Open Range

Gather App
About 3 weeks ago I came across 2 horses out with in 2 days.

I was coming from my parents and a gate was open. It caught my eye and as I looked some horses were headed for it. I was hitting the breaks and noticed some one mowing. I hollered at them and they ran for the gate. There were car coming so I pulled sideways with my flashers to slow them down. You can see over rhe hill. The horse shot out the gate like a missile and down the road. I made the block to see if I could cut it off. Hard to get ahead from behind. When I cam around it had ran ran in to an open lot. They were trying to catch it. I got along the fence to keep it from getting back on the main road. It came running down the fence and I stood there with hand out and said whoa. Luckily it hit the brakes and stopped to sniff my hand. I eased to the side and started petting on it. The owners came up with a halter. They tried to tell me to grab its kneck. Guess thats why it ran from them and not me.

Two days later we were in another town on the 4 lane road amd here comes a horse cross traffic. People were hitting the brakes and making moves out the way. I was able to dive cross traffic and close a hole. We about had it corralled. I dropped the wind and started talking to it. Told my son to ease out and grab it. You could see the broke reins. My sone was stepping out and reaching for it and a "cowboy" came running up. Off it went again. The owner was on foot maybe 10 yds away. He and I both looked at each other. I told him... I thought we had it. Then we both looked at the other guy. He said thanks and kept going after it.

I text my buddy and he said they caught it down the road a little ways. Guy was coming with another horse in a trailer and dumped his out and the losse one came to it.

Small town fun.
 
A few years ago, I was driving on a small 2 lane road in the country. I see just ahead a long driveway to a house. Barbed wire fence on each side of the driveway. A dozen or so weaning age calves coming down the driveway toward the road. Further behind, a guy coning on a quad driving toward them. I assumed they had gotten out and he was trying to get around them before they got to the highway. I stopped the truck and started down the driveway to try to turn them back. They turned around and ran through his fence that badly needed maintenance and were back in his pasture.

He was NOT happy. He yelled something along the lines of those were his neighbor's calves that were in his pasture. He had worked to get them out of his pasture and was driving them out to the highway hoping they would go away.

I got back in my truck and continued home. I have been successful in avoiding running into him since. Ain't no open range in my state. You are supposed to keep your cow's inside the fence and are responsible for damage when they are out. My intention of doing a good deed had not worked out.
 
simme said:
A few years ago, I was driving on a small 2 lane road in the country. I see just ahead a long driveway to a house. Barbed wire fence on each side of the driveway. A dozen or so weaning age calves coming down the driveway toward the road. Further behind, a guy coning on a quad driving toward them. I assumed they had gotten out and he was trying to get around them before they got to the highway. I stopped the truck and started down the driveway to try to turn them back. They turned around and ran through his fence that badly needed maintenance and were back in his pasture.

He was NOT happy. He yelled something along the lines of those were his neighbor's calves that were in his pasture. He had worked to get them out of his pasture and was driving them out to the highway hoping they would go away.

I got back in my truck and continued home. I have been successful in avoiding running into him since. Ain't no open range in my state. You are supposed to keep your cow's inside the fence and are responsible for damage when they are out. My intention of doing a good deed had not worked out.
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You did the right thing. Driving them out in the road for some one else to hit is not a solution.

I think the word for that is karma.
 
The way the sheriffs department works here is if a animal is in the road or highway, the first priority is to get it off the highway to some place secure. Any gate, driveway or yard will do. If the owner doesn't like this, tough luck. Maybe it will be your animal next time. Everyone understands this and I have never heard of a problem.
I have a small hay trap along the road about a 1/2 mile from a busy highway. The Sheriff deputies know they are welcome to use it anytime. It over nighted six long horns about a year ago.
 
Because this is open range nobody gets excited about critters out. The exception is if one gets on the freeway. Hit a cow at 70 mph is going to be deadly. I have twice been involved in those situations. Half a dozen people trying to herd the critter. A couple of state police with lights flashing. A DOT pickup with a flashing sign reading cow on road. Traffic just flying by not even slowing down to the speed limit. It is pretty discussing how a lot of people behave.
Same bunch of horses who were out back where they got out at the beginning of this story again on Saturday evening. Where ever they got out they got back in because the next morning they were in the pasture. That is a gravel/dirt road. If you look hard you can find some gravel. No posted speed limit but sane people drive it at 25-30 mph. Much faster than that the wash board and chuck holes will beat your vehicle to death. We joke that there is two dozen cars a day. Normal for it to be 2 or 3 hours between cars. In another month or two if grass or water start getting short in the hills it is common to see 20-30 pairs come walking down the road a day. Some singles but generally in groups of 2 to 6 pairs together
 
Silver said:
My cattle have full access to the road for 2 miles for a few weeks each year. Some of the best grass and water are along those ditches. Nobody has had to buy me a cow yet. Not nearly as busy as Dave’s road though.
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Thats fairly common here too. Its real common out in WTX. Its not open range they just put a road through some ones place. There are cattle guards in the county road separating properties.
 
Had a crew coming down the highline today. I saw them last week on the county road on the east end. We stopped and talked to them and looked at their maps. I showed them where ours started and stopped and made sure they had it marked as herbicide only. They will scalp your place, in July and Aug, if you dont get it set up like that.

Yesterday I saw them on the neighbors so I went by there this morning to touch base again. They had a younger guy on the crew that spoke good English. Me, the pusher, and young guy jumped in my buggy and we drove the line. I showed them that we maintain it pretty good and don't want any thing cut down. I also opened all the gates up down the main road so they could take it to the highway and jump across.

They said they were going to eat lunch in town so I warned them out our sheriff and told them about a Cafe not that far at some crossroads.

They moved their equipment through us and across the highway then went to lunch. Easy... peasy.

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The powerline equipment got loaded up and hauled off this morning. It seems the fire which that other crew started got them all shut down. I talked to one of the truck drivers. It is all moving over to Idaho at the end of the line on private ground. The fire that got started was on BLM land. You could mess with BLM but if it gets the greenies mad at BLM the BLM jumps.
 

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