The day dawned early, earlier than I usually get up and that would make it about four in the morning. As I headed outside to feed my horses, I was hoping the day would be nice and warm. Actually, just nice would be fine. I'm not terribly picky about the warm part, especially in November in South Dakota.  Once I finished chores in the barn, I headed back to the house to feed the dogs and wake up the rest of my crew. I don't think Todd and Mike were thrilled about waking up at five in the morning, but both of them climbed out of bed and got ready. Why all the fuss on a Saturday morning? It was the day we were heading north to the Jumpoff Buffalo Ranch to work animals. My heifer and her calf were among the animals we would send through the chute today.

We all piled in the pickup and headed north. It's a good two hour drive to Scott and Susan Peterson's ranch up in northwestern South Dakota. We were supposed to be there around 8 a.m. to begin the day's work. When I travel by myself, it's get in the car and go. However, this morning I had two dwadlers in the vehicle with me and my frustration mounted as they lingered in the convenience store trying to select a donut variety to munch on along the way. I think they got the hint as I began tapping my foot and frowning at them. We loaded up once again and headed north. The wind that had been blowing steadily since I got up that morning finally began to die down as we got further north. We turned off the highway and headed west on the road that would lead us to the ranch. A few miles back, we cut off on the last trail that would take us to the corrals. A couple of gates and some big bulls later, we pulled up in the yard, ready to begin the day's work.
 

The corrals were already buzzing with activity. Animals were milling around and people were running here and there. We headed down to the building that houses the working pens and chute and found Scott. The veterinarians were both there and most of the crew was on hand. We still had to wait for one or two others, but things were beginning to line out. Scott tells me that he has an assortment of help on working days. He invites friends, co-workers, business people and pretty much anyone interested in helping out. It gives them a real sense of the buffalo business and a chance to work with an animal that many of them would otherwise never see at a distance, much less up close and personal. Todd and I were there to work off our heifer and calf's "room and board" so to speak!
 

As I looked out into the pens, it was buffalo as far as the eye could see. I took a few minutes to drink in the remote beauty of the ranch, thinking that if I lived here, I would never want to leave, not even to go to town. By now, all the crew had arrived and Scott proceeded with his standard lecture about no people or animals getting hurt and then he told everyone where they would be working for the day. Todd ended up working the gates on the ready chutes and I played veterinary assistant for the day. I couldn't have asked for a better spot, right in the thick of things.  Animals began to roll into the shed and the guys sorted them off into a series of pens and began heading them for the chutes. The din of clanging metal filled the air and the breath of the animals fogged up the cool morning. The first cow plowed into the chute and we were in business.  I have helped on ocassion to work a few animals and during the Dakota Territory Buffalo Association's carcass class and show and sale, I usually get right in the middle if at all possible. Especially the carcass class. Beyond that, I had never really worked buffalo before. Todd has never had the opportunity to work closely with the animals, so I was kind of wondering what he would think of his new job. At first, he was somewhat hesitant, but he dug right in and worked the gates and helped as much as he could. Later that afternoon, I was surprised to see him up on the gates, in the pen, sorting off some of the animals. Apparently he had decided that he may as well jump in feet first!

Throughout the day, I visited with the veterinarian I was working with. She was doing the pregnancy checking on the females and sexing the calves as they ran through. She also drew blood on all the females, as they will all be DNA tested. The other veterinarian was working up front, microchipping all the females as they came through. Vaccinations, tagging and worming were also being done, so each animal was getting quite the workup as they went through the system.  Things went very smoothly, once the pace was set and everyone fell into the rhythm of the work. I ran syringes of blood over to the "lab" situated in a van outside the barn. I tried to make sure and have needles and syringes ready for the vet as she jabbed at the animal's tails. I got a kick out of watching the expressions on everyone's faces as they watched her from the other side of the chute. I could see frowns and people wincing as each animal was being coaxed to give up some blood. Some were very accommodating, others were not at all. There were a number of bend needles and lots of manure back where we were working. Everyone's dream job, I'm sure.
 

I watched in amazement as the vet did the pregnancy checking. As each female came into the chute, we would drop the panels and she would get to work. Before most of them even had a chance to get their head caught and settle down, she was already at work feeling for a calf inside the cows. It's a wonder she didn't break her arm or get smashed in the chute, but she was quick and efficient and I only saw her searching for an answer a few times. Scott tells me that this particular vet is great to work with and her success rate on pregnancy detection is almost flawless. She is very good at working with the buffalo and her services are in demand up in the northwestern part of the state. I can see why.
 

We took a short break mid-morning while more animals were being pushed into the pens outside. Then it was back to work. Before long, it was time for lunch. As the food was being prepared back at the house, a few of us walked out to the holding pens and looked over the animals. Scott pointed out my heifer and her calf. They had both been marked with a paintball gun so we could make sure and tag the calf differently.  Off by one hay rack, a cow was watching our every move. Scott jumped in the pen and she jumped at him, both front legs slamming into the ground. That was a bad move for her, as she already had a reputation for being nasty and her attitude in the pen that day sealed her fate. She would be culled from the herd. Scott was walking along, asking what her tag number was, but no one could get a good look at it. There was much laughter as everyone told Scott to get just a little closer and we'd be able to read her tag. Somehow, I think that cow would have welcomed the opportunity to greet anyone willing to get that close!

After lunch, it was hard to get back to work. It had been a long day already. However, there were a lot more animals waiting out there, so we climed back into coveralls and boots and headed back to the barn. The routine started up all over again and the silence was shattered with metal clangs and shouts of "heifer" or "bull" as the calves ran through and tag numbers from the females.  There was no break in the afternoon, as there was still a lot of animals to run through. As the daylight began to fade outside, the work continued inside. Throughout the day, there was the usual assortment of legs sticking out of the chutes, calves turned around or flipped upside down and cows that got caught in awkward positions. The entire crew was mindful of the animal's welfare and each situation was handled calmly and quickly. Other than a few calves who had to have headaches after smacking their heads on the metal, we made it through the day without any injuries.  As the darkness enveloped the animals, we lost one or two crew members and several others headed outside to bring in the remaining animals. That left a skeleton crew inside to continue working the animals. A little slower pace ensued, but the work still got done. I helped hold the nose tongs on the females that were getting microchipped while Scott grabbed their horns and pulled their heads to the side. Then it was back to the side to grab a syringe of blood and around the front to drop it off and by then, the next animal was in the chute.

I had waited all day long to see my heifer and her calf. I knew they were out there, but so far, they had not run through the system. Finally, from the back of the barn I heard someone holler that the KC cow was on her way up front. I mumbled under my breath to her to behave and not get into any wrecks in the chute. She ran through and we got her caught. She was microchipped and preg checked. I'm happy to report that she is with calf and looks good. She weighed in at just under 900 pounds. She is still growing and we figure that she did pretty well for her first year with a calf and with the change in environment and having to establish her place in the cow herd.   Not too long after that, I heard someone yell that their was a calf with paintball marks coming up. Sure enough, the bull calf sporting some new paint showed up in the chute shortly thereafter. Again I silently told the calf to behave in the chute and not set himself up for any injuries. He ran through like a pro. He weighed in at 385 pounds; he was born a bit later than the rest of the calves on the place, so he was doing just fine. As the head gate swung out so we could tag him, Scott walked over and grabbed two yellow tags marked "TG". He tagged the calf and told Todd to come and take a look at his calf. Todd just grinned. So now we have the KC cow and the TG calf. I told Scott the next one we could designate as "Harley". HA HA!  There were a few stubborn cows throughout the day. Two of them bypassed the chute and went right to the cull pen. They absolutely would not go down the line and into the chute. That's a quick way to determine who stays and who goes. The last cow through the chute that night was a monster. She was the heaviest cow for the day and she let everyone know who was boss. She was beautiful, though. Once she was finished, the chute opened and she joined her herdmates in the pen. It was about 7:30 p.m. when we finished.
 

By the time we finished up and headed out the gates for the ride home, it had been more than 12 hours since we arrived. Bone-tired and weary, Todd handed the keys to Mike and he drove us home. Thank goodness for teenagers who like to drive! It had been a wonderful day and I was glad to be heading for home.  I really wish I had some photos to accompany this story. I fully intended to take some. I had my camera out in the barn and the best of intentions to use it. Scott asked me about it later and he laughed when he said they kept me too busy to take any pictures. How true that was. He also asked me what Todd and I thought of the day. I told him how much fun we had and how much we appreciated him letting us come to the ranch and help out. My final comment was that the day did have one major revelation for both Todd and I; it only sealed our fate that somehow, someday we'd like to have our little herd at home. I'm not sure if or when it will happen, but we'll do our best to shoot for that goal.

 

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