Hunt over water; Shoot from truck

When I worked a couple seasons in an Idaho elk camp, one of the return hunters was a very affable, likeable nearly round fella. About 5 foot tall and 5 foot around.
The boss would put him on the stoutest horse we had to take him out to the field and I was riding behind him one day and after about an hour the horse just collapsed under this guy, it was hilarious, he rolled off the horse, struggled to his feet and just laughed at the whole thing with everyone else.
My father in law had a Percheron (draft horse) cross mule for many years. It could haul out a single elk where it took two horses to do the same. It also had the best hearing ability over any of his horses. If something was lurking around camp at night or near the trail when riding, he would hear it way before the horses did.
 
I can see shooting from the truck for those that go on South Africa farm hunts where one shoots X species of animals in X-Y days. Almost impossible to shoot that quantity by spot and stalking.

It all depends on one's personal preferences and goals.
This is a very interesting thread. And got me thinking about how my Dad and Grandfather taught me to hunt:I’m just a Simple Man from Cajun Country. This is how we live.

1. Take the game, and clean it, cook it and eat it.
2. If you find a wounded animal, don’t let it suffer., livestock or game. Finish it off.

3. Kill all varmits that will endanger livestock or pets. I still have a tag for those bastards that got my favorite cat.

As I am writing this, the coyotes are barking next to my house. Breeding season.

The Ruger 77/22 Magnum is at hand.
 
When I worked a couple seasons in an Idaho elk camp, one of the return hunters was a very affable, likeable nearly round fella. About 5 foot tall and 5 foot around.
The boss would put him on the stoutest horse we had to take him out to the field and I was riding behind him one day and after about an hour the horse just collapsed under this guy, it was hilarious, he rolled off the horse, struggled to his feet and just laughed at the whole thing with everyone else.
Unfortunately I can relate and always felt sorry for the one particular horse that the livery stable owner would use for these opaloompa shape people. This one particular horse a lot of times should have been riding the person on her back.

She and her partnered horse did get even with two riders. The riders got off of their horses at a watering hole, a pond, about a 30 minute ride from the stable. Once the both riders were off their respective horses, both horses made their break for it, taking their time heading back to the stable. About ten minutes, give or take, after the horses had returned to the stable a couple of locals on their own horses showed up at the stable saying a couple had lost their stable horses. We laughed saying, yeah we know. Asked if any of them were hurt the locals replied no. The livery owner had already sent his son in a truck to pick up the stranded couple.

[That I witnessed] The owner actually had to turn one person away, telling them he didn't have a horse strong enough for them to ride.
 
Unfortunately I can relate and always felt sorry for the one particular horse that the livery stable owner would use for these opaloompa shape people. This one particular horse a lot of times should have been riding the person on her back.

She and her partnered horse did get even with two riders. The riders got off of their horses at a watering hole, a pond, about a 30 minute ride from the stable. Once the both riders were off their respective horses, both horses made their break for it, taking their time heading back to the stable. About ten minutes, give or take, after the horses had returned to the stable a couple of locals on their own horses showed up at the stable saying a couple had lost their stable horses. We laughed saying, yeah we know. Asked if any of them were hurt the locals replied no. The livery owner had already sent his son in a truck to pick up the stranded couple.

[That I witnessed] The owner actually had to turn one person away, telling them he didn't have a horse strong enough for them to ride.
Hope the truck they used to pick them up was a one ton? Blowout the leaf springs otherwise and gets expensive. LOL
 
Hope the truck they used to pick them up was a one ton? Blowout the leaf springs otherwise and gets expensive. LOL
:E Rofl:
3/4 ton heavy duty, welders truck.

That was one part of what we were laughing about when the local riders came up. We were wondering if the owner was going to have to buy a new truck.
 
:E Rofl:
3/4 ton heavy duty, welders truck.

That was one part of what we were laughing about when the local riders came up. We were wondering if the owner was going to have to buy a new truck.
Wth do the last 3-4 post have to do with hunting? nothing!
topic Is blind or shooting from a truck
not fat arse horse riding, lol , now carry on:)
 
Unfortunately I can relate and always felt sorry for the one particular horse that the livery stable owner would use for these opaloompa shape people. This one particular horse a lot of times should have been riding the person on her back.

She and her partnered horse did get even with two riders. The riders got off of their horses at a watering hole, a pond, about a 30 minute ride from the stable. Once the both riders were off their respective horses, both horses made their break for it, taking their time heading back to the stable. About ten minutes, give or take, after the horses had returned to the stable a couple of locals on their own horses showed up at the stable saying a couple had lost their stable horses. We laughed saying, yeah we know. Asked if any of them were hurt the locals replied no. The livery owner had already sent his son in a truck to pick up the stranded couple.

[That I witnessed] The owner actually had to turn one person away, telling them he didn't have a horse strong enough for them to ride.
 
The terrain often dictates the hunting style. I did a good bit of Spot and Stalk/Shoot in Botswana...but it wasn't possible on a couple of properties that were dead flat and super thick. You had to stand on the truck to see over the bush and down into it in order to shoot. I tried getting off the truck and walking and it wasn't viable.

I don't see that as an ethical issue overall. Where I can, I prefer spot and stalk. Where I can't...we hunt as the terrain dictates.
 
On my one and only Africa hunt in Botswana in 2023, 6 of 7 animals I took were spotted while driving, then stalked and taken on foot. My one exception was a zebra which we spotted while we were at camp getting ready for lunch. A short quick hike to get to a better location resulted in a single shot I regret to this day - a low gut shot. The trackers got on a slight blood track, and a several mile hike later I was able to complete the kill. I sat over a waterhole for a couple brief periods, but no critters came. The morning of our last day of the hunt, the PH spotted a Steenbok which one of our guys wanted to take. He took 1 shot offhand at 50 or so yards from the Land Cruiser to take the ram.
 
Went on my 1st trip last April with my son. We are upper midwest hunters and I have done hunts ranging from North Dakota whitetails, Manitoba black bears, Oregon elk, Alaska moose to caribou in Quebec. All of these hunts varied from blinds and bait to your typical foot hunts. The majority of my hunting life has been hunting on foot and when we decided to head to Africa I wanted to hunt on foot but was not adverse to taking an animal off the truck.

On the trip I ended up taking two animals off the truck, one of which is the sable in my avatar, and was not the least bit disappointed in the way it unfolded. My son shot an absolute brute of a warthog off the truck as he bolted in front of it and then froze in the bush for just enough time to level the rifle and take a shot. I would agree with the comments that a stalk hunt on a warthog is next to impossible, they are flighty and fast. Both the animals I took were spotted from the truck and we had quick decisions as they were excellent animals and unloading would have resulted in the loss of opportunity. The rest of our animals were all on foot. With that said the hunts on foot were the most enjoyable and the stalk is a lot of what I remember when I think of the hunt or see a picture of the harvest.

I'd say be open to the opportunities as they arise. My son and I did discuss the issue with our PH and our preference to hunt and shoot on foot and we had an excellent hunt and a PH who preferred getting out there versus sitting and shooting on the truck. Hiked one morning for a total of 9 miles in pursuit of Kudu to only come up empty but it was my favorite day on Safari, the views and terrain were spectacular. A couple of the best thoughts I have were unsuccessful stalks because of the experience of the bush, the chess game of standing still, moving, utilizing cover and playing the wind. To me nothing beats hunting on foot.
 
Wth do the last 3-4 post have to do with hunting? nothing!
topic Is blind or shooting from a truck
not fat arse horse riding, lol , now carry on:)
The thread was related to @CoElkHunter, @Sika98k, and @IvW comments on clients showing up to hunt unprepared physically after spending their money on a hunt, and their own only hope of success is to shoot from the back of a truck.

In regards to @CoElkHunter reference to having to cater to a precievably Walmart opaloompa on a hunt that required the use of horses to a base camp from which to hunt from and that opaloompa fell from his horse and everyone laughed including the opaloompa at what had happened. I was only giving @CoElkHunter and all other guides /PHs how I can relate to the problems and lengths they and the outfitters have to do to appease these clients.

There's a big difference between just being overweight, and seriously over fat opaloompa. There's also a major difference between having an over weight muscular physic based on height, and just plain fat and worse overly obese based on height.

Now if you for some reason have taken some offense to my threads well.....I'm not going to apologize. It is what it is. And over obesity is a major problem, especially here in America.

Case in point:

There was a....I redict...soldier that was obese, "they" took IMPO "extreme measures", but NOT in "Their" Opinion, to better themselves physically (and perhaps mentally) by multiple physician approved methods to reduce and meet "their" required weight to height military standards.

This soldier I may or may not have personally knew personally; I can neither confirm nor deny of having knowledge of any other such individuals having now or previously had such medical procedures preformed.

I can say that both physically and mentally they had become better soldiers and had a much more/better "ego", "personal acceptance" of themselves, once they had obtained their military height/weight standards.

Obviously, perverbially and personally I have struck a preverbial nerve of yours. Well, all I can say is suck it up! And realize I often use broad, even very broad strokes, when needed to; to draw attention to certain subjects.

If you wish to continue this conversation I suggest we do this via PMs and at such time further input from the forum is needed or required only then make such request to the opinions of the forum.
 
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Love the video! presentation. Just glad the internet / social media BS wasn't around during my time, (and the livery owner's). As we would have been the number one topic when it comes to over obese people riding horses.

With whole heartedly respect to both mentioned and those not mentioned: John Wayne and Dan Blocker, were just 2 of many actors that required the use of multiple horses per movie, per episode, because of their respective their sizes.

Just, with respect, sorry @poco didn't see this before posting his thread.
 
After reading this post I am convinced I want to hunt from the back of a horse in a truck bed overlooking water!
And wearing a backpack with extra ammo in it. Then if the animal shot is only wounded, you can catapult from the truck bed on horseback and chase down and shoot the wounded animal. Just like in the movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" when the Pinkerton agents open the train box car door and jump out on horseback to chase down actors Robert Redford and Paul Newman. The only question IS are YOU Butch Cassidy OR the Sundance Kid? LOL
 
Wth do the last 3-4 post have to do with hunting? nothing!
topic Is blind or shooting from a truck
not fat arse horse riding, lol , now carry on:)
tenor francis.png
 
The thread was related to @CoElkHunter, @Sika98k, and @IvW comments on clients showing up to hunt unprepared physically after spending their money on a hunt, and their own only hope of success is to shoot from the back of a truck.

In regards to @CoElkHunter reference to having to cater to a precievably Walmart opaloompa on a hunt that required the use of horses to a base camp from which to hunt from and that opaloompa fell from his horse and everyone laughed including the opaloompa at what had happened. I was only giving @CoElkHunter and all other guides /PHs how I can relate to the problems and lengths they and the outfitters have to do to appease these clients.

There's a big difference between just being overweight, and seriously over fat opaloompa. There's also a major difference between having an over weight muscular physic based on height, and just plain fat and worse overly obese based on height.

Now if you for some reason have taken some offense to my threads well.....I'm not going to apologize. It is what it is. And over obesity is a major problem, especially here in America.

Case in point:

There was a....I redict...soldier that was obese, "they" took IMPO "extreme measures", but NOT in "Their" Opinion, to better themselves physically (and perhaps mentally) by multiple physician approved methods to reduce and meet "their" required weight to height military standards.

This soldier I may or may not have personally knew personally; I can neither confirm nor deny of having knowledge of any other such individuals having now or previously had such medical procedures preformed.

I can say that both physically and mentally they had become better soldiers and had a much more/better "ego", "personal acceptance" of themselves, once they had obtained their military height/weight standards.

Obviously, perverbially and personally I have struck a preverbial nerve of yours. Well, all I can say is suck it up! And realize I often use broad, even very broad strokes, when needed to; to draw attention to certain subjects.

If you wish to continue this conversation I suggest we do this via PMs and at such time further input from the forum is needed or required only then make such request to the opinions of the forum.
I believe that was @sestoppelman who was guiding the 5x5 Oompa Loompa that fell off his horse and then laughed about it. The last Oompa Loompa I've seen was a couple of weeks ago when my 11yoa Granddaughter spent the night and she and my wife watched the remake movie of "Charlie and The Chocolate Factory". I caught bits and pieces of it and it wasn't NEAR the movie that the original was starring Gene Wilder as Charlie. I did ONCE back in the mid '90s walk a horse with its lead rope from camp to where we were hunting over several miles with my wife's uncle on it. He couldn't walk much or ride the horse and had some medical issues. There were three others in the group on horseback. Back then, I could almost keep up with the other walking horses except when going uphill. I did this for three or four roundtrips over the week hunt. Fortunately, I didn't have to wear my backpack either way because I was able to put it in the plastic panniers on the mule my father in law was leading. We didn't get an elk that trip so same in the panniers on the way back. I was much younger back then and although exhausting I was happy to do it. I couldn't do that now though.
 
I have mixed emotions about shooting off a vehicle when hunting for physically able hunters. On the one hand, I'm not sure it's much different than shooting from a blind, tree stand or shooting OFF a horse for elk here, elephant for tiger in India or camel for scrub bulls in OZ? On the other hand, I personally like to stop and walk many times throughout a hunting day when hunting elk on the edges of a heavy forest. But I'm physically able to do that for now. So, I don't know? I guess it matters on the hunt type, game hunted and the individual hunter? To each their own I guess.
 
I would love to shoot off a horse.
Anyone can do it...........once.
 
I would love to shoot off a horse.
Anyone can do it...........once.
That's what suppressors are for :)
Joke aside there are some horses trained for that.
 

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