How to stay away from horses in a nat'l forest

Wisconsinhunter · Dec 17, 2017

When planning for a DIY elk 1st rifle hunt in CO, I will not have problems getting away from vehicles and ATV's, but my concern is horses. I'll probably be in a national forest, but not the wilderness. I have a few spots picked out where it won't be too hard to get away from ATV trails.

Are there any strategies you folks employ in order to get away from horse hunters? The last time I was out in CO, there was a half dozen horses that left an hour after we did and beat us anywhere we were trying to go. Now that I've assessed the hunt, I should have expected it. The trail we took out to the trail head was JUST big enough for a horse trailer and where we camped was a huge open meadow open to any sized trailer and 85 wall tents. One of the guys in my party got a cow on one of the last days by accidentally finding one spot three hours away where the horses couldn't get, where he can look across the valley and take a 450 yd shot. I'm not going back to a spot where there's only one spot three hours away that has any chance of seeing anything.

In very general terms, I'll be driving down a road in a national forest, I'll stop at a predetermined spot, not necessarily a trail head or anything and just hike out where I have a few points to stand on and glass the opposite hills or valleys. My thought is if a trailer cannot park within a few miles, I'd be better off.

Any better thoughts or strategies?? I am in the "virtual scouting" phase, I guess.

Thanks

Deleted member 20812 · Dec 17, 2017

If there isnt a place to park the trailer, get turned around, or a trail to ride down you won’t have to worry about horses.

Deleted member 16014 · Dec 17, 2017

Agree, although beware of user trails that aren't on a map. I've run into horses in some pretty nasty canyons, to come out the bottom and find an old pony trail cut in.

480/277y · Dec 17, 2017

Your buddy that shot the cow has the key to success .
Go where the elk are and other hunters are not.
You have to want an elk bad enough , or try to get
Lucky on an "easy elk".

Bigjay73 · Dec 17, 2017

In Co, it's almost impossible to get away from pressure. You'll hike 10 miles into a nasty canyon and see another hunter. A ton of people come here to hunt, and more and more are willing to work extra hard to bag an elk. You have to have a plan a,b,c and d if you want a place to yourself.

mtmuley · Dec 17, 2017

Not hard to get away from horses. I've been on both sides. I have used horses to get somewhere, but never hunted on one. Hunters on horses ride past great areas, and can't access areas you can on foot. Been a lot of years since I used one personally. Nothing better than a good mountain horse when elk hit the ground though. mtmuley

schmalts · Dec 17, 2017

Rocky nasty switchbacks in trails tend to deter them.

Lawnboy · Dec 17, 2017

Lot of good advice here. Many horse hunters ride past elk. Well that goes for anyone really. You'll find horse hunters sometimes get used to only going were the horse will take them so don't discount an area that has lots of country just cause there's horse guys. Many of them are kinda lazy in a way. I was on a Nevada elk hunt this year that would of been awesome to have horse but we used our legs and snuffed a great bull from underneath the outfitter with horses not 800 yards below where he was. We did walk 15.5 miles round trip to retrieve though and that royally sucked

JWhunter · Dec 17, 2017

One word... DEADFALL... Horses cannot go through deadfall very easily and lucky for you elk can be found in areas with lots of deadfall quite often.

rbljack · Dec 18, 2017

JWhunter said:
One word... DEADFALL... Horses cannot go through deadfall very easily and lucky for you elk can be found in areas with lots of deadfall quite often.

X2...NO expert here, but my friend lives in NM at the base of a wilderness area. He has taken me on horseback a few times, and yes....each time he has avoided certain areas that were heavy with deadfall from fire damage on steeper slopes.

And yep..this is my first post on the site...LOL. been on rokslide for a while, and decided to jump on here as well.

Granby guy · Dec 18, 2017

Deadfall does present a problem for the horses but we have cut lots of our own trails through th thick timber for our use that aren't located on any maps. Overall I don't see the guys the guys on horses being your biggest challenge to getting an elk.

Bambistew · Dec 18, 2017

I think it depends on the level of rider, but for the most part once you get away from a "horse trail" about a mile you have it to yourself. As mentioned above many horse hunters are pretty lazy when it comes to hiking. I find that funny considering the amount of work horses are.

Most riders will not go off trail before its light out. Be where you want to be before they show up and use them to your advantage.

Steep terrain, with or without rocks, and no trails.

As Lawnboy mentioned, hunt the spots where day hunters won't get to, and where the horse hunters blow by to get to the "good stuff." Those areas 2-4 miles from the truck can be just as good as anyplace a horse can get to.

The problem with getting away from the horse guys is you can't get away from the mule guys. They know what they have and it ain't a horse... those guys show up in places many hunters won't even walk. They are a whole different breed of hunter.

Oak · Dec 18, 2017

The horse hunters I encountered last year were a little too slow in getting on the trail in the morning, and not very friendly about seeing me.

It all worked out. I'm less concerned about them in my hunting area than the hardcore dudes in flatties.

windymtnman · Dec 18, 2017

Ya, Ya, Ya....I read this with interest, as I have horses/mule/burro, and live in the mountains of Colorado. Being retired, I ride at least 3 seasons a year in the mountains on stock that was trained and experienced in the mountains. Don't be too sure about where a horse can go. Most of the time, my boys can go almost anywhere I'd be willing to go. I might not be riding them, but leading them when it gets really hinky, but go they do. I want to see the walking hunter that can out walk my guys! Ha!
The biggest hassle in hunting with horses, is that when you care about them like I do, I don't like to have to worry about them when I tie them off. I put their needs ahead of my own, so there are places and situations that I might not want to go with certain factors like that in mind, however if they ever balk about going somewhere, I usually take a 2nd look and figure out they are probably using better judgment than I am.

Deleted member 16014 · Dec 18, 2017

windymtnman said:
...I want to see the walking hunter that can out walk my guys! Ha!

Obviously you're generally right, but kick it in the triangle between Bozeman/Billings/Jackson for a while and you may find it's not so much of a run away, when not loaded w/ elk anyway.

antlerradar · Dec 18, 2017

Getting away from horses is easy in Eastern Montana. There are so many roads most people don't bother to bring horses.

Millsworks · Dec 19, 2017

I did a great job hunting where there were no horses last fall. I only came across one hunter while I was out and he was on a horse.
All you have to do is do like I did. Just hunt where the elk are not located at that time.
Ha,ha,ha...
I think ATV troubles are quite a bit more to worry about. Easy access will cause pressure for any area and any species.
Horses, ATVs, vehicle, a foot, or in space craft. Extreme terrain is the best option for getting off the beaten path.
Even then, as I found ,there may not be any elk there. I have had good success hunting whitetail that way. But, it seems to me elk go where they want to and hopefully I can figure out where that is next time.
Those guys there on horse are probably there for a reason. You might need a good head start to get there first next time. Or at least get ahead of where the pressure pushes them to.
I'll have to let you know how that works for me next time in a few years.

The Hedgehog · Dec 19, 2017

This is super easy. Avoid places with maintained trails, good numbers of elk, and glassable elk feeding areas such as parks, clearings, openings, windblown ridges, etc. Horsemen typically chew up the places 2-20 miles from a trailhead that can park a squadron of horse trailers that have the above criteria. Of course, the first 2 miles of those maintained trails will have an abundance of those guys on foot, regardless of some of the factors above.

Go back and read that again slowly.

Horse guys who know how to hunt elk, can be absolutely lethal. But those guys are about .5% of all the guys that saddle up. 99.5% of them just push elk around and make places that would otherwise be great, tough to hunt.

Elkmagnet · Dec 19, 2017

I haven't had too much trouble from horse guys.

MN Public Hunter · Dec 19, 2017

Hire a helicopter, I hear that works....

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