Shipping, The Way I Seen It

Just like the gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, they all were together with Christ, yet they all tell it differently.

On Saturday at 5:15 a.m., I walked down to get the instructions on how the day was to go. I told dad I would like to drive down to the ranch a little early and drop my trailer with the new squeeze on it. Thinking that way I could load my quad and come back the back way in and start gathering in section 36. He was all for it. I really didn't mean right now, got nothing but time to kill because we weren't even getting started until 9 a.m. So we jumped in my truck and got to the ranch before anyone was out and about. Dropped the trailer reloaded my quad and was headed back to Vernon before anyone noticed we were gone. Got a call from Steve, said it would of been nice to have been invited. Anyone who knows me knows that I live by, you snooze you lose. It is the impatient, noncommunicator, loner in me. Yes I know all 3 are nothing to be proud of, I am told all the time. It just hasn't sunk in. In all defense, I think no ones wants to do the crazy things that I do so I just do them alone.


After I eat breakfast and make sure my dogs have a special high protein meal to hold them over on a hard work day, I set off for the ranch. Unlike as earlier planned to come in the back way, it will be better if me and Ryan leave from the ranch house. As me and Ryan leave the others are going to see about dealing with the squeeze. We were to be about an hour a head of them to be able to check the section and then be caught up with the riders coming out on horseback. We drop down to the far side of Cecilville, noticing that there are about eight head of cattle and two bulls lying down. As we pass the cattle, they had gather and start heading in. We drive down to the lane that leads to the section. Upon entering we come upon 6 head of cattle. I tell Ryan to leave them and we will pick them up after we ride the square out. Ryan goes south and I go north. I cut back and ride the high knolls and see nothing. I head back to the cows to wait for Ryan. To note here, I had left Gideon with my dad to bring out to me and have Vaquera on the quad with me. Ryan shows up with nothing and we push the cows out, I have Vaquera off the quad working them. They drop down and meet up with others I mentioned previously. I left my small herd to walk the road while I go to the south on a rise to see if there is anything on the fence. Don't see anything and go back to the road. Ryan goes a little north and picks up a few head on a rise. We meet at the road and I take them down toward the mill. I tell Ryan to go to the corner there and ride east to the Knolls fence then head north. Just as he takes off I ask, have you seen the bulls and he said some were up ahead. I thought those were the ones that were lying down when I came in.

As I push up a hill and have the mill in sight my dad catches up with me and I now have both dogs working the cattle. It is always tough at first because they get competitive, but it doesn’t take long for them to back off. I get to the mill and only one rider is there pushing two bulls in from the west, she turns and heads back out to find more. Now Ryan is bringing a bunch. He comes up to me and Dad and said a hunter left the gate down and he found six head on the knolls side. We decide that there is enough horses to cover what is left so we will ride up and see if there is any more on the knolls pasture. I put my dogs in the truck because we will be moving fast and far. We get through the gate and divide up. Ryan flushes 5 so I go to help him. Then he goes up the hill some more. I push what I got and the fight is on. They want to return to the gate they came in through and I want to push them down to the next gate because that is where we are going to push everything through anyway. Just got to drive them down the fence. Ha, not so easy. Come upon a rocky ridge. After pushing hard the mamma cows decide to descend it. But not the two steers. One ends up going through the fence and toward the Mill. I can see the riders and they are not by the mill anymore. I tried to push the other through the fence because it easier to push two cows than one. I call Steve on his phone and tell him one is through the fence. The other steer takes me a long away around the ridge but finally we are pushing the mammas again down the fence. By now Steve has caught up and is helping me. We notice that Ryan has found more and three more riders have gone to help him. They sent Matt to see if he can get the steer that got away from me and 3 other riders are holding the herd at the gate. We open the gate and all the riders and cattle are together. Me and Ryan take off for the ranch because it is murder riding quads up the lane to the ranch.

The cattle come down the lane to the ranch and we sort the bulls off. We are short two. Dang they are the ones that were lying down. Shoot, double shoot. Oh well at the least that is exactly where we were taking them back too after we check them for soundness. We drive the bulls back out to Cecils mill, pick up that lone steer and put the cows and calves in the center hold and hay them until Monday. They had the squeeze unloaded but we still had to assemble it, and get it in right place. Since most of us are not mechanical it took a lot of thinking, with lunch in there too. So after we ate, our heads were clearer and we got it done.

Monday we ran the herd into the round pen and started sorting cows off calves. As we sorted one of our neighboring ranchers came up. I was on a gate so I didn't hear what he wanted. But I was summoned over to talk to him. I was told I might know more on this subject than them. He wanted to know if we had seen any of his while we gathered. Now he does something different to his cattle than any of the rest of us. He takes a slice in what they call the dewlap. That is cutting a slice in the skin of the neck. I told him I saw one in the summer but none today. He said he came and got her off earlier. Wow, if we counted right our numbers are off. They come at you in tight small bunches and it is hard to get a good number. But still we have a good idea of the calves because of branding. And we are low. We know we will have a good count by the end of the day because we will see each cow individually and have to sort the calves by branded and unbranded. So now we are going to check the cows that consist of running them up the lane into the new squeeze. What you check for while she is there is her tag number, how her teeth are, if she looks like she has had a calf, her brands, overall health and I have learned to do body conditioning so I had fun doing that. Culling is cutting a cow out of the herd to sell. It may be her teeth might be too worn down to survive another year, she may have cancer eye, just an all-around health check. I got to admit. This year was a thrill to me because I had learned to preg test cows. And there was a cow that for the last two years had come through with no bag (sign of no calf) and I wanted her out. I was notorious. Every tag number that came I checked against out list from last year. I saw her coming down the lane. Not even in the squeeze, didn't have her number yet but it is her I know it is. Yep the number checks out. I don the glove. Add a little olive oil and preg test her. Drop off to the right. Nothing, back up follow the cervix and she is called open (not pregnant). I loved calling out "Cull her". Yep I don't know why but she had bugged me for two years and I got her.

Now of course it isn't that easy. We have some cows that just refuse to come down the lane. We have been putting tags in their ears for about 3 years now. And low and behold. We tagged two cows that had previously escaped over a fence on us. Mellowed out in their old age I guess. Don't look now we have a high jumper. Cleared one fence and was starting on her next. I shouted get me a tag number. They got close enough before she jumped the next. I look at my sheet. Get this, next to her number is a note that she jumped last year. She has got it down.

Now call me crazy but during branding of a previous year I had a feeling that one got her ear marks but not a brand. That is weird. As we released her as a calf I asked "did she get branded?" Yes was the answer. Oh my goodness, up comes this young heifer (cow that hasn't had a calf). She has the ear mark but not one brand on her. There is my proof. Yep by her tag number on the tally sheet it is printed UNBRANDED-NEED TO DO IT THIS YEAR.

One cow came through that was our neighbors so she was cut off for him to pick up. We have gone through all our cows and we are short on numbers. We know of 5 that died this year but it is looking like about 10 are missing. Moving on to the calves now we sort them and have low numbers on branded calves. Only 3 unbranded for this year. That was the most happiest number in the world for me. We have been trying to get the cows to birth early in the summer. By only having three, that means the rest were born before the fourth of July. That is happiness. Note here last year we had 12. We take the three young ones and put them with the cows and drive them out to Jeanies Mill.

On Tuesday morning we are to sort the calves, heifer and steer for shipping. Thanks so much to those who took me off the gate so I could use my dogs in the lane. First I brought out Gideon. He has done this last year and boy did he remember fast. From the holding pen they send about eight or so into the lane. I cut them back to the sorting pen. So I and Gideon are a live gate of sorts. Then when they start sorting we have to move out of the way and stand along the fence so the calf will run past us and we can push it toward the proper gate. Two times and Gideon knows right where to stand without me telling him. He knows when he is a gate and when he is a fence. He just is in no hurry to push to the gate. Then I trade out for ol speedy. She listens to me when we are a gate or a fence but she has never done this before so she never really catches on to that part. But wow, those calves can’t be pushed fast enough to their gates. She has lots of grit. Can’t wait until she has a brain to go with it. But she is still a youngun. The trucker shows up and it is just me and Cody for a bit. Steve had to go repair some fence. How do I spell relief, S T E V E. That is hard work loading on the truck. One more year done.

P.S. Then next week me and dad went on quads and found the 10 cows and 8 calves missing. They were on a neighbors section. Now we get to take the calves to the auction this week. All accounted for.