10 March Spring Means Babies March 10, 2023By Monica Oliver Announcements, General Information Guided Hunts, Idaho Black Bear Hunts, Spring Bear Season 0 Ten days. Only ten days until spring officially starts. The start of spring means different things to different people. Some celebrate with a Spring Equinox party, some start seeds in the house for the garden, some go shopping for a new wardrobe, some just crab about winter never ending. Me? I start writing foaling dates on the calendar and dreaming of the kind of foals we are going to have! Here at Darling Creek, the first foal could come as early as April first. That’s only 21 days away! I always say foaling is like Christmas only better. You can look and imagine what’s going to come out but it's always a surprise. A surprise in color, size, sex, personality, and amazing every single time that all of that could fit in the mare. I’m feeding every day watching the mares get bigger and slower and more miserable. We were originally going to have 25 foals in 2023. Two of the older mares didn’t conceive. They will go for a vet visit next week to see what needs to be done for them to conceive later this spring. Another mare had a foal way too early and another just doesn’t look bred anymore. For the foals coming, there is a lot of excitement on my part for different reasons. We have 2 mule babies coming, one out of a new mare we purchased last winter that turned into a great horse for hauling outfitting clients and one out of a tried and true mare. My old faithful mare Annie, that is 27 , is foaling once again with a horse foal. Her foals are always the best and it is amazing she can carry a foal once again! Her oldest “foal” is 19 and her youngest – on the way! Then there are all the new mares we bought last year coming with babies. Will they be fillies or colts? Will they be bay or black or buckskin or gray? Hopefully everything will go smooth and there will be no rushing a mare to the vet or rushing the vet out to Darling Creek. I’m praying now that winter will break and spring will truly arrive so mares aren’t foaling in the cold. The mares and babies will be fine if it does have to happen in a snow storm, but I’ll feel better if it’s warmer and more spring like! Our mares “foal out”, which means they have their babies outside and the babies jump up right away, grab a suck of milk and follow their Mommas on gangly legs. The babies from the minute they drop are developing feet and legs, bone and muscle, brain and coordination by being able to jump up and go. I’ve read that horses raised this way are called the “special forces” in the horse world. By the time they are starting to be ridden, they already know how to climb up and come down a mountain, cross a creek or a bog, step over logs and run on uneven ground. This is good training for making great mountain horses- ¾ of the battle is over before you even throw a leg over them. If you don’t think this is important, try riding a stall raised horse in the rugged mountains like The Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. It is a wreck in the making. BTW, Darling Creek Livestock supplies all of the livestock for Wild Idaho Outfitters and Castle Creek Outfitters. We put a lot of time and care into our stock from picking and raising the mares, stallions, and jacks to training them so they are safe and reliable mounts. This is of utmost importance and something we don’t take lightly. That horse you ride to your drop camp and you are frustrated with because you don’t have the skills is taking care of you. Unbeknownst to you, she saved a little boys life the season before when he jumped off too fast and hung his foot in the stirrup and was laying under her. She kept her footing and her wits about her when Camas Creek was raging in the spring. She is smart enough not to fall off that narrow crumbling trail. These are the kind of babies I am anxiously awaiting. These are the kind of babies that I have ridded their Mommas and Grandmas and Daddies for miles and miles through all kinds of weather and conditions. These are the kinds of babies, I put my kids and grandkids and outfitting clients on and never look back, because I know they are safe! These are the babies come this time of the year, I can hardly wait for them to arrive! These are the mares I am watching their beautiful swollen bellies, anxiously awaiting the arrival of spring and their Christmas packages! To me spring means horse and mule babies at Darling Creek! Contributed by Kelly Swingruber (Wrangler for Wild Idaho Outfitters and Castle Creek Outfitters) Related Posts A Couple Spots Still Left for this Spring Bear Season The weather has been unseasonably warm and dry this year and the water level on the creek has been pretty steady helping us avoid the radical highs of a “normal” spring runoff, bears are active, and we got ‘em on camera. We are looking forward to a productive spring bear season and have just a couple spots still available for June. So, if you don’t have any concrete spring hunting or fishing plans and can get away on short notice, contact us about dates and times for an Idaho spring bear hunt with us! Cure Cabin Fever with an Idaho Spring Bear Hunt The first day of spring is officially here! It has been a long time coming and it can mean only 1 thing: Idaho Spring bear hunting season 2023 is literally only days away! With this winter feeling like it has been the longest winter in the history of all mankind…at least here in Challis, Idaho, cabin fever is running rampant, and we are ready to get out, start setting bear baits, shoeing horses and mules, riding colts, setting camps and simply enjoying watching mother nature come back to life after a long winter’s siesta. Spring Bear Drop Camps With Idaho’s 2021 spring bear season beginning this week, we are grateful that we are pretty much booked up on our guided hunts, but new for 2021, we are offering spring bear drop camps for those DIY hunters who to prefer the challenge of hunting on their own and more of the spot and stalk element of bear hunting. This is a more affordable option over guiding, puts you in charge of your own schedule and may just be the ticket for that pent up wintertime cabin fever! The End of Winter and the beginning of Spring Bear Hunts Anybody else getting antsy yet? I sure as hell am. Stuck working in the cold and watching the weather roll in everyday, just daydreaming of spring. Down here in Texas we don't get “spring fever” the same as our friends up north. The grass has been green mostly all year, and we have only had a few days that dropped below 30. But I still get worked up being stuck down here in the mud. I want to be in the mountains. Idaho Spring Black Bear Hunting The application deadline for Idaho controlled-hunt, spring bear tags is February 15. Fortunately for all of us, most Idaho black bear tags are sold over-the-counter (OTC). This includes tags for units 28 and 27, where Castle Creek and Wild Idaho Outfitters conduct their bear hunts. The reduced-price or “wilderness tag” is good for all of Unit 27 and those portions of Unit 28 within the Frank Church Wilderness, as well as within most designated wilderness areas in the state of Idaho. Castle Creek Outfitters' First Spring Black Bear Hunt of 2018 This last week (May 13-18) was quite a milestone for us here at Castle Creek Outfitters. It was our first hunt since George, Caleb, and myself bought the business and what a hunt it was. Comment (0)