Kingfisher
Well-known member
I went Saturday with a fellow over to Comanche to the sale. " Bubba" ( that's really his nickname :)) doesn't really have much hands on experience with cattle and this is his first trip into owning some cattle. A friend gave him a pair of bulls a few months ago. A nice looking @3 year old Beefmaster named Bad Bad Leroy Brown and his side kick Boolie a nice looking younger Brangus Longhorn cross. The auction started at noon and we got there about 10:30. Bubba went to register and I started looking around. They had over 800 calves and I suppose at least a couple of hundred cows and bulls for sale. I hung out where they were steady unloading cows and met a fellow who was looking for a butcher calf. He had come a little ways and had been there since 8am! He thought they started at 10:00 ;( I suppose it was a loong day for him. After a bit we went to the other side of the pens and watched the vet work some and spent some time on the catwalk viewing some lots from above. A fellow helped me to understand the " markings" on the heifers. Their age was on the shoulder and the months pregnant on the hip." Broken Mouth" wasn't a term I had heard untill that morning. " Straight" " Long & Straight" etc were a bunch of terms foreign to me untill Saturday. I showed my rookie ignorance by asking " What is the red stripe across their hips mean?? "I was told that is where the vet straps them down............:0) I used my little card to write some numbers down of cows that looked good to me. I tried to remember all the wisdom that has been shared on these forums combined with some experience I have. I had been spending some time at DV online auction during the previous weeks which seemed to help. It takes an eye to process that many cows at a time. I was haveing a great time! After looking and looking there appeared to be some cows that ' worked" for us. And then the sale started....lol. We found a seat about 1/2 up in the arena. Not too crowded but maybe 65 people inside. Not knowing anybody it was still obvious some guys were buying lots of stock and even the " marginal" looking cows seemed to have value and were selling. It was encouraging to see bids on cows that went back and forth a few times when it was a cow that I too would have bid. Since I wasn't buying just " helping out" there was no real pressure on me and I was enjoying the action. After a few bread heifers came thru Bubba seemed to have picked up on the pace and the next thing I knew he bought a 4 year old 5 month bred Black Baldy! Oh man here we go! I was not sure he was really going to pull the trigger today untill then. A few more cows sold and the pace was picking up. Before I knew it he had bought a 3yr old 7month Angus. I am not sure what he saw in this heifer. I doubt I even got a focus on her before she was out the door and on the scale! She's not real big but the price seems right if she can get her calf on the ground. They ran some more bred cows thru and I even saw a 3in1. We were looking for a set of numbers but they never came. They were on his card and I suppose they came thru earlier but he couldn't see and missed th em. At some point my concern was for moving these cows. I had for weeks been urging Bubba to get transportation lined up. The Auction claimed there were fellows who could move them for us but they did not seem to be around. There was no trailer rental in Comanche ( We have since located a rental trailer :) )
A phone call to a friend nearby secured transportation but not untill the next day. I asked Bubba " What were you thinking of having a Cattle Drive or were you just going to tie a rope around their necks and lead em home with your truck?.....................;(" :) lol Cajuns.........
I went out to see the pair yesterday. Not bad looking cows. Not show cows but they look good! They are close to the same height and are tame. They knew what a range cube was. One has ears that are " cut or marked" not sure what that means and they both have metal ear tags........not sure what that means if anything. Can you at the time of purchase find out the seller contact information?
I do wonder about the little cow. She is kind of flat sided and her udder looks real " normal" She suppose to be 8 months bred. I guess we just wait and see. I suggested getting her on some sort of supplement collostrum feed before she calves. We never came back to see any of the calves being auctioned. The whole experience was wonderfull and even the young guys struggling to get the down cow up with a skid steer loader and the expired Donkey laid in the parking lot seemed to be just part of the deal. I would have told that cow that didn't want to get up " You see that Donkey............." That's my story. Peace.
A phone call to a friend nearby secured transportation but not untill the next day. I asked Bubba " What were you thinking of having a Cattle Drive or were you just going to tie a rope around their necks and lead em home with your truck?.....................;(" :) lol Cajuns.........
I went out to see the pair yesterday. Not bad looking cows. Not show cows but they look good! They are close to the same height and are tame. They knew what a range cube was. One has ears that are " cut or marked" not sure what that means and they both have metal ear tags........not sure what that means if anything. Can you at the time of purchase find out the seller contact information?
I do wonder about the little cow. She is kind of flat sided and her udder looks real " normal" She suppose to be 8 months bred. I guess we just wait and see. I suggested getting her on some sort of supplement collostrum feed before she calves. We never came back to see any of the calves being auctioned. The whole experience was wonderfull and even the young guys struggling to get the down cow up with a skid steer loader and the expired Donkey laid in the parking lot seemed to be just part of the deal. I would have told that cow that didn't want to get up " You see that Donkey............." That's my story. Peace.
