Cow Country

[RanchRoper]

Thanks, I'll keep digging some up. Just some background stuff that comes to mind....at the north end of the lease on that ranch is where most of the wolf activity takes place. The north "pasture" is about 7,000 acres, mostly bush and some steep hills, and about a 2.5 hr hour ride from the ranch at a long trot. Not accessible by vehicles so you can't haul your horses up there for work all day, you have to ride to the cattle, and then ride home. So a typical work day up there can easily be 10 or 12 hours and the longest one I ever spent was about 14 hours round trip. We spent some of that day pulling my mare out of a bog. Aside from the ride up and back, your day is spent looking for cattle, checking spring fed water tanks, maybe restoring the flow if they are plugged up, and it's not uncommon to have to treat a few sick cows. If we were riding in pairs we could head and heel them, but if not you treat them by yourself. Mostly foot-rots, so you rope them, trip them, tie off your horse and needle them with some antibiotics. Then we tie a ribbon on the ear tag so we know we treated it for next time. Long, but very rewarding days. I have not been there since 2013 (I work with some other guys now), and with cows and calves we were not having nearly the problems with wolves that we had with yearlings. I guess mama cow can get ugly when she has to. I hear that they are now again having wolf problems. The packs seem to travel around quite a bit and once they find a good area where they can settle in for awhile they do. I once saw a pack of 9 trotting along a distant hillside. Also came up on 2 that had taken a calf down one time. They don't stick around when they see riders, they are very quick. The ranch hired the fish & wildlife guys to track them one time, and they brought in a helicopter. They said the wolves would duck under logs and dead-fall, and peek out and UP at the chopper. They knew the threat was in the air and to hide UNDER something. Amazingly smart animals. There is a very healthy grizzly population as well. They follow the wolves around, push them off the kills and feast. I watched a full grown grizzly one time on a dead cow carcass (we think she was hit by lightning), and after awhile I rode off across a thick treed hillside heading east. As I was navigating the trees and bush, I saw that same bear running full bore across the valley bottom, flying leap across a wide creek, and over to another dead carcass that another grizzly was on. The running bear arrived, pushed the other off the carcass and took over. Man can they move fast. Unbelievable fast. In all the years though I only saw 2 cougars. There is lots but they are elusive. I rode into some 5' high thick bushes one time to get some cows out and 2 young grizzlies stood up about 30' away right in front of me. They were eating berries, and just looked at me. I backed out the way I came and got the heck out of there. They were just in the there with the cows and everybody minding their own business. They were young, likely the previous year's twins. Again that was my mare Magic I was riding. She was fearless and never even snorted at the bears. Just kept me safe and out of harms way. Anyhow, there's some Sunday morning rambling for ya....

[Nam Vet]

Keep the photos coming. Great background stories. Living vicariously through you.

[CT_Shooter]

Living vicariously through you.

I think we all are.

[Sir Henry]

Living vicariously through you.

I think we all are.

I wanna be a cowboy when I grow up.

[eldermike]

Beautiful.

[RanchRoper]

Beautiful.

Glad you like them. Thanks.

[RanchRoper]

Some pics my wife took last fall on shipping day. Long day but a good one. Calves go off to feedlot for winter.

I'll just add a little detail; we started about 8am at some sorting pens about a half hour south of the owners ranch. We saddle and load at the owners place (I always saddle at home and haul my horse saddled) and then we load the horses into a couple of stock trailers and haul to the pens. Once we unload, we head off into the hills and gather everything. It took about 2 hours to gather that day. Pretty normal. We push everything down to the pens and sort the calves. Calves go into 1 pen and cows go into another. It is very noisy with cows and calves bawling all day. The calves are about 400 lbs by now and first time separated from mama. Then we wait for the brand inspector, and once he arrives we run the calves by him in small groups so he can check brands. He looks to see that the brands have been applied correctly and are easy to read. Also checks to make sure that they are the right brand. After he's done we move them into a chute where they end up in a large cattle hauler. Then off they go to the feedlot where they'll eat all winter. At the feedlot, pen riders will ride through them every day, several times a day and watch for sickness. Sick ones are cut out and treated with medicines so they get healthy again.
Sorting cattle in pens on shipping day or any other time is hard work for horses, and raises their stress level. It's close quarters, they get bumped around by cows and the noise level is hard on them. You have to give your horse a break now and again. It's easy to get your horse kicked in there too. I've seen horses over the years take a cow kick in the leg and be out for the season. Anyhow, there's some details for you folks, a little backstory to the photos.

[PT7]

Very cool hat you're wearing, RanchRoper.
Would you please share what style and brand it is?

And I think I just remember "where" I saw one before. I think it was worn by one of the actors in the third round of the "Back to the Future" movies, by the fellow who portrayed Fox's grandpa or great-grandpa, I think. Anyway, I thought that looked cool there, too.

[RanchRoper]

Very cool hat you're wearing, RanchRoper.
Would you please share what style and brand it is?

And I think I just remember "where" I saw one before. I think it was worn by one of the actors in the third round of the "Back to the Future" movies, by the fellow who portrayed Fox's grandpa or great-grandpa, I think. Anyway, I thought that looked cool there, too.

Haha. Thanks. JB Stetson was credited with the first real cowboy hat back in the 1800's. It was the "Boss of the Plains" and was about a 5" open crown with a 4" flat brim. Hard use put the dents in them and they took on a shape of their own. Mine is an old style, custom made by Tonto Rim and is a 7" open crown and 5" brim with a pencil rolled edge. Very old style often seen in old B+W photos or old B westerns from the 20's or 30's. I have had a few over the years. A hats a pretty personal thing and I just feel comfortable in that style. But I'm fairly easy to spot in Wal-Mart.

[RanchRoper]

The brand inspector is a friend of mine, we've roped together lots. He looks pretty old timey too. There's a few of us around born a hundred years too late. But if I had been born in the 1800's I guess I'd be sitting here dead right now so it's likely all part of God's plan the way it worked out.