[Critter]

They are planning on darting horses to inject a birth control serum into the mares.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/2466359-155/blm-unveils-dart-injection-birth-control-plan-for

 

[Cooky]

Sure seems like the hard way.

 

[ridgetop]

Seems like a bullet would be more effective.

 

[trackerputnam]

Agree! I will sacrifice my hoarded supply of .22's and even some of my time in wild horse mare control.

 

[Jedidiah]

Agree! I will sacrifice my hoarded supply of .22's and even some of my time in wild horse mare control.

Man, I hope you know that you shouldn't shoot a 22 at anything bigger than a rabbit.

 

[trackerputnam]

Well I hope you know that .22's have been used to take down cattle and pigs and so forth at the local buthcher. Also, my grandfather used a .22 while working for the Wyoming F&G and shooting elk when they came into haystacks for depradation culling. A .22 would work fine when applied to the right spot!

 

[johnnycake]

There was an awesome article in American Hunter magazine about an old Eskimo guy that used a single shot 22 to hunt polar bears for a living selling the skulls and hides...

 

[Jedidiah]

Well I hope you know that .22's have been used to take down cattle and pigs and so forth at the local buthcher. Also, my grandfather used a .22 while working for the Wyoming F&G and shooting elk when they came into haystacks for depradation culling. A .22 would work fine when applied to the right spot!

You'd have to be a psychopath to shoot a horse with a .22 at range, whether it was wild or not. 99.9% of the time it would run off, maybe to recover, but more likely to die horribly over the course of weeks. Ever seen an elk running around with a round in its shoulder, slowly dying from the infection? I saw one run right up on us as a kid, tongue hanging out with slimy green froth dripping from its mouth, eyes so bloodshot the red almost looked black. Shooting a pig in a vital spot at point blank range is an entirely different story.

I could see someone baiting a bear so it was up next to a sturdy structure and shooting it in the eye to kill it, but that's about it. You can't even expect to shoot and kill a coyote at range with any kind of reasonable chance of success.

 

[mtnrunner260]

Jed,
A 22 has cleanly harvested lots and lots of wild and domestic game. Not all but most of the wild horses I've been around will let you get close enough as long as your not carrying a saddle.

 

[riptheirlips]

That still don't solve the problem of the horses over grazing the range they are on. A 22 would help control the grazing problem. They may also be late in giving them a dart shot of birth control, my bet would be that half the mares and yearlings have already been bred for an April baby.

 

[Critter]

At least they are going to try something. It would be nice if they had some kind of drug that would sterilize the stallions which to me would be a lot easier than darting all the mares.

It is nice to be able to go out onto the west desert and see these animals but there are just too many of them right now with no where for them to go.

 

[Fishrmn]

I just wish people would stop calling them wild horses. They're feral horses.

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[Critter]

I just wish people would stop calling them wild horses. They're feral horses.

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The big problem is that those that champion them never go out onto the desert or areas where they are located at and see the damage that they are causing. All they see is the "majestic" horse running wild. They never do see the hills and meadows covered in road apples that won't brake down without some major rainfall.

 

[GaryFish]

I'll not comment too much on this one. Last time we talked much about population control for wild horses, one of the horse groups google bot found our discussion and flamed me pretty good for saying I'd eat horse beef given the chance. I then found their site where they flamed me and made a post. Funny - they never got back to me on that one. They were in process of suing BLM over horse stuff and I called them out that instead of spending money on attorneys giving grief to the BLM, they ought to follow what hunters do and spend that money on habitat improvements for the "wild horses." I never heard back.

 

[LostLouisianian]

At least they are going to try something. It would be nice if they had some kind of drug that would sterilize the stallions which to me would be a lot easier than darting all the mares.

It is nice to be able to go out onto the west desert and see these animals but there are just too many of them right now with no where for them to go.

Round up all the studs and castrate them...problem solved in 10 years.

 

[OKEE]

Wild horses were never a problem until some of the slaughter houses closed doors.

 

[Fishrmn]

Feral horses were never a problem until it became illegal to shoot them, harass them, or chase them.

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[ridgetop]

You'd have to be a psychopath to shoot a horse with a .22 at range, whether it was wild or not. 99.9% of the time it would run off, maybe to recover, but more likely to die horribly over the course of weeks. Ever seen an elk running around with a round in its shoulder, slowly dying from the infection? I saw one run right up on us as a kid, tongue hanging out with slimy green froth dripping from its mouth, eyes so bloodshot the red almost looked black. Shooting a pig in a vital spot at point blank range is an entirely different story.

I could see someone baiting a bear so it was up next to a sturdy structure and shooting it in the eye to kill it, but that's about it. You can't even expect to shoot and kill a coyote at range with any kind of reasonable chance of success.

I agree. A .300 ultra mag. at 10 yards would be much more effective.