Spring branding

[rancherfred]

And that is why traditions get lost. :? To each their own, but its sure hard to see where a guy is headed if he forgets his past. The grand thing about ranching is we all get to do it our own way. I wish you luck in all your endeavors and respect your opinion. Even if it is wrong. :wink: :wink: (Kiddin of course)

I am not forgetting my past, I just don't see any reason to live in it. None of us know where we are headed because none of us know the future. We can only take one day at a time and live that to the best of our abilities. It is not always easy going your own way, that is why traditions are so dear to us. But so often traditions were the product of a certain era and there were legitimate reasons for doing them. When times change then it is important to reevaluate why things are done. At the time that hot iron branding was started as a form of indication of ownership there was no other way. Now we can take a hair sample and have a DNA profile that is unique to that one individual animal. No running iron can ever change that. Pulling a few strands of hair out of the tail of an animal is a lot less stressful than burning the hide to cause a scar. I don't mind traditions, I just don't have a lot of use for them in my business decisions. If you could see our operation it would probably become pretty clear what I am talking about.

We do have some traditions in our family. Every year we go to a church convention in the early summer and one in the fall. Every Sunday, unless we are sick or the weather prohibits travel, we meet with our small church. Every Wednesday night, with the same caveats, we meet with our small church for a bible study. The traditions that we have are born out of our faith, even though they are done because of our desire for fellowship rather than simply being "something that we do."

As for my opinion being wrong, what do you know? Somebody told you it was a great angus calf and so you brought it home only to have your wife say: "You big dummy, that's a goat!!!" :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[leanin' H]

And that is why traditions get lost. :? To each their own, but its sure hard to see where a guy is headed if he forgets his past. The grand thing about ranching is we all get to do it our own way. I wish you luck in all your endeavors and respect your opinion. Even if it is wrong. :wink: :wink: (Kiddin of course)

I am not forgetting my past, I just don't see any reason to live in it. None of us know where we are headed because none of us know the future. We can only take one day at a time and live that to the best of our abilities. It is not always easy going your own way, that is why traditions are so dear to us. But so often traditions were the product of a certain era and there were legitimate reasons for doing them. When times change then it is important to reevaluate why things are done. At the time that hot iron branding was started as a form of indication of ownership there was no other way. Now we can take a hair sample and have a DNA profile that is unique to that one individual animal. No running iron can ever change that. Pulling a few strands of hair out of the tail of an animal is a lot less stressful than burning the hide to cause a scar. I don't mind traditions, I just don't have a lot of use for them in my business decisions. If you could see our operation it would probably become pretty clear what I am talking about.

We do have some traditions in our family. Every year we go to a church convention in the early summer and one in the fall. Every Sunday, unless we are sick or the weather prohibits travel, we meet with our small church. Every Wednesday night, with the same caveats, we meet with our small church for a bible study. The traditions that we have are born out of our faith, even though they are done because of our desire for fellowship rather than simply being "something that we do."

As for my opinion being wrong, what do you know? Somebody told you it was a great angus calf and so you brought it home only to have your wife say: "You big dummy, that's a goat!!!" :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Point taken and I still respectfully disagree. And that's what makes ranching great. We all do things our own way. But I will add that times don't change, just people. I refuse to allow outsiders start making my decisions on my place. Branding isn't very politically correct because a few people decided they didn't like it. When you run cattle on thousands and hundreds of thousands of acres, a dna test or RFID tag doesn't work well. Even if you run cows on 200 acres, a dna test wont keep trailer of stolen calves from the salebarn. A brand does! Alright, I will quit beating the dead horse.

Now as far as the goat........It was an ANGUS cross!

 

[Faster horses]

As Pat Parelli says, "normal changes every 50 miles."

As for me I loved the days of big 'drag 'em to the fire' brandings and I'm glad there are
places where that still can happen. I also understand that circumstances change, therefore
traditions are altered.

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

I don't think this country was ever much of a rope and drag area.Lots of homesteaders. As a kid fifty years ago one place we just grabbed them by a back leg and wrestled them the other two places I remember used a Powder River table. It wasn't until Team Roping became popular the the locals started roping and dragging.
We were a yearling operation so our big gather in the fall was the social event that brought the neighbors out. We weren't in a branding circle when I started a cow herd, with the smaller numbers we just did them ourselves and just carried on that way.

 

[Faster horses]

Mr. FH said that when he was a kid, the kids wrestled and the old guys roped. Now that he's an old guy, the old
guys wrestle and the kids rope. :lol: :lol:

Also a remark was made that at brandings where the calves are drug to the fire, the ropers are now 90 years old and the wrestlers are 70. :?

 

[George]

With 18 cows I doubt I could get many interested in coming over - - - I only brand the Heifers I put back in the herd - - - I tag all but only brand the breeding herd. In Indiana the letters must be 3" high and a backwards G is required so GWK in 3" high letters is about 10" long so it takes a lot of real estate - - - I brand the left hip and an animal needs to be about 700# to have a large enough hip for it to fit.

I do all my work in a chute and the branding iron is electric and power is about 5' away.