Jim Taylor
I trained my horses to gunfire ...
Friday, October 31, 2025, 07:45

and I shot from the saddle if I needed to. I shot the Coues Whitetail in the photo from the saddle.

I did not shoot near their heads. I always tried to turn and shoot sideways or toward the rear. The time I shot the Whitetail in the picture above, I was riding down a ridge and the horse suddenly looked to the right. There were two bucks standing there, about 25 feet away. I could see them trembling, getting ready to run. I pulled the .45 and lined up on the closest one and the horse had his head looking the same way. I tried to pull him around so his head wasn't so close and he would not move. That old guy loved to hunt and knew what we were there for. So I fired, ready to bail out of the saddle. The Appy never moved. I got off, cleaned the deer and tied it on the horse. Leading him we walked a couple hundred yards and suddenly he started running backwards, dragging me with him. Tore my pants leg. He finally fetched up against a Mesquite tree and quit running backwards. The saddle was upside down under him and it was a mess.

I got him unloaded, walked uphill a ways and tied him to a tree. Got everything hauled up and re-fastened and screwed down tight and went on home without incident.

I figured out later that his ears stopped ringing and he suddenly was upset. But that was the worst that I had happen.