Son and I completed an October horseback based elk hunt in the Wyoming mountains. It was awesome, terrifying, sometimes brutally punishing.
We are considering an elk hunt next year in New Mexico where I am told that instad of horses, ATVs are used.
I am not sure if ATV hunting will be challenging or better described as a "shooting" excursion.
Any thoughts.

The 20 or so years that I had horses provided some of the best elk hunting that I've had.

Much of the public land in the west is closed to ATV'S.

Can't say either way.....but I'm not a fan of ATV hunting

Neither, ask your outfitter for an old "seen it all" mule...

I would prefer horses but in the right area atvs would be very useful.

I have owned both and hunted with both. Even a good horse is still a horse. They can be mean, nasty, and scary. As the person that always had to take care of the horses I got tired of it quick. My last one was fine when I loaded a few cow elk on her. I loaded a bull and she fell apart at the seams. Loading a bull by your self on a bucking horse is no fun. After that I got pack goats. I didn't have to worry about them kicking me. The goats were awesome, but it took 4 of them to pack out a bull. When they got too old to pack I got ATV's. I look back on all the different hunts I was on and they all were good. The goats were probably the funnest. I shot one hell of a lot of elk over those goats, but ATV is way easier to take care of.

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Ron:
I have owned both and hunted with both. Even a good horse is still a horse. They can be mean, nasty, and scary. As the person that always had to take care of the horses I got tired of it quick. My last one was fine when I loaded a few cow elk on her. I loaded a bull and she fell apart at the seams. Loading a bull by your self on a bucking horse is no fun. After that I got pack goats. I didn't have to worry about them kicking me. The goats were awesome, but it took 4 of them to pack out a bull. When they got too old to pack I got ATV's. I look back on all the different hunts I was on and they all were good. The goats were probably the funnest. I shot one hell of a lot of elk over those goats, but ATV is way easier to take care of.

So.....horses are like women?

Yeah. One horse = about 6 women, maybe 8. Depends.

quote:

I have owned both and hunted with both. Even a good horse is still a horse. They can be mean, nasty, and scary. As the person that always had to take care of the horses I got tired of it quick

That is why power equipment took over all most very job a horse could do.

The reason horse use survives in the western hunting is the restricted areas forced onto us by government regulation.

I love hunting on horseback.

Having said that, it depends on how the ATV's are used. Can;t say that I have ever hunted elk that would stand around and let a couple of ATV's ride up and the hunter get off and shoot. But maybe I just don't hunt elk in the right area.

ATV's can allow you to cover a lot of country in the right type of terrain. The other thing we are seeing more of it that horses, although I love them dearly, are a huge liability issue. Insurance coverage is getting to be very expensive, not even available from some companies.

Fewer and fewer hunters have any horse experience and you can park an ATV at the end of the season and you do not have to buy hay and/or own pasture for it. I know outfitters in the far north who have completely gone to ATV/Argo/boats and no longer use horses at all. Sad to see and I don't personally like to see it, but it is the way things are going.

I hunted with llamas for quite a few years.You can go places no horse can.Now I prefer to hunt off of a couch.

"The reason horse use survives in the western hunting is the restricted areas forced onto us by government regulation."

Thank God for that!
I for one don't want ATV's ripping around every freakin trail all over the west. Thankfully some one sees fit to ban them from millions of acres of public land.
There are places and hunts for ATV's, there are places and hunts for horses and then there are places thankfully that you can't get to unless you are on your own 2 feet.

Back country or wilderness hunts require
horses to get you and your camp there and your elk out.
Lots of good N.M. elk country can be reached by ATV's.
I think its most important to "be there" elk hunting, not how...
Boat, bikes or The shoe leather express, horses, Hondas or all terrain wheel chairs. GO

You can hunt on horseback, an ATV is transportation.
From a cost and upkeep standpoint the ATV wins hands down but that's the outfitter's problem.
From the hunter's perspective the ATV is probably more comfortable but I wouldn't give an ATV it's head before dawn in the black timber and know it is going to stay on the trail.
I would rather hunt horseback but then again I was riding before I could walk. And yeah, I've had a few pack train rodeos.

ask the outfitter/guide how they use the ATVs.

i could see how they would open up more ground as in hunting farther from camp

but I wouldn't want to ride right up to a meadow and use the ATV as a rest to shoot across a canyon

both scenarios are using an ATV as a hunting tool just to a different degree

I have hunted all over the world, and IMO nothing beats a good pack in elk hunt on a horse, especially in the bugle season. I have never been skunked on a horse hunt, but if I do, I know the hunt will still be a great experience.

My knees could never handle another long haul on a horse. When I was in high school I went on a week long backwoods camping excursion in northwestern Montana. I lasted three days on the horse and walked the final four. I'll take a ATV any day!

Years ago we hunted a ranch SW of Powderhorn CO for many years. I worked on the hay crew in 5 high school summers there too. We'd built roads and he had for his 50+ years so we could get back in with jeeps or his specialized ride to pack 'em out on.
His headgate was 1/4 mi up the creek and had been for many years. Along came Sam. Made it a wilderness area right up to his fence. Couldn't even have the head gate, they tore it out! Lost his upper 70+ acres of hay. Sold out and moved to the low country.

Since my knee's are shot, I can't walk, nor ride. So that puts my favorite hunting area out of reach completely as the nearest hunting areas are three miles from the fence/trailhead.

Quite a few of us don't have much use for Uncle Sam's notions like this. Hell, we'd driven pickups and even my old Chevy car over much of these places for years. Take a look at: Mineral Creek Wilderness area sometime. His place was the Mineral Creek valley. Now even his private road is a country road right past the old house! Hell of a change, good thing he's long dead and gone.

Used to get there and pack game out on, ATV's are good. To hunt and run the trails on. I've had set to's with several riders in other areas. Never had a problem with horse backers.
George

Neither. Try elk hunting out of a backpack. Adds an entire new dimension to it.

When on an ATV you must pay attention to the driving so you miss seeing a lot. The horse "drives" itself and you can watch for game or just enjoy the scenery.
And horses are quieter than an ATV.

Mark

I might not like horses as much as I do for mountain hunting if I had to take care of them. Four of the five elk hunting trips to CO were done on horseback and we had a wrangler to take care of the stock. The other trip was a backpack hunt and I will NEVER do that again…too old. Several years ago on a mule deer hunt in SD a couple of the hunters in our group used ATV's. On the last day of the hunt they were trying to drag a muley off the side of a steep hill. They lost control and the ATV and it rolled further down the hill than the deer. It took 4 of us to get the ATV and deer off the hill. A good horse could have done it without much effort. I will stick with horses for hunting.

One other option that I have used- is to walk and lead a pack horse--less impact less hassle , quite and you don't carry anything but your weapon.

In the end, all we'll really have is our stories or memories. The taxidermy reminds us of stories and memories, as do the guns, pictures, knives and scars. March 1st after work or someday when we're too broke down to roam the wilderness we'll have the memories and stories.

ATV's are exhaust fumes, engine whine, helmets of all things and silly fuel tank stickers.

Horses are a set of ears bobbing, twisting and turning in front of you, the creak of saddle leather and the smell of road apples. Horses are sweat, something under you and between your legs that can take a deep enough breath to make you a little more bowl legged, and when run amok on a hillside with you on board, the scariest ride you'll ever take.

I think horseback hunts always seem to make the best stories.

I love my jet boat, but one of my most favorite parts of the day is turning the motor off. If I could hunt horseback in Dillingham I would.

ATV's have ruined Gunnison County,CO. The Elk went elsewhere. Too much noise and trail-busting by the newbies.

I've hunted elk while using ATV's but they were just for transportation. We would double up on an ATV, leaving one at the bottom of the mountain and travel to the top where we would hunt on foot to the bottom them team up again to the top to retrieve the other. Then move on. never shooting off one or even close to that.

Horseback elk hunting is the adventure of a lifetime, hunting with a quad is nothing comparable.

Grizz

Elk or game for that matter don't scare off easy to the sound of four hoofs hitting the ground. They will sidehill and get to a lot more desolate areas than an atv. Use them and take advantage of them when you can, you will be more successful.
There will come a time when our knees etc.. can't handle the horse rides and atv's will be a God send if you love the outdoors and not willing to give it up. If atv's are used judiciously to get to a spot and then get out and hunt. Use it to retrieve game etc... Then it is ok and fun. If you are planning to ride the atv's road hunting all day and looking for an easy tag to fill. You might tag out once every ten years to a junior animal and consider it luck. Never mind the game you will scare away from hunters who are on foot! Might as well go camping without spending the money on out of state tags....
New Mexico has excellent elk hunting, if you can get a tag. Use the atv's right and you'll have a great time. Best of luck to you.

As much as I absolutely hate horses, horses are better than ATV's.

I've never hunted elk on either, but I can say a horseback elk hunt is on my bucket list.

Horses.... and secret..... get some good padded competitive biking shorts to wear as a base layer. Makes all the difference if you don't ride everyday and acts as a good insulation layer, avoiding heavy pants.