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I know this may seem a little ridiculous to some it is a pretty good idea if you hunt really rugged country.

I thought about this before but yesterday when I had to tie my horse up on the side of a rocky brushy mountainside and head out on foot to follow the hounds trying to sort out some lion tracks I thought it might help sombody else find their way back to their horse or mule.

I can't say how many times over the years I have reached an area where it was literally impossible to follow the hound any further on the horse so I had to tie up, loosen the cinch drop my chaps and spurs and follow the dogs on foot. Several times it was late in the day or even dark when the tree was made or the dogs were pulled and it was time to go back. Well first a horse may seem like a pretty big object but he disolves and disappears on a mountainside quickly and the trees and rocks begin to look very much the same as you crawl around thru the brush. By attaching an extra tracking collar thru the fork of your saddle or better yet making a definite mark on your GPS you can be sure you can make it back to your trusty steed even in the dark. After clattering around on the hillside for hours you just can't imagine how good it feels to get back in that saddle and let four legs do the work as you watch the scenery go by. LOL!

Thats a good idea,and not just for saddle beasts either.I have left a tracking collar on in the pickup several times just for that occasion,not that much fun wandering around looking for your ride after wandering around looking for your dogs.

Thats one of the only reasons I carry a GPS .. except now I have one of the Astros and it does the same thing.. I always mark where I tie up and where the truck is.. also since I hunt on some ranches I mark gates or what we call horse gates that aren't necessarily on roads.. It sure helps when you get caught out after dark and your trying to get back and you can't find that gate you came through or the trailer...

Excellent point on the gates CV!

I also carry a tool I bought at King Saddlery called a Plammer. It is a wire plier and hammer all in one. I carry some staples and some extra smooth wire with me. I repair a fence if I know they have stock running in the area and it is down, and I have at times had to make my own gate because the blasted BLM and FS forgot that occasionaly they need to put a gate in a fence so sombody can travel thru!

Mike I always like to carry one of those tools too,because for me around here anyway,the oldtimers when they built fence never put gates in corners(where it always seems cows or horses want to go on their own).Maybe cattle back then only walked on trails.LOL Always a pain in the butt to have a bunch gathered up and the gate is 200 yards up the hill in a section fence and they all want to go down hill to a corner.I like to use my GPS and spring branding time to mark where I saw a newborn that is to small to make the trip right then and I don't have time to field brand.

You can also take a couple small pieces of rope and pop the top 2 or 3 strands off the posts and use the rope to cinch them down tight to the bottom strands..then I zip my carhart over the wire and even one of my old fat roping horses can jump the fence.. I've got these mules now and I haven't tried them on any fences but they can sure clear downed logs pretty easy and sure enough seem willing to jump everything so far hopefully all I'll have to do throw a tarp over the top strand..

I will tell you another fix...ride a mule then you can follow the dogs anywhere... Just kidding, great ideas!!!

Mike Leonard wrote:Excellent point on the gates CV!

I also carry a tool I bought at King Saddlery called a Plammer. It is a wire plier and hammer all in one. I carry some staples and some extra smooth wire with me. I repair a fence if I know they have stock running in the area and it is down, and I have at times had to make my own gate because the blasted BLM and FS forgot that occasionaly they need to put a gate in a fence so sombody can travel thru!

plammers pretty much rule. you can stretch with them to. makes fencing on horseback a lot easier cause you dont need to lug your stretchers. plus plammers get your wire 100% tighter cause you don't have to worry bout your "eyes" crumbling in your stretchers. a great invention that was.

Here you go Machias.... I guess you can follow em if you can find them



Thats Mike Bency getting out the tracker..

PLAMMERS! I KNEW SOMEONE WOULD COME UP WITH AN OFFICIAL NAME FOR THEM THINGS. I WORKED ON A RANCH ABOUT TWENTY FIVE YEARS AGO. IT WAS CALLED THE GRANITE CREEK RANCH. CARL ZITLAU OWNED AND OPERATED IT AND IT WAS PASSED DOWN FROM HIS FAMILY. WONDERFUL PLACE, BUT IT WAS KIND OF A LOW BUCK OPERATION WHEN I WORKED THEIR. WE MADE THOSE PLAMMERS OURSELVES BY WELDING A HAMMER HEAD ON TO THE FENCING PLYERS. WORKED LIKE A CHARM. THE HAMMER HAD A LONG BODY WICH WAS GREAT FOR TWISTING UP THAT WIRE TIGHT ENOUGH TO MAKE IT SING. BRINGS BACK A LOT OF MEMORIES THINKING ABOUT THOSE PLAMMERS. I COULD PROBABLY TAKE UP A LOT OF SPACE TELLING STORIES ABOUT WORKING ON THE GRANITE CREEK RANCH.

THAT GPS OR TRACKING COLLAR IDEA IS GOLDEN. LAST YEAR I RUN INTO A GUY WHILE I WAS BEAR HUNTING. HE SAID HE WAS LOOKING FOR HIS HORSE AND IT HAD BEEN THREE DAYS SINCE HE HAD SEEN IT. WE GOT TO TALKING A LITTLE BIT AND HE EXPLAINED WHAT HAD HAPPENED. HE HAD RODE INTO THE BACK COUNTRY FOUR OR FIVE MILES AND COME ON TO SOME ELK THAT WERE REALY CLOSE. HE GOT EXCITED AND JUMPED OFF HIS HORSE AND WAS GETTING HIS FIELD GLASSES OUT BEFORE HE TIED. WELL THE HORSE CAUGHT WIND OF SOMETHING AND SPOOKED. HE WAS BY HIMSELF SO HE WAS LEFT ON FOOT WITH NOTHING. HIS HORSE WAS PACKING A BOW, RIFLE, SADDLEBAGS AND ALL HIS GEAR. THIS ADDED UP TO QUITE A FEW FROG SKINS. BUT WHAT BOTHERED HIM THE MOST WAS HIS SADDLE THAT HIS WIFE HAD BOUGHT HIM FOR AN ANIVERSARY PRESENT. AS FAR AS I KNOW HE NEVER FOUND THAT HORSE.

i carry water for my hounds, in my saddle bags . so the hounds are usually pretty interested in helping find them after a hard day. probably wouldn't work as well in areas with water. i also keep my horses and hounds in the same pens.i can't load one up with out the other raisin hell. they appreciate the horses for their shade giving qualities too. but it sure makes sense to use the tracker/gps

When I hunted with my outfittin buddies and they have clients we always put a tracking collar on in their packs on on there mule. Its come in handy a few times!!

This reminds me of a Big Horn Hunt a buddy and me made way up in the Wilmore Wilderness. I shot a sheep just before dark and by the time we even got close to where we thought the horses were tide it was way past midnight, It took us over two hours to locate the horses and we only did because my buddy's horse had a really white Blaze.
We kept getting glimses of white from this deep dark valley. My tracking system or a GPS would have come in real handing on this hunt.

Also works good in the car of a teenager that you need to keep track of!!!