Poll: Should horses be allowed

[squeekieslayer]

dumbest poll i have seen on this website yet...

 

[Northernpiker]

I voted "Not in Wilderness Areas"...UNLESS I shoot a elk 5milesback(grin) and hire an outfitter to bring him out then horses are allowed .

 

[rayporter]

grrrrrrrrrrr

 

[MallardSX2]

dumbest poll i have seen on this website yet...

Thanks for your vote sir.

 

[doug in idaho]

dumbest poll i have seen on this website yet...

My thoughts exactly.

 

[justinspicher]

I like how many of you complain about horses, bikers and hikers and trails yet how many of you do any trail maintenance? It's like complaining about a president and how he does business but you didn't run for office. Outfitters pay to be out there with there horses just like you guys pay for your habitat stamp and licenses. I think maybe some of you should get off your soap box and just be grateful we have public land to hunt, fish, and camp on.

 

[CrzyTrekker]

Horses don't bother me at all. Grazing animals like sheep and cattle in designated wilderness areas do however.

This! I've abandoned two good elk units because they are full of cattle. What's more, cattle absolutely thrash streams that native trout would otherwise thrive in. Let's talk about how to get rid of cows on public land.

Horse wranglers are funny with their jeans and ten gallon hats in the wilderness, but horses are a historical use of the land. Also, horses can't follow me into most of my honey holes - too rugged.

 

[CrzyTrekker]

I like how many of you complain about horses, bikers and hikers and trails yet how many of you do any trail maintenance? It's like complaining about a president and how he does business but you didn't run for office. Outfitters pay to be out there with there horses just like you guys pay for your habitat stamp and licenses. I think maybe some of you should get off your soap box and just be grateful we have public land to hunt, fish, and camp on.

Outfitters pay to be out there because they're making money off our public resources. I don't see how that one fact gives them a leg up on hikers.

Some of us have done a good deal of volunteer work (trail maintenance, bridge building, Eagle Scout projects, campaigns to improve access, etc.).

 

[BigAntlerGetter]

I pay the forest service to use the public land (I'm an outfitter) but I also volunteer my time to clear the trails when I'm on them. Where I'm at we do not pirate trails at all. But there was a blow down this fall, the forest service called me to take care of it when I was up the trail next. I brought an ax and a crosscut not knowing how big it was. Many hikers had called it in, I get to the spot and it is an aspen I moved by hand. But there was a trail worn all the way around it.

I also donate my time from work to assist the USFS in packing in supplies for the wilderness areas, and national forest areas. Many trails around us are highly used hiking trails in the summer if we didn't have these trails as you guys are suggesting cause you hike where ever you want. These tourist towns would lose a lot of summer income. Ya hunters may not use the trails much, when I'm hunting I really don't but the hikers and mountain bikers do where permitted, and without my pick strings packing things in like saws and axes these trails would fall apart. So yes horses should be allowed, as much as many of you hate it they are grandfathered into the USFS and Wilderness areas.

I even said all this before I was an outfitter and when I did not have access to mountain horses or pack strings.

 

[MuleyFever]

I like how many of you complain about horses, bikers and hikers and trails yet how many of you do any trail maintenance? It's like complaining about a president and how he does business but you didn't run for office.

No, its not. But I agree with your point.

 

[seldomseensmith]

Still not one valid argument to ban horses.

 

[Shooter19802003]

I no longer have horses....thank god, I am leaning toward pack goats though. I'm in favor of letting all use the land. There are alot of folks on foot who maintain trails. I pack a cross cut on my back. I also have a pick that I break down and pack. Saying that we owe everything to horses and we should bow down to then is extreme and a farse. There is no one size fits all though. Maybe in your area horse guys are great....maybe not...who knows. Life is not a one size fits all thing. I'm not in favor of federal rule. Wtf does some jackals in DC know about north idaho? Not much I imagine. I think resources should be managed locally, by the folks who live there and use the land.

 

[CrzyTrekker]

The outfitters I know here in the North Fork Valley of Colorado carry chainsaws into the wilderness every summer to ensure that they can get paying clients into drop camps, guided camps, etc. The primary purpose for such trail maintenance is commercial. It sounds like we have some good people on Rokslide who are outfitters, and I appreciate what they do.

I am not anti-horse on the National Forest. I grew up with a father who raised horses. I'm just personally not that romantic about what outfitters do.

 

[Shooter19802003]

Where is the north fork valley?

 

[CrzyTrekker]

Adjacent to the West Elk Wilderness

 

[BuckSnort]

Horses are a right of passage... Even arguing this is asinine, might as well be trying to ban hunting with hounds, or baiting for bear, or trapping... I can't stand when folks wanna ban shit that we've been doing for hundreds of years...

 

[squeekieslayer]

so you guys are arguing that horses should be banned for what some asshole outfitter does? Yes, I have personally seen trails that were illegally cut. But I have never ever seen a horse that could start a chainsaw. Its not like we are saying that 4 wheelers and trucks shouldnt be allowed on forest service roads... EVER just because some ass hats go out of boundaries and around gates and shoot out of their pickups.

I have horses that i use on occasion. for me its not about taking the work out of it or makng it easier, its about the experience. making camp, packing them up, trailering them around... its what makes it feel good. Hell they are more headache they are worth.

Let people do their thing.

Joe

 

[squeekieslayer]

you guys dont want to ban horses you want to ban outfitting.

Joe

 

[Shooter19802003]

Right on, I know the area. I used to live near Fairplay.

 

[ben h]

I think they should definitely be allowed on public land in areas that don't affect water quality issues (which is pretty much everywhere), but I think horseman should exercise digression in areas that have a lot of hikers/mt bikers to minimize conflicts and I think they do a pretty good job of this because they don't want conflicts either.