Buying a Mule

[Bigbull]

Me and a friend are planning on buying a pack mule shortly. Neither one of us are experienced in this arena. We plan to use this mule for packing on big game hunts, primarily elk.

Because we are unexperienced, we are looking to pay the piper for a good trained mule. Currently, we were considering buying a mule somewhere around 8 years old from 3MLivestock in Bly, Oregon. Does anybody have any experience with 3M Livestock?

Also, if we plan on feeding the mule every day, how much ground does it need to run around on (we are planning on giving it a small covered area too).

If you guys have input on my questions, I would love to hear what you have to say.

Thanks,

Bigbull

 

[Ftguides]

Don't buy a "high dollar" mule. First off, it's almost impossible for you to tell if its worth the money. I'm wrong half the time and I've owned hundreds over my lifetime. Second, there isn't an 8 year old mule on this earth that has enough experience for a first time packer.

Go out and find a mule with 2-4 seasons left in them, even if it means some TLC. Go to your vet and buy some bute to help them recover during and after your hunts. Find one that has the disposition of a Labrador, has had meat on their back, has spent more time in hobbles than in a barn, and half flicks an ear at a gun shot. That is what you need. Some old mule out of a string that can't hold up to the work anymore is going to be a lot safer and cheaper. A couple of normal hunters won't work an old mule enough in a season to do them any harm.

If you don't have a 4+ acres of area for them, don't get horses/mules. They can survive in tiny paddocks, but they don't do well and the shit will pile up beyond belief.

hope that helps,

cliff

 

[MULEPACKHUNTER]

Get 2 lamas instead

 

[wyosteve]

Ditto to what's been said and if you have no equine experience, a mule is not the animal to start with. Would be a lot easier to find a good horse that will pack so you can learn.

 

[theleo91386]

First: Like others have said, I don't recommend you start out with mules. There's a lot going on in between those ears and even a good one will take advantage of a newbie.

Second: Don't make this a you and your buddy sort of thing. You can do this to add to your hunting arsenal but it takes more time and dedication than just throwing a pack on an animal come hunting season and going. YOU need to develop your skills around the animal, YOU need to be going out during the spring and summer making sure you and the animal are ready for hunting season, and YOU need to learn how to pack it. One of you becomes the animals owner/packer and the other can take on full time cook chores or something else. It's hard enough for an animal to deal with one new guy learning and making mistakes with it but two guys handling it that don't have any experience is a great recipe for disaster.

Third: The best thing you can do if you're truly serious about this is to look up your local Back Country Horsemen group. Going on some trail projects with them will expose you to horse people, their animals, and some packing. The side benefit to it is that you'll also really up your knowledge on the trail system around you and have people with decades of knowledge about the back country around there to talk with.

Fourth: Mules and horses are a lot happier with a buddy. Home life would be better if you get two animals instead of just one. If you're truly dedicated to doing this I'd highly recommend you get two animals. Buy one animal you can ride and one dedicated animal to pack (two riding animals would be better but more expensive). You can pack both during hunting season and they'll be a lot nicer to deal with in camp with your friend. The times you got out solo you can take both and cover a big chunk of country riding one and packing the other.

If you're not really wanting to be an owner I'd recommend you buddy up with someone who is and use their expertise. Considering how close you are to the Umpqua, I'm sure you could probably work out some sort of trip exchange.

 

[Bigbull]

Well, you guys definitely have us reconsidering and likely changing course.

My buddy had a little exposure to horses growing up, as he grew up on a farm. I did not have any exposure growing up, but I did go on a nine mile pack in on a wilderness elk hunt two years ago with a friend that had stock.

My buddy did almost all the work with the horses, but I did get a good feel for what gos in to everything once you get to the trail head. I especially learned how bad things can go with bad stock and an inexperienced person handling the stock. We had multiple serious wrecks, and I lost the G1s off of a 340 bull I killed when a horse tried to lay down with the bull head on its back, which caused the tines to stab the horse. The horse then freaked out in a major way, which caused other animals to freakout. It then ran off for some time. I now know that tying the bull head on to a horse the correct way is a majorly important skill. If I were to do it again, I would be certain we could tie the bull head on correctly. If there was any doubt, I would just put the head on my back.

If we did go ahead an get a mule/horse, which I don't think we will at this point, I would not plan on hauling much of anything beyond what can fit in a pannier. I would put all the meat (and cape) on the horse and probably just carry the head myself. The same thing would apply to the gear; keeping the items that can't fit in a pannier to an extreme minimum. Also, we would not plan on riding the horse/mule. It would only be used as a pack animal to help reduce the chances of a serious accident.

Anyway, what I explained above is most likely mute at this point. We are probably headed back toward goats or llamas (which was the original plan until my buddy got me headed towards mules!!), and most likely llamas because you can't rent goats in my area and their does not seem to be much of a market for ready to go pack goats.

Thanks for the comments fellas. I showed them to my buddy, and it really helped in convincing him that horses/mules were probably not the way to go.

Bigbull

 

[MULEPACKHUNTER]

Just an FYI, mules are not that big of a deal, I had one horse and was a first generation cowboy. My second animal was my first mule, since I have had 1 other horse and 3 mules. I now have 3 mules. I had little experience and I made it fine. It is important that if you have any animal that gets stupid and is not safe or you don't trust just get rid of it. Find someone selling who will take you riding or packing and let you spend some time with the animals. Also do some research on what to look for if an animal is under the influence of ace, or bute or the like. This is a big problem with auctions and sales and also some individuals. I rode a mule my buddy bought that was on drugs and it was the smoothest mule of all time. We got him home and were never able to get a saddle near him again. Lol lesson learned. We did return that one with some resistance. If you can make it to az for a day or two I would be happy to take the time to go over packing and riding. Hit me up.

 

[danarnold]

I don't know squat about mules, in 15 I went to Colorado for archery elk with my wife's cousin and his mules with me thinking we would get in further than most people wanted to walk , what a complete pain in the ass/learning experience it was.
This guy has had animals for over 20 years and riding them maybe four times a year isn't enough to make them give a shit about people ,He had a real tall stud that would not cross any stream even 1' wide, bucked him off after hearing his water bottle crinkle in his pack and scraped him off on Cedar branch instead of walking through some wet dirt.
The amount of labor associated with feeding, tying them up and preparing them for the day was not worth any of the trouble on this particular excursion.
He also brought his 200 pound daughter along that couldn't do any of these chores by herself so someone had to make up for that daily. In my opinion you to have to be dedicated with them year-round to have a quality animal for what you're describing