leanin' H
Well-known member
We have been looking for cows pushed down thanks to a big storm. They left 3 sections in favor of 3000 on the desert. So it's been covering lots of country shaped somewhat simular to a haystack looking for 62 needles. After getting all but 10, things were looking up. Except that 3 are replacement heifers and will start calving in 3 weeks. So we have driven and rode and glassed for the past few days with the goal of finding the little sisters and getting them home for their upcoming maternity leave. Here's the veiw from the desert looking at the Sheeprock Mountains and the ranch.
The same veiw with a tad more zoom. These were taken Sunday night as the sun set behind me and the tempature was going from brisk to SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHOOT Itsssssssssssssss ccccccccccccccccccold!
We have opened all the gates from the high country to the middle country and on down to the low country. That way if any stubborn critters had stayed high ignoring the weatherman, they would have an exit. So everyday we would swing by the ranch to look for fresh tracks or hungry cows. The ranch is blanketed with 2 feet of snow.
Although a drift or two might be a little better than 2 feet! :wink:
We got to see some pretty sunsets as we'd head for home at days end. With the heater on and a cup of hot chocolate from the thermos those sunsets are nicer to look at than the ones that come when the truck is still an hour away.
Today we found our heifers!
They are in fine flesh and acted sad to have been found. We picked them up by Erickson Knoll and pushed them south to a trap we built along a division fence about 6 miles away. That was as close as we could get the trailer thanks to the snow. Heading out from where we found em'.
We put them on the tracks we'd made with the 4 wheeler and they strung right along.
You can tell they about starved to death! :wink: They have rustled up a pretty good living while they were lost.
This is a shot of the country they were "lost" in for two weeks.
Closer inspection shows quite a bit of hard grass sticking out of the snow. Even crested wheat grass is good feed with some snow. They also had other naitive grass like Indian rice grass and various bunch grasses.
The hidden gem of our winter range is the browse. This is black sage and the cattle love to eat the seeds which is the yellow looking stuff. I couldnt find any white sage to show you. The cattle love it above all else! It is high in protein and really palatable. Throw in buck brush and mormon tea and cows winter high on the hog!
The heifers enjoyed the ride home to Delta tonight. We also picked up 2 more cows some we now just need to find 5 and all is well. They'll show up before long. Enjoy your evening.
The same veiw with a tad more zoom. These were taken Sunday night as the sun set behind me and the tempature was going from brisk to SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHOOT Itsssssssssssssss ccccccccccccccccccold!
We have opened all the gates from the high country to the middle country and on down to the low country. That way if any stubborn critters had stayed high ignoring the weatherman, they would have an exit. So everyday we would swing by the ranch to look for fresh tracks or hungry cows. The ranch is blanketed with 2 feet of snow.
Although a drift or two might be a little better than 2 feet! :wink:
We got to see some pretty sunsets as we'd head for home at days end. With the heater on and a cup of hot chocolate from the thermos those sunsets are nicer to look at than the ones that come when the truck is still an hour away.
Today we found our heifers!
They are in fine flesh and acted sad to have been found. We picked them up by Erickson Knoll and pushed them south to a trap we built along a division fence about 6 miles away. That was as close as we could get the trailer thanks to the snow. Heading out from where we found em'.
We put them on the tracks we'd made with the 4 wheeler and they strung right along.
You can tell they about starved to death! :wink: They have rustled up a pretty good living while they were lost.
This is a shot of the country they were "lost" in for two weeks.
Closer inspection shows quite a bit of hard grass sticking out of the snow. Even crested wheat grass is good feed with some snow. They also had other naitive grass like Indian rice grass and various bunch grasses.
The hidden gem of our winter range is the browse. This is black sage and the cattle love to eat the seeds which is the yellow looking stuff. I couldnt find any white sage to show you. The cattle love it above all else! It is high in protein and really palatable. Throw in buck brush and mormon tea and cows winter high on the hog!
The heifers enjoyed the ride home to Delta tonight. We also picked up 2 more cows some we now just need to find 5 and all is well. They'll show up before long. Enjoy your evening.
