Wild horses in Alberta

crazy_davey

crazy_davey

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What is your opinion of the recent shooting of quite a few wild horses in Alberta. There are allot of local hunters that dont like them for certain reasons(take away good grazing areas from other native wildlife for one). The horses are an introduced species so why are they protected?(if you dont think they are introduced that is a whole other topic)

On the news a few nights back one person interviewed said that people who own horses love seeing the horses in the wild. I know lots of horse people in Alberta and almost everyone I have talked with hate seeing them in the wild, especially the hunters. Just another one sided media interview.:rolleyes: I am not saying if the opinions stated on the news were right or wrong just biased IMO.

As anyone who has spent time in the areas they are in knows, there are far more of them than the government counts say there is.

What are your opinions as hunters on these animals being in the wild?
 
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The law says they are protected and when someone goes and shoots them the anti hunting anti gun people are fed more ammo to jump on us. What do you think? Don't ask brother you know the answer wheather your a horse person or not. If we don't like the laws then lobby to change them don't break them and in doing so make all hunters or ranchers that don't like them, scum cause that is the image it gives the antis. They are already judgemental. Heck they probably don't eat meat. Now there is another point I don't shoot anything I don't eat. How do they taste?? Can there be a season for some horse meat like a buffalo draw, how about a mustang draw.
 
Well I don't know about others, but I love horses and think they are some of the most beautifull animals in the world. They are symbol of the west and North America as a whole. if an animal has been running wild for generation after generation, who are we to say it is not wild. There has been Horses in North American since the 1400's possibly earlier. horses native to North America whent the way of the Dodo 2000yrs before the first horses came over from Europe however.

Wild horses don't impact the enviroment anymore then Moose,Elk or Deer do.
Wild horses have been around in North America for hundreds of years and have adapted and become PART of the ecosystem.


In the United States there is federal law protecting the wild horses. Called the 1971 Free-Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act, it provides federal laws giving these horses protection in all states. It provides for substantial penalties for those that care to break the law and specifically outlines how the horses must be caught, treated and in most cases adopted out.

We need something like this to protect the remaining few wild horses we actually have in Canada. Wild horses are Not pests or "feral" they are beautiful wild creatures that deserve more respect then being killed just because and left to rot away.

Only my opinion though.
 
Wild horses don't impact the enviroment anymore then Moose,Elk or Deer do.
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Maybe (Iwould not agree, I have seen what they can do to an area in a short amount of time). But lots say that the horses are pushing those other animals away from thier regular habitat. I have noticed this as well. (not saying one way or the other is better, just what I have seen with my own eyes)

Wild horses are Not pests or "feral" they are beautiful wild creatures
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That is your opinion(not saying it is wrong or right). I know lots of folk that would not agree.....
 
If the wild horses are cause for damage and pushing other wildlife out of an area, could we also include golf courses and ski hills?
I've set up camp with my horses and mules in the Forget-me-Not area (I think you know that area Dave). the wild horses have never caused me a lick of problem.
 
BIGREDD said:
Shooting horses or dogs for no good reason is just not right:mad: .
I am forced to wonder what caliber is best for horses though?:confused:
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If they ate all the meat and made use of the hides of the animal...I think it's OK:D
 
i'm against them being shot only because they are protected. theres lots of rules and regs that i do not agree with with but the law is the law.
 
Chopperhead you da man , they even point the way :)
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Chopperhead said:
Wild horses don't impact the enviroment anymore then Moose,Elk or Deer do.
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I wonder about the truth of this statement.............

Perhaps in the wild this MIGHT be true but is sure isn't true of pastured horses. They'll tear up a pasture like no ruminant or ungulate, that's for sure!
 
Perhaps in the wild this MIGHT be true but is sure isn't true of pastured horses. They'll tear up a pasture like no ruminant or ungulate, that's for sure!
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Thats cause the space is small, and the numbers are many.
Horses are like deer , their always on the move , remove the cage , and all is well.
 
as long as they eat them then who cares :D its actually pretty good;)

is there any evidence that these wild horses have a negative impact on the wildlife? obviously there is some people that think they do....
 
nairbg said:
I wonder about the truth of this statement.............

Perhaps in the wild this MIGHT be true but is sure isn't true of pastured horses. They'll tear up a pasture like no ruminant or ungulate, that's for sure!
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That is true, they graze a lot harder than cows do. I see a lot of people who buy an acreage and feel obligated to have a couple of horses on it that they use to impress the visitors that come over on the weekend. There are a lot of people who also breed indiscriminately only to cause horses being unwanted. The number of horses in adoption centers will attest to that. A lot of the wild horses were introduced by human error, their offsprings should now pay the price? I don't think that the numbers are so large as to cause problems, predators must take their fair share. Horses have been our companions and our beast of burden for centuries, they deserve better than that, just my opinion though.
 
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Shooting horses? Isn't that a hangin' offense?

The ducks or whatever they were on Lake Erie were regularly decended upon by local fiching tour guides and had thier nests destroyed , eggs crushed and the young and parent birds were shotgunned. Wholesale slaughter.

The excuse was the birds were eating too many fish and not leaving enough for the fishing boat operators and their clients. Man can only see his own little tiny selfish perspective. Me Me Me. Nature goes her course but man is not satisfied with his lot, he must take mor. Well not more, but rather, all there is.
Imagine a few operators wiping out the (cormoront?) population just so they can have people dragging a line through the qater and catch a fish every time. I guess nature must take a back seat to these people earning a living which they can do in another occupation. The birds do no thave such a choice.

Slaughter of any species for the sake of trivial pursuits should carry a very stiff penalty indeed such as 20 years in a federal pen. This is our natural environment they are destroying just so they can dip a line in the water or not have to travel far to shoot a deer. Lazy short sighted brainless fools.

See where I stand on horse shooting?
 
seen so many wild horses in the bush over the years in the water valley ,hunter vallet and waiporous areas. Ya they might compete for forage grasses. They do increase wolf populations though as they are wolfs faverite food. Just park your self on the hill by the bridge on the meadow creek trail in the middle ofthe week Davey and wait a couple of hours and the horses will come out. Seen wild hores on the smokey creek trail of hunter valley road with bridles on them.
I can see hunters wanting to shot them as they do chase some game away and some ranchers wanting them gone as well as moose for tearing holes in the fences. Not to mention some hunters wanting to shot a young foul for food. (former hunting partner from france). But then some peaple just want to view them in the wild.
I think the provincial goverment does not want to consider them wild as then they would have to manage them . Instead consider them to be escaped farm animals. One thing i thought was funny where ever there are wild hores there was always moose close by to be hunted.
 
Levi Garrett said:
100% correct :( Sire and Dam should be checked for any genetic defects that they would pass on to a foal also.
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Levi, your edit after the modicon helped clarify matters a bit for me: LOL , I was going to mention that "I meant horses" :D

Seen wild hores
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I don't think they should be shot either, they need to make a living.
 
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Teapot said:
Shooting horses? Isn't that a hangin' offense?

The ducks or whatever they were on Lake Erie were regularly decended upon by local fiching tour guides and had thier nests destroyed , eggs crushed and the young and parent birds were shotgunned. Wholesale slaughter.

The excuse was the birds were eating too many fish and not leaving enough for the fishing boat operators and their clients. Man can only see his own little tiny selfish perspective. Me Me Me. Nature goes her course but man is not satisfied with his lot, he must take mor. Well not more, but rather, all there is.
Imagine a few operators wiping out the (cormoront?) population just so they can have people dragging a line through the qater and catch a fish every time. I guess nature must take a back seat to these people earning a living which they can do in another occupation. The birds do no thave such a choice.

Slaughter of any species for the sake of trivial pursuits should carry a very stiff penalty indeed such as 20 years in a federal pen. This is our natural environment they are destroying just so they can dip a line in the water or not have to travel far to shoot a deer. Lazy short sighted brainless fools.

See where I stand on horse shooting?
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get your facts straight first man. go read some stats on how bad the cormorant population is and how many tons of fish they consume in a year. people arent pushing for a cormorant hunt just so they can shoot birds for fun and catch more fish. they see how bad all these birds are for the fish population and theres nothing selfish about it.

the same can be said about deer...when theres too many for a certain area, people push for more tags. each area can only support so many critters before they start having a negative effect. cormorants are having a negative effect and people want to fix it...
 
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