Another Cattle Theft

[stocky]

Just talked with a buddy of mine and a mutual friend of ours lost a group of calves. It was on rented pasture, next to an interstate highway. They came in at night and rounded up the cattle---probably with dogs, into a pen they made with panels out of the barn. They turned the cows out and loaded the calves into a cattle trailer they stole from him. The trailer was found 40 miles away, abandoned. Calves have not been found. Not sure how many, but whatever a trailer load was.
My buddy talked with the highway patrol and they are warning people that these thieves play for keeps. They said if you see something suspicious, do not check it out. Call 911 immediately, do not call the sherriff, they are not equiped to handle this. The HP said the thieves are using spotters with night scopes and high powered rifles and are prepared to shoot anyone interrupting their actions. This is why they advise not to get into the action.
With high prices and winter feeding habits, it is bound to continually get worse. Everyone be careful.

 

[john250]

Just talked with a buddy of mine and a mutual friend of ours lost a group of calves. It was on rented pasture, next to an interstate highway. They came in at night and rounded up the cattle---probably with dogs, into a pen they made with panels out of the barn. They turned the cows out and loaded the calves into a cattle trailer they stole from him. The trailer was found 40 miles away, abandoned. Calves have not been found. Not sure how many, but whatever a trailer load was..

I'm extremely suspicious on this one. Has to be an inside job. If strangers with dogs tried to load my cattle--in the dark, in a temporary pen--it would not go well. My cows would not be sorted, again by strangers---in the dark. And the chance a thief could hook right up to my trailer and go would be blind dumb luck.
I'm holding the :bs: flag, but as a cop I would have a LOT of questions. For sure, there is a lot of motive ($) to steal cattle. It is a lot easier to do it like Eastern Livestock did.

 

[stocky]

This guy runs about 800 momma cows on a dozen or so rented farms over a 30 mile area. There have been alot of thefts just like this in our area. Evidently the thieves are using Google Earth and GPS to locate ways in and out of properties. They drop off a person and the dogs on a road 1/2 mile or mile or further away from the pasture. They walk in, the dogs get the cattle up, they phone for a pickup to cut the fence and come in or come in a gate, load the cattle and they are gone. In this case, I believe the trailer was parked in the barn. There are other variations, but not all cattle cooperate. Along with all the groups of stolen cattle, there have been many places where fences were cut or temporary pens knocked down and the cattle escaped. Seems like they do not bring in a vehicle until the last minute so if the cattle break out, there are no vehicle tracks and no vehicle noise to arouse suspicion, they simply take their dogs and walk out and call for someone to pick them up on a road. People who have great cattle dogs would be more able to tell you what dogs can do in penning cattle than I can, so I would leave it up to them to comment on that. One guy lost a load when they came in to the center of his 600 acres, loaded the cattle, got stuck in the mud, then hotwired his backhoe to pull themselves out and got away. Another guy lost a load and his pen was over 1/2 mile off the road, back in the woods. Lots of variations, but no one seems to ever get caught. I would think if you can keep your animals close enough to the house that you can hear them when you are asleep, you have alot less chance of getting them stolen. Most people around here have places where fences can be cut and cattle driven out or loaded out that aren't close to any house.

 

[larryshoat]

We're having a good bit of trouble around here. About 2 weeks ago a neighbor lost a fairly new tractor and a backhoe. Another neighbor had a hole cut in a new building, but nothing was taken. About 9 months ago a guy got a skid loader taken.

I think here the economy is so bad that it's a factor, but on the other hand a thief is a thief bad economy or not.

.Larry

 

[chippie]

That is terrible. I am so sorry for the victims. Have any of you googled earth your place or home? It is scary how detailed the pictures are.
I could see my horses well enough to identify who was who and could easily see our cows. I could also see my trailers and other stuff.

 

[GMN]

It just seems crzy that they could do all that and no one hear a thing-in the middle of the night its dark-hard to see, animals act different at night, they must have alot of experience with sorting and catching animals to get in and out like they do undetected-probably a large ring of theives-whats this world coming too?

 

[kjonesel]

Where we live we used to have a problem with thieves butchering an animal quartering it and then stealing it. That was in the early 70's, steers used to be on pasture, thieves were more prone to take what they could use, and they were scared of getting caught. That has definitely changed. I have it where my cattle come back to the house at night but it doesn't make my wife happy with the smell or the sight in the winter time. My shop directly across the road has been gotten into this fall and I believe it was the neighbor's, once again someone who had information. I agree with John250 in my business there are people who are "plants" who come in to scope you out. Anymore I will do detail background checks on anyone who would work for me.

 

[chippie]

A couple of years ago a man had his entire herd stolen in the daylight. He did not live on or near his cattle. There were homes within site of the man's place but that did not deter the thieves. They brought horses, penned the cattle, loaded them up and left. The owner discovered the loss several days after the theft. He went to check on his cows and they weren't there.

If I remember correctly, the thieves were caught almost a year later selling stolen cattle in OK. They had quite a business going until they were caught.

They were successful with their daylight thefts because they acted like they were supposed to be there. Good actors.

 

[JSCATTLE]

If more people would shoot instead of calling the law theft would drop . No one is scared of gOing to jail . But i bet If a few were shot or strung up it would change things .

 

[LRTX1]

If more people would shoot instead of calling the law theft would drop . No one is scared of gOing to jail . But i bet If a few were shot or strung up it would change things .

The sad part is those people that need to do the shootin are probably scared to go to jail. That is the system we have.

 

[JSCATTLE]

If more people would shoot instead of calling the law theft would drop . No one is scared of gOing to jail . But i bet If a few were shot or strung up it would change things .

The sad part is those people that need to do the shootin are probably scared to go to jail. That is the system we have.

That's true

 

[jedstivers]

Cattle sort and load better at night than in the daytime. That being said I would think lots of Texas cattle would be hard for strangers to handle day or night. Those braman girls just don't like strangers.

 

[JSCATTLE]

I use portable pens because I'm not at my place everyday . And like jed said if I drive up they come running . If my dad is with me and he gets out of my truck they turn and run . If I'm alone they surround the truck . If dad drives his truck he never sees the cows they are in the brush hiding .

 

[Caustic Burno]

Cattle sort and load better at night than in the daytime. That being said I would think lots of Texas cattle would be hard for strangers to handle day or night. Those braman girls just don't like strangers.

You are absolutely correct, besides that ATT looks after mine. ATT has a 32 inch barrel chambered in 45-70 and porch rails offer a good rest.

 

[Angus Cowman]

I have known of alot of cattle to be loaded in a short amount of time with a couple good dogs and a few panels
the roads are the best place to load them you cut the fence in the corner run them onto the road and right down the road into a trailer with panels leading from the trailer to the fences on each side
at nite cattle will herd together better than in daylight

Also a good set of dogs that are trained not to bark are worth alot

I know a man that made a very good living doing things this way for several yrs the law was never smart enough to catch him they came close one night but they didn't plan on him having a scanner in the truck when they stopped him all they found was an empty trailer as he had let the cows out before they got there

I also had knew another man that was on the FBIs most wanted list for stealing in excess of a million $$$ worth of cattle and this was in the late 70s and early 80s
He stole them at the stockyards all over Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma back in an load a load up and leave just acted like he knew what he was doing and was supposed to be there

As for people being around that makes No difference as most people don't pay any attention to whats going on or who's doing it

 

[Nesikep]

Wow, that really sucks, and yes, we all have the lawmakers to thank for it... damned if this would happen in 1880. Makes a guy want to have a 50 cal just to blow their vehicle to bits if nothing else... then phone the cops saying you shot a guy (even if you didn't) to get them out there in a hurry

 

[red angus 2010]

If more people would shoot instead of calling the law theft would drop . No one is scared of gOing to jail . But i bet If a few were shot or strung up it would change things .

The sad part is those people that need to do the shootin are probably scared to go to jail. That is the system we have.

In Illinois I honestly believe that if I defended my property and/ or possessions I would be the one cuffed. The States Attorney would say I could have stayed in my house. I cannot "legally" detain someone trespassing on my property. Had an incident the other night called dispatch for the sheriff and was told they would call him but he was at the other end of the county ( only one deputy that night) response was about 25 minutes and the dispatched told me later they called him on his cell so thieves listening on the scanner wouldn't know. I still go and check on things because I hate thieves and meth heads but I am very careful about what I am about to come up on, these days you just don't know. I really wonder if one of these times I am going to be laying on the ground with a round in me thinking well this sure turned out different than I thought !!

 

[JSCATTLE]

If I have to shoot someone I'm just gonna see how long it takes the buzzards to pick em clean they will strip a cow in a week and a dog in 2 days . I was workin cows for a old man a few years ago that had a few cat fish ponds he sold fish . We were penning and came past one of the ponds . There was a guy fishing in the pond . The guy rode up to him and told him to get off his property . The guy fishing popped of something and the old man roped him . He drug that guy at least a half a mile through The brush to the fence as fast as that horse could go . We could hear the guy begging to be turned lose . That was the last person that tried to steal fish from him .

 

[3legdonkey]

I am betting that this is the theft that the OP was referring to:
http://ozarksfirst.com/fulltext?nxd_id%3D585342

I am guessing that they stole the calves because they were not branded permanently yet. Also they could throw them in with their own cattle and no one would be the wiser. I have no tolerance for thieves or liars and would be would happy if we brought back hanging...

 

[VanC]

Wow, that really sucks, and yes, we all have the lawmakers to thank for it... damned if this would happen in 1880. Makes a guy want to have a 50 cal just to blow their vehicle to bits if nothing else... then phone the cops saying you shot a guy (even if you didn't) to get them out there in a hurry

Do that around here and you will be in just as much trouble as the thieves for making a false 911 call. Most police agencies don't take that too lightly.