Same but different

[Anonymous]

It's amazing how cattle and people can be so much alike.

I remember when my dad sold the last of his horned cows. He was not getting any younger. He was (and still is) strong for his age and could outwork most men half his age. But he wasn't as fast as he used to be, nor as fast as he thought. I'd been encouraging him for some time to get rid of all his cows that had horns. I was afraid he'd get hooked and I'd find him in the pasture one of these days, or something like that.

There was one mean old cow, one of the smartest and at the top of the pecking order when it came to getting her fair share. She had a particularly bad set of lifters and although I admired her for the calves she raised, I hated her for her meanness and for what she might do to daddy.

We trapped her calf in the lot one day when he was big enough to wean. Later that month we got her. She was one of the last to go. We also caught a another cow we'd been meaning so sell, so we carried them in together. They had more room in the trailer than they knew what to do with, just two cows in the whole thing.

By the time we got to the sale, the poor old baldie was cut up from one end to the other and bleeding all over the place. That sorry wench had worked her over out of sheer meanness. No reason in the world to come close to each other, but that didn't matter. The horned cow got her – just because she could.

Reminds me of some people. Give them a little advantage and they can't be satisfied with their gifts and good fortune. They get mad at the world and take it out on whoever is close by.

Oh well. It's a lesson to learn – never be like them. Because when it's all said and done we, unlike the old cows, will have to stand and answer for our actions.

Craig-TX

 

[Anonymous]

> It's amazing how cattle and people
> can be so much alike.

> I remember when my dad sold the
> last of his horned cows. He was
> not getting any younger. He was
> (and still is) strong for his age
> and could outwork most men half
> his age. But he wasn't as fast as
> he used to be, nor as fast as he
> thought. I'd been encouraging him
> for some time to get rid of all
> his cows that had horns. I was
> afraid he'd get hooked and I'd
> find him in the pasture one of
> these days, or something like
> that.

> There was one mean old cow, one of
> the smartest and at the top of the
> pecking order when it came to
> getting her fair share. She had a
> particularly bad set of lifters
> and although I admired her for the
> calves she raised, I hated her for
> her meanness and for what she
> might do to daddy.

> We trapped her calf in the lot one
> day when he was big enough to
> wean. Later that month we got her.
> She was one of the last to go. We
> also caught a another cow we'd
> been meaning so sell, so we
> carried them in together. They had
> more room in the trailer than they
> knew what to do with, just two
> cows in the whole thing.

> By the time we got to the sale,
> the poor old baldie was cut up
> from one end to the other and
> bleeding all over the place. That
> sorry wench had worked her over
> out of sheer meanness. No reason
> in the world to come close to each
> other, but that didn't matter. The
> horned cow got her – just because
> she could.

> Reminds me of some people. Give
> them a little advantage and they
> can't be satisfied with their
> gifts and good fortune. They get
> mad at the world and take it out
> on whoever is close by.

> Oh well. It's a lesson to learn –
> never be like them. Because when
> it's all said and done we, unlike
> the old cows, will have to stand
> and answer for our actions.

> Craig-TX

I had an odd experience with one of those wild cows years ago. Had a deer lease down near Seguin, Tx. that was pretty wild country. The rancher was liquidating his herd and had "cowboys" out with horses doing the roundup. Try as they may they never could catch, rope, pen or otherwise get one old cow. Finally the owner told us that if could get her in our sights we were welcome to shoot her. At first we thought it would be interesting to do, but then the thought of field dressing a huge old cow just to get a bunch of free hamburger meat made us come to our senses. We saw her a few times, and when she caught sight of us she high-tailed it for the mesquite thickets. Probably died there of old age.

 

[Anonymous]

Many years ago I used to hunt a friends place in the foothills of the Seirra in CA. He had a couple hundred thousand acres that had been in the family for 3 generations, he was in his 90's at the time. When they would work the cattle they would work a different area every year. Took about 5 years to get back to the same area again. We would see a fleeting glimpse of old bulls and cows and eventually find they had died of old age. Those old boogers were wilder then the deer. At least them you would see a couple of times during the season, not the wild cows though.

dun

> I had an odd experience with one
> of those wild cows years ago. Had
> a deer lease down near Seguin, Tx.
> that was pretty wild country. The
> rancher was liquidating his herd
> and had "cowboys" out
> with horses doing the roundup. Try
> as they may they never could
> catch, rope, pen or otherwise get
> one old cow. Finally the owner
> told us that if could get her in
> our sights we were welcome to
> shoot her. At first we thought it
> would be interesting to do, but
> then the thought of field dressing
> a huge old cow just to get a bunch
> of free hamburger meat made us
> come to our senses. We saw her a
> few times, and when she caught
> sight of us she high-tailed it for
> the mesquite thickets. Probably
> died there of old age.