Hunter mauled by mule

E

edhunter

Guest
Another tale to add to the mule file under "why I'll never hunt with a mule".

A guy from Alpine, Frank Allison, was hunting down in the rough stuff where I chased the bear right before christmas. He's 3 miles from the truck when his mule goes freaky over who knows what. The accident report is as follows; arm broken in two places, leg broken, knee broken, nose split from eyebrows to lips and takes 180 stitches to sew up.

After the carnage the mule is calm, lets him get back on and ride out. When he got to his pickup that is parked 100 yards off the road and dismounts he passes out and then can't get back up even when his senses return. He crawls the 100 yards to the pavement and waits for a car to come by. Two cars pass before a kid from Eagar picks him up, gets things orgainized and takes him to the nearest hospital, only 120 miles away on a road where the average speed is 45 mph.

Mules should be reserved for wolf bait. This is the 1st time in 7 years that this mule has ever done anything like this. How many times have I heard thatx( x(

Ed, www.swhounds.com
 
On a horse- same circumstances-double the injurys.

Give me a swamp donkey any time.

Alternative- become a footbacker, lose weight and live a longer and healthier life, personally I prefer beer, mules, curs and my beer belly.

Your'e safer on than off.

Mulehound
 
Ed, you know it ain't real huntin' unless you're on some kinda animal that could kill ya. Frank shoulda knowed better than to be off down there alone anyway. ain't no fun at all to get almost killed by yourself. i remember a few years back, herschel downs got bucked off and broke his hip up around bear pen and had to tie a note to his dog's collar and run it off so it would go back to the house and somebody could and get him. one thing about a mule, they will a wait a whole lifetime to get the perfect opportunity to kill ya. i'd still rather have a really good mule than a really good horse.
 
Ya know this is an interesting one... I don't think it's so much about a mule vs horse debate, because they are both big animals, both can be unpredictable and both can hurt you.

I know guys who have been hurt by horses, and guys who have been hurt by mules.

No matter how many bad wrecks there are on mules, you'll never convince a die hard mule guy he needs a horse. And you can show a die hard horse guy the worlds greatest mule and he'll still think it's the biggest piece of junk that ever walked.

I've ridden with lots of mule guys and seen what they can do. I rode hard for 3 years with mule guys only. I was the only horse guy. I've seen both sides of them, and the up side to mules is pretty impressive. But the down side can be pretty scary.

Probably the main reason I don't have a mule is my wife. She figures life is too short to have a backyard full of them.

And it's probably not fair to judge all mules and horses by the few that we encounter in our little circles. Kind of like judging all walker dogs by the one your buddy has, or judging all Plotts by the one your neighbor once owned.

They are just a different beast and need to be treated accordingly. It's like hounds and curs. Most hound guys laugh at the cur guys and most cur guys can't imagine why anyone would own a hound.

We start bushwackin' and cross countryin' it and my buddy's mules will always leave my horses in the dust. But you get on a trail and I got one horse he can't keep up with, and he's tried a number of times.

But it ain't a race and it ain't a contest. It's just what you prefer. The guy that lives by me rode horses for years and years. Switched to mules a few years back and bought the best money can buy. Paid more for one mule than all my horses are worth combined. That mule left him for dead laying in the trail for two days in the Wind Rivers. But I don't see him switching back to horses yet. Another neighbor got in a bad spot on a 2 year old horse and ended up with a broken pelvis and dislocated hip. But he'll never own a mule no matter how many times his horse mucks him out.

That's the beauty of it is to each his own. For now I like what I got and see no need to switch. I like my blue dogs and I like my horses.

You can talk a hole right through me and I'm still not gonna fill my kennel with Kemmer Curs and my coral with mules. Just like I don't expect Mulehound to go buy a pack of blueticks and a bunch of fat horses.

My animals do what I want 'em to and that's all I can ask. If my horses can't get me there, I don't wanna be there and if my blue dogs can't take the track I don't wanna run it.

Hope your buddy heals up OK. Yet another story I can file away in my memory bank and be grateful for what I have. ;-)

Hey Kev, I'll bet that sucker is for sale... cheap. There ya go dude, pull the trigger. I can just see the ad in the Eagar paper... "Mule For Sale: Solid, broke mule for sale. $800 firm. Good with kids, gentle. Good pack mule. A real traveler. Must see to appreciate."

Like my mule buddy always says, "Two things will kill ya dead. An unloaded gun and a trustworthy mule." :)

Sorry to hear about it. I hate to hear about a fellow cowboy or hunter getting hurt like that. I hope it has a happy ending.

-Dawg "Puttin' the whore in Whorse!! Uh, I mean horse."
 
While there was nothing comical or funny about that story of the local guy getting mucked out...

This talk of mule wrecks does bring a couple funny stories to mind. One of my favorites is Ed's buddy Rocky down in prickly pear country...

I wish I still had that email cuz I was doubled over in pain from laughing when I read it. It was some friend of his that got in a bad jam on his mule and about all I can recall is when he turned the mule (normally this takes a city block) it's assend kissed some cactus and it promptly dumped him into a rock pile. The best part was Rocky saying, "He was laying in that rockpile hoping he was dead, but he knew he wasn't cuz one of his hounds was licking his face." I forget all the details but to hear him tell it was classic. Of course, he wasn't hurt bad so it was funny.

A local kid here in town wins my award for the best story yet. My buddy gave me a pretty good one when I went with him while he bought two mules for a thousand each. Both of them "gentle enough to let my grandkids ride" is that the 'ol skinner told him. He dropped me off at my house on the way home, and three hours later his wife called us from the ER and told me, "That old timer sure must not like his grandkids if he was putting them on that mule." ;-)

But back to the local kid. I heard this from someone else and he confirmed it. A group of them went deer hunting clear to the top of a local mountain. It's a good pull up on top and they packed a camp up the day before the deer hunt. They're setting up camp and his mule is tied to the tree. Guys are walking back and forth behind this thing all afternoon, setting up the tent, etc... His buddy goes walking past and for no reason "Boom." This sucker just nails him. He's laying on the ground in pain. This kid walks over, grabs his rifle, and executes the mule right there in camp. BOOM!! One second a mule, next instant coyote food. Puts his rifle down and walks back over to the fire. Everyone is looking at him like he's crazy.

When I asked him he said, "Ya I shot the mule. It's just as easy to feed a good one as it is a piece of shiit." I told him he should have at least had the sucker pack all his crap off the mountain first. He said, "Nope, it needed to be done right then."

Runner up is JJ's preacher buddy down on the Blue. They packed him into a spike camp and told him they'd be back later in the week. Next morning the preacher dumps a nice bull. Some donkey skinner comes riding along with two pack mules. Tells him he'll haul the elk out no charge. The preacher says hell ya, bring it on. They load up the mules with the elk and are headed off the mountain when they spook and blow away, jerking the rope from the guy's hand. They headed out and these two chased them around the Blue for 2 days. On the third day the Skinner tells him, "OK, if we get close and get a shot take it. Kill 'em both if you have a shot. Shoot 'em on sight!!" They say those donkeys are smart and I believe it cuz that day those two came right into him and let him catch them. Perhaps they sensed the icy hand of death hovering over them. ;-)

But I'll give 'em their due. If you are dumb enough to drop into hells hole on an animal, you got a fightin' chance on a mule. You got NO CHANCE on a horse.

I got some good horse stories too I can tell sometime. Just not nearly as many as I do mule stories. ;-)

Long live the donkey and those who choose to drop a britchin' over their asses and mount up. My hats off to 'em. As my pa would say, "I admire their courage I just don't think much of their intelligence." ;-)

May their ships come in one day so they can afford a nice horse.
:)

-Dawg "I'll bet my horses are fatter than yours"
 
My uncle, decides to get a wild hair in his ass and buys a mule, he has high hopes for this mule, broke to pack and all! He decides one day he was going to mess with this jennie mule, so he ties her up to the hitchin post and looks her over. He cautiously stays his safe distance away and walks to her left side then back a little to the right. This mule begins to give him the trusty old look with her left and then kicks him with her right hind foot! Damn good mule, broke and all!
 
My buddy bought a 2 year old mule that had never been touched. He got it cheap and worked like hell to break it. I gotta hand it to him, he really stuck with this sucker and eventually won the war. It bucked off every guy on his street and he still has to go to the Chiropractor once a week from the time it dumped him on his head, but he paid the price and turned it into what I call a nice mule. It travels good, goes hard and hasn't ever tried to kick him or anything. But he doesn't give it much chance...

He's got three and this one is definately the best of the three. I actually really like this mule. Well last year he shoots a deer and he's telling me the story. Then he starts telling me about how him and his buddy drove their wheelers as close as they could then drug the deer down to the wheelers... and how tired he was from dragging it.

I told him, "Hang on a minute. You shot the deer, rode back to your trailer, went home and got your 4 wheeler? Huh? You got three mules dude."

He told me, "Are you crazy? Those suckers would kill me if I tried to throw a deer on them." :)

I give him credit. He rides his mules hard, and he knows their strengths, their limitations and their quirks... I could have never stuck with it as long as he had. I'd have caved in.

I give credit to mule guys. I think you have to be about as stubborn and hard headed as the animal. Besides, mules are alot smarter than horses and I don't want anything at my place that's smarter than me.

So horses and blueticks work just fine!!! :)

-Dawg
 
i ride a horse right now and he is a dang good one. it would take a lot more than i payed for him to buy. the guy i bought him from hated him. best animal i ever had was a black mule that i bought from another lion hunter in new mex. he was 7 years old and had never been in a horse trailer. born and raised right there on that ranch in the gila wilderness. kept him for almost 10 years and like a dumbass sold him. missed him every day since. it just depends on the animal. i won't ride anything that i don't have 100% confidence in. i can't believe the BS that some people will put up with from their livestock. i've seen guys get stomped and then say "well, he don't do it very often". down here around phoenix you oughta see the spoiled stinkin' animals folks put up with. horses and mules. for some reason they think a peidgree is all that counts. i have a niece that is big time into all kinds of horse stuff. polo, english, jumping. she took this ol' quarter horse of mine to a deal awhile back and won the whole sheebang. took every trophy. he is just a dang good horse. sure was a bunch of yanked off folks with $100,000 rigs, $20,000 horses and whiny little girls after it was all over.
 
I agree with you on that one 100%. People put up with tons of BS and then just excuse it away. My neighbor that got left for dead in the Wind Rivers said, "Well, it wasn't the mules fault. I should have been paying more attention." I guess if I'd have paid that kind of money I wouldn't blame it on the animal either. :)

My doorbell rings one Sunday morning and it's my neighbor, "Can you come help us load a couple horses in the trailer?"

So I walk down the street and they are trying to load these two Morgan horses in a trailer. They are dancing all over the place and they are trying to coax them in the trailer by talking nice to them, "C'mon girl, get in the trailer." And the one guy is in the front of the trailer with a bucket of water trying to bait them in.

My other neighbor comes wandering over to see what's up... an old horse guy for the last 45 or 50 years. He watches this for a minute and then walks back home. I'm just trying not to die of laughter. He shows up with a 3 foot piece of garden hose.

Five minutes later they were both loaded, with sore asses to show for it. It didn't take long and they were glad to be in that trailer to get away from him and that garden hose!!! :)

You should have seen the look on their faces the first time that garden hose hit the first horses ass "WHAP!!" They looked like they'd seen the boogie man.

But I know a guy who sticks with this same line of horses and they are the meanest, nastiest suckers you've seen. Hard to break, ornery, kick you, buck you off suckers. Every horse I've seen from this stud is the same. I have no idea why he puts up with these horses but he does and he loves them. ????

I like what I have, but it's because I can trust them and my wife can ride with me. If I had horses like this guy, I'd shoot all of them and go buy 3 mules. And if I had mules like my buddies I'd shoot all of them and go buy a new 4 Wheeler!!

:) -Dawg
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-21-03 AT 09:39AM (MST)[p]Boy... I tell ya... I can tell you stories about horses til I'm blue in the face ...

Hell an old lion hunter here in town had him a young colt he was breaking.. he'd been riding that 2 yr old all over town, up and down the irrigation ditches getting him used to all the stuff... Well one day the horse buggar at a irrigation valve or some such booger and goes over backwards on him... breaks his pelvis and hip.. Guy had to crawl to the nearest road before someone found him.. and that was after he regained conciousness and had damn near second degree sunburn on his face and hands..

Talked to him the other day.. luckily he's all healed up albeit with a bit a of a limp..(and this was 2 years ago) still riding that same damn horse... SOB would have made it as far as the killers if he were mine...

One thing about these big animals... its not IF you get hurt.. its WHEN you get hurt.. even with good one... problem is.. most folks ain't smart enough to know the difference between a good one or a bad one... but they sure think the one they own is a good one ;-)

Even my old field trial horse ... and he's seen it all and been through a heck of a lot all over the country... even he can pitch and crow hop if something is getting him (i.e. piece of cholla on his ass or pecker etc...).. and let me tell ya... I was by myself the other day when I bailed off of him and I was flat scared I'd break somethin' and be left out there on them hot rocks for dead... Luckily I was able to pick when and how I got off.. and didn't get thrown.. somethin about being on a horse thats blowing up .. and not having any stirrups or reins that makes you wanna get off ;-)

Anyway, glad that local boy made it out alive Ed... give him my best and wish him a speedy recovery..


Steve Lithgow
http://www.waycoolkennels.com
 
On a serious note a bad mule will kill you. They will wait for the right time and wham. I don't know how many people have called about a good mule they bought and could not handle it or had got hurt. I have a friend who is paraylized from the neck down from a mule wreck. When you are offered a deal on a mule that is to good to be true run the other way.

Now a spoiled mule thats a different story, it's almost like rehabing a prostitute, you have to get down and nasty but never downright mean. it's a sado-masochistic adventure.

I have had my share of wrecks seven broken ribs,contusions on my lung and a broken foot. g-d I love it.

hang on the fall aint worth it.

Mulehound.

I also wish your friend well godspeed on his recocery.
 
That girl from Gallup, once said: riding a mule is like making love to Hounddawg. You ain't to proud of it, but it gets the job done. Long live the Mule! or the muleskinner, I figure after 3 wrecks I have 6 to go before my life is up. At that rate I should be able to train 2 more mules into one my grandkids can ride and gentle as an old hounddog. Thanks for keeping my day entertaining, what a break from the other forums.
 
every high dollar mule i've ever seen wasn't worth anything. spoiled, cantankerous, mean. best mules, and horses, i've ever seen are ranch raised. seem to be a lot easier keepers and take better care of themselves. went to a mule sale awhile back down here. they didn't sell one mule that i would own and they all went for 5 to 10 grand. i like them ol' hardcases that know how to get you home ok and know they best not hurt ya or you'll hurt em back. this old horse i have now i got from a retired army helicopter pilot. he has literally been around the world. germany, africa, saudi, okinawa, hawaii. the army would fly his horses wherever he was so's he could play polo and stuff. there isn't anything bothers him. guess being around jets and noise and stuff for 7 or 8 years got him used to things. i can shoot a pistol off him without too much problem. he might flinch a little is all. i just make sure he knows it's gonna happen. any horse or mule will try you. and anything you let them get away with, they will magnify next time. i stay away from arena raised stock of any kind.
 
Hey MulePacker,

You made that comment about "breaking a mule so your grandkids can ride it"...

You didn't happen to sell a couple of mules to my buddy a few years back did ya? ;-)

Apparently, that one donkey liked your grandkids alot more than it did my buddy cuz he wasn't home 10 minutes with that mule when his wife was drivin' him to the ER. ;-)

You sure saw him comin' amigo. But he ain't the brightest star in the sky either. I say served him right!!

I guess WayCool is right... those big animals will get you eventually regardless of how long their ears are. But those 4 wheelers and dirt bikes will get ya even quicker!!

I rode a damn nice mule last year and had a great ride on him through some real steep, rough country. Would have been a perfect day except for the thunderhead that rolled in. Only then did I find out you can't ride that mule with a rain slicker on. No rain slicker, you're in for a great ride... Rain slicker, you're a dead man.

I told him, "Hey dipwad, what do you do when it rains?" He looked at me like I was stupid and said, "I just don't ride that mule when it's rainin'." It was a long wet ride off that mountain and I was the fool that day.

I don't buy the argument from horse guys that mules are "ugly." I've seen some damn nice looking mules, but the guys riding them without fail are always ugly as hell. Maybe that's what makes the mules look so good is what's on top of them. ;-)

-Dawg
 
Yeah it took me a few years to figure out that when I rode up to someone and they said look at that a$$ they weren't talking about the mule.
 

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