Must Have Rifles for Horseback Hunts

5 Great Rifles for Horseback Hunts. On a familiar trail through burned deadfall to my lookout, where I’d tie my horse and break out the binoculars, the elk were there, 40 yards in front of me, stretched with necks craned to get a better view. Later, cowboys slipped lever-actions designed for horseback use into slim scabbards that rode unobtrusively under the stirrup leathers or vertically in front of the saddle horn. My son bungee-cords a quick-attach bipod to the outside of his scabbard and can bring it into action quickly. Some still would, but I like his preferences: butt forward, scope up, bolt handle away from the horse, the scabbard at a 45-degree angle down at the muzzle so the rifle doesn’t ride directly under your knee. Still slick in and out of the scabbard and easy to scope, it’s capable at moderately long range. It’s hard to beat my Browning A-bolt in .325 WSM, with its short action and 23-inch barrel. Kimber Mountain Ascent For the long-range aficionado, light weight can mitigate long barrels and heavy scopes. The same goes for scoping it with the Bushnell Elite Long Range Hunter with 30mm tube, 3–12x44mm. For leather scabbards, a removable hood to fully enclose the butt is nice when the weather turns sour.

On a familiar trail through burned deadfall to my lookout, where I’d tie my horse and break out the binoculars, the elk were there, 40 yards in front of me, stretched with necks craned to get a better view. Antlers were irrelevant—this was my last weekend of an either-sex hunt, and the freezer was bare.

I piled off my excited gelding, fumbled for a tie-up tree that wouldn’t snap should he pull back, and yanked at a bolt-action rifle jammed into the saddle scabbard. I was quick, but not quick enough. The elk melted into the green timber below.

Western hunts have involved rifles on horseback since Lewis and Clark balanced unwieldy muzzleloaders across the pommels of their saddles. Later, cowboys slipped lever-actions designed for horseback use into slim scabbards that rode unobtrusively under the stirrup leathers or vertically in front of the saddle horn. Now we’ve returned to the unwieldy stage—horseback hunting seems far removed from the minds of those who design firearms and their accessories.

Oversize scopes with extra protruding knobs, bipods, and long barrels are not horse-friendly. Heft, too, is undesirable, in spite of the strength of your equine friend. On a rotund, low-withered horse, you’ll continually stand in the stirrup opposite the rifle scabbard to bring your saddle onto an even keel.

Padded, fully enclosed synthetic scabbards, such as the TrailMax, can accommodate bulky long-barreled rifles. My son bungee-cords a quick-attach bipod to the outside of his scabbard and can bring it into action quickly. (A herd of elk on the far hillside is a powerful motivator.) Still, the added bulk of such a scabbard isn’t without cost—you’ll feel the lump under your stirrup leather, and an aching knee might spoil the campfire that evening.

Jack O’Connor wrote that horseback hunters would go…

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