Can you hunt with a loaded gun while riding a horse?

[BR549]

OK, I know it sound stupid, but I've not found anything that says you can't have your muzzle loader capped and ready to go while your riding a horse, only a motorized vehicle.  And for clarity, I'm not talking about shooting off a horse, just wondering if every time I get off and back on, I need to remove my cap. Anyone else come across any information?

[bearpaw]

A horse is not motorized so you should be able to load up!

[huntandjeep]

When we ride into the high county we have had rifles loaded while in the scabbard . Never was a problem

[KFhunter]

Good way to go for a helluva ride too 

[LDennis24]

Lol! Elk don't know how many feet a horse has!

[KFhunter]

Lol if you ain't been on a panicked horse ride down a mountain you ain't been riding!

[LDennis24]

I know an old fella who used to pack into the blues when they first started planting elk and one time he brought a new mule and he said they were at the top of a bluff and it panicked on them and was trying to pull the string backwards off the ledge so he had to shoot it. He said he unloaded everything off of it afterwards and pushed it over the side of the ledge for the bears.  He said it was that or the rest of the string would have been pulled with it and maybe even him. He had other mules so it was not worth it to him.

[KFhunter]

I've never really been around mules that much even though my grandad was a mule skinner (cotton fields) and my dad drove the teams, was all before my time

I did grow up on ranch horses doing cow work, so that's my background but been a long time..switched to quads like most every other rancher lol

[Twispriver]

We had lots of horses when I was growing up and did a couple of pack trips into the back country every year. Dad always had the model 99 in the scabbard and his pistol on his hip both loaded. When folks would ask him if he could shoot off the back of his horse he always had the same answer - "once".

[NRA4LIFE]

We had lots of horses when I was growing up and did a couple of pack trips into the back country every year. Dad always had the model 99 in the scabbard and his pistol on his hip both loaded. When folks would ask him if he could shoot off the back of his horse he always had the same answer - "once".

Funny, a friend out in MT told me the same thing.  "Once"

[bornhunter]

Just remember you can shoot off any horse, once.

[scotsman]

Back when we had horses I’d shoot my recurve off the back of Holly, our calm Appaloosa. Gave me a new appreciation for Indians shooting running Buffalo from a galloping bareback mustang!

[jackelope]

A better question may be related to how the horse is going to react if/when you do shoot off of his back.
If you need help posting the video, shoot me a pm.

[hunter399]

Only if your loaded.
And you John Wayne it.

[300rum]

I don't think he is talking about shooting off the back of one.  There are plenty of horses that will tolerate it but you never know, even if they are trained to it.  It's one thing to do it in an arena, another to make the long walk back to the truck.  Load up your rifle or ML, if you want too.  Personally, I would keep an empty chamber on a rifle but if you want to load it up or cap it, let'r rip. 

[boneaddict]

Rode all the time with a loaded gun.   Muzz though, no.  Thats kinda hard core cool!   

[LDennis24]

Remember, Captain Ingalls, whom the creek is named after, died by friendly fire from a guy behind him who's gun got caught on a tree while riding through the forest! Now nobody can seem to figure out where all the gold he discovered in the Enchantments is at! That's another story...

[KFhunter]

No you're good to go, load up and ride 

The conversation had just moved on from there 

[boneaddict]

Idabooner and I were bear hunting once.  We were riding down the trail and he was telling a story.  Apparently when I calmly said bear, it blended right in with his story.  He just kept talking, the bear stood there in amazement and  I slipped off, pulled my rifle and bang.   Its a good thing he's a good cowboy.   His horse started bucking, and mine flew by him.  Some how he managed to stay on top of his and nab mine.  I notched on a nice blondie

[hunter399]

Remember, Captain Ingalls, whom the creek is named after, died by friendly fire from a guy behind him who's gun got caught on a tree while riding through the forest! Now nobody can seem to figure out where all the gold he discovered in the Enchantments is at! That's another story...

Ya them earthquakes,or a fire ,or a lost map.
It's always something,these old timers made up these story's to throw people off the gold trail.
It's up there!
Just not where anybody would think to look.

[kramman]

Ldennis24 I caught your meaning. Your right an elk doesn't know how many legs a horse has. Good movie. Haven't watched it in awhile guess I'll need to go back and watch it again.

[sjhgraysage]

I have riden horses hunting in WA, ID and WY with my rifle in my scabbard. There are always shells in the magazine, maybe not in the chamber.

[HUNTIN4SIX]

I have riden horses hunting in WA, ID and WY with my rifle in my scabbard. There are always shells in the magazine, maybe not in the chamber.

   Rode all over the Bob Marshall and Scapegoat with a loaded gun.  Not sure why you’d ever have it unloaded.  Maybe a person would just have to do it to understand.  It was alway a topic at camp with the guests.  The second question is can you shoot off a horse?  As someone else on here said my response was “only once”!   

[bigmacc]

Did a few trips with an old cowboy I know( some on here know him), he would raise a colt or two to be able to shoot off the back. We went into a drainage one year, I bailed off my horse to take a shot at a pretty good buck. I was scrambling around for a rest, he said “use the d,;m horse!” Well , I did, I fired a round right by his left ear, buck down, horse gone!😆 I killed that buck, but it took the two of us 4 days to find the horse!😆. I told him, why the hell would you tell me to shoot off of a “flighty horse”, he said, “ you shot off the wrong end”😆😆😆

RIP…….my friend. Some on here know him.

[snit]

When I rode during hunting season, my gun was always loaded..in the scabbard. Honestly, I never thought to even check.

I had one horse I could shoot off of. He would stand rock solid for 2 shots, but if there was 3rd he was getting happy feet....

[hal]

YES

[2MANY]

There is a reason they plug the horses ears for cowboy mounted shooting.

[lokidog]

We had lots of horses when I was growing up and did a couple of pack trips into the back country every year. Dad always had the model 99 in the scabbard and his pistol on his hip both loaded. When folks would ask him if he could shoot off the back of his horse he always had the same answer - "once".

I used to hunt rabbits from horse, bareback and usually with just a lead rope and halter.

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[Pathfinder101]

This is funny.  One of my Hunter Ed students asked me this exact question on Tuesday.  I told her that I wasn't positive, but I thought it was ok and promised to do some research.  I'm going to call this "my research".  Thanks guys 
BTW, we were discussing when a boat is and is not a "vehicle" concerning a loaded weapon.  That's when the "horse question" came up...