Guns and Horses...
I THINK I shot a gun off horseback once. It would have been when I was 12-13 yrs. old, and a .22 pistol. I have a fuzzy memory of doing one thing, and then suddenly I was occupied with another totally different task. Not exactly like O'l Paladin.
I see competitions with riders shooting balloons with blanks and all the Westerns. But those are special trained horses. They use horse ear plugs for all I know. I saw a photo of a Cowboy holding reigns and aiming with a bolt gun and scope. I was thinking "Yeah Buddy, just bust off with that '06 and you will have your hands full, or completely empty!" Unless the horse is trained to manage the .30-06 blast it's basically like slapping it in the face suddenly with a wet tow-sack. I'll just watch you.
Not too many guys ride horses these days and we don't have any right now. Actually once I rode a Mule some, I swapped camps. I'll trade a bit of speed for something at least as smart as me. The Bible says they can talk, but I've never had that conversation. But who doesn't like a good horse. My buddies all had Quarter Horses but we had gated Saddle Mares and Gildings. There are some things a man needs to experience in a lifetime. Riding a good horse in the wild is one. Shooting while on or holding one may be an experience to by-pass.
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I trained my horses to gunfire ...
and I shot from the saddle if I needed to. I shot the Coues Whitetail in the photo from the saddle.
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I did not shoot near their heads. I always tried to turn and shoot sideways or toward the rear. The time I shot the Whitetail in the picture above, I was riding down a ridge and the horse suddenly looked to the right. There were two bucks standing there, about 25 feet away. I could see them trembling, getting ready to run. I pulled the .45 and lined up on the closest one and the horse had his head looking the same way. I tried to pull him around so his head wasn't so close and he would not move. That old guy loved to hunt and knew what we were there for. So I fired, ready to bail out of the saddle. The Appy never moved. I got off, cleaned the deer and tied it on the horse. Leading him we walked a couple hundred yards and suddenly he started running backwards, dragging me with him. Tore my pants leg. He finally fetched up against a Mesquite tree and quit running backwards. The saddle was upside down under him and it was a mess.
I got him unloaded, walked uphill a ways and tied him to a tree. Got everything hauled up and re-fastened and screwed down tight and went on home without incident.
I figured out later that his ears stopped ringing and he suddenly was upset. But that was the worst that I had happen.
I have this old momma cat that has always
Hanging around while I shot guns outside. She always followed walking through the woods too. Like an old hound, she’s hunting! Nowadays though, I think she’s 16 now, she is stone deaf! We have to watch pulling out of the driveway. I think shooting contributed to this. Chickens too, surely they hear?! Most of the time they’d hardly stir at ferocious muzzle blast.
The .50 BMG always the exception….
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