Anybody ever shoot off your horse??

[natalie]

I was out bird hunting over the last few days and had a hard time finding places to go because of the ice storm we had last March. I got a little thought in my head that maybe I could train one of the horses to be good with guns, but my question is how to go about this and is it possible to shoot to much around them?? Or is it a bad idea?

p.s. we have shot around them before but never on there back and we kinda ran a few steps away before we shot...

[farrier]

One way to start them out is to use a .22 cal. starter gun with blanks such as what is used for training dogs. Start at a distance to where the horse is comfortable with the report from the gun and gradually move closer. Once they are comfortable with it being fired next to them, then mount them and fire from their back, do not directly fire over their heads..They also make ear plugs for horses that are used in mounted shooting events which may come in handy.

When the horse is comfortable with the report from the .22 cal., then you should be able to move to a larger caliber.

[fishinchicks]

Check out the Kuka quarterhorses site. They do shooting events off of their horses all the time. They have a youtube clip on their home page, I think. Just type in kuka quarterhorses without the space, and put the usual com at the end.

[BJB]

You can shoot off of any horse.......once.

My field trial horses never had an issue with shooting around them. They caught on quick but I see 2 issues;

1) I believe it is illegal to shoot off of horseback at game in Mn.

2) My horses always seemed to move around some. Not a lot but just a slight fidget would cause swing problems with a gun. Much less having only your torso to rttate and swing with vs proper foot work at the flush.

[BirddogLabs]

I have two quarter horse geldings and I can shoot off of both of them.

Both of my horses were started using the hand held CO2 BB guns and now I can shoot large rifles off of them. The CO2 BB guns can be bought at Walmart for about $30. They work great because they get the horses used to the sound without having to stop and reload. They also teach the horse that the sound will not hurt them. After the horses are solidly comfortable with these, you can start moving them up to louder and larger caliber pistols or shotguns. I had a trainer show me with one of my horses how he taught him, and I taught my other horse. The process was actually quite simple, it just took some time. My younger gelding stands very still for the shot, as long as I let him know I have the gun.

The whole purpose of training them was so eventually I could take them out elk hunting, carry a pistol as we have mean/wild pitbulls that chase deer in the area I ride, and eventually go grouse hunting with them.

It is probably a good thing that I haven't had the chance to go grouse hunting with them.... as I need to check out the legality of it first!!! Thanks for the reminder BJB.

[natalie]

Thanks for all the info! I didn't have a clue it was illegal to shoot at game from on a horse.. guess you learn somethin new everyday! The bonus is that we do take ours elk hunting but just for packing out. Last year we just decided to go for a ride one day and ended up seeing a few elk. We both jumped off and I held the horses. They didn't do much from the shot since it was a little ways away but I would definitely love to be able to shoot off of one. Thanks again!

[BJB]

I'm not saying it is illegal but I'd check it out 1st.

I used to ride to the dogs on point and pull my O/U out of the scabbard in ND. It was years ago and I was told by a DNR employee that even using them to ride to the point in MN and then shoot to kill would be illegal. You would be using an aid to "pursue" game.

[VIZSLA_NUT]

i've spent the last couple of days scouring through the regulation book online and the only thing i can find in there is that under big game second paragraph under other restrictions it says it is unlawful to take big game with the aid of dogs or horses. i have read through the small game reg's and can't find anything on this. if anybody else has any facts on the matter please post. i've been shooting off my paint every time i ride him, i just bring along my .22 revolver and shoot away from his head, i've got him so accustom to this that i can drop the reins and use to hands to shoot to steady my shot.

[psegriz]

You can shoot off of any horse.......once.

My field trial horses never had an issue with shooting around them. They caught on quick but I see 2 issues;

1) I believe it is illegal to shoot off of horseback at game in Mn.

2) My horses always seemed to move around some. Not a lot but just a slight fidget would cause swing problems with a gun. Much less having only your torso to rttate and swing with vs proper foot work at the flush.

I don't think you could train any horse to do it. I don't know if it's fact or not but have heard 1 in ten would actually work out.

[fisherchick]

Sorry if this is a repeat..

You cannot hunt big game with a horse, but I have and still do hunt grouse off the back of my horse.

SACK THEM OUT, get them trusting you and you can almost do anything....TRUST and PATIENCE is the key word. Obviously you have to start out small with any type of training of a horse and determine how much they can handle, but sooner or later with however much training/desenitizing each individual horse needs, it can be done.

GOOD LUCK and you will love it!! (I suggest horse ear plugs...the muzzle blast is pretty tough on a horses ears...)