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Barnyard Buddies:  hunting accident proofing a horse...ideas?  |
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Huckelberrywine
True Blue Farmgirl
1607 Posts
Michelle
Rosalia
1607 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 13 2009 : 1:31:45 PM
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Deer season approaches. I have a deer colored horse, and this is his first hunting season at our place. With his head down grazing, all you see is what looks like a big ol' deer, and I guess the regulations here allow some folks to shoot does. They might take a shot at him before he lifts his head to show he's a horse. I don't mind hunters, am one myself, but it just takes one forgetting to ask permission (by the way, there are horses at X location) and all the "Gee, I'm so sorry" in the world won't undo the damage.
Cross my fingers.
So, I have orange kool-aid and will dye marks on my "dear" this afternoon. Hate to do it, but better than finding him wounded. Then I'll post horse-crossing signs at either entrance to the creek where most hunters access our place.
Do you have any more ideas I could try?
We make a difference. |
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Hosanna
True Blue Farmgirl
466 Posts
Hosanna
Alton
Virginia
466 Posts |
Posted - Sep 13 2009 : 1:37:14 PM
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Keep the horse in during the morning and afternoon and only turn him out at night. Blaze orange halters are out there, too. I keep my horses in a deer hunting area also and we simply keep them in paddocks closer to the barn/house and close off the bigger ones further out. Plus, hunting is quite restricted on our farm, and only invited people come there. So they know about the horses. Post your land and pastures and put up warning signs as well. I have heard of horses being mistaken for deer and shot....
www.happilyeverafterhosanna.blogspot.com
www.thewindofheaven.blogspot.com |
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Marybeth
True Blue Farmgirl
6418 Posts
Mary Beth
Stanwood
Wa 98292
USA
6418 Posts |
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Huckelberrywine
True Blue Farmgirl
1607 Posts
Michelle
Rosalia
1607 Posts |
Posted - Sep 13 2009 : 2:06:06 PM
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Thanks. Keeping them in isn't really an option. We have a run-in and two separate pasture areas, but the creek that lures the hunters in wraps around 3 sides of our property. If they shoot the wrong way over the creek, it is an accident waiting to happen. Those that ask, we can happily direct them which side of the creek to walk down, so anything flushed up will hopefully fly/run away from our place. Those that don't ask, like ones who turned up last year when we were out building fence and had posted (at the gates and along the creek) so we wouldn't get shot, are the ones that scare me. They said to my face they had asked permission. Hmm. No, they hadn't.
Maybe some cotton safety orange yarn braided into their manes/tails would do it, so it wouldn't matter so much if the yearling eats some out of curiosity. I don't leave halters on them at pasture so they don't get caught/tangled.
We just bought our place in the last couple of years, and it is an uphill battle to educate folks who have "been hunting that creek for years" that things aren't the same now. Our friends and neighbors know, but those that come from out of this area are the ones who ignore signs and make me worry. We're pretty close to a large population who like to come out looking for good hunting grounds, and some behave foolishly because they can be anonymous.
We make a difference. |
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Huckelberrywine
True Blue Farmgirl
1607 Posts
Michelle
Rosalia
1607 Posts |
Posted - Sep 13 2009 : 2:18:03 PM
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Ah-Ha! Check this out! http://www.protectavest.com/ A hunter-orange safety vest for horses! Now, that will certainly get the message across.
We make a difference. |
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Huckelberrywine
True Blue Farmgirl
1607 Posts
Michelle
Rosalia
1607 Posts |
Posted - Sep 13 2009 : 2:21:14 PM
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I'm still going to post the heck out of the place. But anyone who would shoot where they see a vest, well, there's not a darn thing you can do about it then.
We make a difference. |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
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1badmamawolf
True Blue Farmgirl
2199 Posts
Teresa
"Bent Fence Farms"
Ca
USA
2199 Posts |
Posted - Sep 13 2009 : 4:32:46 PM
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The best you can do is post, post and post some more, and stay out on your ATV's etc, make some noise and make them aware that you are there. I had quail hunters put shot thru a radiator in the past, also had dove hunters say it was "legal to hunt anywhere around here cause they had a license".Most hunters are cautious and curtious, but there are a few...I put out wind chimes around the edges of my property with BIG NO HUNTING signs below them, not loud chimes, just ones that will tinkle, and everything is painted dayglow orange!
"Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children" |
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Huckelberrywine
True Blue Farmgirl
1607 Posts
Michelle
Rosalia
1607 Posts |
Posted - Sep 14 2009 : 3:37:22 PM
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Good ideas. Thanks.
We make a difference. |
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Woodswoman
True Blue Farmgirl
512 Posts
Jennifer
Altamont
NY
USA
512 Posts |
Posted - Sep 16 2009 : 6:17:51 PM
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I agree with the posting, orange everything, etc.
Also though, talk to people in the area if you can. Let them know that you are trying to pass the word that there is now a deer-colored horse living there. Do you have a local feed store or similar? Sometimes word of mouth gets the word around pretty darn fast. At least the locals would be aware!
Jennifer
Farmgirl Sister #104
"Nature brings to every time and season some beauties of its own".
-Charles Dickens |
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HeatherAnn
True Blue Farmgirl
187 Posts
Heather
Rancho Cucamonga
CA
USA
187 Posts |
Posted - Sep 17 2009 : 12:21:46 PM
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this might be a bad plan cause your horse might get stuck on something or god only knows. some horses are completel duffus' and get into scrapes no matter what, BUT. There are some seriously bright day sheets out there or even fly sheets which would totally get the message across.
Heather Ann
Apartment Farmgirl
"You got to look at all the good on one side and all the bad on the other and say 'Well, alright then.'" - Aunt Eller, Oklahoma
www.plumblossomknits.etsy.com |
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Huckelberrywine
True Blue Farmgirl
1607 Posts
Michelle
Rosalia
1607 Posts |
Posted - Sep 17 2009 : 4:22:46 PM
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I bought a cheap mesh hunter's orange vest, cut it up a bit (such a farmgirl) and tried it on my deer/dear yearling. He sniffed it, then ignored it completely. I took it off before leaving him for the day. Just didn't want him getting caught up on anything. I left the short velcro straps on the vest so that if I do decide to leave it on him, if he gets it on a branch or something, it will come off instead of tangle and won't then tangle in his legs.
Funny, introducing him to the vest idea corresponded to getting the older horse saddled up again after all summer off, a process he was intensely curious and perhaps envious of. He gave everything a good inspection before and after his buddy's ride, watching the whole process intensely, snuffling straps, everything... After, he enjoyed "trying on" the saddle pad. Wonder if he sees the vest as his own "grown up horse outfit"? With 2 weeks left, I think we have time to get him completely comfortable with his vest (or to get me comfortable with the idea) or to go with a safe dye job if that makes more sense.
We make a difference. |
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1badmamawolf
True Blue Farmgirl
2199 Posts
Teresa
"Bent Fence Farms"
Ca
USA
2199 Posts |
Posted - Sep 17 2009 : 8:14:41 PM
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Michelle, go to your local feed/livestock supply and buy livestock paint, its for numbering them so you can see easily in the pasture, also for use in ram/buck breeding pads, vests that strap on their chests with differant colored paint/chalk, so you know whch ram/buck bred which ewe/doe. Holloween is coming, you can get face make-up in every color of the rainbow and paint/draw some interesting desins or signs, " I'm Not A Deer!".
"Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children" |
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goneriding
True Blue Farmgirl
1599 Posts
Winona
Central Oregon
USA
1599 Posts |
Posted - Sep 18 2009 : 8:44:07 PM
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I live in hunting country too and someone told me that I could get horse orange stuff at Cabela's. I don't know, never did look but maybe they have stuff.
Or just buy a bunch of orange broadcloth and make a sheet for him. If he catches it on something, it'll rip and he won't get caught up. Be cool too or even punch some holes in it for ventilation.
A funny, you said with his head down, you can't tell what species he is, welp, on the way to town one day, I saw what looked like some mega big cows/steers with their heads down in deep grass. I thought, due to the coloring, wondered what breed of cattle they were. Then one lifted its head and it was a Haflinger!! A big, stout sucker too! So funny, so big as to look like a steer or bull!!
Winona :-)
To read funny stories about my cooking 'skills', please visit http://lostadventuresincooking.blogspot.com/
For uber-opinionated, pleasurable horse related reading, please visit http://horseinfoperson.blogspot.com/
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Barnyard Buddies: hunting accident proofing a horse...ideas? |
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hunting accident proofing a horse...ideas?
