Moving day

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Dave

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Baker County, Oregon
I have the only bridge on the river for miles. One of my neighbor's cows calf on the road side of the river and his range land is on the other side. This time of the year the river is too high for young calves to cross. So they herd the cows and calves up the road, down my driveway, across the bridge, through a field, and up the hill about a mile to his property. Today was moving day. Four people horseback, 2 quads, and one side by side. 150 pairs are up in the hills until next fall.
 

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Nice fences Dave. I'll bet those are fun to maintain. They look so pristine. I don't dare show my wife (or neighbors) this. I'll be building more new fences!
 
Nice fences Dave. I'll bet those are fun to maintain. They look so pristine. I don't dare show my wife (or neighbors) this. I'll be building more new fences!
I haven't done a thing to those fences since I moved here. Well I did put an electric wire down the inside to keep the cows off them. Those plastic fecnes were here when we moved here. I sure wouldn't spend that kind of money on a fence which is that easy to break.
 
Not the previous owner. They did nothing but live here. The one before them are the ones who did things here. Had money from a construction business in Utah. Mostly the wife. Did everything first class and top of the line. There is a file which we got showing everything they did here. Story is that every day first thing he saddled a horse (had 5 horses in the barn). People say that after a long day in the saddle and everyone is wanting to go home, he would say it is a nice day for a ride lets go check on ------ over there.
 
That type of fencing sure isn't typical in "range country". Makes me think there's a story behind the previous owner/seller.
To tell you how bad the previous owner was. The door knob on the backdoor only worked if you turned it one way. My daughter found a new door knob in a drawer when we were moving in. She said the heck with this. Ten minutes later we had a working door knob. We put a new roof on the house. Had 3 big dead Black Walnut trees taken out in the back yard. I rebuilt the corral and 2 loafing sheds. The wife went through 7 five gallon buckets of paint to paint the barn, loafing sheds, and the chicken coop. There is about 250 acres of range land behind the house. They had 50 head of horses up there year round. You know what that did to that ground.
 
That is beautiful fence you have to pray no fires get near it. I had a neighbor who had that kind of fence and a neighbor burned a field that got out of control and melted his fence.
 
That is beautiful fence you have to pray no fires get near it. I had a neighbor who had that kind of fence and a neighbor burned a field that got out of control and melted his fence.
I am very careful when burning the ditches anywhere near that fence. In the last picture there is a pretty good size irrigation ditch between that satellite dish and that old root cellar. It feeds water to about 1,000 acres down stream of here. We burn off the weeds and brush every year. That section I somehow forget the burn.
 
There is a face book group that for some unknown reason I am on, "the Cowboy Way" is now over 1,000 likes and 80+ comments on the pictures of this move. The ones that really amaze me are all the comments on what a "great neighbor" I am. For what? I set up a couple panels to turn the cows off the driveway and into the field. I parked my rear on my quad on the road to turn the herd down the driveway. Not what I wold call work. For letting the man bring his cows across my place? Who wouldn't do that?
I finally had to comment that they must all be city people who live right close to a lot of people but are not friends or neighbors with any of them. I told them that they need to be the kind of neighbor that that would want to have if they expect to have good neighbors.
 
I'm sure city people think much differently about property, houses, fences and neighbors then those who have lived in the country. Ever notice when city dwellers purchase property and move to the country they always seem to build the house on the very edge of the property near the road. Doesn't matter if they purchase 5 acres or 100 acres. I think they are so use to a postage stamp size yard when they see the openness of the country they can't imagine their yard being any larger then they had in town.
 
Times like this a good lead cow or two is money in the bank. I've kept cows that didn't raise a calf for squat really but when I needed the herd to move from one place to another or come up to the pen to get worked, she was worth her weight in gold.
 
This move and lots of multiple mile moves around here there was a person on horseback leading the way. Three people horseback with 3 good dogs in the rear. A man in a side by side on the field side of the fence to discourage any cows from climbing through the fence. Two people on quads. One to block the neighbors driveway and me to block the road and turn them down my driveway.
This move happens every year about this time. I am sure the cows out front have done it a number of times and they know there is green grass ahead.
 
We used to move cows from one pasture nearly a mile up the road to another pasture. Cows knew where they were going and had to drive the truck a little fast to keep ahead of the eager beavers in the group. They had to come out the driveway, turn right, go to the next road past 3 or 4 driveways, right up the road, past a hayfield, past another driveway, then turned right into the pasture gate. Some times the calves would get out into someplace they weren't supposed to be, but the cows would follow the truck and the old timers knew where they were going and were in a hurry to get to new grass. Had 1 or 2 in trucks to turn up the roads, a gator to follow and prod along any lazy britches.
 
That's AWESOME I don't care who says otherwise!!! I want to move pastures that way but they're 6 miles apart and you'd have to go right through the middle of town. I suspect they'd frown on it!
 

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