Competing with horses

[Luziana Feller]

you pull up with only yours boots and pack, and the trail head is stuffed horse trailers...what do you do? looking at rugged wilderness areas.

(nothing against my horse back friends. i just know i won't be able to go as far, as fast and as comfortably)

 

[idahohikker]

Your first problem is going to wilderness areas. The federal designation is like a gravitational pull on nonresidents. Add that on top of resident horse packers and it's tough to find some space to hunt.

But if there's trailless and rugged places around the road, you might be able to get away from crowds.

Also, avoid trailheads as they draw people more than just a stretch of road.

 

[KurtR]

go hunting. Horses probably go farther in and day hunters wont go as far so find that happy area in between

 

[LostArra]

go hunting. Horses probably go farther in and day hunters wont go as far so find that happy area in between

This is a very good strategy.

 

[Luziana Feller]

i am trying to build a game plan around bush wacking up to a very high ridge then just hiking that ridge a few miles glassing. staying off trails and away from trailheads. do areas with known black bear prominence deter horseback hunters at all?

 

[cnelk]

Get to places where horses cant go

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

Black bear or predator prominence will not deter horse hunters, at least not any I know. Like said before, there is a sweet spot. Horses will stay on trail and go further back than you will probably get, or it will take you a few days to get there, so will likely be hunting a completely different area. A lot of the non residents over estimate their ability and get there planning to go 7-8 miles and end up stopping after 2, especially more rugged areas. Find a good area in between, even better if take trail in 4-5 miles then veer off to a more secluded basin/area, you should be good.

 

[Luziana Feller]

good info y'all.

cnelk, that's the info i was looking for...what terrain is impassible for horse hunters.

and it sounds like bush wacking will be a good way to get away from majority of horses and day hunters?

 

[Wrench]

The allure of big wilderness sounds grand to those without experience. I take a different approach, look for what elk need, what elk want and what I can access AND retrieve a bull from.

A couple of miles and a couple thousand feet sounds pretty easy on the internet....add in the drag of vegetation on your boots, altitude, lack of sleep and suddenly it's a lot to ask.

I suggest finding small areas that offer everything and are not a destination for horses.

Horses need places to park the rigs, feed, a reasonable trail....etc.

The quickest and easiest to make work for you is the parking. Launch at an area that lacks parking. If it's 10 miles to the trailhead, and not many horsemen are going to bushwack, you just bought a big cushion.

Think about the elk needs. They need to not be seen by every car that passes, but they tolerate hearing them without issue. They must have food and water. They must have a bedding area. They seem (rocky's ) to like .5-2 miles between food and bedding.

Look for places that can work thermals and prevailing winds to the animals favor that fit the above and you're on your way.

 

[jmez]

A lot of deadfall and large rockslides.

 

[TheTone]

Go hunt. From my experience a lot of horse guys don't get far from a maintained trail and tend to enjoy camp life a lot.

 

[theleo91386]

Go hunting.

I'm a guy that uses stock and if I were to hunt areas hikers could get an animal out of (personally consider the ability to get a downed animal out of an area as the limiting factor of how far away from the pickup I can hunt) I'd be going in on foot. If you're in direct competition with those stock users, than they're doing it wrong. Figure out where they're hunting and what most of the foot traffic hunts. If you're in better shape than the average joe you can hunt in between them and take advantage of animals being condensed from the pressure.

 

[Schaaf]

For the most part horse hunters are to trails what road hunters are to roads.

 

[Brooks]

I Hunt from horses every year and the places we go you need horses to get a elk out . Just go hunt they’ll be long gone by the time you get a mile or two in. I’ve never seen another hunter by the time we ride 4,5,or 6 miles in..... Big country....If your wilderness is anything like ours most guys won’t hike the big steep canyons but a time or two while the horse will do it every day or until he gets replaced with a fresh one.

 

[Buckfevered]

Good info guys..

 

[kboatman107]

I was at a trailhead last September with a bunch of horse trailers and didn’t have any issues. The horses would go further in than we would. We would hunt anywhere from 1-4 miles off the trails and find elk.

 

[WoolyBugger]

You could try finding a trailhead that the condition of a road prevents a horse trailer from getting to, provided you have a nimble vehicle. Where we were last season, once we got off main roads, there were horse trailers littering the first couple miles but the last 4ish miles of the road was impassable to trailers and non 4x4 vehicles. Didn't see another trailer or any horseshoe prints at the trail head

 

[sndmn11]

Just go hunt, it is big country and the chances of you getting lost are better than getting pooed on by other hunters. Keep in mind if you are looking to move through the places horses can't go like in CNELK's picture above, expect to slow down to 1/4-1/2mph or less, especially if there is any slope to that stuff.

 

[GeoHunter]

I ran into this exact problem last year in Jarbidge. I just went to the next trailhead where the road conditions were a lot harder to get a trailer down, but not a big deal to get my truck to. I had that place to myself for the the two days I was there and got the bull in my avatar picture on the second morning, 2.5 miles in.

 

[cmahoney]

Have to get off the trail


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