The Idaho Rancher's Wife

The Ranch From the Wife's Perspective

First of TP&B

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Summer time means play time!  At least some of the time.  A side job we have to raise and provide heifers for sorting and roping events.  We have several throughout the summer- some with fairs, others with the Team Penning and Branding Association.  The best part about taking them out there is that we get to join in the fun.

There are always a handful of regulars that go to these things.  You have your older generations that are still trying to live the dream and the hobby cowboys that don’t do it full time but jump in where they can on the weekends. At the end of the day, the cowboys that eat, sleep, and dream EVERYTHING cowboy come out for the roping.  I love watching those cowboys and horses that know what they are doing.  They move effortlessly.  They don’t make a lot of noise and don’t draw a lot of attention.  They move together with their horses, already knowing what to do.

It was a party for the Eliason family in Blackfoot for the first TP&B.  Everyone came down to do a little cowboying and enjoy the company.  This is the kind of fun our family has on a day off!

The Last of the Association Branding

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How about a little different post?  Still lots of pictures but instead of a wind up with some sort of an interesting story, lets do a commentary.  A running commentary to let you know what I was seeing when I took each picture. 

Ready?

Riding in the herd…

Brothers…  The little brother was pestering the older brother, the older brother took down the younger brother and commenced the Chinese torcher tap.  Nothing but true love there!

The Ranch Boss just had his 87th birthday and refuses to stop.  He may slow a little, but he is determined to never quit.

I just thought this blaze was funny… Like, bummer birth mark or something…

You find cowboy style and personality everywhere.  Some cowboys go simple and some like bling everywhere, even by their horses slobbery mouth.

When I got up close I realized that he had his name on his spurs- AWESOME! And he has some cool red top boots peeking out.  That’s like cowboy lingerie, right there!

Horses on the range- its a beautiful site.

There isn’t a better place for kids to be than out in the middle of nowhere branding.

The Rancher’s Sidekick always has to be in the middle of it all.  At the point in the day he had proclaimed it his job to stand on the leg so it wouldn’t move.  Don’t know that we needed it but I’m glad that he found a job he could rock.

The saddle- a cowboy spends many long hours in this seat…  It better be just to his liking!

Just a boy giving shots, but once again…  its a great place for a growing boy to be.

Dragging calves in…


Sure glad he has a cap on that…  Sometimes people get unintentional vaccinations

Thank goodness for back pockets because when your hands get full there is always a place to hang your tagger and your clips.

We always load up toy for the kids.  In fact I think there ends up being a whole sand pile worth of toys out there!

And then sometimes they end up hauling more than just dirt.  The Rancher’s Sidekick started gathering up discarded nuts and taking them to the dogs.  I’m glad that was all he was doing with them…

The Rancher’s uncle…  I’ve known him for quite a while and he has ALWAYS had the mustache.  The length of the handle bars has varied over the years but it is truly his signature!

I know he wasn’t really posing, but I tease that everyone is so used to striking a pose for me that it is just second nature to stand picture ready!

How many boys does it take get a calf down?  Lots… and still the calf will give ’em a run for their money!

It got dusty… no surprise.  And it looked cool.

Gathering the herd in for the after lunch branding.  Taking a pit stop at the watering hole…

Rancher Sr. doing what he does best.  He has become such a great friend.  I love having him for a father-in-law.

When you ride next to me you are going to have your picture taken.  And I love them even if you aren’t looking at the camera!

Cowboys make beautiful photographs… I love my job!

Cows scattered across the range- this is why we bring so many cowboys.  And this was only one small corner of our beautiful world.  I love having wide open spaces for an office!

Boys in the dirt… need I say more?

We could see a storm moving over the mountains and it was a stunning backdrop. 


Love the dramatics of the sky.  Having a non dusty windy day was incredible!

A look at the scene from herd side…

One of my favorite cowboys. 

Every week there are a few new faces around to help and enjoy the cowboy lifestyle.

A different perspective…  But appropriately, looking up to a cowboy

Cute.  I love cute calves!  Especially the baldy calves.

Drug by the heels.  If only he knew what was going to happen to him.

Sisters make the best friends.

Her parents had better be ready for this beauty to grow up.  Check out those eyes!

A little saddle bling with your brand on it can never be a bad thing.

Just taking a minute to visit with a friend.  Kids and horses were meant to be together. 

Any guesses what this coffee can is for? Oh, just to gather nuts in…  Calf nuts…

Should we be concerned that there are no adults in this picture?

J4…  When the ropers bring in a calf they shout out what brand to put on it- Rocking-A, AE, J4 , Bar over the hip, K+… and many more

When you pester the big boys they just might decide to hog tie you.  While I was taking this picture I could hear them saying (in more colorful language) that they unfortunately didn’t have enough rope to finish the job on this growing boy… It was his lucky day, that’s for sure!

Chaps- a functional and fashionable part of the cowboy wardrobe…

Checking out the herd…

This girl will show you how its done!

Following the rope back to the cowboy- my cowboy in this shot…

Looking for the unbranded babies…


A little war paint for a tough day of work!

Camping out on the Range to Catching Horses

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We brand nearly every weekend of April, and sometimes that even runs into May.  With so many cattle spread so far across the range it takes several different days to gather up the cattle to get the work done.  The weekend we did so many calves at the ranch and then again at our private ground in Locomotive we still had the association branding to do the following day (Saturday).  Instead of driving back and forth so much we decided to just camp out.

We were full of adventurous expectations of shooting guns, riding bikes, and other exciting stuff (ok… so I can’t remember all of the ideas we had but I know they were awesome!) but after two full days of branding we were pooped out.  That really meant all we had energy for was to sit and do nothing.  Everyone was pretty ok with that… Except there was one thing we all HAD to do.  Because although we were camping and roughing it, we did have one admit request of The Cattlewoman- we had to shower!  I don’t blame her for not wanting a bunch of stinky cowboys and cowgirls in her trailer so we obliged.  And with so many to shower that pretty well filled our day.  We showered.  We ate.  We slept.  We talked.  It was great fun!

There was a teensy bit of excitement when some of the guys thought they should go hunting for the big rat in old shack.  Doesn’t shooting at a rat in a dark shack in the dark of the night sound exciting to you.  Mind you that the shack would have fallen down at any time if they hit it in just the right spot… Boys…

The following morning we woke to a wonderful surprise- no wind!  That might not sound like such a big deal, but we had been hammered with the wind for days.  For just a moment we were able to enjoy a beautiful sunrise without any wind.

The Rancher Princess and I followed The Rancher out to catch horses for the days work.  The horses weren’t really cooperating… they ran and ran and RAN!  Not the way The Rancher wanted to start his day but it made for a fun little photo shoot for me.

Eliason Branding 2015 Day 2

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I love rainy days!  For so many reasons… Of course because we need the rain- we need the rain SO badly.  But I love the rain because then we slow down a bit and I have time to go through the HUNDREDS of pictures that are calling to me.  So… without any further time… here are some long overdue pictures.  Pictures from our second day of branding.

There’s a funny story that goes along with this day…

Since we were branding out on the range and camping out that night we had a lot to take out and a lot of rigs hauling it all.  We all eventually make it and get to starting.  The early comers had already started gathering the cattle in so the late arrivers started pulling out the equipments.  We think, “everything looks good…”  We have half the cows we usually have to do, all day to do them, and lots of good help.  This should be a great day!

The herd comes in, the cows go back out and we get the fire started.  The Rancher and Rancher Sr. start pulling out all the stuff that they carry around and need for each calf.  They sharpen their knives, I fill their syringes, they grab their taggers and tags… No tags!  We had no tags!  (actually we had like 22, maybe- but still not enough!)  Kinda an important part of the day! 

We just kinda twiddled our thumbs about it and got started anyway.  But uh… no tags, fellas!  Eventually we decided that we would tag all that we could and kick them back out to the mommas.  Then we branded, vaccinated, castrated, marked- did EVERYTHING except the tags, to the rest of the calves.  We held them all until had more tags, which only happened because The Ranch Boss had graciously volunteered to drive home to grab tags to save the day!

The cowboys didn’t mind too much that we had a kink in our day.  It meant that we weren’t pushing too hard, which gave them a chance to do a little extra fun roping.  They pulled out their fancy big loops once in a while and headed and heeled a satisfying amount.  We got the work done, ate some good grub and marked another day down in the books!

 Click “read more” below to see more photos!

Association Branding- Day 1

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We ad our first glorious day of branding our BLM cows with the association over the weekend.  It was pleasantly a typical day with no surprises.  The wind blew, the food was great, we all returned home covered in dust and we got a lot of branding done. 

In between giving calves shots (because that is my specialty) I had some time to take some other awesome shots!  (I guess I really am specializing in one thing!)  There were some fun moments for me to capture- like a pair of pants that just didn’t last the day and are beyond repair!  Of course my little boy always has his rope in hand ready to attempt to rope a calf. 

I even had a new memory to capture…  There were a few boys with a grocery sack they passed back in forth throughout the day as they were collecting all of the testicles.  Why?  I dunno… Maybe to give to their dog or cook up for themselves.  But I wonder if they kept them…  Cowboy E kindly fried up a rocky mountain oyster for them.  They weren’t impressed with the taste… AT ALL!  In fact I think one boy said that it was absolutely awful. 

Then there were the classic moments to capture…  I always find a face or two grimacing at the stink of the singed hair or carefully placed quick the calf just gave.  The cowboys always turn out to be photogenic and ready for a photo shoot.

Brandings have to be some of my favorite ranch life moments to take.  There are the cows, the calves, the horses, the cowboys, the newbies, the oldies, the cooks…  So much to enjoy.  And now that I’ve rambled enough you really can enjoy!

Enjoying the Monotomy

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Are you tired of hearing about our somewhat monotonous life lately?  The cows have babies, we check the cows, we tag the babies, we feed the cows, we go to locomotive and then we repeat it all… Nothing crazy or extraordinary is happening so I don’t have stellar stories for you.  I guess I could make one up… Would you know the difference?  Don’t worry, I won’t…

On this sunny day the kids and I loaded up in the truck to truck down to Locomotive.  Sometimes I like to go just because it gets the kids out of the house so they can’t destroy the house so much.  Seriously, I am ready for summer for them to spend all of their time outside.  I feel like a make ZERO progress… I’m sure no other mom has had that problem, right?  I heard a saying the other day about how trying to clean the house with kids around is like trying to brush your teeth while eating Oreos.  Yes.  Truth.

So we drive with dad.  The Rancher has a bike stashed down with the cows to buzz around the cows we quick.  The kids and I take that time to do some exploring.  We find sticks and rocks and tags and occasionally something cool like old plastic pipe.  Ya, know… typical childhood treasures.  We throws rocks and take walks while trying to avoid the poop and not chase all of the cows away.  Its kinda hard for me to take ranch pictures when I can’t find the cows…  This fine day we stopped by the troughs to throw rocks in they overthrow ponds.  I’m pretty sure I was the coolest mom that day!

They threw rocks.  I snapped pictures and this is what we ended with!

Monotony can be nice sometimes… You enjoy these photos and I’ll go whip up something a little crazy!

Loving the Open Range

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I’m a Montana girl.  The small ranching town I grew up in was just a little valley, cross crossed with streams and rivers. Something very VERY different from where we are ranching now.  Everything was green. All the time. That may be exaggeration, but really I remember that there was so much green-ness. So many meadows, so many hay fields. There were little groves of trees everywhere.  Really so much green!  And then there were the skies.  I love the fresh and blue open skies. The clear mornings that renew each morning with a new sunrise. The sunsets were made with cord that illustrated that God truly is an artist. And the clarity of the nighttime sky allowed you to see even the most distant stars.  Whenever I go home I just drink it all in.  

Here we have a few trees. Unless you count the sage brush, which some if them are big enough you could consider them to be trees. Actually, I love the safe brush. The smells that come from when you move cows through them or when it’s raining.  
It’s this lifestyle that let’s me have those open skies, the green-ness, and the fresh air. 
It’s amazing to me how we can be all a part of the same industry but do it so differently. We can raise cattle in this errid, dry dessert just as well as my family did in the fertile river plains. Just very differently. Very differently. 
Sometimes the differences get me a little homesick for the way we did things. You may take the girl out of Montana, but you can never take Montana out of the girl. So the days when we go out on the wide open range it satisfies the little Montana girl inside of me. Like last week when we dropped the cows off to Locomotive. It was that time of year to haul the cows down south. The kids and I hopped on the semi with The Rancher for a day out. We were only there for the few minutes to unload but they were wonderful moments. 
Although some of the open range is a little bland, the skies can be amazing. You can see for miles with the beautiful blue mountains in the back grounds and the dazzling blue colors.  The open skies and fresh air take me back to my big sky country.  I guess where ever you are, you find little bits of home. 

Mother Nature’s Desert Treasures

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The desert of Locomotive is a place of itself. It doesn’t seem to follow any of Mother Nature’s rules. It has it’s own freak storms, crazy winds and weird weather. 
Today is the day we get to haul some of the cows to Locomotive to spend the next few month and I’m reminded again of some of the strange and cool things Mother Nature has put out there
Like some of the intense rock work out there. There are places where the wind gets whipping so hard it has carved around and through the rocks. Of courses that been over hundreds and hundreds and HUNDREDS of years. There’s a small cliff (it can hardly be called a cliff… But for lack of abetter term… Meh…) that has a sorts if Who-Ville look to it. It has silly windows and what could look like odd doors. Splash a little paint on it and you would have jumped into Sr. Seuss’ world!
This year we have had an incredible amount of juniper berries. Like loads and buckets and smatterings of berries. Why?  The old timers were telling us that it meant we would have a record snowfall and the trees were preparing for it. I don’t know if that was right, since we have had like no snow, but maybe it was all the moisture last fall. Either way it’s cool to see so many berries. 
One of my favorite oddities to check our is the wildfire aftermath. 50 Years ago (I’m totally guessing here) there were some crazy fires burning through these ceder hills. The fire must have burned hot and fast because it looks like they started  up on fire , burned out and just fell apart. I love the natural, abstract art Mother Nature made from it. 
We may be running on the desert- the dry barren desert.  But every once in a while we find our own little treasures, provided by Mother Nature herself. It’s the desert’s own kind of unique beauty. 

Not Letting the Drought Win

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There are few things ranchers depend on for their industry- cows/calves to sell, buyers to buy, and feed to fatten them up.  The first two are in pretty constant supply, feed on the other hand… Well that’s a little subjective…

There is always feed out there, but good quality feed at a good price can be hard to come by.  Why?  One word… DROUGHT.

The last few years we (and by “we” I collectively mean all or most ranchers) have been needing rain in a bad way.  Without rain grass, grain, alfalfa, hay, whatever won’t grow.  Pretty cut and dry (hehe, dry… that’s what we are right now!).

The other day we had our turn to check water in Locomotive on our BLM association ground and we took a turn through our private ground to check the feed.  Our private land in Locomotive is where we take our cows to calve out every winter, the turnout day coming up in just a few weeks.  But the sad truth is that its going to be a very different year for Locomotive.

Throughout the summer and fall we have been keeping an eye on our feed down south, hoping and praying the rain and sun to get to work to make grass that we need to winter the cows.  As the time has gotten closer and closer to moving cows out there we have realized we don’t have NEAR enough feed to winter all the cows there and keep the ground healthy.

Last year it was rough.  With years of drought, we finally grazed it down to its limit.  And we hate getting to that point.  We consider ourselves stewards of the land.  We care for it, trying to keep it flourishing in something more than tumble weed.  But without the rains and the tough soil we have struggled the last few years.  You can see in the pictures that the normal greenish brown is yellowish brown or even more greyish brown.  

So what’s a ranching family to do in a situation like this?  We could just take the cows down and not care.  But we care.  We want this land to sustain itself and our cows.  We need this land to sustain itself and our cows.  So we are keeping most of the cows home this winter.  We will take down the number of cows we think will make it on the range and keep the rest here.  That means The (poor) Rancher will have LOTS of cows to feed at home… bummer.  And we might have some tougher weather for our cows to calve in…  And we might have a little more sickness go through the calves since they won’t be spread out across the range.  But we are hoping that we can help the land to renew itself and be fruitful in the coming years.   This year will mean we get to put in a little more work, but protecting our land, something we CAN’T do without, is worth any effort.

So with a little less cows, a little more rain, maybe a few grass seeds, and a lot of faith we are trying to care for the land and not let this drought win.

The Fun of Preg Checking Buffalo

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When I talk about our couple of days working buffalo, I usually only mention that we were preg checking them.  But it was really more than that.  At the ranch they only work the buffalo once a year.  Can you blame them?  I mean really, who wants the stress and working buffalo more than that?
 
With the whole herd gathered, everything goes through the chute.  We wean off all of the calves and sort the bulls from the heifers.  That means that they each get a tail lift… In some ways it can be kinda tricky trying to sex them.  So much hair…  And as it got darker the differences sure became hard to spot!  But there is an easy, unreliable way to ID gender- their horns.  Interestingly enough, the horns on the bulls grow wider… Random, I know.
 
And then we obviously preg the cows, cull the opens.  Its so interesting to see this herd and the range in ages and size.  We have young calves to old cows that have been in the herd for years.  But what they all have no matter what their age is, they are all so crazy.  Over and over they would have a problem with the cows tipping over backwards.  See, in their craziness, they try to jump out.  And they could if it was just a cow ally (buts its not anymore).  With the ally being tall enough and strong enough, they can’t jump over.  But it doesn’t keep them from trying, over and over again. And eventually, their top heavy head gets the best of them and they just topple over backwards.   It really is comical to see because its as if once they get up to the top, it all goes in slow motion while they try to NOT tip over.  They fling their hooves and wiggle their head.  But its inevitable… They tip over on their backs and CAN’T get up.  “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up…” (name that show?!).
 
Once they have tipped over the crew is gathered because it takes ALL of the men to get the upside down buffalo right side up.  After this happening so many times, they have got their system down.  They throw a rope around its head and pull, rolling it up.  It seems simple, but buffalo are heavy.  Super heavy!  Seriously, it takes 9 guys to do this!  And sometimes one has to get a little brave to jump down in the ally with the buffalo to get the rope on.  Exciting right?
 
They did get to pull over a good handful of buffalo, but fortunately nothing really happened.  Hardly anything to get your blood pumping.  We had one little incident where a calf managed to back out of the chute, right by me.  It was like preg checking cows all over again.  But that meant I new just what to do- grab the baby and run!  I had been recording numbers and standing right next to the chute when the little bugger psyched out the gate man and was able to back out.  We danced around the table, trying to keep something between us and the calf and at the first chance we jumped up on the cat walk.  The guys were prepared for something like this and pulled out some panels to herd the little buffalo back in.  And it did just saunter in and we went back to work, shortly acting as if it had never happened.
 
Preg checking was, once again, exciting this year!  Not enough to cause any really harm, but still enough to know your heart can be good and fast.    

About Me

Hello! I'm Allison, The Rancher's Wife! There's nothing I love more than being out on the ranch with my husband and kids. Join me for a look at what goes on here at the ranch and the life being a rancher's wife!

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