Hunting from horse questions

[BradySC05]

I’ve found that as long as they are in a comfortable spot, able to eat and beat the heat, they tend to stay fairly quiet. Having a buddy is always a good idea.

 

[TomBono]

So, I’ve had horses my whole life. Grew up riding, spent 5 years starting colts, roping and brandings, team roping, blah blah blah but never really hunted off them. But I’ve found a few spots I’d like to hunt that using my horse would make it so much easier.
I’m certainly not against hiking, done quite a few backpack hunts 5-10 miles in and I stay in good shape. But these are spots where backpacking in wouldn’t be ideal because it’s so far to water or the only places flat enough to camp are where the deer bed or feed.
So my theory is day hunting with my pony to save significantly on how sweaty I get in the dark coming in. But, I’ve got some questions and I figured this might be a good place to get legit answers.

Riding in the dark: I’ve always heard not to turn your headlamp on because you’ll throw off your horses ability to see in the dark and create a bunch of shadows for him. My question is, a lot of these trails I’ll be on get into some open and rocky country and it can be tricky to pick the trail back up, even on foot in the day light. Do you guys just flip your light on for a moment to steer your horse in the right direction? Or just leave it off?

Leaving horses: I can’t guarantee it, but I have a very strong suspicion that if I tied my knot head to a tree and took off hiking, I’d spend the rest of the day listening to him whinny and paw and pace on his lead rope. Any tips here, besides bringing another horse along?

Riding through deer country: I’ve found a few places where there is simply no place to tie my pony and get off and hunt when I’m near the place I wanna be. I could tie him miles before I get there, which defeats the purpose of evening riding in. Or I could ride through the area I’d like to hunt in the dark, keep going a ways where there are good places to tie, then come back into the good country to hunt on foot. If a guy doesn’t make any noise while riding, how much do you think a horse walking through in the dark is going to effect the deers behavior?

Thanks!!


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If I need a light, a red lamp will usually help me see what I need to see. It doesn't seem to mess with the horses vision as much. I avoided bright lights at all costs especially if you are in steep rocky terrain. You want those critters on their A-game.

 

[TomBono]

So, I’ve had horses my whole life. Grew up riding, spent 5 years starting colts, roping and brandings, team roping, blah blah blah but never really hunted off them. But I’ve found a few spots I’d like to hunt that using my horse would make it so much easier.
I’m certainly not against hiking, done quite a few backpack hunts 5-10 miles in and I stay in good shape. But these are spots where backpacking in wouldn’t be ideal because it’s so far to water or the only places flat enough to camp are where the deer bed or feed.
So my theory is day hunting with my pony to save significantly on how sweaty I get in the dark coming in. But, I’ve got some questions and I figured this might be a good place to get legit answers.

Riding in the dark: I’ve always heard not to turn your headlamp on because you’ll throw off your horses ability to see in the dark and create a bunch of shadows for him. My question is, a lot of these trails I’ll be on get into some open and rocky country and it can be tricky to pick the trail back up, even on foot in the day light. Do you guys just flip your light on for a moment to steer your horse in the right direction? Or just leave it off?

Leaving horses: I can’t guarantee it, but I have a very strong suspicion that if I tied my knot head to a tree and took off hiking, I’d spend the rest of the day listening to him whinny and paw and pace on his lead rope. Any tips here, besides bringing another horse along?

Riding through deer country: I’ve found a few places where there is simply no place to tie my pony and get off and hunt when I’m near the place I wanna be. I could tie him miles before I get there, which defeats the purpose of evening riding in. Or I could ride through the area I’d like to hunt in the dark, keep going a ways where there are good places to tie, then come back into the good country to hunt on foot. If a guy doesn’t make any noise while riding, how much do you think a horse walking through in the dark is going to effect the deers behavior?

Thanks!!


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As far as leaving horses goes. That's something I always work on at home first. Snub that sucker up to a hitching rail with some hobbles on for the day and keep at it until they quit acting up.

 

[TomBono]

So, I’ve had horses my whole life. Grew up riding, spent 5 years starting colts, roping and brandings, team roping, blah blah blah but never really hunted off them. But I’ve found a few spots I’d like to hunt that using my horse would make it so much easier.
I’m certainly not against hiking, done quite a few backpack hunts 5-10 miles in and I stay in good shape. But these are spots where backpacking in wouldn’t be ideal because it’s so far to water or the only places flat enough to camp are where the deer bed or feed.
So my theory is day hunting with my pony to save significantly on how sweaty I get in the dark coming in. But, I’ve got some questions and I figured this might be a good place to get legit answers.

Riding in the dark: I’ve always heard not to turn your headlamp on because you’ll throw off your horses ability to see in the dark and create a bunch of shadows for him. My question is, a lot of these trails I’ll be on get into some open and rocky country and it can be tricky to pick the trail back up, even on foot in the day light. Do you guys just flip your light on for a moment to steer your horse in the right direction? Or just leave it off?

Leaving horses: I can’t guarantee it, but I have a very strong suspicion that if I tied my knot head to a tree and took off hiking, I’d spend the rest of the day listening to him whinny and paw and pace on his lead rope. Any tips here, besides bringing another horse along?

Riding through deer country: I’ve found a few places where there is simply no place to tie my pony and get off and hunt when I’m near the place I wanna be. I could tie him miles before I get there, which defeats the purpose of evening riding in. Or I could ride through the area I’d like to hunt in the dark, keep going a ways where there are good places to tie, then come back into the good country to hunt on foot. If a guy doesn’t make any noise while riding, how much do you think a horse walking through in the dark is going to effect the deers behavior?

Thanks!!


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As far as not having anything to tie to, I love a horse that can ground tie. I won't leave them like that for the day my any means but I can at least hop off in a fast situation and know they aren't going to leave me high and dry.....usually.

 

[TomBono]

For those concerned about tree wacking- manny up a couple bales with a pack saddle on your ponies and let them rickochet of the trees on a narrow trail. After they have beat the hell out of themselves for a while they get pretty good about steering clear of the knee knockers. Some do need graduate school occasionaly.

I've also known fellas to throw some salt blocks in some soft panniers. Those are quit uncomfortable to smash into trees.

 

[TomBono]

This. Or, with hard plastic or aluminum bear resistant panniers. Mules learn this much quicker.

Speaking from a personal experience, those aluminum bear proof panniers are no competition against two narrowly spaced lodgepoles and a 900 pound mule. haha