Gunnison area horse rental

[Hodgessj]

I’m looking for an outfitter to rent horses from in the gunnison area. I have checked with the forestry service and blm and no one can identify anyone who does this. Any input would be appreciated. I’m not looking for a guide service with horses. Just horses to be delivered to the trail head and be used for the self hunting trip. Please respond in pm if you have any useful input. Thanks in advance.

 

[sndmn11]

Possibly Action Adventures, Mineral Mountain, Coffeepot.

 

[Dwight2180]

I've hunted that area several times, never ran into anyone that rented horses or talked to anyone that mentioned it. Have you tried asking the outfitters? It may be worth asking the local processor, or people at Gene Taylors, they are always very helpful!

 

[ndhuntermanND]

Good. Luck. Might try a llama rental.

 

[Marble]

I’m looking for an outfitter to rent horses from in the gunnison area. I have checked with the forestry service and blm and no one can identify anyone who does this. Any input would be appreciated. I’m not looking for a guide service with horses. Just horses to be delivered to the trail head and be used for the self hunting trip. Please respond in pm if you have any useful input. Thanks in advance.

The issue in that area is the Forest service requires a fairly large license fee and insurance. So currently, to my knowledge and I've searched myself, no one delivers horses on that side of 70. The solution is to go pick them up. But you'll need a trailer.

If you want that info, send me a PM and I'll get it to you.

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[Hodgessj]

Thanks for all the info. My brother rented llamas last year. They are better than nothing but def not horses.

 

[Tobe_B]

Your best bet is to contact Sombrero Ranch. A google search will take you to their website. It’ll get you riding stock but pack gear and pack saddles are your responsibility. I don’t know that they’ll deliver to Gunnison but they do offer some delivery.


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[LFC911]

I rented horses from Ferro's Blue Mesa Ranch back in 2019 and did not have a good experience with them for what it is worth. Google is showing they're temporarily closed, not sure if they're closed for the winter or closed for good.

 

[Ynothunt41]

I rented horses from Ferro's Blue Mesa Ranch back in 2019 and did not have a good experience with them for what it is worth. Google is showing they're temporarily closed, not sure if they're closed for the winter or closed for good.

Were they out of shape or did they spook easy? Just curious.

 

[LFC911]

Were they out of shape or did they spook easy? Just curious.

Long story short, they could not be separated. We had plans to hunt in different areas and every time we tried to go separate ways they ran back to the other one. The night we did hunt together they got spooked and ran down the mountain. I got thrown and had to walk back w/o a weapon. My buddy rode his all the way down in the dark. I left a google review for them if you want more info. If you're using them to pack and they're always together there probably wouldn't be an issue.

 

[Ynothunt41]

Thanks, I was just curious. I'm not using them.

 

[Wolf_trapper]

Renting horses seems like a nightmare for both parties but maybe I'm just ignorant.

 

[Marble]

Your best bet is to contact Sombrero Ranch. A google search will take you to their website. It’ll get you riding stock but pack gear and pack saddles are your responsibility. I don’t know that they’ll deliver to Gunnison but they do offer some delivery.


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They can't deliver south of 70. I don't know who, if anyone, has the contract/license with the USFS there.

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[chindits]

Ferro’s sold. He wasn’t really permitted for USFS so John would typically meet you at the USFS boundary line when he cared to be legal.

You probably need to look unit specific for such a deal. Outfitters will be your best source for info but not stock. Most units have too many outfitters working a small area so they don’t need more company, but they might know a dude outfit that is okay searching for their lost horses well after hunting season is over.

 

[Verne]

We've used Bar Diamond outfitters several times in unit 53 of the West Elk Wilderness and it's been great. Last time was 2019 and, I'm not sure if they're still in business.

I will warn you, though. If you're not a real horse guy and a little tougher than most, this isn't for you. Hunting with horses is dangerous and EXTREMELY hard work. You'll spend at least 50% of your time on the mountain taking care of them and 95% of your time worrying about them. Are they secured so they'll be there when you return? Have they had enough to eat and drink? Are they going to get hurt? Are they going to hurt me? And don't even get me started on learning how to actually secure your gear on them so you aren't dropping stuff on the trail every 50 yards. It's a lot.

That being said, I don't know that I'd ever choose to hunt without them. You can take more comforts in with you (not many more, but more than a backpacker), you can cover more ground, and there's really nothing that compares to riding a horse in the wilderness.

It took us 2 trips to finally get good at it and we're still learning as we go. That first trip was an absolute nightmare and I was convinced one of us would die by the end of day one. The second trip found us more prepared and things were much better, but by no means perfect. After that, everything really began to gel, but keep in mind that you'll never remove the danger factor. So far, almost everyone in our group has been thrown at least once (I'm probably next) and those wrecks have caused 2 of our guys to require reconstructive shoulder surgery. Again....you'd better be tough if you're gonna do this.

You're guaranteed to hate almost every minute of your hunt with horses with maybe 10-15 minutes a day (if you're lucky) of pure bliss. Every single trip leaves me saying that I'll never do it again by the last day, but a few hours into the drive home I'm already planning the next one.

One last thing...the guy above who wrote about having bad horses that didn't want to be separated. Dude, that's ALL horses. To them, everything out there wants to eat them and there's safety in numbers. You NEVER leave a horse alone. Hunt in pairs so you can tie the horses together. You can walk off in opposite directions if you want. Don't leave your pack horse alone while you ride out to hunt on the other 2. Take him with you. If you don't have at least 2 horses you're leaving alone while you hunt, you're asking for trouble. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Brooks]

The solution to horses is having “good” horses !! Only way to go.

 

[Fullfan]

Your best bet is to contact Sombrero Ranch. A google search will take you to their website. It’ll get you riding stock but pack gear and pack saddles are your responsibility. I don’t know that they’ll deliver to Gunnison but they do offer some delivery.


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They are an expensive date, like 1k a week ish for a horse, and you have to buy their expensive hay..

 

[Verne]

Horses aren't cheap. Expect to pay anywhere between $800 and $1200 per horse. And, you're looking at 3 horses for 2 hunters, so yeah, it gets expensive. In fact, horse rentals made up at least 50% of the cost of my hunts each year when you add in tags, food, and travel money.

The truth is, most people are better off going with a drop camp. I'm even considering having someone pack me and my own camping gear in next year vs the traditional drop camp where you use their gear. This costs less, you're hunting "your area" that hasn't been over-run with full camps since early September, and you don't have horses to deal with.

The truth is, once we're on the mountain, we don't actually use the horses to hunt much. We'll just walk out of camp and cover a few miles on foot. When we kill something, we saddle the horses and go get it. A packer will do the same thing for you and doesn't charge nearly as much.

 

[mt terry d]

Renting horses seems like a nightmare for both parties but maybe I'm just ignorant.

Agreed. A high probability of big disaster, let me count the ways.
I'd never take an unknown-to-me horse in the mountains. Heard several stories
of borrowed horses, rarely have they turned out well.
A better bet would be line up someone to pack out your elk
if you happen to get one. If you're deer hunting you don't really need horses IMO
Plus, all your time can be spent hunting instead of worrying about and caring for
someone else's animals.

 

[Brooks]

If you’re not a horseman and know how to ride and handle a horse you are probably better off leaving the horses to an outfitter.