Hunting season

They don't look much like deer to me....

Do you ride with bells on?

If I ride - or work out in the pasture - in the fall when hunters are apt to be out roaming around, I wear bright colors. If I ride down the road I wear a blaze orange vest. Riding in more forested areas during hunting season, a lot of folks use bells. I can't find a picture of what I'm thinking of (something like a large sleigh bell with a deep, merry sounding chime, on a snap that attaches to your saddle), but sleigh bells, bear bells or rhythm beads also work - anything that makes the kind of noise that says, "I'm not attached to dinner or a potential trophy!"

I worry about the horses out in the pasture, though. They're used to the sound of gunfire (there's a pheasant hunting/guiding operation next door), so that aspect of hunting season doesn't phase them. Like all horses, however, they will head toward something that looks and sounds out of place first, before running away.

Lined up along the fence watching T sight in his rifle last fall

Not necessarily a good habit, if you're vaguely deer-shaped & colored.

A lot of livestock doesn't make it through hunting season every year. You wouldn't believe what people can mistake for a deer, elk, or moose. And out here, where there aren't a lot of trees to stop them, a rifle bullet can travel a LOOONG way.

So what to do?

Hands up, stranger!

Wishful thinking. But obviously, the horses themselves
aren't going to be much of a deterent!

Since our horses aren't stalled and don't wear blankets or halters (when they're turned out), and I don't really want to paint them orange - don't laugh, I've seen it! - the options for keeping them out of harms way are more limited.

Location (or re-location) - We try to keep the horses out of the front pasture, up near the house or back off the road where the terrain and distance will help protect them from idiots and stray bullets.

Signage - The property is posted No Hunting & No Trespassing.

Good neighbor relations - the neighbors are friendly, and are as responsible as can be hoped given that one of them has a fair number of visiting hunters coming through every year. The hunts the pheasant operation runs are guided by the owners, who are careful to remind their hunters about safety, livestock & not shooting north toward the farm. The other neighbors don't hunt much, thankfully.

None of this prevented me from finding one of the yearling fillies dead of a gunshot wound in the side a few years ago. No responsible party ever came forward - more than likely, she was the victim of a spent bullet and the hunter never knew s/he'd hit anything. I was sick.

And so, I worry. And will probably continue to do so every year I'm a horse owner.