Well …I received a call from a lady one evening, late saying she had found my name and number on Face Book and was wondering “if I could round up cows with my English Shepherds? ” I was doing a bit of bragging on my dogs (as most dog owners do) and in the process said sure we could get cows up…Now mind you I was thinking cows and a pasture…with some sort of pens to put the cows in…
She said it was” urgent” when I asked when she needed this work done. “Like tomorrow! “Seems the cows were in her neighbors pasture and he was not feeling very neighborly. I said” sure what time” and she said “like noon” which suited me I had a hour and half drive.
During my bragging time she had asked “how much do I charge?” and I said “OH if I don’t get them up you will owe me nothing and If I do” I gave her an amount that I thought was way high…She agreed I hung up and immediately called Ashlyn. “Hey you want to go on a cow roundup?” Sure Ashlyn was in!
We headed out with high spirits and some Gatorade, Deira, and Journey, some flags and herding sticks…Little did we know. Joking we said we should call a friend to help us that was nearby with a cow working border collie …and we did. But she had to work and could not come out to play…
We arrived it was a nice horse farm. The fellow that owned the farm was not happy seems the cows had been there a year. The fences were broken and the cows thought things were greener on his side of the fence. (Typical Cow) actually the other side was much nicer looking!
I asked to see the property line and the fence plus the gates…I was shown an I phone with a google map. Okay…
There was a cow watching us from the lower edge of a field and I said” is this one ?” (thinking it sure is sturdy and fat and looks like a bull ) You guessed it ! There were TWO BULLS and 5 cows! And that bull watching us was way to sure of himself for my comfort…we start towards the woods and the dude that owned the land said he best get his side arm…and I said you bet…(thinking what in the world) ? anyway we all were stretched out to help move the bull with me giving directions we had worked him into the woods and all was going pretty well I thought. We were headed I was told towards the upper gate. Journey was with me and Deira was on the lower side …the bull decided he was done playing nice and I sent Journey in…J was on that Bull’s heels and working on them! At one point I think he had hold of his tail well ,this is MyStory…
We missed the gate and ended up in the woods with big trees and the bull in sight and some tall man and the property owner, by now we were scattered but I had that bull in sight…after crossing a creek and taking a four wheeler away from some dude just standing there I had to head that bull off…Ashlyn was asked “does she know how to ride that thing? “her response was” I recon she’s had them since they were first made!” LOL!
So back to being in the woods…there were big trees and I told the land owner to use the trees to stay behind incase the bull charged us. He said you think he will ? I said yes I think so…I kept making sure my trees were wide enough to protect me! The land owner at some point had some how gotten in front of the bull and I warned him and he said I am going to shoot this bull I have had enough…Oh No! So all at once the man was standing with a stance holding that side arm I guess a 9 mm aimed at the bulls head I ducked behind the big tree…The bull said you want me here I come ! The guy waits to last possible moment fires his weapon, the bull slings his head as the bullet hits him and did not even get a scrape!!! It only made the bull veer away from the man and miss him in his charge and just kept going! OH ! and my dog was in pursuit! The man said did I kill it and I said I don’t think so it is still running! I did not see it but Journey put that ole bull thru the gate ! One IN and 6 to go! It was 2 PM …
The other bull had been sighted across the 50 acre just cut soy bean field (You ever walked across a just cut soy bean field) Not a pleasure! So we finally got a ride in the gator and off we went. Sure enough there he stood! they just got bigger! Strategy was for Ashlyn and I and 2 others to walk the bull thru the woods (again big trees but way farther apart) to the soybean field and move him across to and thru the lower gate. (where someone was stationed all the time to open close) . Ashlyn and I walked him thru the woods to the edge of the field where we watched that bull hide from the gator and four wheelers in the field. Then he kicked up his heels and took off across that 50 acre field to the woods and creek where we had been earlier with the other bull. After some Journey work the bull went thru the gate and into that same field where the other bull had went.
By now it is 4:00PM and I am seriously tired and realized we were looking for wild cows in 400 acres of sparsely fenced land. We tromped and tromped 4 miles worth…At one point Journey took off after what I assumed were no see em cows (I could see tracks and evidence of where they had been ) He was gone for 45 minutes…I began to be concerned…finally I saw him running thru the woods and hollered at him and he came to me…he was on their trail but it was getting late and the Four Wheeler was headed our way I commandeered it and Ashlyn and I had a sweet ride back thru the woods to the car.
The lady that had called me was there waiting and was most gracious and thankful we had the 2 bulls up she paid me (and I told her I had failed she did not owe me)… She said she did and paid us generously!we arrived home by 10 PM tired with another tale to add to our resume!
Journey was a “Rock Star” and sweet Deira a perfect teammate!
