Change my mind

SS!

Long Time Member
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After spending a couple weeks in SW Wyoming this fall this is my thought:

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Those damn things must weigh 1200 lbs plus on the hoof. The range needs to be rid of them!
 
The only good feral horse is a dead feral horse! Where i am from in Arizona they are becoming a real problem and are out of control. The federal government loves them but if they are going to be treated as wild animals they need to be managed like wild animals. Open a season for them. Heck it's too bad you can't shoot them for fun because they make the best bear bait on the planet! They call them a Jelly Donut on the White Mountain Apache land in Arizona. Bears absolutely love them!
 
Agree, and same for wild burros in AZ. I can't find a damn deer, but man I can find some burros. Stupid things.
 
We have so called wild horses about 5 miles from town. They go above and beyond to protect them and shut don't more and more access area to keep us away from the so called wild horses.

Here is my problem. Back during the great depression and world war 2 farmers and others released their horses cause they couldn't afford to feed them or they were going off to war.

Now they are naming the road between cody and Greybull after the wild horses.

They cant explore for gas because of these so called wild horses. Most the roads are getting shut down cause of these so called wild horses.

Time to thin the herd
 
Less horses = more cattle? I really have no idea if that is true and which is better or worse for the range, but here is a very one-sided website in favor of keeping the horses:

https://americanwildhorsecampaign.org/wild-horses-and-ecosystem

It sure seems like it would be better for elk and deer and antelope if they were all gone though.
That is a horribly one sided place as you mentioned. The different is this, cattle are managed and removed from the range when needed in order to prevent damage. Ranchers (most) have a direct interest in not overgrazing the land and when a range is managed correctly regulated grazing can significantly increase range healthy and plant diversity. The issue with horses is they are never rotated. They are never removed. They can grow herds exponentially and under current policy and practice we can not remove enough horses to keep the range healthy.

I love debating wild horse lovers. The playbook is predictable... They say I am invasive, then they attack me for being a hunter, then they claim that if only the horses were given more range. Then they try and state horses are native, it is fun...
 
We have so called wild horses about 5 miles from town. They go above and beyond to protect them and shut don't more and more access area to keep us away from the so called wild horses.

Here is my problem. Back during the great depression and world war 2 farmers and others released their horses cause they couldn't afford to feed them or they were going off to war.

Now they are naming the road between cody and Greybull after the wild horses.

They cant explore for gas because of these so called wild horses. Most the roads are getting shut down cause of these so called wild horses.

Time to thin the herd
I've never heard of an oil and gas project getting nixed because of horses. Do you have any written information on that? And what roads have been shut down specifically?
 
I've never heard of an oil and gas project getting nixed because of horses. Do you have any written information on that? And what roads have been shut down specifically?
Its the McCullough peaks. They also use the term wilderness area. Several gates have been installed with signs that say not authorized for vehicles. 15 years ago those signs were not there. pretty sure everyone just drives on anyway.
 
My grandpa would keep maybe 2 horses in the winter send his out to range. Then he would round them up in the spring keep a couple to break and send the rest to auction. He’d shoot the stud send his out to breed. That’s when they weren’t feral numbers weren’t out of hand. Show me a mustang it’s impossible unless it has internal combustion engine. That’s good ol days though.
 
I don't know if it's true, but i've also heard that the horse will pull up the roots of vegetation therefore killing it while cattle just graze it and leave the roots. i'm not certain one way or the other but that is what i've heard and why horse can be so much more devastating than properly managed cattle. I do know someone in arizona has been acting like a real life Batman and killing them. you'd definitely go to jail if caught, but whoever is doing it is actually doing something beneficial for wildlife. I'm not willing to take that risk, but apparently someone is and I can't say i'm upset about it.
 

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