California bans calf roping

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We can run our cows into the corrals and i can go in there and on foot, sort that calf out into a pen. Who would run every cow through a chute for one? What ranch TV shows are you watching????? Oh yeah, that was on Yellowstone.
Quite a few cows in my area make you regret going into a pen with them. You come across one of these brimmer mommas coming out of the swamps and marshes of Louisiana you'll wish you had a good horse and rope.

And if they go in my catch pens they got no choice but to go down the chute once they get to the head gate they got 3 options to the left through a gate into a trap pasture to the right through another gate into another catch pen or straight into the trailer
 
There are many places on our ranch you cant see pens. We have though, pulled calves in the field. But, never ever have we had to chase a calf at full speed and rope it. The guy on this horse probably just threw the rope around this cows neck as she was standing, probably another rope going the other way. Otherwise i cant imagine the force to get this cow down unless she's weak or really sick. Just a few weeks ago, about as far as you can get from our corrals, i walked a sick cow to the corral without getting the herd up. She had pneumonia, ran her in the chute and gave her a shot. She's still in the sick pen, but tells me every time i go out she doesnt belong there anymore. So, if a rancher doesnt have corrals and you ger a sick cow that is weak, wont you find her stuck in a pond eventually. We always bring our sick cows to the corral where they drink out of a stock tank,.
You keep saying, "We do this."... and... "We do that."... but never seem to hear what other people's experiences or methods are. It seems like you are on the prod instead of backing away and listening.

And the only time I've roped a calf was in a blizzard and across a fence to get it away from a mother that was overprotective. I needed to drag the calf through the fence and some four foot drifts to sleep with it on my kitchen floor, sharing body heat to warm it up.
 
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My lease places darn sure don't and I can haul a horse there a lot easier than I can put together a temporary set of pens.
I have my own pen and working facility…but even so I've still had to rope a few and drag em in the pen..no time for them to decide on their own..and sometimes had to work on them outside..like pull a breech that wasn't having anything to do with going ….
 
We can run our cows into the corrals and i can go in there and on foot, sort that calf out into a pen. Who would run every cow through a chute for one? What ranch TV shows are you watching????? Oh yeah, that was on Yellowstone.
We caught about 100 pairs yesterday morning. Had panels set up to hold them while loading into trailers. Hauled them about 6 miles to the nearest corral. Some of these old girls would eat your lunch. They are not eared cows. They are range cows who don't see a human for 6 months in the summer and rarely see a human on foot in their entire life. If you need to doctor an animal where they have been there are only two options. On the end of a rope. Or using a tranquilizer dart gun.
There are probably 2,000+ cows who spend the summer in the area in this picture. The nearest corral and chute would be at my house which is about 10 miles from where I took this picture.

244764150_4835948649783802_4397294678228195419_n.jpg
 
It is easy enough to rope one while on foot. The issue is how do you hold it.
Bingo!
I generally have the other end already secured to the grill of Polaris. Or I'll rope, let the calf run, drive along the tail end of the rope, take my chances, and hope the rope stays securely under the tires while I administer the shot(s).
 
Nobody wants to rope one of their calves (or cows) just for fun. And it's potentially dangerous for you and the calf without a chute - but you do whatcha gotta do. I have a portable corral & chute. In addition to 2 other permanent corrals with chutes. Logistics don't always work in your favor! And it takes hours for me to take it apart, unhook the chute, hook it up, move to said location, set it up, go back to get the chute, etc. And he!!, by that time, the sick calf has quite possibly moved. Pick your battles. And yes, I have extremely docile cattle, but they're prey animals (instinct!) and when they don't feel well, even your fave may not cooperate and follow you a mile to the nearest corral/catch pen/whatever.

I have considered a dart gun but treating in the pasture is relatively rare and not sure the investment is warranted.
 
So, what do you do to keep her from getting stuck in a pond beause they are sick, or getting too weak to go get a drink? I cant imagine just leaving a cow 'out' if she's sick i guess you just expect them to die then, why doctor them? You get a cow 12 miles from the corral, sick pen, whatever and she's got pneumonia, you rope and give a shot and them just leave them? Our where i live, a cow goes down away from humans, you wont find all of her the next day. lol
Out here on the desert, we would be lucky to even see her. There are plenty of places she could lay down in. Unless you happen to ride down the draw she is in, otherwise you would never see her. There are some places where the sagebrush way over your head when riding through it. For the most part if she is sick we would not even know there is a problem unless we happened to get luck and see her, or our count came up short in the fall. Most will not even be seen until the fall roundup in late October. The main thing is if you have a cow that might be sick, don't send her out on the desert. I usually don't have to treat any cows during the summer, and it is very important to vaccinate the calves. I have not lost any calves due to sickness out on the desert, but last year I did lose a cow, but she was old. I never even seen her.
 
We cull any problems cows and only keep docile cows that can be worked on foot. But, i know people who do have cows who are hard to work and its unnecessary. We just shake our heads watching them work. We wont even go into pastures of some cows that belong to others. Nice cows make things so much easier, trust me. Had someone years ago that had to use dogs to get their cows up. The cows would hear the truck coming and take off. I believe they did a lot of roping too...lol... As a 60ish yr old woman, i can get almost any cow out of a herd, and to the corral ( i set it up first) i get her in the front gate, shut it, i move her to the alleyway, shut the gate behind her, i move her to the tub, shut the gate behind her, from there she moves on through the chute and catches herself. All done by one person (who at times can be a scaredy cat). Doest that sound like something to work towards.. If you're in the desert, dont the cows have limited water sources? Pens in that area would be a good idea since they go to it at least once a day. I believe in keeping it simple, safe and quick... A neighbor recently was running a trouble cow out of the woods and had a bad accident where he'll probably never recover. Sounded horrific, horse threw him and then kicked him.
 
Bingo!
I generally have the other end already secured to the grill of Polaris. Or I'll rope, let the calf run, drive along the tail end of the rope, take my chances, and hope the rope stays securely under the tires while I administer the shot(s).
We do this also. Sometimes we'll have 2 out there and do what team ropers do.. We had to set a broken leg on a calf this year. Roped her on foot, drove the mule up to her to give us protection while we put a cast on it. Then, we put her in a little trailer we made and hauled her to the house with her mother following. 1660610997399.png
 
We cull any problems cows and only keep docile cows that can be worked on foot. But, i know people who do have cows who are hard to work and its unnecessary. We just shake our heads watching them work. We wont even go into pastures of some cows that belong to others. Nice cows make things so much easier, trust me. Had someone years ago that had to use dogs to get their cows up. The cows would hear the truck coming and take off. I believe they did a lot of roping too...lol... As a 60ish yr old woman, i can get almost any cow out of a herd, and to the corral ( i set it up first) i get her in the front gate, shut it, i move her to the alleyway, shut the gate behind her, i move her to the tub, shut the gate behind her, from there she moves on through the chute and catches herself. All done by one person (who at times can be a scaredy cat). Doest that sound like something to work towards.. If you're in the desert, dont the cows have limited water sources? Pens in that area would be a good idea since they go to it at least once a day. I believe in keeping it simple, safe and quick... A neighbor recently was running a trouble cow out of the woods and had a bad accident where he'll probably never recover. Sounded horrific, horse threw him and then kicked him.
Again... you're thinking in terms of your own thoughts... instead of other's realities.
 
We cull any problems cows and only keep docile cows that can be worked on foot. But, i know people who do have cows who are hard to work and its unnecessary. We just shake our heads watching them work. We wont even go into pastures of some cows that belong to others. Nice cows make things so much easier, trust me. Had someone years ago that had to use dogs to get their cows up. The cows would hear the truck coming and take off. I believe they did a lot of roping too...lol... As a 60ish yr old woman, i can get almost any cow out of a herd, and to the corral ( i set it up first) i get her in the front gate, shut it, i move her to the alleyway, shut the gate behind her, i move her to the tub, shut the gate behind her, from there she moves on through the chute and catches herself. All done by one person (who at times can be a scaredy cat). Doest that sound like something to work towards.. If you're in the desert, dont the cows have limited water sources? Pens in that area would be a good idea since they go to it at least once a day. I believe in keeping it simple, safe and quick... A neighbor recently was running a trouble cow out of the woods and had a bad accident where he'll probably never recover. Sounded horrific, horse threw him and then kicked him.
It is a big old world with lots of differences. Where we gathered cows yesterday there was 6 people horse back along with half a dozen dogs. By our not entirely accurate count there is still 18-20 pairs that got missed. We also caught 4 pairs, a bull, and a yearling that belong to 3 different neighbors. This reality where I live. When I lived over on the Washington coast it wasn't all that different than where you are. But it is a whole different world here. years ago I cowboyed for a rancher in north central Washington that was similar to here. 330 pairs on 33,000 acres.
 
There is a difference in flat run rope/stop and calmly riding into a pen of calves and dragging one out. I get that.
"Calmly riding into a pen of calves and dragging one out." I have no idea how many brandings you have been to. Everyone sure likes it when it works that way. But the truth is it does get pretty western at times. Calves aren't exactly thrilled with the idea of being roped.
 
Hell, I've put a rope on one not 50 feet from the pen. Tied it to a fence post and went to work. Can't remember what it needed but it got done. And I did it with ALL the mamas watching me.

Problem with cows is this.
A cows gonna do what a cow does.
Same for a calf.

They got all the time in the world. Time has absolutely no meaning to a cow unless it's dinner time.
The cattleman/woman usually doesn't have that luxury.
 
I cant believe in this day and age that having a set of some sort of pens is impossible. Yet employing a dozen cowboys makes more sense..lol
 
We cull any problems cows and only keep docile cows that can be worked on foot. But, i know people who do have cows who are hard to work and its unnecessary. We just shake our heads watching them work. We wont even go into pastures of some cows that belong to others. Nice cows make things so much easier, trust me. Had someone years ago that had to use dogs to get their cows up. The cows would hear the truck coming and take off. I believe they did a lot of roping too...lol... As a 60ish yr old woman, i can get almost any cow out of a herd, and to the corral ( i set it up first) i get her in the front gate, shut it, i move her to the alleyway, shut the gate behind her, i move her to the tub, shut the gate behind her, from there she moves on through the chute and catches herself. All done by one person (who at times can be a scaredy cat). Doest that sound like something to work towards.. If you're in the desert, dont the cows have limited water sources? Pens in that area would be a good idea since they go to it at least once a day. I believe in keeping it simple, safe and quick... A neighbor recently was running a trouble cow out of the woods and had a bad accident where he'll probably never recover. Sounded horrific, horse threw him and then kicked him.
On properties further out west from here some graziers use spear traps https://www.cavalierlivestock.com.au/product/5-bar-spear-trap/
around the water points with a small area fenced off. The cattle have to go through the trap to access water and then exit the enclosure through another spear trap. When they want to muster they lock the exit and within 24 hrs will have a complete muster of the paddock. They are easy to train to the traps.

Ken
 
Surprised to see this many snowflakes on a cattle board. Rodeo stock has it made, really. An animal can not be used twice in a rodeo, so broncs and bulls are used a maximum of 8 seconds a week. Steers and calves often less than 8 seconds a week. The rest of the week, they rest and eat.
 
Surprised to see this many snowflakes on a cattle board. Rodeo stock has it made, really. An animal can not be used twice in a rodeo, so broncs and bulls are used a maximum of 8 seconds a week. Steers and calves often less than 8 seconds a week. The rest of the week, they rest and eat.
I just dont like calf roping, i dont think once a week is little enough to be choked down at a full run if you get my drift. I think the bucking stock have great lives.
 

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