We play it by ear too.
When it's nice we check just before dark and if one is calving, we keep checking till she's done. If nothings happening, we don't see them again until daylight.
When it's cold and windy, we check as often as we can, 2 hrs at least.
During this most recent storm, we were out continually, bringing calves in to warm, taking calves back to pair up. We have no barn for our cattle so it makes it tough.
k_ranch truly slept for a half hour the first night, I slept 3. The second night was almost the same, but harder to stay up.
