Wild Cattle

[CopeMan]

I was talking to my neighbor this past Sat. he has been cowboying for along time and he was telling me about one of his buddies went to Florida to help out on some cattle ranches down there and he told of how big those places were. His buddy told of cattle that had gone wild in those big pastures and how he he helped catch them. He said that there were bulls in there that were 5 and 6 years old and had never laid eyes on a human. Has anyone else heard or had any dealings with this?

 

[frenchie]

I was talking to my neighbor this past Sat. he has been cowboying for along time and he was telling me about one of his buddies went to Florida to help out on some cattle ranches down there and he told of how big those places were. His buddy told of cattle that had gone wild in those big pastures and how he he helped catch them. He said that there were bulls in there that were 5 and 6 years old and had never laid eyes on a human. Has anyone else heard or had any dealings with this?

I don,t know about Florida..but there is a few guys up here that that don,t know exactly how many cows they own. One a friend of mine only knows he has somewhere between 250-300 cows. Ranch is big and rough and 90% bush they might only see 20% of his cows at the best of times.He always finds a few calves that got missed in the fall.His cows are pretty rank.

 

[dun]

Back in the earl;y 60's I helped out a freind of ours, since deceased' that only worked each portion of the ranch every 5 years. We would sweep through and roundup everything we could, brand, cut and ship what we caught that weren't going to be kept for breeders. The next year we would work a different part. This was in the foothills fo the Sierra in CA. While hunting we wold see some very old cattle that had never seen a human being. All it would take was for it to ellude us one year and it would be 5 or older before we caught it. Made for some hairy times.

dun

 

[jerry27150]

florida has cattle that live on their own. they don't need to feed anything so they never see people much. go to one of their sales down there & you will see almost nothing but wild cattle. i am sure back in some of those swamps some are never seen

 

[dun]

florida has cattle that live on their own. they don't need to feed anything so they never see people much. go to one of their sales down there & you will see almost nothing but wild cattle. i am sure back in some of those swamps some are never seen

Seems like a number of years ago I saw an article about people hunting them just like cape buffalo. The ones in the pics were all Hereford looking things. I guess it's like feral hogs.

dun

 

[sidney411]

How do they doctor sick ones? Just let them die? What about very young heifers getting bred? Calving problems? When they do round them up how do they know what to sale if they are old enough that their fully grown, having calves already? This concept baffles me, how do they do their taxes? I guess they don't have to ever buy replacements. How do they know if they have cows out? How do the cull their herd (i.e A cow isn't having a calf every year or is having sorry calves?)

 

[frenchie]

How do they doctor sick ones? Just let them die? What about very young heifers getting bred? Calving problems? When they do round them up how do they know what to sale if they are old enough that their fully grown, having calves already? This concept baffles me, how do they do their taxes? I guess they don't have to ever buy replacements. How do they know if they have cows out? How do the cull their herd (i.e A cow isn't having a calf every year or is having sorry calves?)

Survival of the fittest applies here.

 

[dun]

How do they doctor sick ones? Just let them die? What about very young heifers getting bred? Calving problems? When they do round them up how do they know what to sale if they are old enough that their fully grown, having calves already? This concept baffles me, how do they do their taxes? I guess they don't have to ever buy replacements. How do they know if they have cows out? How do the cull their herd (i.e A cow isn't having a calf every year or is having sorry calves?)

Since we hardly ever saw the cattle on the ranch I was talking about, you didn;t know if one was sick, you didn;t doctor them they lived or died on their own. We shipped most of the bulls and any cow that looked old or didn;t have a calf with her and most of the heifer calves. We just hoorahed them into a gathering pen, cut out the ones he wanted to keep and loaded the rest on trucks. Didn't sort them, just loaded them. But you got to remember that was 40 years ago and the cattle inductry has changed a bunch since then.

dun

 

[Ryder]

In Louisiana some years back people ran cattle in the piney woods or swamps, depending on location. Just caught up what they could when they decided to sell some. Most of the piney woods are all fenced up now, but a few still run cattle like that on their places. Gross income is not nearly as much as with more modern husbandry practices, but expenses are low.

I would think that most of the old time cattleman did it this way. They didn't pamper their cattle.

 

[CowCop]

I was talking to my neighbor this past Sat. he has been cowboying for along time and he was telling me about one of his buddies went to Florida to help out on some cattle ranches down there and he told of how big those places were. His buddy told of cattle that had gone wild in those big pastures and how he he helped catch them. He said that there were bulls in there that were 5 and 6 years old and had never laid eyes on a human. Has anyone else heard or had any dealings with this?

Yep.
And don't forget that wild cattle jump and go thru fences and end up somewhere else--eventually. In the jungles of Florida, it is easy for cattle to exist and never be seen. very easy.
Here is my personal experience with this:
In the early 80's many new cattle folks increased their herd size, and their pocketbook, over night by catching feral cattle for a price.
Areas of rural Florida were getting populated and feral cattle were causing issues so the banks & developers would hire cowboys--and just about anyone else-- to capture and remove the cattle. Who knows where the cattle originally came from, most suspect the bigger ranchers, absent owners, hurricane escapees, deceased farmers or cattle rustlers. If you had alot of good portable fencing, time, a horse and patience you could catch a good amount in a month or so.
My ranch manager had a lucrative part time business working for a local bank gathering up feral cattle. Saw lots of cows and calves that invaded our woods and fields. Found them by following the vultures. Where ever there is a dead cow--there are usually a few live ones nearby. When we rounded up our various herds in different locations, often we would also have a few other cows and calves in the mix. It always amazed me. Branded or tagged cows would be advertised in the local paper and hopefully be claimed by their owners. Unbranded or untagged would also be advertised and if not claimed in 14 days would be given to 4-H kids, needy families or shipped, depending on the type, age & temperment of the animal. Some bulls were shot on sight, for obvious reasons.
Many of the cattle we found were the piney woods type cattle and many others were of Brahman influence. The only one that we ever kept was a big grey Brahman cow that we could never corral, catch or shoot. She produced a stunning Simbrah calf every year.
From what my Florida friends tell me, feral cattle still exist in smaller numbers in some areas of the state.

In the Northeast corner of the state of Vermont a similar situation happens with dairy cows/bulls. A former boss and I captured many feral Jerseys, Shorthorns and Holsteins many years ago. A large hormonal feral Jersey bull had caused massive damage to our VW at the time and THAT started the whole idea of catching all the ferals on our mountain. The insurance company wouldn't pay for the damage that the big bull did ( he humped the entire top of the old VW and collapsed it. ) and my boss said "that bull is gonna pay~!" and so I spent my entire summer tracking cows. Found many feral yorkshire type pigs as well.

Several of my more enthusiastic college friends came up and captured 2 trailers worth of unclaimed cattle and helped pay their college tuition.

How does this happen....
In the spring when dairy farmers turn their heifers out for the first time--some have a tendancy to go thru the electric or rotting wood fencing. Never to be seen again.
Still happens--- 2 summers ago I helped capture an Ayrshire cow that had been roaming the countryside as well as a Holstein that was eating real estate FOR SALE signs. I have photos of that one.
Neither were ever claimed despite the stories in local papers.

Also.... I increased the numbers of my sheep flock by catching the "escapees" from the local livestock market.
"You catch it, you own it" would blare from their sound system when any animal got out of the building.

Sorry this is so long, but your question brought back many memories.

 

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

I remember a story on the news a couple of years ago about the wild cattle on Chirikof Island in Alaska. They've been trying to round them up since 2002. I would think that in that area, with the weather being what it is that those would be a pretty tough strain. Here's a link with pictures.

http://www.amnwr.com/Chirikof/

 

[Crowderfarms]

I've seen cattle running wild in Big Cypress Swamp years ago, while Hunting down there. They believe it or not, were slick as boards.

 

[flaboy]

How do they doctor sick ones? Just let them die? What about very young heifers getting bred? Calving problems? When they do round them up how do they know what to sale if they are old enough that their fully grown, having calves already? This concept baffles me, how do they do their taxes? I guess they don't have to ever buy replacements. How do they know if they have cows out? How do the cull their herd (i.e A cow isn't having a calf every year or is having sorry calves?)

Now come on guys. You know us flaboys don't know nuttin bout raisen them there cows. We just let run wherever they want when they want.

Before the fence laws down here that was the way it was done. Some escaped to roam wherever they wanted. Most are accounted for. There are some big ranches down here that don't have clue as to how many or what type cattle they have. About once a year they round them up get what they want, shut the bulls up for awhile and let the rest go. No, most of these operations are running what we refer to as "woods" cows. Branded or tagged in someway to indicate ownership. They can live off of anything and are mostly bramers. These guys don't worry about no sick cows as they just have way too many to worry about. There's an operation down the road a piece that has more bulls in one field than I have cows.

About the only time they really get serious about round ups is if when have to test for some disease breakout. Even then they just get a good sample.

I used to hunt on some of these large spreads on horseback and had to keep an eye out for attacking cows as my horse wasn't afraid of them. Some of these things have some pretty good horns on them and ARE rank.

Taxes? What taxes? Oh you mean taxes on that 1000 head he sold instead of the actual 2000 head?

Cows out? Well if'n they aint got nuff cents to get out of the road oh well. He will just fix the fence to keep the rest in. Maybe.

Cull? Hell most these guys ain't never culled nothing. Culling to these guys is finding bones.

 

[sidney411]

Well, I will never own enough cows to not care if one dies from an easily and inexpensively treated disease. I guess it's a whole 'nother way of life I'm not acustommed to.

 

[Double A Ranch]

We've helped worked cattle on some ranches with a lot of brush. Some of the cows get missed when penning because they have learned to hide. Usually if we find them the dogs can get them out. If they have a calf with them it may not get sold at weaning age but hopefully the next year when its another year older.

 

[Caustic Burno]

I was talking to my neighbor this past Sat. he has been cowboying for along time and he was telling me about one of his buddies went to Florida to help out on some cattle ranches down there and he told of how big those places were. His buddy told of cattle that had gone wild in those big pastures and how he he helped catch them. He said that there were bulls in there that were 5 and 6 years old and had never laid eyes on a human. Has anyone else heard or had any dealings with this?

Quite a few ranches on the Texas gulf coast operate the way you describe in that saltgrass swamp. A lot of those cattle have never seen a human until they are rounded up.

 

[jt]

He said that there were bulls in there that were 5 and 6 years old and had never laid eyes on a human.

Quite a few ranches on the Texas gulf coast operate the way you describe in that saltgrass swamp. A lot of those cattle have never seen a human until they are rounded up.

i bet that makes for some interesting cowboying.. and some stressed cattle if confined too much thereafter.

i messed around and bought a cow once that ran thru the sale that had been on a river levee for a few years and not around people much... needless to say, that was one highstrung old girl, and she didnt last at my place...

jt

 

[Caustic Burno]

He said that there were bulls in there that were 5 and 6 years old and had never laid eyes on a human.

Quite a few ranches on the Texas gulf coast operate the way you describe in that saltgrass swamp. A lot of those cattle have never seen a human until they are rounded up.

i bet that makes for some interesting cowboying.. and some stressed cattle if confined too much thereafter.

i messed around and bought a cow once that ran thru the sale that had been on a river levee for a few years and not around people much... needless to say, that was one highstrung old girl, and she didnt last at my place...

jt

If you every get an opportunity to go to the sale barn at Winne Texas when they are gathering up the cattle off High Island pennusula for sale, it would be worth paying addmission just to look at there handling facilities. Them Bramer gals come out of that swamp are some mean critters sale ring pipe fence is 10 foot and a lot of em try it. Everyone of them would love to blow there nose in your backpocket.

 

[jt]

caustic, i bet that is a sight, and it would be interesting to watch. do they loose many from them going down under stress?

jt

 

[Caustic Burno]

caustic, i bet that is a sight, and it would be interesting to watch. do they loose many from them going down under stress?

jt

There is some but not as much as you would think. Some of the really old cows, them bramer cross girls are tough. They live on barb wire and salt grass and crap sixteen penny nails.