load just themselves outside of the rest of your gear.

 

[yycyak]

My man. You just saved me hours of reinventing the wheel.

I'll keep the traditional gear at the truck/basecamp, and focus on doing the minimal/ultralight run-and-gun approach.

In the summer I usually just cowboy camp, with a heavy duty bivy sack and a tarp (if needed). But once the weather starts turning, it's nice to have a "real" camp.

With your setup, I would highly suggest going away from Canvas and Heavy stoves. You just dont have the pack animal capability to make it work well. Get a lightweight style floorless tent and one of the many collapsible titanium type stoves and you can have a great setup for well under 15lbs. I run the Argali Rincon when it is just my dog and I during summer, but if i want to bring my stove, I pack my Seek outside Redcliff. Stove, Tent and all accessories is like 6-8lbs and i just throw it all in my bear boxes on 1 load with all my food and camp gear. The seek Outside Courthouse is like a mini wall tent, and ive used that as well before with multiple people and cots. The tent and all needed accessories is under 15lbs, add the SXL stove and your are still well under 20lbs for all of it. . Long story short, if you want to make things work with very minimal pack animals, you need to think lighter and lighter and use the stuff that is available now adays that makes it possible. Canvas tents and big cylinder stoves are great, they hold heat, and are awesome in the mountains, but they also basically are an entire load just themselves outside of the rest of your gear.

 

[WyoHuntr]

Wall tents and steel stoves take up way too much horse real estate for me. I typically use a tipi with a half nest or a floor that doesn't let me poke crap out from under the edge (like the foot end of my bag), and a titanium stove. Using just a ground sheet usually ends up in something getting wet that i don't want wet. Granted, I think tipis are completely overrated, since you end up with very little headroom, a single wall that gets you wet, they use a ton of stakes, and they reduce their space by a third once snow hits (sags inwards)... but they do have their uses. I've converted Hillebergs by sewing in a stove jack. I was looking for a light tent with a large vestibule for a stove when I bought yet another tipi.... because I didn't learn the first three times. They have super light dyneema ones, depending on your budget and needs.

I've still use a dyneema tipi, Argali silpoly, Peax silnylon, etc. You can run a bigger/heavier setup with a horse which i sometimes take advantage of (my Hilleberg below). Argali 2p (below) is pretty tight quarters and I melted a few things against the stove.... but it worked. (That one I hiked in). My Peax 4 is what I would use if I was horseback. The horse below has my whole camp and a boned out deer, which could have easily been a quartered deer.

 

[ShootOkHuntWorse]

Wall tents and steel stoves take up way too much horse real estate for me. I typically use a tipi with a half nest or a floor that doesn't let me poke crap out from under the edge (like the foot end of my bag), and a titanium stove. Using just a ground sheet usually ends up in something getting wet that i don't want wet. Granted, I think tipis are completely overrated, since you end up with very little headroom, a single wall that gets you wet, they use a ton of stakes, and they reduce their space by a third once snow hits (sags inwards)... but they do have their uses. I've converted Hillebergs by sewing in a stove jack. I was looking for a light tent with a large vestibule for a stove when I bought yet another tipi.... because I didn't learn the first three times. They have super light dyneema ones, depending on your budget and needs.

I've still use a dyneema tipi, Argali silpoly, Peax silnylon, etc. You can run a bigger/heavier setup with a horse which i sometimes take advantage of (my Hilleberg below). Argali 2p (below) is pretty tight quarters and I melted a few things against the stove.... but it worked. (That one I hiked in). My Peax 4 is what I would use if I was horseback. The horse below has my whole camp and a boned out deer, which could have easily been a quartered deer.
View attachment 857925
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What’s the inside of that hilleberg like with a stove inside?

 

[Robster]

This is the stove I have. Works well, need to feed it a bit, but hey! you still have a warm place to relax.

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/kni-co-packer-wood-camp-stove