Cows

BigSky56 · Post by **BigSky56** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 8:41 pm

Checked the owners cows in the mountain pasture this morning something buggered them during the night and put them thru the fence into the hay field , wasnt missing any so it wasnt a lion or wolves probably a bear only a few cuts & scratch's they sure was happy to see a friendly face got the fence fixed . danny

SmokeEater2 · Post by **SmokeEater2** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 8:52 pm

Isn't it nice to be appreciated?

Thanks for the great pics.

DBW · Post by **DBW** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 9:17 pm

When I grow up I think I want to be a cowboy. I was born in the wrong century. <sigh>

mescalero1 · Post by **mescalero1** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 9:29 pm

Danny,
It's always something

kimwcook · Post by **kimwcook** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 9:30 pm

Thanks for the pics, Danny.

I've worked on ranches and I love the lifestyle. I just don't like the payscale.

2ndovc · Post by **2ndovc** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 9:38 pm

DBW wrote:When I grow up I think I want to be a cowboy. I was born in the wrong century. <sigh>

Man ain't that the truth!

I'd a been a great Pirate!

jb

BigSky56 · Post by **BigSky56** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 9:45 pm

Kim, Theres no money in it thats for sure but the perc's are priceless building a pot of coffee from a mtn stream in the morning, hearing the eagles and falcons cry, seeing the wildlife, forking a saddle on a good horse, the life cycle of the stock even dealing with predators and just being in the mtn's. You need to come over and ride this country. danny

JerryB · Post by **JerryB** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 9:46 pm

Great pictures, sometimes it seems like mending fence is a full time job don't it.

kimwcook · Post by **kimwcook** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 10:02 pm

Danny, you're right. I lvied in NoDak for about 10 years and ran around the eastern part of Montana for quite some time, but I haven't played in the western part of the state. Once I'm a little confident one of my two younguns would behave themselves on the trail I'll get a hold of you and see what we can work out. You do live in some beautiful country.

mescalero1 · Post by **mescalero1** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 10:10 pm

Danny,
You have to come down& let me show you the Sacramentos, you would like it.

awp101 · Post by **awp101** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 10:48 pm

2ndovc wrote:
DBW wrote:When I grow up I think I want to be a cowboy. I was born in the wrong century. <sigh>
Man ain't that the truth!

I'd a been a great Pirate!

jb

Perhaps the Dread Pirate Roberts?

BigSky56 · Post by **BigSky56** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 10:49 pm

Mezcalero, I did some work on the Jicarilla res back in the early 80's havent been back since miss the mescal. They got some prime mulie hunting there, If I head back down that way I'll look you up.
Jerry, The moose and elk are hard on fences too wish I had a nickel every time I fixed fence.
Kim, Sore backs and tender feet make for good horses OJT is good for them. danny

mescalero1 · Post by **mescalero1** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 10:55 pm

Ahhhhhhhh,
Mescal!, nothing quite like it , is there?

pokey · Post by **pokey** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 11:45 pm

BigSky56 wrote:Checked the owners cows in the mountain pasture this morning something buggered them during the night and put them thru the fence into the hay field , wasnt missing any so it wasnt a lion or wolves probably a bear only a few cuts & scratch's they sure was happy to see a friendly face got the fence fixed . danny

man, i miss the rocky mountains.

gamekeeper · Post by **gamekeeper** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 3:33 am

BigSky56, I look forward to your posts and photos, it reminds me that there is still a REAL world out there!!

Bruce Scott · Post by **Bruce Scott** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 4:09 am

That's really pretty country and the cows look good too.

When I was a kid the occasional appearance of an emu would always spook our dairy herd. There would be cows,
broken fences and streams of digested grass everywhere...

.
Wasn't at all funny at the time tho'.

BigSky56 · Post by **BigSky56** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 9:56 am

Bruce, the brome and garrisons grass keep them fat soon as I get 3or 4 days rain free I will swath and bale the hayfield to feed back in aug & sept when the grass is gone. danny

GonnePhishin · Post by **GonnePhishin** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 10:54 am

BigSky56,

Dag, but thats BEAUTIFUL country. I was also born one century too late and should have been a cowboy

I'd love to move to Montana but my wife says I'm crazy since its too cold for her. Women.. They're so, so, impractical

kimwcook · Post by **kimwcook** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 12:57 pm

Danny, I agree long rides and wet saddleblankets make for good horses. I just can't seem to find the time to do it. Even though I told myself this year would be different. There's always something to do during my weekends and after I get off work it's like 100 degrees out. Too darn hot to get up the gumption to ride out in the sun. I know, I know, buck up buckey.

Buck Elliott · Post by **Buck Elliott** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 1:50 pm

DBW wrote:When I grow up I think I want to be a cowboy. I was born in the wrong century. <sigh>

You'd soon find that the worst thing about bein' a cowboy is the COWS...

Cowboyin' AIN'T a part-time, whenever-you feel-like-it job. It ain't easy, and it ain't 'romantic' and mostly it ain't even fun.

To quote Mr. Brennan in Monte Walsh: "it is a terrible job, but it's THEIR job..."

Lastmohecken · Post by **Lastmohecken** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 10:13 pm

Yes, does anyone remember, John Wayne in the Cowboys, saying a cow is just a bunch of trouble wrapped up in a leather bag, then he said a horse isn't much better.

Unfortunatly, there is a lot of truth to that. I was raised up on the farm I live on now. We still raise beef cattle, and when I was a child we had dairy cows. And I must say, nothing makes me more agrivated then having cows get out, on to someone's else's property, and fixing fence. And if you have an old rouge cow that likes to crawl through fences, she will always find a way to get out, and take half the herd with her, when she goes.

When I end up with a cow like that, I always sell her, first chance I get. Another problem cow is the one that's wilder then the rest, and always smells a rat, when you are trying to lot a herd. A cow like that will often break for the woods or brush where you can't even take a horse or 4 wheeler, and she will usually take or calf with her, and maybe a few others too. I try to get rid of those cows too.

But I love watching the baby calves in the spring, and I love watching the rear end of that cattle trailer, leaving the farm with another load of animals, bound for the sale barn, in the fall, and then picking up that cattle check.

But I must say, I always hated hogs worse then cattle. I do however appreciate a good horse, but they can also be a nusance, if you let them.

20cows · Post by **20cows** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 10:21 pm

I like cows.

About 20 or so at a time.

BigSky56 · Post by **BigSky56** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 10:55 pm

I have a fix for cows that break from the herd or wont push I sic my cow eating dogs on them and let hem work on them till they bawl a few times that beaks them of that stuff one application of dogs seems to work, good dogs are worth their weight in gold. danny

mescalero1 · Post by **mescalero1** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 11:07 pm

madman4570 · Post by **madman4570** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 11:39 pm

Danny, Your living the good life.
What a lot of us dream about(until you would work us to death)

Anyway---You are one great photographer!
You da man!

Keep sending them pics! (please)

BigSky56 · Post by **BigSky56** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 3:23 pm

4570, Its hard work and when the snow is flying and its 0 and your up every 2 hours calving in the middle of the night makes you wish for summer when you are riding and pushing/watching stock, course the beef eats good. Theres also a benefit to being out in the mountains I know where the elk & mulies are. danny

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 5:22 pm

Cowboyin' is fun if you don't have to do it for a livin'! I've enjoyed every day I've cowboyed for a friend for a day! Hated it when I had to put up with ALL the "extras" that are included when you're doin' it full time!

You guys do live in some beautiful country... I just took my first "non-winter" trip across some of WY's back roads:

Hoback River along US-191

Beautiful home on Hoback River

Hideaway on Snake River along US26/US89

Looking back toward Alpine Jct. from ID.

But, I already miss TX, and I've only been gone about 10 days! Lookin' forward to goin home again.

Lastmohecken · Post by **Lastmohecken** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 6:14 pm

BigSky56 wrote:I have a fix for cows that break from the herd or wont push I sic my cow eating dogs on them and let hem work on them till they bawl a few times that beaks them of that stuff one application of dogs seems to work, good dogs are worth their weight in gold. danny

You're right there, a good cow dog or two, makes all of the difference. I sometimes wish I had a couple, but the trouble with that is, the way we run cattle, we don't need dogs, or even horses, over just a few times a year, and it's hard to justify keeping them around, or even using them enough to make it worthwhile.

20cows · Post by **20cows** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 11:45 pm

and it's hard to justify keeping them around, or even using them enough to make it worthwhile.

Some things just don't need "justification". Cows gave me an excuse for the horse to begin with, but if we got rid of the cows, the horses would still be here as far as I'm concerned.

Hillbilly · Post by **Hillbilly** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 12:21 pm

I second 20 cows... riding a horse a few evenings a week... even just to check fences on 200 acres running 30 pair is good mental treatment. Wife thinks I am nuts and she's probably right.

rangerider7 · Post by **rangerider7** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 1:07 pm

Griff, my wife and I took a trip to Cody, Yellowstone Park and Jackson Hole a few years back. We took about 11 days. It was great. Picked up a pair of Mike Morales spurs too-boot. Then we stopped by Laramie Wyoming and found some more great stuff. We picked up a few more things at different places in Colorado. I kept the best and sold the rest. The profits paid for the trip. I will never forget that trip for the things we found and the things we saw. What beautiful landscapes, I would love to do it all over again.
I guess I'll put my two cents in about cattle. Different breeds act different ways, but all of them are not to bright. Calves are cute, but hell to work with. Horses are great if they are yours. Being outdoors is the biggest reward "MOST" of the time. The day in day out care you must give domesticated animals is required but sometimes down right frustrating.

BigSky56 · Post by **BigSky56** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 12:12 am

Rider, I also prefer crossbreeds bout the best is black baldies wf/angus cross good mothers and they hustle the hills for forage and put out alot of milk for the calves. danny

Kansas Ed · Post by **Kansas Ed** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 1:12 am

Sumthing spooked the cows....run em through the fence...sounds like it's time for Mr. Sharps

Ed

RIHMFIRE · Post by **RIHMFIRE** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 7:23 am

Gods Country for sure....
Your a lucky man...to live in a place like that...
I have been trying to get to Montana
since the early eighties....

I am getting tired of the heat....the hurricanes
and the two pound skeeters while hunting in the
Florida swamps

Hows the hunting in your neck of the woods?

Buck Elliott · Post by **Buck Elliott** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 11:06 am

Griff wrote:Cowboyin' is fun if you don't have to do it for a livin'! I've enjoyed every day I've cowboyed for a friend for a day! Hated it when I had to put up with ALL the "extras" that are included when you're doin' it full time!

You guys do live in some beautiful country... I just took my first "non-winter" trip across some of WY's back roads:

Hoback River along US-191

Beautiful home on Hoback River

Hideaway on Snake River along US26/US89

Looking back toward Alpine Jct. from ID.

But, I already miss TX, and I've only been gone about 10 days! Lookin' forward to goin home again.

Dang!!!

Don't go showin' pitchers of The Hoback on here... You'll have every looky-loo flatlander in the country wantin' to sell out & MOVE here, turnin' Paradise into what it was they couldn't wait to get shut of...!!!

Don McDowell · Post by **Don McDowell** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 11:20 am

Griff you should of seen that Hoback country before it got totally wrecked the way it is now.

Those meadows were full of hay pens, no big pretty mansions for the pretty people to come to if/when the felt like........ Course that was back in the day when a beef sold for real money, and a person could almost make a living on them without much outside income.
Same for most of the mtn country, Cody,Buffalo,Sheridan, Afton etal, used to be pretty good country to hang around now its probably quiter and less disturbed in Minneapolis, or San Diego......
I mean shoot what is there 6 or 7 stoplights in Jackson now?

Idiot · Post by **Idiot** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 12:00 pm

BigSky56, that'd be beautiful country if it weren't so darn green. But thanks for the pictures just the same.

Now if you're looking for cattle country, take a look at the Owyhee desert in northern Nevada southern Idaho. Now that country is still as big and as wide as it ever was. And the best part is, no Ted Turner types like it, and it doesn't suffer fools. Out there cows eat grass early and brush and rocks the rest of the summer. This causes them to get wild, spread out, and hard to find. The buckaroos that work them are as rangey as they are and don't necessarily like them, but like towns even less and are willing to live long periods away from the home ranch to make sure they stay fat enough to calve and make beef. One couldn't ask for better work - except it's hard to make a living at it.

Well anyway, thanks for the post and responses, it was fun to travel back to a time and country that's mostly past.

Don, I agree with your post about the mansions and such, and it's sad to hear about the spotlights. When I was a kid I remember a trip we took through Cheyenne. I was excited to visit a big cow town and stopped at one of the big western stores. My dad bought me a big cowboy hat that annoyed everyone for the rest of the trip. But to me, that hat was bought in a real cowtown and stayed planted on my head until it rotted off.

Buck Elliott · Post by **Buck Elliott** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 12:15 pm

Worked for the TS out of Battle Mountain/Dunphy MANY years ago.And yup, you're right.

Idiot · Post by **Idiot** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 12:23 pm

Buck Elliott wrote:Worked for the TS out of Battle Mountain/Dunphy MANY years ago.

Then you know what "God's country" looks like.

Probably just as many years ago, I worked for an outfit out of Paradise Valley and grew up just south of the Black Rock. I'll take rocks and sagebrush over pines and deep grass every time.

Don McDowell · Post by **Don McDowell** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 12:39 pm

Idiot Cheyenne and vicinity went to the crapper 35 or so years ago, and it's gotten worse since then. When I was a a pup growing up east of there, one of the school programs had a fella talking to us about all the "great things" that would happen in the future. One of his proudest points was that at some point in the future it would just be one big megaopolus from Cheyenne to Pueblo. There was no small number of us that scoffed at the idea. Now with exception of about 15 miles of barely open country between south Cheyenne and the Meadow Springs in Colorado, he's prooving to be right.

In 1972 it took about a dozen calves to buy the finest pickup Detroit had to offer delivered at the ranch. Grass land cost about 40-55 dollars. Today 100 calves will get you a new pickup, not much of one, and you'll have to go get it, and if you can find grass for under 300$ you better grab it cuz most of it is getting smothered with ranchettes etc for 700 and up

before they stink it up with people,houses , dogs and to many horses for a section of ground let alone a 20 acre patch.

Idiot · Post by **Idiot** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 1:09 pm

Don McDowell wrote:cuz most of it is getting smothered with ranchettes

A twenty acre ranchette - most of it house and "stables" - ain't that cute. Nothing stinks up a place like bunch of latte swilling muffinoids crowding within twenty acre ranchettes. Sorry about the sarcasm, but sometimes my disgust cannot be contained. I'm on the same page as you Don.

BigSky56 · Post by **BigSky56** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 2:15 pm

Rihmfire, for big game you can hunt moose,elk,mulies,wt deer,mtn goats ,bighorn sheep,lions, bears and if the delisting stands the lawsuits wolves. Plenty of bird hunting we got 3 kinds of fools hens and merriam turkeys and the occasional pheasant and huns and waterfowl
The cattle free by 93 crowd has gotten in the FS and most ranchers have been scaled back. The Taylor Grazing Act made it possible for the small guys to make a living having from a 1/4 to a section deeded then have public lease you didnt have to own a 1/4 of the state like the Grant/Kohrs ranch in Deer lodge did 10 million acres. It makes you sick to see houses being built in hay meadows. danny

J35 · Post by **J35** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 11:32 pm

Lastmohecken wrote:Yes, does anyone remember, John Wayne in the Cowboys, saying a cow is just a bunch of trouble wrapped up in a leather bag, then he said a horse isn't much better.

Unfortunatly, there is a lot of truth to that. I was raised up on the farm I live on now. We still raise beef cattle, and when I was a child we had dairy cows. And I must say, nothing makes me more agrivated then having cows get out, on to someone's else's property, and fixing fence. And if you have an old rouge cow that likes to crawl through fences, she will always find a way to get out, and take half the herd with her, when she goes.

When I end up with a cow like that, I always sell her, first chance I get. Another problem cow is the one that's wilder then the rest, and always smells a rat, when you are trying to lot a herd. A cow like that will often break for the woods or brush where you can't even take a horse or 4 wheeler, and she will usually take or calf with her, and maybe a few others too. I try to get rid of those cows too.

But I love watching the baby calves in the spring, and I love watching the rear end of that cattle trailer, leaving the farm with another load of animals, bound for the sale barn, in the fall, and then picking up that cattle check.

But I must say, I always hated hogs worse then cattle. I do however appreciate a good horse, but they can also be a nusance, if you let them.

My uncle was always buying cows at the sale barn.

One summer (1973) I was leased to my uncle by my father, while I was there he had one wild cow (Brahma X )he had picked up at the sale back in the winter, she could jump a five wire fence in one little hop, he kept her around thinking he would get a calf. By summers end he realized she was open. Most everyday if we were around she would go to the top of a little MTN and watch us and as soon as we left or it got dark she would come down.

One morning i was sitting out on the porch waiting for orders and my uncle came out with his 348 win, he said he was going into Showlow and wanted me to get in the barn and to shoot that cow when she came down after he left, so that's what I did.

That Dec. I shot a nice bull elk out of that same barn with that same rifle.

Have fun

J35 · Post by **J35** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 11:35 pm

BigSky56 wrote:Rihmfire, for big game you can hunt moose,elk,mulies,wt deer,mtn goats ,bighorn sheep,lions, bears and if the delisting stands the lawsuits wolves. Plenty of bird hunting we got 3 kinds of fools hens and merriam turkeys and the occasional pheasant and huns and waterfowl
The cattle free by 93 crowd has gotten in the FS and most ranchers have been scaled back. The Taylor Grazing Act made it possible for the small guys to make a living having from a 1/4 to a section deeded then have public lease you didnt have to own a 1/4 of the state like the Grant/Kohrs ranch in Deer lodge did 10 million acres. It makes you sick to see houses being built in hay meadows. danny

I always called it Welfare ranching.

good luck

fordwannabe · Post by **fordwannabe** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 11:51 am

WOW Grant/Kohrs ranch I haven't heard that in a while. I lived in the Deer Lodge Valley and graduated from Powell county high in 83. Moved away in 1986, only been back once..should go again but then I might never come back to PA. Tom

BigSky56 · Post by **BigSky56** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 12:58 pm

J35, I call it multiple use of public lands logging, recreation of any kind and grazing you dont call public land hunters welfare hunters? cows dont eat the same forage as game unless they are staving. The reason public leases are less money is the rancher is responsible for all fencing, water development and liability it works out in the end even when bow hunters use your stock for target practice with blunts. danny

Post by **Hobie** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 2:51 pm

Buck Elliott wrote:
Beautiful home on Hoback River

Dang!!!

Don't go showin' pitchers of The Hoback on here... You'll have every looky-loo flatlander in the country wantin' to sell out & MOVE here, turnin' Paradise into what it was they couldn't wait to get shut of...!!!

Buck,

The wife and I went out west in 2005 towing the RV. Went through Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and South Dakota before returning to "civilization". We tried and tried to figure a way to move, keep the grandkids close and not lose her retirement. Couldn't make it happen. That was the ONLY reason we didn't move. You guys sure did avoid a bullet there!

Travis Morgan · Post by **Travis Morgan** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 4:24 pm

DBW wrote:When I grow up I think I want to be a cowboy. I was born in the wrong century. <sigh>

People always say that, but I'd rather not be without penicillin, gore-tex, and waterproof boots.

Travis Morgan · Post by **Travis Morgan** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 4:26 pm

BigSky56 wrote:Kim, Theres no money in it thats for sure but the perc's are priceless building a pot of coffee from a mtn stream in the morning,

.......then waiting an hour for it to boil!

BigSky56 wrote:........ You need to come over and ride this country. danny

You ever heard Chris LeDoux's song, "I'm Country"? If they all move out to the country, the country won't be country anymore!

Travis Morgan · Post by **Travis Morgan** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 4:28 pm

Buck Elliott wrote:
DBW wrote:When I grow up I think I want to be a cowboy. I was born in the wrong century. <sigh>
You'd soon find that the worst thing about bein' a cowboy is the COWS...

Cowboyin' AIN'T a part-time, whenever-you feel-like-it job. It ain't easy, and it ain't 'romantic' and mostly it ain't even fun.

To quote Mr. Brennan in Monte Walsh: "it is a terrible job, but it's THEIR job..."

If it weren't for cows, what would I do with my cowhorses?