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anybody else ever heard of this ?
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Greenhorn
posted
hello the fire ! talking to a nieces boyfriend awhile back and he said is granda hunted coons on mules..so I got to talk to his Grandma,she remembers them huntin and she rode one of the mules around the farm and such,i have never heard of this so I thought I would post here to see iffin you'all have heard of such things. Love talking to my elders,so much new things I never knew
 
Posts: 49 | Registered: 08 June 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Graybeard
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I've never heard of it but I've always lived out west. Raccoon hunting isn't done much out here. I did a quick search and a couple pics came up of raccoon hunting on mules. There was also an article on it in the Chicago Tribune.





http://articles.chicagotribune...mules-thorns-raccoon


Experience is the best teacher, hunger good sauce.
Osborne Russell Journal of a Trapper
 
Posts: 212 | Location: SW Montana | Registered: 17 December 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Booshway
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Sure. I know of it. Mules were considered better than horses for following the hounds over rough ground at night. However, most coon hunters just hoof it on their own hind legs.


Know what you believe in. Fight for your beliefs. Never compromise away your rights.
 
Posts: 1296 | Location: Cherokee Land, Tenasi | Registered: 06 January 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Factor
Picture of Hanshi
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In my silly youth I ran behind the hounds; don't do that NOOO MORE!

I have hunted swamp boojums by horse/mule or at least had a vehicle nearby. You don't want to be on foot if one takes a notice of you.


*Young guys should hang out with old guys; old guys know stuff.*
 
Posts: 3560 | Location: Maine (by way of Georgia then Va.) | Registered: 26 January 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Booshway
Picture of MountainRanger
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critter hunting is common in the south, and nighttime critter hunting or any kind of hunting requiring mobility was often done on mules. Why?

1. They were available. Most farms back in the day used either horses or mules to plow with and mules were cheap, and typically the poorer the farmstead, the more likely that mules would be the animals of choice.

2. They are athletic. A mule can jump a 3'+ high fence from a standing start. I've seen old timers demonstrate this. They lay a coat over the top strand of wire, cross the fence, they raise a rein and click or whistle and over the mule would go.

3. They ARE sure-footed, but from every mule I've seen, the ones I have had and those I have ridden with either on the Hunt field when I was a Field Master with the Rockbridge Hunt, and those I've seen on the endurance circuit, while sure footed, and athletic, you can be **** sure of one thing: They are going to take care of number 1 and number 1 is them not the rider, if a choice is to be made!

A couple of other notes... mules have weird gaits because of their conformation, and because of that are fairly uncomfortable to ride. A mule's trot isn't like a horse's... no flowing trot... they tend to gambol... a straight-legged bounce. Their canter is more comfortable than their trot, but not so much so that you'd write home about it. Reasons for this is as I said... conformation. They tend to have short, straight pasterns which affect an equine's trot. They have almost no wither, their shoulders are flat and straight, they tend toward short, straight backs with no croup, and this can affect the canter and how or IF they take a proper lead. Oh, and because they have no wither to speak of, it's hard to keep a saddle properly placed on them. Most mule riders will use a crupper (goes under the tail and hooks to the back of the saddle and keeps the saddle from slipping forward).

They are also about the best pasture orniments, baby-sitters and herd security going. Our pony mule, who pulled a trap (a two-wheeled cart) was also an attack-mule. One time she caught up to a pack of dogs that had been chasing the horse herd and my yearling steers and ran two of them down, kicked one to death and just stomped the fire out the other. I had to come out and put a bullet in that dog's ear for him, and I NEVER saw a coyote on my farm. I could sure hear them cussing the mule (Calypso) from across the road!

Mules are the product of a donkey (a Mammoth-Jack if one is lucky) and a mare. They are always female, 99.9% sterile, but mules generally have heat cycles and have gotten bred and pregnant, but I have never heard of one carrying a foal to term. They tend to abort in a few weeks.

One last note: Mules are smart!!!!! Much, much more so than the average horse (or politician). The previous Mrs. MountainRanger was a large and small animal vet, and I have a masters degree. We used to say that between us, we had 38 years of education and that darned mule would outsmart us at least half of the time. She used to say that if Calypso had thumbs, she would have run for Congress and either won or have challenged her opponent to a duel and would have won that.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MountainRanger,


Sua Sponte
 
Posts: 460 | Location: SW Virginia (New River Valley) | Registered: 13 August 2014Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Graybeard
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Interesting post Mountain Ranger!


Experience is the best teacher, hunger good sauce.
Osborne Russell Journal of a Trapper
 
Posts: 212 | Location: SW Montana | Registered: 17 December 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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