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11/5/06 Sunday
The rest of the week was spent sorting and shuffling cows. On Thursday we loaded up two trailers with cull cows and set out to the sale. All three of us went and in Socorro I was dropped off to pick up the F350.
The bed looked great but they were still not done with the fuel tank so I waited there while Nate and Jay went on to the sale.
A few minutes after leaving Nate called to say they were at the next exit and the rear tire of one of the trucks was coming off. It had been changed a few days before but not tightened enough so the wheel wobbled and wallowed out the holes in the rim. It broke three of the lug studs right off. I took the F350 up and we changed out trucks and got the cattle to the sale. Then we went back to Socorro and while the guys found someone to fix that truck, I got the fuel tank finished. Parts for the truck were not to be found till morning so they stayed over night while I headed home stopping and buying some hay on the way. They boys will pick it up on their way home.
I got home about 7pm to find Maggie laid up with a bad back, she messed it up doing chores.
I gave the boys the weekend off after loading hay and working hard they deserved it. But Jay is sick with flu symptoms so his weekend is not so much fun.
I spent the day yesterday out in 7HL checking cattle there. I came across a wolf at the intersection feeders and chased him all the way up T Bar Ridge.
The week was perfect as far as weather every day was sunny and 50 and every night clear and 20.
This week we will gather and sort and wean our heifers then later in the week Maggie and I head to Amarillo for our annual vacation.
11/6/06 Monday
I spent most of the weekend fixing up the corrals getting them ready to wean in this week. Over the past few years I have not done much to maintain them. The corrals are built of heavy steel pipe with steel Bull Panels welded to the pipe. Bull Panel is 1/4 inch wire in a 4x4 square pattern. It’s strong but in the past cattle have run into it since they can see thru it. They smash the wire and bend the hell out of it and do the same to their heads. Ten or twelve years ago we put slab wood set on vertical to keep this from happening. It works well but the cattle break boards pushing and shoving on it. I had spent a couple hours getting the new speakers in the ’68 working and so it was a pleasant time to do mindless work on a warm fall day with Marshall Tucker cranking out of the old truck.
I also spent some time cleaning out the scale house getting it set to store a bunch of calf ration.
This morning Nate, Jay, Maggie and I headed out and gathered the north trap. There were about 100 pairs in there. It was a perfect day, no wind and warm. We had a smooth quick gather getting the cattle in just a bit after noon. A short lunch break and change of horses then we sorted.
I used Rusty for sorting and am really getting to like that little horse. He’s only three but is so patient while sorting. He will stop and wait in the middle of a mill of swirling cattle while I look them over and pick out our next target. He’s working off my leg well and off his hindquarters really nice. He had a head-tossing problem so I put him in a Bosal and he’s enjoying that.
Nate rode Sombre who is his half brother and he also did really well. Jay was sick all weekend so he stuck with Cooleye who he had ridden during the gather.
We worked till about 4pm getting cattle sorted and then cutting the calves off the cows. We weaned 75 calves today and tonight the valley is filled with the sound of bawling cattle. The pens are 1/4 mile from the house and I sure am glad they are no closer.
After chores we worked on Zane who came in this morning with his knee all torn to hell. I’m not sure if it was wire or what it was. It is really ugly.
Hi was 55 after a low of 19
11/8/06
The last couple days have been spent working on things around here. Getting hay unloaded and stacked, a bit more work on the corrals. I went to town to vote and picked up a huge hay cover I had ordered so we put that over the 900 bales of cow hay we now have in a pile.
This after noon I sat down with the guys and went over what all had to be done while Maggie and I are in Amarillo. Lots of odds and ends but the most important is the care of the weaners. They have to be fed three times a day; it takes about an hour to feed. We also have a couple cut up horses that need treatment every day.
We pulled out for Amarillo about 2pm driving Maggie's ’75 F250.
I drove my ’74 F250 to Datil where we are dropping it off to have the damage repaired from the tree Nate cut down on top of it back in the summer. This guy who is fixing it lives way off the highway and is a big chatter. We had to look at his house he built and all his custom trucks and show rods and projects. Three hours later we were finally getting out of there with him still wanting us to look at more stuff. He’s a hell of a craftsman so I know he will do a good job getting the truck back the way it should be but it sure won’t be cheap.
So tonight we are in Socorro and headed to the rodeo early in the morning.
11/14/07 Tuesday
We got back from Amarillo late yesterday. It was a great trip!
We drove two lane roads most of the way, a lot of it was old Route 66. It made the trip a lot longer taking about 10 hours but it sure was a lot nicer than the truck filled interstate. We got to see what was going on in the small towns. One was packing up the last of the apple harvest. Another was shipping chilies; some folks were doing a last cutting of hay and some putting yearlings out on wheat pasture.
The rodeo was excellent as always, four teams from New Mexico this year, the most ever.
11/20/06 Monday
An incredible sunrise this morning. Veils of pink clouds, which changed to purple and then gold. I had to have a cup of coffee on the porch despite the 18-degree temp.
Jay left a few days ago to head back to the big city and work a public job for a while. I just can’t say enough good about Jay.
He had come as a guest a few times over the past few years and like many others expressed an interest in working here. But unlike most others it wasn’t just trail talk. I had gotten a bit gun shy about hiring guests having done it four or five times in the past and none ever having worked out well. But I liked the guy and figured why not. I’m sure glad I did. From the start he was always willing for any job, never a moan or groan or sour face when a tough job was assigned. Handy at a lot of things and those he didn’t know you just show him once. A good rider with good hands that got better as the season went along. Not afraid to climb on anything with hair on it. He learned the country and got a good handle on cattle. I can honestly say I couldn’t have gotten through the season without him; well I could have but not so easily and with far less grins. I look forward to his promised return in the spring.
After chores Nate and I saddled up and trailed out to look for strays. I took Dakota for the first time in a long time. Nate was on Porque. When we got to the lake we saw six head of cattle on the east shore. I let Nate out and his job was to get them gathered up and then push them up T Bar Canyon and get them into 7HL for the winter.
He told me later that right after I pulled away he had to stop and adjust his saddle. Porque was being a dork jumping around. When he swung his leg back over Porque started bucking down a steep hill. His favorite way to buck. Nate stayed with him and when he got him stopped at the bottom he turned him back up the hill and by the time he got back to the top Porque really didn’t feel like bucking any more. As soon as he got on the cattle he was really good, and it was the time to be. Nate said the bunch took off at sight of him and went up a canyon towards the Gates Of hell. He got them turned just before losing them in there. They had worn them selves out and he had a nice afternoon from there on going through T Bar Canyon.
I drove on up to Harleyville and unloaded at Big Loco tank. Last week Jay and Nate had seen cattle there. I rode to the north and took the road over Loco Mtn. On the way I heard and caught glimpses of the wolf plane a couple miles to my east circling over S.S. Basin. Going there was not on my planed route but I changed that. All the way over the mountain I saw no tracks other than wildlife.
I crossed Loco Flats a bit after noon and way off I saw a couple head of cattle to the west. The way I originally was going to ride but not the right direction to S.S. Basin. I decided I better get the cattle while I saw them so I rode over that direction. It was a cow and a yearling heifer that were pretty happy to see us come a long. They lined right out and in an hour I had them through Twin Tanks gate.
After a short break Dakota and I headed back the way we came and two hours later I was back where I had started in the Flats. I went on through Wolf Camp gate and into Canyon Creek pasture. I rode the three miles down to the Basin ands spotted a cow along the fence a mile away. When I got there I found she had a newborn calf that was still about wet. They were standing right across the fence from the cedar grove where we had a calf killed wolves a few months ago so I wanted them out of that area. They moved really slowly and we had to take close to an hour to get them a mile down the basin. As we were going along I could see two dark spots a couple miles away running around. I knew it was Cisco and Rocky who we left out here weeks ago as spare horses. I sure didn’t want them coming along and messing with the work I was doing.
Fortunately they never spotted us. I left the pair and decided to ride up and check Incognito gate. When I got there I saw a cow over on the east side of Canyon Creek so as much as I didn’t want to I headed over there. When I got to the bottom I found four pairs and three dry cows. Now I was glad I had ridden over. I gathered them all up and moved them up out of the canyon and across the mesa down towards the basin.
We were just nodding along coming to the mouth of a draw looking out into the basin when suddenly from my left here come two antelope running full speed, then here come Cisco and Rocky right behind them. Dakota rocked to a stop and we both watched as the chase crossed in front of us and then a minute later disappeared behind a ridge. It was pretty damn funny. A few minuets later I saw Cisco and Rocky about a half mile away watching us as the cattle came into their view. I didn’t want them coming to see us so I leaned forward over the horn hoping to appear as a big cow. Cisco started eating while Rocky stood watching not totally convinced. In a few minuets we went behind another ridge and lost sight of them.
I left the cows with the little pair from earlier and headed back towards the trailer, it was still a long six-mile ride.
When I got to Big Loco tank and the trailer there were five head standing there. Another day.
I loaded up and went to pull out and felt a flat. The last thing I really felt like doing was dealing with a flat. I unloaded Dakota and let him graze while I worked on it. It was on the truck so was a bigger pain in the ass than a trailer tire. Just that morning I had commented to Nate that every tire on that rig was bald and it was an even bet which one of the eight would go first. I wish I had never said anything.
I got home about 7pm and damn glad to be.
It was a great weather day, high was 60! So many years at this time we are in full swing winter, breaking ice, dealing with mud and snow. This global warming is great!
11/21/06 Tuesday
Nates dad came up this morning to help us ride today. We got a late start having to replace a couple gates between the two-year-old stud colts and the stallion.
We took two trailers out hoping to haul home the last of our cattle from canyon creek.
Nate and his dad stopped at Big loco tank to hunt up the ones I had seen there last evening. I drove on to S.S. Basin hoping to find the ones I had left there.
Nate and his dad rode all around the meadows, half way to Snow Lake and then up on to Loco Mtn. From there Nate glassed some cattle a couple miles away near Ghost tanks. They rode over there and found five pairs which they pushed a couple miles over to Twin Tanks gate and put through into 7HL.
They headed back over the mountain and found the cattle they had been looking for coming out of the timber just above the tank. They pushed them to the corrals at Harleyville where they penned them and got them loaded.
I rode up the basin looking for the cattle and only seeing elk. Elk everywhere, in the basin, on the ridges and they just moseyed around as I rode through them. A couple hours later I found my cattle way up at the north end of the pasture at the base of T Bar Ridge.
It took about four hours to get them back to the cabin. The first couple hours went all right but the last two from Juniper tank to the cabin were a misery. The cattle were tired and there was no leader so they all just drifted off here and there. I was riding Gambler and he sure worked his ass off. Finally we got them to the corrals and with a bit of patience got them penned.
Then I sorted the calves off the cows and loaded them all up. It wasn’t as easy as it sounds. It’s tough getting the cows in the pen to load in the trailer. Usually we have a couple folks helping to crowd them in. It took about five tries and a bit of cussing but it got done.
It was just about dark when I got done and headed home. I met up with Nate at Harleyville just as they were getting done loading.
I asked how their day was and Nates dad said “Well we rode fifty miles that way, then fifty miles that way, then a hundred miles back here. And we never saw a fence!”
It was a long slow drive home with a heavy load of cattle as well as our horses. It took over two hours to get back.
The weather was again really nice, high of 50, no clouds and just a bit of a breeze.
11/22/06 Wednesday
We fed at first light trying to get out to Canyon Creek as early as we could but of course things delayed us. First we had a sick calf in the corrals we had to cut out from the rest and quarantine. Then it was a flat tire on a truck and then refueling everything. Finally we got out of here at 8am.
We took both trailers and Nate stopped off at Little Loco tank to hunt up two bulls I had seen there yesterday. I went on down to the basin hoping to find the ones I left there. I went all the way up the basin and then down the Incognito road without spotting them. About half way down the road I stopped and glassed and just by luck spotted them about two miles to my south. They were on a ridge under some juniper trees. Nate was closer to them so I called him and he quickly climbed the ridge and got them down. I caught up to him on the road to the cabin. There was a hell of a bull fight going on with four bulls involved so I sent him ahead with a couple dry cows while I stayed behind and drifted the little pair I had been moving the last couple days. It was slow going, the calf is so small I stayed about 30 yards behind them just keeping them going at a stop and go pace and all the while kept the bulls away from the little calf. The bulls followed along fighting all the way. It was pretty exciting. One moment they would be across the road slamming heads and bellowing and the next I’d be running to get out of the way. It’s amazing how fast they can move while pushing and shoving.
Nate got his cows penned long before I got there and headed back to give me a hand. There wasn’t much help needed so he went and drove two of the bulls off and then caught up with me just as I got my pair in the corral. He had two bulls with him and they had settled down.
We rode back and got our trailers then sorted the cattle. I put the three pairs I had left over night in the front of my trailer with the small pair in the back. We put two bulls and three dry cows in the front of Nates trailer and the two horses in the back. While loading I was in the small pen prodding the cows when one old bitch turned and charged me. I swung up on the gate but it was leaning with the top way out so when I tried to find a rail under my foot there was nothing there. I ended up in a heap on the ground and scattered Rusty and Dakota who were standing right where I fell.
We were headed home by 4pm and unsaddled in the daylight for the first time in a long while. The weather was nice, a bit cooler with a hi of 50 after a low of 18.
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