Ole 45

  Ole 45  (con’t)

         By

            Mike Capron

After I shot the black bull and he went to the back of the small herd of 3 bulls and I went to the house.  I came back the next day with the puppies looking for the 4 bulls. The dogs had returned to the house and they were ready for more action. We looked all day but no cattle to be found. I had been working this part of the ranch and it was cleaned for the most part. So I continued to work all the lower country below the rim. We gathered several small bunches of cattle and got them to the shipping pens.  We continued to work all the bottom country and I was pleased with the cow numbers and quality with everything below the rim.  All the country on top was ten or fifteen miles from the house and through rough roads and steep hills.  It was difficult to work on top without moving camp to the Rock House.

So I moved some horses and some survival things to the Rock House. Anne was doing good at the HQ no extra people or problems that I couldn’t leave for a couple days. So to the Rock House I went with my puppies and horses.  I could gather cattle to the rock house or to the shipping pens on top.  The Chico was another piece of country that I have to work also, but it is south of the Rock House country and I will save it for later. There was also the Old Posey country that needed cleaning. All of this was good country and just great gramma grass.  I thought I would work around the Rock House first and get it clean as most of the cattle were located around the Rock House and then west to the shipping pens. The South Pasture and North Pastures were separate pieces of country that had plenty of cattle in them, but I planned to focus on the Rock House and Middle Pasture first. Plenty of cull cows and maverick bulls that needed shipping. The rains had been good but the country had too many cattle on it.  I was plenty busy and was tickled to be getting so much done. All I had to do was gather sort and ship out of the shipping pens on top.  I was building my keeper herd in the Middle pasture. I had cleaned the Rock House and Middle pasture and started restocking the Middle Pasture with my keeper cows. We didn’t have phones back then so I would go down and see how Anne was doing and if all was good, I would return back to the Rock House. I was busy working in the South Pasture and hadn’t even thought of Ole 45. I threw some cattle together with the puppies and was headed to the shipping pens when I jumped a small bunch and saw a bull in the bunch that I thought looked familiar. I kept working closer and closer until I could definitely recognize him. It was Ole 45, he had a bullet hole in his right horn and he was sure keeping an eye on me. He had been most respectable, but I had a bunch of other cattle and lots of dog power. I went ahead and penned them in the shipping pens. I sorted some dry cows and young maverick bulls out of the herd to ship. I left 45 with the little bunch of cows that were productive and turned them back into the shipping trap. 45 had been very respectable, so I left him with these cows.  I returned to the Rock House to spend the night. I had a sizable bunch of cows in the middle pasture with Ole 45 but I didn’t want to move them to the Middle pasture yet until I had a good chance to see if they were gong to be good manageable cattle especially with 45 running with them. So I thought it best to leave them in the shipping trap and go check on Anne for a day or two.     When I returned to the shipping trap all the cattle with 45 were still there and most respectable.  So I moved them to the Middle Pasture and left them comfortable at the water trough. I rode the pasture to check the other cattle I was keeping there, and all were very comfortable.  I was pleased with my progress on top and planned to finish with the south pasture while I kept an eye on the cattle I had in middle pasture.  I was pleased with 45, as he had settled down and was comfortable with the gentle cows.  I thought he would make a great herd bull, so I left him with these cows and moved on to the Chico. I could come back often and ride the cows in the middle pasture and move them to the North and South pastures they were gentle and most respectable including Ole 45.