Wednesday 2/25/04

I headed to Datil to get a load of hay. I'm still hauling back some bad hay and exchanging it so I had to first load up 100 bales. Man, am I out of shape, it took almost two hours to load. I finally headed out about 9:30am, there was just a light dusting of snow and it was sure pretty. A big storm came through the state yesterday, up to two feet in some areas. As usual it just missed us. I'm not too upset, we have some pretty good moisture going on and it's plenty muddy enough. Our driveway is just a mess with ten-inch deep ruts and water flowing down them. The drive is a bit under three hours and I enjoyed the heck out of it. The farther east I got the more snow there was, the clouds were only about a thousand feet off the ground and hung in the mountain that surround the plains of St. Augustine. It was just beautiful.

Of course there was no one around the farm even though I had called ahead. Maybe that's why there was no one around. I unloaded the hay I brought and reloaded with good hay and headed home. I got home about 5pm. And got stuck in the driveway 50 yards from the barn. The four-wheel drive isn't working in the Dodge; I figure I have a universal joint out. I was lucky to get that far. It was some kinda slick going up Elk Mountain, just thick mud with water running over it. I made it in two-wheel drive, at 3 mph jumping and bucking along. If I hadn't had new tires I'd a never made it. Hi 35 mostly cloudy with a bit of a breeze, lo 13.

Thursday 2/26/04

Up and out feeding at 7am. Now that the days are getting longer we are out earlier. In Dec. and Jan. we didn't start chores till 8am.

After chores I unloaded the hay I brought home yesterday, that took about an hour, had me worn out before the day really started.

After a quick breakfast Maggie and I went to get a couple poor cows out of Canyon Creek which I had seen last week. We drove as far as T Bar Valley then mounted up and headed over T Bar Ridge. I was on Chico and Maggie was on Kitten. It was a hard pull for the horses that are a bit soft after a not very demanding winter.

When we got to the ridge we stopped and I glassed the area below me. Lets see……elk, elk, more elk, a few Antelope, a couple deer. Ahhh cattle, six miles out near Juniper tank. I pointed out where we had to go and Maggie's reply was “are you serious?”

It was tough going coming off the ridge but once we got to the bottom we picked up a nice wagon road and set off in a trot. The miles went quickly and after watering the horses at Juniper tank we gathered up the six head of cattle and headed back the way we had come.

Kitten can get pretty excited about cattle and not having been out in a long, long time he wound himself up today. He was soon rearing and fake bucking and just knows how to push Maggie's buttons. I made her switch horses knowing Chico would be good for her and I really wanted to spend some quality time with Kitten.

As soon as I hit the saddle he threatened to buck. Go ahead you SOB I thought as I dug my heels in and gave him his head.

A couple half ass jumps later he was all bluff. But I stayed after him trying to get him to pull his moves. He knew I had no buttons and he settled right down.

The cattle were no problem at all. They lined right out and went right up the ridge, through the gate I opened and on down to fence tank. The only problem was one cow had one eye hanging out. It must have been that way sometime, there was no blood or gore, just an eye swinging around in circles. I told Maggie she wouldn't be hard to sneak up on. She didn't think it was too funny. We left the cattle at Fence Tank; I'll go back out and get her in the corrals and loaded to home in the morning. I'll probably just cut it off and stitch the eyelid shut. There was also a pair that we brought over that needs to be separated; the calf is about five hundred pounds and still nursing.

Hi 38 sunfactor 45, lo 12, mostly sunny, little breeze.

Friday 2/27/04

After chores I saddled up Gambler and we trailered out to Fence tank. Our mission was to get the two pairs one of which was the bad-eyed cow, and pen them at the corrals then load them and haul them back to H.Q.

I spotted all four that we needed in with about fifty head as soon as I swung up on Gambler. We eased in and set a couple gates and found someone had stolen some panels from the corral. Not only did it make me mad, I realized I probably wasn't going to be able to load the cattle with out them.

It took about five minuets to get the two pairs moved into the pens. We ended up with only four extra when I closed the gate. I gave them a few minuets to settle while I backed the trailer up and ranch rigged a narrow ally to the trailer. It sure looked small and scary and I didn't really expect it to work.

Gambler was on the ball today and we easily cut out the ones we didn't want.

Gambler and I just stood and waited as we watched the cattle. If need be we took one step this way or that, not ever crowding them and never yelling or waving. It was a patience test for us, a step here, a step there, a little closer, a little back.

Within fifteen minuets all four were on the trailer, Gambler was loaded up behind them and we headed home. Sometimes it works so well that I almost think I'm beginning to know what the heck I'm doing.

After a lunch I spent the day on the tractor fixing the driveway. It took all day and I still could have used more time but at least you can get up and down with out fear of breaking bones or pulling muscles bouncing around in the cab of the truck over the ruts.

Hi 40, lo 17, sunfactor 50, gusty chilly wind blowing in something it feels.

Sunday 2/29/04

The cattle need to get out into Pitchfork pasture where the good feed is but they just don't want to drift there on their own. I have had the gates open a couple weeks and some have drifted out there, but the rest just want to stay in the country they know. I have to get some salt out there in Pitchfork to try and lure them out that way.

After chores I saddled up Gambler and went out into the north trap to find a packhorse. My first choice was Rocky and I lucked out and found him and a dozen others near the protein tubs above the tank. It was a quick run back into the H.Q. corrals where I cut him off and turned the others back out.

Rocky was none to happy being called back to work but he settled down as I slipped a halter on him and led him to the barn. I grabbed a packsaddle and threw it in the back of the truck and loaded Rocky, Gambler, and a half dozen blocks of salt.

I trailered out to Fence tank, saddled Rocky and loaded two blocks of salt and headed up above Steve Tank. It was pretty windy all the way; we weren't within a mile of a tree all day.

It took a bit less than an hour to get there. I dropped the salt and headed back to the truck for more. We made two more trips, each one longer than the one before getting farther out in the pasture each time. The second trip we dropped the salt near Hay tank and the third trip we went all the way out to the Ruins. Rocky sure worked like a champ, never a bobble or any nonsense the whole day. We worked about six hours, the wind stayed steady and it got colder as the day went along. When we got back to the truck after the last trip I stripped the saddles off the two horses and turned them out in the little corral around Fence tank. They both enjoyed a good roll in the sand along the edge of the water and then went to grazing. I grabbed my trapping stuff and headed up canyon a bit.

Above Fence tank five canyons come together into T Bar Valley. All day as I rode back and forth through there I saw coyote tracks all over the place coming and going. I have decided to do some trapping and try to protect the herd a bit now that calving season is on us. The wolf people always use the excuse of too many coyotes to take the blame for their wolf kills, so I figure I'll reduce the coyotes and maybe change that excuse.

I made five sets, one in each canyon and hoped for the best. I loaded up the horses and gear and headed home just as it was starting to snow, getting in about 6pm.

Hi 30, lo 11 sunny in the morning and clouds starting mid afternoon.