Winter months are the most relaxed and
laid-back. The temperatures vary from -35 to 50 above. Feeding the
cattle and riding horses are the primary activities. We do a number of
odd projects during this season. We also hunt porcupines, because of the
destruction they do to trees, and coyotes when the snow is on the
ground. Various winter rodeos and the Beef Breeders Show in Miles City, where the
streets are lined with pens of bulls, are some of the winter events that are great to attend.
Spring months are very exciting with a great deal of activity.
The trees are budding with new life and growth everywhere. The cows are
busy calving and we ride and move pairs (cows and calves) daily to new
pasture. April showers bring May flowers. The mares foal in May with
darling lil babies at their side. We work our cows and brand calves
before moving them out to summer pasture. Checking and repairing fences,
which the snow knocked down, are more tasks we tend to.
Summer comes with the beautiful month of June. The most fun and
busiest season. We artificial inseminate 1/2 of our cows to special
bulls, which involves a great deal of sorting and riding and then the
bulls are turned out to pasture with the cows. We check water daily and
put out salt and mineral to the cattle on the summer range. Haying
season begins with the cutting of the grass and then baling it into
large round bales(1500#) for winter feed. Attending rodeos, county fairs
and barrel races are weekend activities. In August we precondition
(vaccinate) and band our calves. We gather the bulls and rotate the
cattle to new pastures.
Fall is a special season with beautiful weather and gorgeous
trees. We gather and wean our calves and trailer them home to background
for 45 days before they are shipped off to a feedlot. Ron does any farming that needs
to be done. We continue to go to the barrel races and start riding our
young horses. During this season we take care and finish or start any
special projects.
