Working Ranch Blog

Felt or Straw? by Brett Haas
Apr. 21 2010, 10:18 PM

This morning was one of those cool, spring, Kansas mornings where you open the door, step outside in your button-down and jeans, and sip some coffee while you ponder the all important question: felt or straw? I went with the felt. The sun was hiding and it didn't look like it was in a hurry to come out and play. There was a slight westerly breeze. You know, not quite a norther but yet not exactly a warm southern gust. Besides, I made the mistake of buying my straw hat this year after fixing fence all day. Turns out dirty hair is a lot bigger than clean hair. That and I need a haircut so the felt was gonna be a lot easier to keep on. We had to gather pairs and it was Cooper's turn so I knew I was gonna need all the focus I could muster. I didn't want to have to worry about my hat flying off while trying to chase down a runaway calf...especially on Cooper.

We had our second branding today. In order to save grass, we moved the herd north of my house on Monday instead of bringing them right next to the working pens. Those pastures next to headquarters get used somethin' fierce all year long, so we like to rest 'em when we can. As always, the ever dependable Jim & Shorty showed up to lend a hand. Brandon had to work. Man, those guys and their day jobs, go figure! I hustled through chores and got to headquarters around 7:30. In fact I hustled so well that after I saddled up I looked down at my feet and realized I still had my rosin jaws on. So, I hustled again on back to the house, grabbed my boots, got back, changed footwear, was harassed for what seemed like hours on end for forgetting my boots, and was off to gather pairs.

As I said, we usually have the pairs right next to the pens for an easy morning gather before we work anything. It's just easier on the cattle, the horses, and us. That and we can get an earlier start while it's still cool out so those old cows don't get too hot. This time though we had our work cut out because we had to bring 'em across the road and through a couple more pastures and gates and one creek before we got to the pens. There were a couple late born calves in the bunch too, so that always makes for an interesting journey. One of the good things about old Coop though is that he will let you carry a calf on him. I thought of those youngins so I thought he might come in handy.

We made it across the road just fine. We even made it though the next two gates like it was nothing. (That's what happens when you got a good crew.) The problem though came when we were crossing the creek. Those cows were slowing down and some of those young babies were too. They all crossed o.k., but by the time we got 'em all across, the first ones had made a hard right and decided to cross back. There was one little boog left that wouldn't go, so I threw a loop on him and helped his decision making process a bit. After I got him back to mom I headed back across to give Kirk a hand. Jim and Shorty had the rest of the bunch under control. We got 'em all together again and headed towards the pens. Soon we were in. We were tired and frustrated, but we were in, so I guess, in the end, that's all that matters.

We had the calves done by 12:30, so we stopped and ate some dinner. After dinner we ran the cows through. After we got everything paired back up again, we rode through 'em to fix a few mix-ups. This winter/calving season has been crazy. We had so many calves tagged A, B, C, and the like that it's just now that we're finding out who the mommas are. After an hour or so of moving that cow here, that calf there, counting cows, counting calves, sorting off sure pairs, re-sorting we-thought-they-were-pairs, counting again, and finally figuring out who T157 belonged to, (There were two T157s), we opened the gate and headed south with the first group. Under the tunnel we went with no problems (Once again, what a crew) and had those pairs back on that green, green grass of home in no time. Whew, what a day! Aw, it wasn't too bad. It coulda been worse. I coulda been pushing paper instead of cattle. Adios Amigos!

Tell me about your brandings at thekansascowboy36@gmail.com. You can also follow me on Twitter, or look me up on Facebook. Be sure and check out WR page on Facebook as well.