Wyoming wild horses

[timbertrash]

I know the wild horse issue is a touchy subject with a lot of people. Not so much the hunting community or the the people on here. This last weekend I drove back and forth across WY. Between Rawlings and Jeffery City the amount of wild horses that I saw was amazing, I don't know the actual number is, I lost count at 120, that is just the ones with in a couple hundred yards off of the highway. I could see more in the distance, there were herds everywhere you looked. I saw more horses than antelope. It is just a shame that these animals can't be managed like all the other animals. I was wondering if there is any problems that the population is causing? BLM have the horse numbers? And if the horses are causing any problems with the deer and pronghorn. Anyway, just wanted to point this out, I think it is a problem here in WY and I know other states have a major problem. How do feral animals have this much protection and can be this overpopulated?

 

[rmyoung1]

Yeah, it’s ridiculous. I hunted out of Jeffrey City last year and saw a bunch on BLM. It’s a shame. It’s dry country. Feral horses can’t be a good thing.

 

[teamhoyt]

Horses absolutely affect antelope deer and elk, green mountian is full of horses. For what it's worth I heard on the radio today that a group submitted the filing to request wild horses in mt to be put on the endangered species list.

 

[Keeptrying]

Only thing worse than cat activists are horse activists.

Complete lack of functional/critical thinking skills.

 

[The Hedgehog]

You mean it’s not legal to shoot those?

 

[jmveverka]

I'd hunt them and eat them if it were legal, just no grip and grin on facebook, that's asking for trouble...

 

[1_pointer]

Yep, horses are a problem in a lot of areas. I'm sure the BLM has a pretty good guess on the numbers. The problem with controlling them is red tape (and associated appeals) and funding. IIRC, the funding for gathers comes separate from the offices normal budget. DC is not approving or funding as many gathers as is needed. The "why" for the protection is the Wild Horse and Burro Act. A read on the history and implementation of that law is interesting...

 

[sschultz]

I'd hunt them and eat them if it were legal, just no grip and grin on facebook, that's asking for trouble...

I ate horse in Iceland it was tasty

 

[SFC B]

There are entire butcher shops in Italy dedicated to horse meat.....that was a little weird top see at first

 

[haiku_rodney]

Technically, they are a non-native invasive species that competes with the native animals for feed. Their numbers should be managed, but, too many people are ruled by their emotions.

 

[VikingsGuy]

but, too many people are ruled by their emotions.

Seeing skinned dogs hanging in the open markets of China certainly gave me a test of my own emotional boundaries. For me that was a bridge too far - and a reminder that others have their own lines.

 

[The Hedgehog]

Is a 22.250 enough gun?

 

[Gr8bawana]

Technically, they are a non-native invasive species that competes with the native animals for feed. Their numbers should be managed, but, too many people are ruled by their emotions.

It would be nice to be able to actually do something about the feral horse population here in NV. We have the most feral horses of any state in the country.

 

[BrentD]

I wonder what proportion of the horse populations in Wyoming are born "in situ" vs. being supported by people dumping horses they no longer could afford or wanted. Around here, beginning in 2008, horse stable and riding operations where going belly up at an alarming rate. Horse owners were having to lock their paddock gates to keep horses out, not to keep them in. One could wake up with three extra horses that weren't there the night before.

I suspect that many horses were being dumped into already existing horse populations in places like Wyoming, but whether is a significant factor in horse population demographics or not, I don't know. Does anyone know of any population studies on these herds?

 

[Dinkshooter]

I swear I remember reading something about BLM paying private land owners to allow wild horse grazing on private property right around that area, but of course now I cannot find the source.

Must have dreamed it up.

 

[Dinkshooter]

Might be a part of it?

https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/wildhorse_getinvolved_ORPOperations.pdf

 

[Ryan2782]

Definitely would be an odd conversations piece in the trophy room.

"Why did you taxidermy a shoulder mount of your pet horse?"

"No, that was a limited entry WY hunt - cost me several years and points..." finished up with "so there I was..."

 

[Dougfirtree]

I swung through the Green Mountain area this fall, when I was out there. I was blown away by the number of horses. They were everywhere and not very skittish, at all.

 

[CampRipleyLF]

aaahhhhh "wild horses"...... the non-native species that we protect to do damage for native species..... what a fantastic idea.....

 

[BrentD]

aaahhhhh "wild horses"...... the non-native species that we protect to do damage for native species..... what a fantastic idea.....

Indeed. But then there are Pheasants, brown trout, and many others that I love the heck out of.

I don't know how we will ever solve the horse problem. At a minimum, it will take an act of Congress, however, and they are far to preoccupied at the moment and well into the foreseeable future.