Good I ate some
Feral Horses - My public land pet peeve
- Thread starter MaxPower
- Start date
Good I ate some
two years ago I was shed hunting and got charged by five of those nasty beasts. The were after my dog but the dog was hiding behind me. I stopped them by acting aggressive, yelling and waving my hat but they still kept circling and trying to get to the dog.
ShootsManyBullets
Well-known member
I think I'll call Purina and see what they pay for a well fed horse.
I see Ty is a transplant. mtmuley
$400-$600 around here
Greyman
Well-known member
I had a horse steak in Germany when I was in the military. It was good.
The problem is a lot like our feral animal issues we have here in South Texas. Feral hogs and nilgai. Market hunting is now starting to make a dent in the populations. Helicopters are used to shoot Nilgai on federal lands by a company that sells the meat at very high prices. Not good news if you like to hunt nilgai on public land, but it is effective in reducing numbers. The feral hogs are hunted by helicopter, but the meat is usually wasted. Because hogs are considered a farm animal, they have to be inspected alive by a FDA inspector before slaughter. Feral hogs are trapped live and sold to approved buyers, but trapping is not nearly as effective as helicopter shooting.
The problem is a lot like our feral animal issues we have here in South Texas. Feral hogs and nilgai. Market hunting is now starting to make a dent in the populations. Helicopters are used to shoot Nilgai on federal lands by a company that sells the meat at very high prices. Not good news if you like to hunt nilgai on public land, but it is effective in reducing numbers. The feral hogs are hunted by helicopter, but the meat is usually wasted. Because hogs are considered a farm animal, they have to be inspected alive by a FDA inspector before slaughter. Feral hogs are trapped live and sold to approved buyers, but trapping is not nearly as effective as helicopter shooting.
LuketheDog
Well-known member
Only if you use a Patagonia™ fair-trade backhoe that is made using only recycled Yeti™ cups...
sbhooper
Well-known member
Horses decimate desert habitats, even more than other types. In New Mexico, the military bases near Alamogordo were full of horses. During a drought, they were so bad off, that they were dying. I was hunting Oryx and was shocked by what I saw. They eventually spent over 10 million dollars taking them off the ranges. Disgusting waste of money. The game manager on White Sands went out to eliminate some one time, with the help of an MP. Before they got back to base, the horse people were already ragging on them. They never told many what they were doing, so they had a rat in the office.
North of Yuma, Arizona, on Yuma Proving Ground, the horses and burros have destroyed whatever they cannot eat. They foul the water of the native wildlife and/or run them off.
The worst thing that was ever done, was protecting that scourge. They used to be hunted by dog food hunters and it kept them in check. Before the protection, there were people in Yuma that had burro cookouts on occasion-so I am told. Game and Fish did some black ops on them from choppers also, after the protection, but I am sure that is long gone, too. Too many idiots with their cel phones on, to do that.
Outsiders think that those pests are so neat, but don't care, or fail to realize that they are destructive trash. Problem is, that it takes a very big shovel to hide the evidence.
North of Yuma, Arizona, on Yuma Proving Ground, the horses and burros have destroyed whatever they cannot eat. They foul the water of the native wildlife and/or run them off.
The worst thing that was ever done, was protecting that scourge. They used to be hunted by dog food hunters and it kept them in check. Before the protection, there were people in Yuma that had burro cookouts on occasion-so I am told. Game and Fish did some black ops on them from choppers also, after the protection, but I am sure that is long gone, too. Too many idiots with their cel phones on, to do that.
Outsiders think that those pests are so neat, but don't care, or fail to realize that they are destructive trash. Problem is, that it takes a very big shovel to hide the evidence.
antelopedundee
Well-known member
OzzyDave
Well-known member
Just when I’m thinking “these folks in the US have it right about game management” and I see this - protecting a feral. Ferals are one thing Australia is full of and the only animals we are legally allowed to hunt. We have millions of feral horses and donkeys here - have shot many, many hundreds of them. Nearly every grazier (rancher) will say that I can hunt the hogs etc BUT you have to shoot every horse and donkey you see. I have a place where he wants at least 300 shot in the next few months. The meat is very lean and quiet tasty. The French have an industry around horse meat trade.
Feral horses (Brumbies) provoke an emotional response amongst most people BUT emotion doesn’t protect habitat. They heavily contribute to erosion around water holes and creeks. They’re a menace to graziers, with their aggressive behaviour, will keep cattle and stock away from the prime food and water sources.
Hopefully your law makers can get it right - we have a saying “if it’s feral, it’s in peril”
Feral horses (Brumbies) provoke an emotional response amongst most people BUT emotion doesn’t protect habitat. They heavily contribute to erosion around water holes and creeks. They’re a menace to graziers, with their aggressive behaviour, will keep cattle and stock away from the prime food and water sources.
Hopefully your law makers can get it right - we have a saying “if it’s feral, it’s in peril”
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I would be shocked if the political fortitude will ever exist to drastically change the wild horse and burro act in my lifetime. The only hope I see is that folks put pressure on Congress to better fund management of them. IIRC the funding for gathers, the only way to get them off the range, comes from Congress and not through the normal budgeting process.
The BLM is tasked with managing the wild horses and burros. They're allocated funds from Congress (over $80M last year alone!), and the lions share is used to pay for the long-term holding of horses who weren't adopted. It's so bad that the BLM doesn't have money to carry out the necessary gathers to reduce horse populations in the wild.
https://www.blm.gov/programs/wild-horse-and-burro/about-the-program/program-data
https://www.blm.gov/programs/wild-horse-and-burro/about-the-program/program-data
Dang! I need to come to Australia just to cull feral horses! This would be fun and an amazing way to document load data and bullet performance.
OzzyDave
Well-known member
YEP - shot them with everything from .223 to .375H&H. Horses are pretty soft skinned and don’t need the big calibres BUT I’ve seen donkeys suck up some good hits with a 30/06. I took my .416Ruger away last trip BUT screwed up big time and left the ammo at home. I was about 1900 miles away when I remembered.
Elkmagnet
Well-known member
Try handling a pack string carrying a bull out while a rank stallion is trying to stomp them to pieces.
VikingsGuy
Well-known member
It's more likely they get the right to vote, than to have legal hunting of them. Horse lovers are one of the most rabid form of PETA folks. (Not to say all horse lovers are rabid, like many comments on this thread, most of us can appreciated a good domesticated horse, but when it comes to the crazy anthropomorphism of animals, horses go to the top of this list for some)
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Irrelevant
Well-known member
Here in WA we're apparently making sure people don't kill and eat their pet horses. Kill cows all you want, but not a horse. https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1025&Year=2019
Hilljackoutlaw
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2019
- Messages
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I hate them assholes! There is a herd of about 30 of them in one of my deer hunting spots on a river bottom. Scare deer and destroy habitat like crazy. Kill em all and hunt coyotes over the carcass.
