Why can't We be friends????

[enviro4u]

I have been hunting the public land behind my house (Patuxent River State Park) for several years now. After a new neighbor moves in and builds a barn to rent out stables, the horses came. My other neighbor advised me that the horse people will scare away the hunters ( he has hunted this section of land all his life). I did not believe him in hopes that the equine industry and the hunters could peacefully co exist on the same patch of land. We are all environmentalist and enjoy the outdoors right?
Now on the last day if the hunting season I go to walk across a field to my hunting spot and am confronted by a 40 something female rider who told me that she has juist run her horse where I plan to hunt.
She very happily announced that she has whistled and done everything possible to “scare away the deer because they jump out in front of her horse and spook it”. She concludes with advising me that she will return to the land that I have hunted for several years now, and continue the process of running deer out of the area of my stand ( which is the back yard to my house) .

It leads me to the questions:
Why can’t we all just get along?
What gives the equine industry the right to persist in the blatant disruption of all the other sport that they don’t approve of ?

 

[jetmonkey]

Shoot her :shrug:

 

[Vince]

Maybe she will run into one of those deer she scared away with her car and feel good that she scared them away from the nasty hunters.

Oh BTW, I kill and eat Bambi.

 

[devinej]

good grief. I'm a horse person and i'd never do something like that woman did! she sounds a little crazy...

What I think horse people are more worried about by hunters is you mistaking our horses for deer if you are hunting near our pastures - i know a horse who got shot in the head by a hunter...or stray bullets...or the noise could scare the horses...

but this is a good conversation - if i were trail riding in the park on the same day you were hunting, is it possible that you would ever mistake me riding a horse for a deer?

horses getting frightened by deer comes with the territory of riding - if that lady can't handle it, she's not a very good rider...imo...

but to tell the truth, it does freak me out a little when i'm riding in the woods and i come across a hunter standing there quietly with a big gun...
i never would go riding in the big park where i used to live on hunting days...

 

[Vince]

but this is a good conversation - if i were trail riding in the park on the same day you were hunting, is it possible that you would ever mistake me riding a horse for a deer?

horses getting frightened by deer comes with the territory of riding - if that lady can't handle it, she's not a very good rider...imo...

but to tell the truth, it does freak me out a little when i'm riding in the woods and i come across a hunter standing there quietly with a big gun...
i never would go riding in the big park where i used to live on hunting days...

But why would you be riding in a public hunting area during hunting season?

 

[devinej]

well some of those public hunting areas are ALSO public riding areas....

 

[DoWhat]

well some of those public hunting areas are ALSO public riding areas....

Does a horse ever runover a squirrel on a trail ride?

 

[Pasofever]

Wow that was pretty extreme...



I just quietly get off every few hundred yards and take a piss..

 

[Baja28]

Shoot her :shrug:

 

[rockfish]

Tell her you're not hunting, just target shooting and bust a few caps. See how fast she (or should I say the horse) evacuates the area.

 

[fredsaid2]

Visit the owner of the barn and have a talk about how to co-exist w/ their boarders (assuming the woman on horseback you met boards there). They may not understand hunting season and the dangers of being out during that time. Hopefully you can come to some compromise or at least educate them.

 

[SayDLvr01]

Wow, that was rude of her. Isn't there a hunting schedule of some kind that you can explain to her? Maybe she will be willing to come to some sort of compromise. I know at my barn there are certain days during the hunting season when we are not allowed to go out on the trails. Hopefully she will be willing to share. You also said part of the land was your back yard, can’t you kick her off?

 

[remaxrealtor]

I ride in neon orange....

 

[Baja28]

Visit the owner of the barn and have a talk about how to co-exist w/ their boarders (assuming the woman on horseback you met boards there). They may not understand hunting season and the dangers of being out during that time. Hopefully you can come to some compromise or at least educate them.

She very happily announced that she has whistled and done everything possible to “scare away the deer because they jump out in front of her horse and spook it”. She concludes with advising me that she will return to the land that I have hunted for several years now, and continue the process of running deer out of the area of my stand ( which is the back yard to my house) .

Sounds to me like she understands hunting season fully and has an agenda.

 

[flarenuphope]

I come across deer all the time when im out trail riding, which is on my neighbors farm, and they just stand there and look at me, lil' buggers dont even move! Somtimes it scares the horses, but usually their just want to know what it is they see...
during hunting season i only ride on the main path (farm road) and dont even go into the woods really, and i do most of that on sundays, and i allways ask my dad if its one of those special hunting days. Nothing like going through the woods and hearing gunfire and trying to stop your horse from blasting home. Fun.

 

[Pasofever]

We walked threw the water at the lake calling here fishy fishy to help the guys fishing...I think they appreciated it..they put their poles down and came over and petted the horses..

 

[Robin]

I have been hunting the public land behind my house (Patuxent River State Park) for several years now. After a new neighbor moves in and builds a barn to rent out stables, the horses came. My other neighbor advised me that the horse people will scare away the hunters ( he has hunted this section of land all his life). I did not believe him in hopes that the equine industry and the hunters could peacefully co exist on the same patch of land. We are all environmentalist and enjoy the outdoors right?
Now on the last day if the hunting season I go to walk across a field to my hunting spot and am confronted by a 40 something female rider who told me that she has juist run her horse where I plan to hunt.
She very happily announced that she has whistled and done everything possible to “scare away the deer because they jump out in front of her horse and spook it”. She concludes with advising me that she will return to the land that I have hunted for several years now, and continue the process of running deer out of the area of my stand ( which is the back yard to my house) .

It leads me to the questions:
Why can’t we all just get along?
What gives the equine industry the right to persist in the blatant disruption of all the other sport that they don’t approve of ?

The immediate park is one thing but riding through the hunting grounds, not so smart. Sorry you encountered one foolish horse owner. Most of us steer clear of your hunting grounds and co-exist private farms that allow limited few hunters on the land. This is serious and I hope it is no one from this forum. This practice is just dangerous to the hunter the rider and the horse.
Putting each other in harms way.

I for one and many on here choose to ride on private properties and public Horse safe parks and facilities especially during hunting season.. There are some that choose foolish avenues. If the boarding facility is close to you perhaps you can stop by and talk to the owners. They may not know this boarder is venturing into territory they should not be in. There is safety issues to all concerned. Could have a happy ending for all involved.

 

[enviro4u]

Devinej
The chances of a hunter mistaking a horse for a deer is very unlikely. I have hunted Assateague with all those big pony looking deer, and have never mistaken a horse for a deer, put a rider on top and I would doubt any hunter would take a shot. However when I do run my dog during any hunting season I do put a large orange collar in him.

Vince
The equine industry has Sundays to ride hassle free without the fear of gun shots. So I would agree with you why be in the woods, those few weeks of firearm deer season? There are plenty of areas that are off limits to hunters that can be used during hunting season

 

[enviro4u]

Robbin

The boarding facility is fully aware that they are venturing into territory they should not be in.
They have painted the the trees in the area with markers, and have begun to cut new trails to connect their property to the main trails in the park with their horses. What ever happened to "Tread Lightly"?

 

[Sparks]

Everyone I know only trail rides on Sundays during hunting season and we usually only ride at parks that don't allow hunting.

When my husband hunts our property, I'm not even allowed to ride in the ring. It's only a few months a year so I can share.

Wait, you just said the barn owner knows about this woman? Whose land are they cutting trails on? Park land or thier property? Could you call DNR if they're cutting trails on park land?

We can all coexist in the woods