Hunting Season and Riding

[RDCARRIE@aol.com]

I ride (and work) on a National Forest in East Texas.  We're only about an 
hour north of Houston, so you can imagine the numbers of hunters we get, 
especially on the first few weekends.  The forest up here is pretty thick, 
with not much long-distance visibility compared to the more wide-open country 
in much (not all) of the west.  I continue to ride in the forest sometimes 
during hunting season, but take a few precautions.  I stick to pipeline 
rights-of-way, roads, etc. as much as possible, avoiding single track trail 
(where visibility is less).  I also avoid riding in the forest at all during 
the first few weekends of deer rifle season when there are tons of hunters.  
I don't worry about bow season, since bowhunters have to be very close to 
their target and need a clear shot.  The only concern I have about bowhunters 
is that they are generally very well camoflauged, and I always have a vague 
sense of "exposure" when stopping for a pit stop during bow season.  <G>  I 
also wear an orange vest (would like to find an orange helmet cover if anyone 
has a source).  I saw orange horse safety gear in a catalog last year - one 
piece is kind of like a rump/flank cover, and the other piece covers the 
neck.  I've thought about them, since my horse is chestnut, but worried that 
they'd hold in too much heat (it never really gets cold here in East Texas).  
If anyone is interested, I'll try to find the catalog...it might have been 
Jeffers or something like that.

A couple of people have echoed my sentiments - most hunters are very ethical 
and would not dream of shooting at a target that they have not identified.  I 
used to hunt deer when I lived in Oregon, and was taught (as were most 
hunters) to never aim my rifle at anything that I did not intend to shoot - 
and that included not aiming it at any noise or movement that I had not 
positively identified.  But there is that small percentage that shoots at 
noises - a friend lost their German Shepherd Dog to one of these types a 
couple of years ago - the dog was on their property adjacent to the Nat. 
Forest, and a "hunter" (term used loosely) on the Forest land shot it...then 
tried to defend himself by saying he heard the rustling and thought it was a 
deer.  That's why I stay off single track trails.  But with a few 
precautions, one can likely continue to ride during hunting season in many 
areas.

Dawn in Texas