17 March It’s Easier to Find Your Favorite When There’s Lots of Choices March 17, 2023By Monica Oliver Announcements, General Information Drop Camps, Idaho hunting, Idaho Hunts, Public Land, Wrangler 0 Hi, my name is Tia Hansen (daughter of Kelly Swingruber and George McQuiston). Mom is the head packer and George is the owner of Wild Idaho Outfitters and Castle Creek Outfitters. Mom and I ride about 2,000 miles a year from packing bear bait to taking people for a joy ride and to getting people with their gear to drop camps and back plus packing dead animals. Being an outfitter’s kid can mean a lot of things. One of them means you not only get to ride a certain horse, but you also have a lot of options. Starting with an old and wise quarter horse mare named Annie (still my favorite horse to this day), next a thoroughbred mare named Blesser who could out travel everything we had when we long trotted, then a stubborn mule named Foster (still my favorite mule to this day). Another favorite is Annie’s daughter Shadow, I was leading pack strings off her when she was only 4! Now I also ride a little young mule named Hermosa which is Spanish for beautiful. I am currently starting a filly named Tornado (and no she is not a bronc she just has a strip on her face that looks like a tornado) who is also out of Annie. I love to ride our stallion also, he is laid back and mellow. Annie is 27 this year and is carrying another baby, she is still my favorite horse because all my siblings and I learned to ride on her, and she took great care of us. She knows the difference between a beginner and an advanced person, she knows steep country, how to work cows, and I think my family (except George, he likes his horse named Diesel) could all agree that Annie is still the favorite! On the other hand Foster (the mule) recently passed in November of 2021. He is what we called one of our A team mules. I rode him miles and miles and miles in the back country, and even tried to show him in 4-h but he didn’t want any part of it so I just decided to ride him in the mountains. Sometimes Foster wouldn’t let anyone but me catch him because he knew where all the treats came from! Or if we were on a trip and his favorite horse wasn’t there (George’s horse Diesel) Foster would travel all the way home to be with him. He also threw me off a few times. I know you are probably thinking why did you like him so much? Well, it’s because he took care of me and in return, I did the same, and eventually he quit doing most of those bad things. I also remember one time we were on a really steep narrow trail, and everyone got off to walk but me. Before I came along he did his fair share of packing, Foster was George’s mule at first but then I started riding him and stole him fair and square! People often ask me do you remember your first ride? Was it scary? How old were you when you first started riding? The truth is I don’t remember my first ride! I don’t remember being scared. Because I started riding horses in my mother’s womb! So, if you want to ride 2,000 miles a year, I would suggest you have at least a few good animals that you love and cherish! Contributed by Tia (Assistant Wrangler for Wild Idaho Outfitters and Castle Creek Outfitters) Related Posts Phase 2 in Planning Your 2020 Hunts Dates to keep in mind this month while planning your 2020 hunts are March 5th, the controlled-hunt application deadline for all species in Utah; and April 1st, the controlled-hunt application deadline for elk and deer tags in Montana. Utah offers some outstanding tags as far as trophy and overall quality are concerned. Trail Conditioning: Physical Prep for Big Game Hunting Spring is here, and it’s time to step out of the gym and walk trails that match real-world hunting conditions. Or better yet, walk off-trail. Exercising on a treadmill or elliptical offers an effective method of strengthening leg muscles and enhancing cardio endurance, though these machines will never replicate the walking conditions you’ll encounter in the wilderness. Spring Bear Hunt Drop Camp If I haven’t made it clear that I think Idaho is THE best place to hunt, then I suppose you haven’t read enough of our blogs. Predator hunting in Idaho tops them all! In Idaho, you can hunt wolves, bears, mountain lions, coyotes and foxes all at the same time by either spot and stalk or electronic calls method clear up until June 30 each year. To increase your odds for bear, you can even hunt them over bait. Got Tags? It seems these days that the first, and often times largest, obstacle to hunting elk out west is getting a tag. Well, thanks to bad planning on our part, we find ourselves with 4 extra tags to hunt in a unit that sold out in only 3 days for residents and months ago for nonresidents. We know all the results of the draws are out for the west and finding someone with actual tags and openings to be able to hunt, and at a discounted rate, is nearly impossible so we believe these will go fast: we have exactly 4 tags left for elk in area 28 in central Idaho and we are even discounting this hunt opportunity. Winter 23-24 Predator Hunting (Mt. Lion/Wolf/Bobcat) It’s winter again here in Idaho and that can only mean one thing! Wyley can’t function without thinking about chasing mountain lions! I swear the boy was born for this and simply wants to do it as often as possible. What does that mean for you? It is time to book that Idaho predator hunt you have always been talking or thinking about but haven’t pulled the trigger on. We have openings for 2 more hunters this winter (2023-2024) between now and when the snow quits flying. Hunting with GPS/Map-Devices: Seeing Outside the Box Don’t get me wrong, modern GPS/map-devices, or map apps that make smartphones function like GPS/map-devices, are wonderful tools for the hunter. Being somewhat device challenged, I can only wish I knew how to use them. Some tech-savvy hunters I have run into recently manage to get around in the woods quite well with them. Comment (0) Comments are closed.