Range Cattle

B

bowhunter223

Active Member
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346
Any of you ever had any "run-ins" with the flippin range cows that roam the hills? Chasing you, screwing up your hunt, etc. Just curious.
 
I had a small heard come through my camp at night while I was sleeping. They only tore up a few things. One of them took a chit right in front of my tent door!
 
TWO BIG BULLS, 2 YEARS AGO.
they came amblimg up the mountain stopping every few yards and bellowing, then they would butt heads a few go rounds then amble up the hill some more.
they were headed right towards my ground stand stand,
i flung a rock at them and it pissed them off.
the picked up the pace and chased me up the hill for a good quarter mile or so.
before i took them in to a real tight steep rocky slide area.
they then lost interest,
ruined my good setup, so i thought.
 
i havent had any problems. i have seen deer around a few head of cattle and not paying any attention to them.
my 2cents
Muley Man!
 
Yup,
Just about every year, They wonder in at night or when nobody is in camp and destroy the firepit, knock stuff over and crap all over the place, normal kind of cow stuff, we roped off the camp one year but didn't do any good, they tore the ropes down and destroyed the firepit again, What is it about firepits that they are so attracted to, Woke up one morning and 4 were standing with thier front feet in the pit eating the ashes.
 
Had them come through camp once several years ago. My buddy was a little nervous and ready to take a bear out with his pistol. So he thought at the time. Pretty funny the next morning when we saw the cow tracks. Have seen them on hunts before right at sunset and thought that they had screwed up the hunt but have seen deer and javelina right in with them. Don't seem to bother them much at all.
 
Found these guys at 10,000' last year in Wyoming while deer hunting. Not exactly what I was hoping for up there.
2004_Wyoming_deer_150.sized.jpg
 
I have had more stocks blown by stupid cows than my own mistakes.
In my opinion they should be off the moutain a week befor the season and if not then they should be fair game. have a good one mack
 
Well, I went out last weekend on the opener and had to weasle my way through a flippin herd in the dark opening morning. And you're right about those bulls....they get mean and don't much care who you are. I too, think they need to be off the mountain before the opener. I've almost drew on more than one awnry bull.
 
I think that sometimes the cattle are more wild than the game. I deal with them every year during the archery hunt. I think the most annoying is sitting at a water hole, and a group of cattle come in and linger.

I one good story. Three years ago I was walking back to camp at almost dark along a "road" There was a group of cattle feeding next to it, on both sides. As I got within about 100 yards, I thought "that cow should be illegal to have on the range, the color is like an elk". I contintued to tromp along still thinking "man that color of that cow is like an elk". When got about 40 yards away, you guessed it, he raised his head. It was a decent 6x6, feeding within right in the cows. I had an elk tag, but in a spike only area. He began to move, and within about another 30 yards was another rag horn. They both looked at me for a few moments before leaving. The cattle also took off.
 
Of course! They need to be taken off the land -- period! They ruin blinds, streams -- I could go on and on and on....
 
Always carry a blunt with me a little smack on the behind at 30yds will get their attention off of you
 
I wasn't going to tell this story but since the blunts were already mentioned here goes. We were hunting in the bottom of a drainage for Elk and these cows kept spooking and blowing the Elk out. There were about 300 hundred head but they were in groups of 10 to 20 scattered throughout this drainage. Every time we would get in on the Elk cows would get down wind and spook and the Elk would scatter. About the 10 th time this happened my buddy starts turning a deep shade of red and says he is going to rubber blunt the next cow he sees. Well about 10 seconds later 2 cows come up to about 45 yds and stand there looking at us. My buddy nocks a blunt stands up, the cows turn to leave, my buddy releases and the arrow about disappears in the big cows a$$ about 10" of fletching and arrow sticking out. I asked if that was where he was aiming and he said no it just turned at the wrong time. OUCH!!!!! Now this is a good reason to not use rubber blunts on range cattle but, at the time was one of the funniest things I had ever seen.
 
"at the time was one of the funniest things I had ever seen." Finding humor in something like that is rediculous.

This is the type of BS that gives hunters a bad reputation. Using blunts on an animal wild or domestic is illegal. If I caught someone using a blunt on one of our cows I would call the sherriff and press charges. Simple. That cow you are "blunting" is worth +-$1,500.

A cattleman has a PERMIT to use the resource. A hunter has a PEMIT to use the resource. Anti hunters are trying to take away your permit just like you guys are talking about taking away the rancher's permit. Just substitute the word Hunting for the word Grazing in your arguements and see how it sounds.

Did you guys see the video of the Utah State Record bull elk, taken amongst a herd of beef cows? I archery hunted over the past week and saw 25 different bucks amongst our cows.
 
>Of course! They need
>to be taken off the
>land -- period! They
>ruin blinds, streams -- I
>could go on and on
>and on....

Be glad they dont ride ATVS! Think of the mess we'd have then!



-DallanC
 
>Always carry a blunt with me
>a little smack on the
>behind at 30yds will get
>their attention off of you

Why not carry a rifle with you on the bow hunt? It would make it alot easier for you... I mean if you are willing to endorse one type of illegal behavior why not another...


-DallanC
 
I am not condoning what my buddy did with the blunt. That is why at the end of the story I said this is a good reason to NOT USE RUBBER BLUNTS. I agree it was wrong, the humor I found in the situation was, what are the chances of that happening not the pain or discomfort to the animal. Sorry if I ruffled some feathers as I do understand where cattle owners are coming from and I understand you pay for your grazing allotments. Sincerely, Steve Edmonson
 
T_point:
What do you have to say about an awnry bull that won't allow hunters on foot to even go into the area? The area I go into is on foot, and there is always 2 or 3 bulls that are meaner than a wounded lion. They bellar, snort, cough, and harass me as I'm in their territory. I'm a rancher too...so don't get upset. I understand the grazing permits/rights. How do you propose we deal with these few problem cows on the mountain? I know you must have had your share with these awnry bulls?! We all have had more than one stand-off with'em getting them off the mountain. The intent here is not to hurt the animal, it's only to scare the suckers off.
 
Here is another thought on the subject of blunting. It is illegal and if Ironhead's buddy was caught he would have been charged with a FELONY. Using a weapon to destroy property is not something a hunter would want to do. Convicted felons can NEVER hunt again nor possess a weapon when they use a weapon in a crime.

Walk next door with your bow and shoot your neighbor's tire on his truck. That Tire costs maybe $250. See what happens. Think about it before you guys decide "Blunting" cows or other animals is a good idea. Like Ironhead said, "this is a good reason to NOT USE RUBBER BLUNTS".

Ironhead- Thanks for the clarification, but did you guys happen to reimburse the man for the cow your buddy shot? Or do you just walk away and let someone else pay for the stupidity of the your buddy's act? What crime would it take for you to turn someone in?
 
> I am not condoning what
>my buddy did with the
>blunt. That is why at
>the end of the story

>Sorry if I ruffled some
>feathers as I do understand
>where cattle owners are coming
>from and I understand you
>pay for your grazing
>allotments. Sincerely, Steve Edmonson

Sorry I'm just grouchy because this year is already starting off with a bang as far as witnessing illegal behavior among hunters. Chasing deer down with a truck in an open field with several people in the back armed with bows winging arrows at running deer at 30mph.

Heck I even had a group of morons confront me and my wife (shes bow hunting this year) along with my 4 year old boy, threatening me, yelling that we were screwing up their hunt... what were we doing? Driving down the driveway of our own private property!!! Grrrr makes me mad as hell and I have little patience this year.


-DallanC
 
Heh I've seen some mean range bulls. Probably some of that bear Pepper spray would work great on them. Would prolly make them alot more tasty / tender when it comes butchering time too. :)


-DallanC
 
2 pt your right as rain on this one. I know several years ago a Peta type group put out a letter telling their members to shoot cows, horse, any type of livestock with arrows so the bowhunters would get the blame, so they could stop bow hunting close to a city. It didn't work because of too many people found out about it and the law clamped down on that group.
 
WITHOUT THEM "SLOW ELK"ON THE RANGE, YOUR STEAK AT YOUR LOCAL MARKET OR RESTRAUNT, HIGH PRICE AS IT IS, WOULD BE DOUBLED!
LIVE WITH IT!
STEAK LOVER WHEN THE VENISON IS GONE!
NVHUNTERER
 
well my experience with cattle was a good one. A couple years back I was archery hunting up north Kaibab, 12a. I was out walking all morning and didnt see any bucks. So i decided to head back to camp. Spotted a couple nices tracks on this trail I was walking, they were going my direction so i figured why not? Tracked for about 100 yards and looked up and there stood about 10 head of cattle. UGH!! Well they saw me and started up the hill breaking every tree limb and sage brush in their path. A jet turbine couldn't have been louder. So i just put my arrow away and continued up the hill, cursing them crazy cows. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw two bucks running around the stampede. They were coming right to me! I froze and they stopped not mre than 25 ft from me. I was already at full draw, they stoppped and I shot. I took a nice 4x4. Again i thank them cattle. Ha!

happy hunting to all!

Mike
 
I get sick and tired of these folks b!tching about range cattle. If you dont like them, hunt somewhere else! Plain and simple. If I caught someone using a blunt, pepper spray, hitting them with a stick, or whatever, I would be tying them to a stump and letting my 2500 lb bull have a romantic encounter with them. Haahaaa...... Use the noise that the cattle make to your advantage when hunting. They can make for a great diversion.
yotewalk.gif


Eric
 
Range cattle, other hunters, lions, atv's, drought, low deer numbers, fire it's all a part of hunting. Stupid people aren't and let me tell you if I caught someone blunting one of my cattle their wouldn't be much left for the police to haul away! I've lost to many cattle to idiots that give the sport of archery a bad name. If someone came into your house and stole $1,500 youd have them arrested and thrown in jail. If your that bad a bow hunter to let a few cattle mess you up try something else like tennis.
 
Range cows make hunting from horseback very good. The game animals are so used to hearing the cows that horses don't scare them at all. I have been able to ride right up to both deer and elk when riding through cows. Of course I haven't got any of my horses trained to let me shoot my bow off of them. LOL But it does let you get into the area without spooking them. As for the blunts, I had a couple buddies in high school, whom I never hunted with, that liked to blunt the does when they were hunting, they decided that was a bad idea when one of them had to tag a doe that the blunt killed. And for the bulls, most of the time the bulls I have ran into cleared the area with just a couple of thrown rocks, but when that didn't work with one a good ole cowboy yell moved him along, but I didn't see much else that morning after that. LOL I am not sure how your areas are, but here they have certain areas that are ranged in the spring and early summer, then they have other areas for the late summer and fall range. If you don't like cows then you just hunt thier spring range. I am headed out for a big buck tuesday morning, but I am concentrating on elk this year so I guess the 1st legal buck that comes by might have to do. hope you all have a great hunting season!
IDhunter
 
Even though I don't like cows, harrassing them while hunting is out of the question, probably due to people I know really well that make their living with cattle.

During the ML hunt last year I got particularly pissed with a group of hunters. There was an area of the mountain that held a lot of decent bucks during the summer, when the cows moved in some of the deer moved out. The rancher closed (No Locks) all the gates to that area of the mountain to keep his cows contained. He posted signs on all the gates asking to "Close all gates".

This group of ML hunters through all respect out the window. They left all the gates open. When I showed up there were lots of cows outside the gates, when I went through I closed the gates for damage control and found the hunters. I asked them if they would close the gates from now on. Of course they were upset at the presence of the cows and did not see the importance of closing gates.

We ran into the rancher a couple days later. He was taking the cows off the mountain and of course he was looking for about 25 head. I let him know about this group of hunters and where I had seen his cattle wandering. Luckily that group of hunters was still in the area and this rancher had full discription of all ATV's within the group. Needless to say he found these hunters and had a good heart to heart as he put it.
 
Another classic example of where different groups with different interests need to get along. I used to be upset over cattle on the forest as well as logging. A few years of experience have mellowed and taught me. I like a few clear cuts and as stated above, often the cattle can help the hunt. Sheep on the other hand.... Just kidding, when I see a mess of sheep covering several miles, I move on, but the animals that were there before the sheep, are now somewhere else increaseing the concentration of animals where the sheep aren't. I just need to try to figure where the deer and elk have moved to.
 
Shooting any game animal with a blunt is totally stupid. With the speed and power of today's archery equipment, a blunt will easily penetrate any animal. Even with no penetration the shock alone will kill many of the animals. The cattlemen pay for their permits, and have the right to use the forage and area just as much as us hunters, who also have to pay for our permits and have the right to be our there also.
Try letting one of your buddies pop you in the butt with a blunt, and then report back to us....
 
Four Cows Found Dead in 12-mile Canyon
August 30th, 2005 @ 7:45am
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- At least four cows have been found dead in 12-mile Canyon near Mayfield -- and witnesses reported seeing at least four more.

On Saturday, Utah's Division of Wildlife Resources recovered an arrow from the carcass of a cow, just one week into the general season archery deer hunt.

D-W-R officials have contacted several groups who were hunting on the mountain that day, however, all parties interviewed have been cleared.

D-W-R spokesman Brad Bradley says three of the dead cattle were found on Monday. However, they appeared to have died from natural causes.

Authorities are still looking for the remaining four cattle and are unaware if they were killed by hunters. Anyone with information about the dead cattle is asked to call the Sanpete County Sheriff's office at 435-835-2191.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved
Nice job bowhunter! must have forgot the blunt?
 
The intent here is not to preach but to make those that feel blunting cattle is acceptable THINK. If you owned the cattle and in some cases maybe the grazing rights and access to the lands these cattle are feeding on how would you feel about this type of behavior. Do you think it MIGHT cause you to lock your gates and lobby a little harder for landowner tags. Those cattle are just as entitled to be on the land you have chosen to hunt in some cases more legally than you. Hunting is just that hunting, and there isn't any guarantee about you having sole access to the property unless you own it. We have an uphill battle to fight to maintain our rights to hunt at a reasonable cost and this type of behavior effects all of us adversely.

Think before you shoot, because in today's world a video cam has a much bigger lens than you think and when played on a TV the impact can be devastating! Do you think the major networks would think twice about running that footage. How would the nonhunting public percieve such an incident? NOT WELL!
We don't need any more negative publicity about hunting when we're very clearly in the minority.
 
Don't get me started. I have lived in Nevada all of my life. I grew up on a ranch, a born and bred conservative. But, I have seen firsthand the devastation that range land cattle can cause and for whose benefit? The benefit of a few... Scoff all you want, but range land cattle are a major problem in this state if you are a hunter.

And if ATV users don't start using a little common sense then they will need to go as well. I could take you all over this state and show how irresponsible ATV use has damaged habitat that will take years to repair. I own an ATV and all of my sons ride dirtbikes, but we do it on existing trails.
 
where i live in oregon the cattle are so plentiful that one of my friends used a cow decoy to sneek up on a deer.

I also think that the cows sometimes will help you because the deer know that if something was there the cows would not be there.


Thats just my 2 cents.

WanaB
 
I am thinking, and speaking from experience that if a feller cant slip around a herd of domestic critters stealthy and quiet like, he sure as heck aint gonna be very effective @ sneaking up on a decent buck. And I have been chased by many rank critters I promise, but I learned from all that. The cattle are a bennefit to the range if the cattlemen keep them spread and move them when the feed is grazed down, and they ruin the range when left to overgraze. But we all must be good stewards of the land, the Atv trails are rediculous and say what ya want 95 percent are from hunters. There is no way to really fix a dirt bike bike hill climb rut,(I ride bikes) but the cow chit turns into fert and improves things, ( maybe not the camp site ) the grass must be grazed to keep it new every year or it gets old and rank and a fire hazard, but again everything needs to be balanced. A good majority of water improvements have been funded and physically completed by ranchers, and we need to appreciate those things that the cattlemen have done to improve our hunting. We have all been frustrated before and now more than ever. It seems to me we bow hunt to get away from the hords of people we deal with daily, and maybe when we see a cow we get pissed because they remind us of someone we know and want to forget. Well good luck to all, find some good ones.
 
I never have had good luck with cattle around but yet i have never blunted one either. thats just wrong!! but i still say off the mt befor the hunt or they should be fair game!!! and as for all reading this we have all had stocks blown by atv's other hunters and our selves but most of mine are the cows now i look in my area and if there's a cow i look for a new route for my stock. just a thought look and plan thats part of the game. try thinking ahead and it will pay off. and for godsake's leave the blunt for grouse, and varmits.
 
>
>and for godsake's leave the
>blunt for grouse, and varmits.
>


Be careful grouse season doesn't start until after the general archery season is closed. I've seen a few guys get a ticket for shooting them out of season.
 
Are you kidding! I fight those dirty bastards every year. They always seem to get in between me and what ever I'm hunting. Back in the day, I would make sure to take plenty of blunt tips with me but I don't do that any more;) Cows on hunts just plain piss me off.
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-02-05 AT 09:05PM (MST)[p]Now sheep. that's another story! Shoot all of those "range maggots" that you come across!!! Haahaaa..... Just kiddin' Sheep do more damage than cattle, due to grazing habits. They will eat more woody browse that deer like. The advantage that sheep have over cattle, is that it is easier to keep an ewe in your sleeping bag than it is a cow! Plus, you have an endless supply of "jelly beans" to munch on. Can't we all just get along?
yotewalk.gif


Eric
 
I have worked with and hunted around cattle all of my life and never had a problem with them. They are there, deal with them. Fences get in the way of stalks, thick brush gets in the way, open country can get in the way, but we just deal with it. Besides, cattle keep the trails from getting brushed over in thick country, and a good trail will usually take you to water. Just my experience.
 

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