Catching Wild Cattle

Amazin, I have heard the toothpicks in the eyelids before, never tried it, thought it was one of those things people says works but don't actually do themselves. Then I thought well maybe that's why I see all these boys walking a round with a half a box of toothpicks stuffed into the ribbon of their hat...hmmm. I like the Tabasco, instead of carrying LA in the medicine bag, I will put in a bottle of hot sauce...

Then talking about the bubble and getting chased...we have had a few that you couldn't get within roping distance and come up and challenge you. This wouldn't probably work for you since you work solo. But if there was a couple of us we would take our jackets off make a line, and then charge up to him screaming like a bunch of drunk indians waving our jackets. Usually they were just trying to bluff us because they had gotten away with it before and they would turn and run and we could get them roped....then they got Copenhagen in the eye too. But even if it didn't really work..it was fun and usually someones horse starts bucking...good times. That is what it is all about, doing a good job and having fun doing it. It's not like it pays good, so you have to love it and have fun.

Roping outside is hard compared to chasing a single steer straight down the arena...your doing the same shot over and over again. I am not knocking team roping, but it is just different. Roping the dummy like you said is the biggest help. I do the same. But my dummy isn't as cool as yours, "Steve" is just a sawhorse I bought from Home Depot and screwed a calf head on to. I need to get one with horns too.
Even if I am not on a horse, I will walk around it and adjust my tip angle to my position I am to the calf/steer. Or like you said get on a horse and do it and practice certain shots. Like my husband taught me is you want to create the "V" shot. The higher degree of angle you are(up to 90*) the higher chance you have to catching. So if I am running straight behind a steer my chances are low because I am running the same angle also my loop will be flat side to side but probably tip down in front of my horses nose. If the calf is coming out of a corner and I am at a 45* angle to him my chances went way up. If the calf is running from my left to the right then my tip is going to match that by almost using a side arm and mimicking the angle. If he runs directly straight across in front of me and I am perpendicular to him at a 90*, then I will use a side arm, loop will be at 90*. Like my husband says you can look like a decent roper , even if your not, if you use your horse and set up your shots. I have to practice this on the dummy...I have bad habits. And after last weeks roping display I was pretty disgusted with myself. I have been roping the dummy every time I walk by it and bought one of those little kiddy ropes for inside the house... my little Mexican dog has gotten wise and won't walk past me in the living room if I have it in my hand...little turd got smart fast. Those trashy roping steers are a pain to rope too...they are just flat out disrespectful. We had a couple last fall to play with. They didn't like getting heeled so if you didn't make an effort to push out to the right before you positioned your horse they would run to the left and try to rimfire who ever has him necked. Or they would lay down and sull up...not much fun to rope.

Elessar, good luck roping the dummy, then get you a couple of gentle steers to play with, something gentle where you can ride up and pull your rope off and don't make a big production out of....then after you get tired of them and wear them out...have a bbq.

LOL, I would never try the toothpick thing...mainly because if the cow gets to the point that we have to rope her and either tie her down or tie her to one of the few trees we can find that are strong enough, she is already mad enough that getting that close is downright dangerous.

Dobe is a horse and punitive device all in one so no snuff or hot sauce for me. He'll stand there and take a hit and it only makes him more aggressive, but that cow will be leaving that first hit with some hide missing and blood dripping somewhere. I've spent a lot of time laughing my fool head off because some little 8 weight decided to act tough and I just let Dobe wipe the floor with him/her. Slightly less effective when they weigh more than him....but only slightly.

I'll be honest. Roping is my weak point. I can get the horse to do pretty much anything I want them to but when it comes to my own physical prowess with anything even remotely requiring hand/eye coordination, there is no hope for me LOL.

Plus, I never practice, so that doesn't help much .

LOL! That's awesome to have a tough,brave horse! It makes everything seem ok- they are worth their weight in gold! I got in a bad spot one time and got pinned in a corner by a mad steer. I put that horses chest into the corner and that steer was trying to hit him in the butt. That horse finally got mad and started double barrel kicking him until he quit. To tell you the truth I just got lucky, If I have learned anything, is not to turn your horse broadside to something coming at him. Its better for him to face him..or my case, shine his rear to him! LOL.


I am with ya...roping is hard...

Tomorrow you going bad cow chasing?

Yep, I do, and fortunately, I'll probably be doing the roping. Brother managed to tear up a finger really bad on his roping hand. He could still do it if he had to, but it's hard, especially if he has to dally fast. So, it's going to be up to me *happydance*.

Someday, I will get a video of Dobe doing his thing. He has an aggressive nature to begin with, but spending almost 2 years in a feedlot just solidified it...plus, I praise him every time he tears into one. Probably shouldn't but....

He'll lash out with anything he can: teeth, pawing, and kicking. God, the stories I could tell on him.

We were driving a herd of about 70-100 yearlings down a road to their pasture from the corrals and Dobe and I were riding point, just going along at a nice easy walk. Anyway, I noticed him acting funky; raising his head, swinging it side to side, pinning his ears, and walking wonky.

I started looking around to see what the heck and there was a heifer walking a few feet behind him with her head stretched out toward his butt. We just continued on and it wasn't 20 feet later that his butt popped up a bit and I heard a loud CRACK behind me. Turn around, and sure enough the heifer is crumpled in a heap in the middle of the road with a hoofprint in her forehead. She got up and was fine, but she stayed in the middle of the herd after that.

SMRobs, you going to get us some video tomorrow?

LOL, probably not, it will be just me and brother there and I don't even think he knows how to run a camera.

Come spring, providing that we get some rain so the grass can grow, we'll be getting in some wild-ass yearlings from CRI. I bet I can make my step-mom go and carry the camera, especially for loading and unloading as Dobe is the most entertaining in the loading pens.

I'm new and basically joined because of this thread. Fun to read everyone else's experiences.

I'm in Wyoming. North and southeast.

Well, unfortunately, we didn't get to have all the fun I was expecting today. In a way, I'm glad though. That cow was significantly bigger than I was expecting, probably weighed at least 1400, and she wasn't just wild, she was bat-sh*t crazy.

The owner wanted to try to drive her into the trailer first and wanted to save using the horses as a last resort (apparently none of his cattle have ever even seen a horse ). However, it ended up being less of a "drive her into the trailer" as much as it was a "bait her into the trailer". It's the only time I've ever stuck my arm through the bars on the side of the trailer and waved when trying to get a cow to go in :roll:. It didn't matter what it was, any movement at all and she would charge it. For the most part, it was relatively uneventful, nobody got hurt, and I didn't even get to get my horse out of the trailer, cow got loaded and was taken to the sale barn. She did manage to run us all up on the fence a time or......5 though .

Climbing fences quick when you have those wild ones in the yards!

Yes, indeed. That's another reason why I always prefer to be on a horse when I'm messing with a hooker. A horse can take a hit better than I can, they can get out of the way quicker if they need to, and I tend to trip over my own feet.

As embarrassing as it is, the only time I am not a complete and total klutz is when I'm riding a horse.