I've gotten out of the habit, but I used to always ride with a .40 strapped to my leg. Snakes, coyote, feral dogs and feral people are out there...

 

I would ride with a gun (.38 special or .357 maybe) in a hip holster if I were a cowboy :cowboy: or a fanny pack if I were just a non-cowboy rider out in the boonies. There are bad people and bad animals in the world.

The old cowboy guns were .45 Colt Peacemakers, single action. I'd have a stainless modern Colt double action to be prudent. I might also have a Winchester 30-30 saddle-ring carbine lever-action rifle in the scabbard.

Real cowboys also wear ten-gallon hats, not helmets. I would expect to get laughed to high heaven :Angel: if I were to show up for a cowboy job sporting a fanny pack though.

 

In Canada, it's illegal to carry a handgun. So you would have to have a scabbard & a rifle. Only hunters do that.

 

Depends on what your doing that day.

I've always wondered what a ten gallon hat is. I picture the character "Hoss" on the show Bonanza. He wore a hat with an open crown that made the hat look big.

I don't know what kind of gun is a "hog leg," either. I've heard that in old westerns.

 

I'll carry a gun when I get a concealed carry permit. There are hogs in my area, but when riding in the woods I've never had snakes or coyotes or anything bother me. We do have bears, bobcats, cougars, and things like that, but I've only ever seen a bobcat once and never a bear in our area.

"Feral people" as someone said, would be my main concern.

I don't know what kind of gun is a "hog leg," either. I've heard that in old westerns.

I'm pretty sure it's referring to a sawed off shotgun or rifle. The barrel is cut down so it can be worn like a pistol. It's still rather big and cumbersome compared to the colt peacemaker models common at the time, but a lot of "cool" characters in westerns seem to have them.

Another similar term is "mare's leg", which was solely used to describe gun used by Steve McQueen's character in the western, "Wanted: Dead or Alive". It's actually a good show and I'm mad that it's not available on Amazon Prime.

 

It wouldn't surprise me either way......around here a lot of trail riders carry guns! Not me, and I ride alone much of the time, but I've seen so many people '"packin" on a ride that it no longer surprises me. :shrug:

 

Can't say about other areas but where I live...
The "cowboys" do indeed ride armed with a gun on hip.
Feral pig, coyotes, snake, alligator, bear and a host of other predators are not afraid of humans here, some will challenge.
Sorry, but riding with gun in fanny pack does you no good when you have to stop to unzip and retrieve...:icon_rolleyes:
Seconds count when you are confronted with a animal meaning to take you down.

Now, sadly I know there have been times they have had to shoot a cow in the field who had issues to severe and was suffering...we don't do suffering.
Suffering is ended as fast and painlessly as it can be accomplished...a gunshot and suffering has ended.

I don't know if rifles are also kept astride as a everyday tool...
I'm sure in certain areas and doing certain tasks they are present, just not sure it is a everyday-tool on hand here.
:runninghorse2:...

 

Seconds count when you are confronted with a animal meaning to take you down.


I've seen quite a few wild animals out riding and never felt threatened by ANY of them. Could it happen, sure. But I'm much more likely to die of cancer or a car wreck. I think the risk of wild animals is wayyyyyyyyy over-rated.

I've seen bears 3-4 times........they always ran. Now those are black bear, so grizzlies are probably a whole 'nother kettle of fish! But we don't have those in Arizona.

I've seen badger, rattlesnakes, coyotes, deer, elk.

I love to bugle for elk on horseback during the rut. Last year I was in a hunting store and when I asked the employee where the elk calls were and told him what I was doing he told me I was going to get "horned!" Well, anything is possible I suppose but I've been enjoying the rut by bugling for elk on horseback for 20 years now. :smile: Even the bulls, once they see you are not an elk, are out of there! I've had some cute little elk calves run up within about 20 feet of me though......at that point you are more worried about your horse spooking.

Rattlesnakes have such a bad wrap but I've never had one bother me and I've lived in Arizona my whole life. If you keep your hands out of dark places and keep your dogs away from them, they are generally no problem. They could bite if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time but generally they are peaceful creatures. I always thought it polite that they rattled......like "hey, I'm hear, don't step on me." Most snakes don't do that.

Coyotes are pretty cool. I've had them "shadow me" and follow me on horseback and in the city I saw them following bicyclists. But never saw them as an actual threat. Now for sure they would go after calves or other small livestock. So for a cowboy they could be a problem......not for the cowboy but for his livestock.

No feral hogs or gators here, thank goodness.

I had a javelina circle around me and my horse once, grunting and breathing heavy. That was pretty creepy! Oddly, the horse didn't care. Which was great, because I was a bit worried about it! My Dad, who has hunted them, said their eyesight is poor and it probably had babies to protect. I rarely ever see javelina, and that was the most memorable encounter.


Anyway, the risk of wild animal attacks, at least in Arizona, are pretty remote. Driving a car is much more dangerous and people don't seem to worry much about that.


PS. I've never seen a live mountain lion, I would love to see one! Saw one that got hit by a car once and it was gorgeous.

 

Seconds count when you are confronted with a animal meaning to take you down.


I've seen quite a few wild animals out riding and never felt threatened by ANY of them. Could it happen, sure. But I'm much more likely to die of cancer or a car wreck. I think the risk of wild animals is wayyyyyyyyy over-rated.

I've seen bears 3-4 times........they always ran.

I've seen badger, rattlesnakes, coyotes, deer, elk.

Rattlesnakes have such a bad wrap but I've never had one bother me and I've lived in Arizona my whole life. If you keep your hands out of dark places and keep your dogs away from them, they are generally no problem.

Coyotes are pretty cool. So for a cowboy they could be a problem......not for the cowboy but for his livestock.

No feral hogs or gators here, thank goodness.

Here feral pig is a big problem.
They rip apart livestock, will go after a horse or dog if they cross paths in some areas, more often than not.
When riding trails, we are very aware of the ground appearance around us and how our horses are acting...
When mine is antsy and jittery it is a justified warning to take notice..

Alligators...well, let us hope he is not in feeding mode or you have a very large and fast adversary chasing you down.

Coyotes...well, last weekend they challenged my neighbor in the pasture.
She pulled her gun and shot the ground in front of it and it took off...but it had a intent in mind with body posture it exhibited. She didn't want to hurt it as she also could see the young, "kits?" waiting a distance away...so looking for food to feed the family.

Snakes, I don't like snakes but they have a purpose here too.
If they leave me alone I do the same. If aggressive they will pay the price...
And...my uncle was walking through his front-yard this past August...and was bit by a rattlesnake.
He lives in a housing development area...not acreage like me.
Never saw it, never heard it..but a strike.
He spent 5 days in the hospital and 2 units of anti-venom that I know of administered...he said it hurt like a son-of-a-gun.
I don't want to find out firsthand...do be careful since rattlers are not just in dark places.

Wildlife are often more afraid or us than we are of them, but that one who is different is not the time you want to encounter and not be prepared to defend yourself...
It ultimately is your life at stake and that of your horse is mounted.
:runninghorse2:...

 

The sheepherders on my friend's ranch in Utah insisted on being issued rifles after a cougar jumped and cut up a couple of their horses one night.

 

In spite of the Cowboy Andy book author's not liking guns, and association of them with criminal elements, I bet at least 75% of all cattlemen, farmers and sheepmen in America have at least one rifle, handgun or shotgun. The woman who wrote that fiction kiddie book probably watched too many cowboy films and associated guns with pistol dueling, bank robberies, stagecoach robberies, train robberies and gunfights.

I can't fancy any agrarian (rustic) in America to be not armed and I'm all in favor of being armed for law-abiding purposes.

Cowboys, guns, ten-gallon hats, high-heeled pointed boots, chaps, silver spurs, horses, rotgut and rattlesnakes seem to all go together.

 

Absolutely! Where I live you carry a gun anytime you're up in the mountains. We've gone hiking in the very foothills of the mountains before and come across wolves and mountain lion tracks before(Not to mention snakes! Those are everywhere.). My father always carried a pistol with him on his belt, and always kept one in the car whenever we went somewhere just in case. (In Montana it's legal to carry a firearm around w/o a concealed carry as long as it's clearly visible, not sure about other states.)

Most of the cowboys/cowgirls/ranchers I know always carry a gun up in the mountains. Even if it's not for protection - if an animal breaks a leg or injures itself beyond repair - it's better to have a gun than to not in those situations. All the range-riders I know usually carry pistols or a 22 as well during the summer while they're up in the hills.

 

In my country it is forbidden, sadly. But I do ride with a fanny pack, lol. The only big predator here is the wolf and I have never encountered one. We have one species of posionous snake and also never encountered one. The only nasty thing you can encounter are annoying people, but I hit them in the face whit my whip and fanny pack. Problem solved.

 

I've tried giving my horse water from my cowboy hat. An entire quart canteen of water doesn't fill a cowboy hat very far. To be honest...Mia slurped a little out, then sneezed boogers all over my hat. Nothing quite like putting a cowboy hat covered in horse boogers back on your head....

Haven't tried it since. YMMV.

 

I had a mare that would drink beer out of a bottle. She didn't mess with our soda tho.

Tango tries to drink from my Gatorade bottles. He'll steal it if I set it down, but hasn't mastered the art of tilting it up to pour. ☺

 

Ever see true grit?? The 1847 colt walker she carrys in a bag is a "hog leg"
A large caliber and long barrel. A very large pistol.

Then there are Horse Pistols. a large pistol carried at the pommel of the saddle by a rider.

A mares leg is a lever action rifle with the stock cut off after the lever and a barrel shorter than 16 inches. It is classified as a lever-action pistol. The latest one I have seen is made by Henry Rifle Co. and is a .410 gauge. So you basically have a .410 shotgun. and can shot any .410 ammo from bird shot to slugs to defensive loads that have flat copper discs and bird shot in one shell.

The price of .410 shells is more expensive than 12 gauge shells. almost double here.

 

Ever see true grit?? The 1847 colt walker she carrys in a bag is a "hog leg"
A large caliber and long barrel. A very large pistol.

Then there are Horse Pistols. a large pistol carried at the pommel of the saddle by a rider.

A mares leg is a lever action rifle with the stock cut off after the lever and a barrel shorter than 16 inches. It is classified as a lever-action pistol. The latest one I have seen is made by Henry Rifle Co. and is a .410 gauge. So you basically have a .410 shotgun. and can shot any .410 ammo from bird shot to slugs to defensive loads that have flat copper discs and bird shot in one shell.

The price of .410 shells is more expensive than 12 gauge shells. almost double here.

Also a gun that did not exist at all until Steve McQueen asked to have it made for a film and from what I understand, in reality, is not practical at all.

 

In Kansas we have an open carry law and you can carry anytime as long as it is visible. As far as when riding a horse the answer is yes (usually a pistol), sometimes if I'm out checking pastures and cattle. With 4 wheeler I have a pistol and rifle on it all the time. The only way I will put cattle down is if I'm absolutely sure it will never get up again. Otherwise I will do everything in my power to keep it alive. Dead cattle equals no money. I have several neighbors that have trouble putting one down when necessary and I usually get called to be the "Angel of death" it is a necessary evil. As Far as hogs or coyotes I dispatch those regularly as they can be hard on livestock.

 

Too late to edit my previous post.

It was the Colt Paterson revolver that was large and unwieldy. The Walker was an improvement on the design.

You can see by the shape of it how it came by the nickname.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_Paterson

 

I saved the top of a box that a Stetson hat came in with a picture of a rider giving his horse a drink from his Stetson. Title: Last drop from a Stetson.


On a difficult waterless ride on Hondo early on, I had a liter of water that I wasn't going to need. The urge struck me and I gave it to him out of my hat. He slurped up the last drop and seemed to really appreciate it.


Three of us met three other ranchers from a neighboring ranch to do a joint ride. All had catahoula dogs. The two groups began fighting almost immediately. A party from the other ranch pulled his gun and announce, "I'm gonna shoot". I didn't hear him but both Hondo and I heard the shot. Hondo did pretty well. The shot was in the air and the dogs stopped fighting and never started again. So that's one reason to pack.

 

Another bit on the 10 gallon hat.

When I was a teen, we took our horses to the state fair to compete in the 4-H state championship. One day, I was walking the carnival parts of the fair. I payed to throw some balls at a clown in a dunking booth. This clowns gimmick was to hurl insults at anyone throwing balls trying to drop him into the water.

I was never any good at throwing a ball, and the clown had a field day with me. I was dressed in my western outfit, including a big cowboy hat.

The clown yelled “Hey! Where did you find a 10 gallon hat to fit your 20 gallon head?”

I thought it was hilarious, but I couldn’t let it stand. I went back to the family and recruited my younger brother. He didn’t care for horses, but he enjoyed going to the fair. He was also an all star little league baseball pitcher.

I told him I’d pay for the balls for as long as he wanted to throw them. I stood behind my brother so the clown would know it was ME bankrolling the multiple dunkings he was getting.

I used up most of my spending money, but it sure was fun.

 

^^ The ad forgot to show what it looked like when he put the hat back on....:cheers:

 

MOD NOTE

Some posts have been removed and some posts have been edited.

The question asked is OK and relevant but any comments, no matter how subtle or remote, that could turn the thread into a gun control debate will be removed.

 

The farm animals at the nativity scene were LIVE but the people were fake.

 

"Once you've seen what the real deal should look like, the anachronisms are easy to spot."

So are the saddles under the blankets when the Indians are riding "bareback" with stirrups peeking out from under the blanket...

But there was also some great stunt riding, and some of the old western stars were genuinely good riders.

 

Some were riders and cowboys before they were in Hollywood.


Others... *coughJohnWaynecough* were allergic to horses or didn't like horses at all.

 

John Wayne didn't LIKE horses, but he was a decent rider. Grew up riding them, too. Had some on a ranch he owned and rode them, sometimes. He did at least some cowboy work before becoming a movie star:

“I was hired on as an assistant for a George O’Brien western (I was actually hired as an actor but it was understood I would act as an Assistant – a scrounger, today they would call them a location manager). One of my jobs was to get 400 head of cattle into Blue Canyon which was 150 miles from any paved road. A preacher who had a little church on the Hopi reservation agreed to help me gather them. In gathering those cattle, we horsebacked into Monument Valley. … It was during the making of this picture, in which I was assistant as well as riding in the posse, that I personally rode through Monument Valley.” The film was 1930’s Lone Star Ranger. [Tim Lilley, The Big Trail, Vol VI, No 1, June 1989]

But...if given a choice, he preferred night clubs to riding horses.

 

John Wayne didn't LIKE horses, but he was a decent rider. Grew up riding them, too. Had some on a ranch he owned and rode them, sometimes. He did at least some cowboy work before becoming a movie star:

“I was hired on as an assistant for a George O’Brien western (I was actually hired as an actor but it was understood I would act as an Assistant – a scrounger, today they would call them a location manager). One of my jobs was to get 400 head of cattle into Blue Canyon which was 150 miles from any paved road. A preacher who had a little church on the Hopi reservation agreed to help me gather them. In gathering those cattle, we horsebacked into Monument Valley. … It was during the making of this picture, in which I was assistant as well as riding in the posse, that I personally rode through Monument Valley.” The film was 1930’s Lone Star Ranger. [Tim Lilley, The Big Trail, Vol VI, No 1, June 1989]

But...if given a choice, he preferred night clubs to riding horses.

He was quite the guy, wasn't he? My husband isn't the type to hero-worship anyone, but he'll freely tell anyone John Wayne IS his hero.

He was also the looker as a young man too. Grrr

 

I just now realized where you be, @jgnmoose! You're not that far from me.


Also, my husband bought one of those big country cowboy hats the year we made the road trip to Jackson, Wyoming. He wears the HECK out of it.

I need to find him a turkey feather to tuck into the hat band.

But for date night, he's pulling out the 30 year old straw Resistol (summer) or the silverbelly or his black felt Stetson (Cattleman style). I prefer the black one on him.

 

John Wayne never made a movie I didn't like. The night before my oldest daughter was born we went to the drive-in and saw Big Jake. My favorites are The Cowboys, True Grit and The 3 Godfathers. Oh hell, I like em all. My favorite straw hat Chris Le Doux signed in a little bar he was singing at, man he hit some dives and put on a great show. The bar was so small the band was only about 10' away. My favorite wool felt has a fairly straight brim with a small dip in the front and back. By the way the year my wife and I were horse barn managers at our county fair Garth Brooks sang. The stage was in the rodeo arena and the were so few people there he invited everyone down to gather around his "stage" and we were about 20-30' away. Only hit he had the was " Much too young to feel this darn old". Great show! We saw him several times after that but, they were all sell out shows.

 

Here is two boars fighting over a sow at one of my favorite deer stands on our place. The sow is laying down behind them if you look close.

 

In my experience, working cowboys almost always have a firearm close at hand if not actually on their person. The odds of needing it are pretty small, but if you do need it, no help is coming for a long time. Feral hogs weren't a thing yet when I moved out of Oklahoma but feral dogs were very common and they can be extremely dangerous because they don't have any fear of humans. Venomous snakes are always a consideration as well. Given the opportunity, they will almost always slither away but sometimes they're where you need to be. I've had the experience of finding a rattlesnake coiled up against the post I needed to reattach a wire to. On the ranch I also shot armadillos on sight. My father lost a good horse to a shattered leg after stepping in an armadillo hole. I get it -- armadillos have a right to exist but not where they threaten my livelihood. I had a few encounters with poachers and illegal fishermen and while none of them got very hostile, I feel better knowing that at least I have a chance if they are belligerent. On a ranch in rural Oklahoma law enforcement will get there in an hour or so if you're lucky, assuming they can even find you, never mind that you may not have cell phone coverage and have no way to call them. Similarly, if you're snakebitten or attacked by a dog medical care is a looooong time away. I take fewer chances with wildlife under those circumstances and I'm a little more prone to shoot when I wouldn't if I were in my back yard. In my experience, most ranchers and working cowboys have a similar mindset.

 

In my experience, working cowboys almost always have a firearm close at hand if not actually on their person. The odds of needing it are pretty small, but if you do need it, no help is coming for a long time. Feral hogs weren't a thing yet when I moved out of Oklahoma but feral dogs were very common and they can be extremely dangerous because they don't have any fear of humans. Venomous snakes are always a consideration as well. Given the opportunity, they will almost always slither away but sometimes they're where you need to be. I've had the experience of finding a rattlesnake coiled up against the post I needed to reattach a wire to. On the ranch I also shot armadillos on sight. My father lost a good horse to a shattered leg after stepping in an armadillo hole. I get it -- armadillos have a right to exist but not where they threaten my livelihood. I had a few encounters with poachers and illegal fishermen and while none of them got very hostile, I feel better knowing that at least I have a chance if they are belligerent. On a ranch in rural Oklahoma law enforcement will get there in an hour or so if you're lucky, assuming they can even find you, never mind that you may not have cell phone coverage and have no way to call them. Similarly, if you're snakebitten or attacked by a dog medical care is a looooong time away. I take fewer chances with wildlife under those circumstances and I'm a little more prone to shoot when I wouldn't if I were in my back yard. In my experience, most ranchers and working cowboys have a similar mindset.

Cottonmouths are the ones that concern me the most. In wet areas around trails, they'll be camped out, warning us as we ride by - coiled, head up, mouth open to display that white mouth and fangs... one wrong move and they'll not be content to just warn - they'll actually attack.


Armadillos - I have never in my life wanted to shoot one so much as I did a couple of weekends ago. Seems like we saw at least a half dozen, every ride out, and in the middle of the day (They're usually nocturnal). Sorry suckers looked like giant roley-poley bugs, rooting around like pigs, and then they'd realize we'd walked up on them and they'd jump straight up and then bolt out across our paths. ALL the horses were already on high alert - lots of predator sign every single day we rode. They had trouble holding it together when the dillos would freak out because of the very fresh (Often just minutes old) bobcat, coyote, and hog sign.

Feral Humans - it's not unheard of for there to be very unsavory, very dangerous people doing very illegal things in the deep woods and on ranches too large for the owners to patrol every acre of them here in Oklahoma. I can remember in the 80s and 90s (And probably the 70s) the patches of marijuana were heavily guarded, well concealed, and might even be rigged with booby traps learned by Vietnam vets... they brought the knowledge home with them. You could stumble into a patch, MAYBE ON YOUR OWN LAND and get very seriously hurt. Weed is less of an issue these days, and meth labs are usually not out in the rural areas, but it can happen. I'd rather have a gun and not need it than need it and not have it.

LEOs in Oklahoma... or N. Texas - you may indeed wait 45 - 55 minutes for help to arrive. Mostly because some counties are so big, and the areas you ride so remote, it may take that long to get to you, and yes - that's if you even have a way to call out. Most of the places I camp aren't that far off the beaten path (A few miles, no more), and yet? No signal. It's infuriating. I'm going to look into getting a signal booster on my trailer for just that reason.