Category Archives: Photographs

I bought my first gun when I was 12 by saving my summer wages swamping lug boxes of Red Malaga grapes out of my father’s and uncle’s vineyards. A few weeks before the opening of Dove Season, I sent a $109.95 money-order to Sears and Roebuck for a 20 gauge Model 12 Winchester shotgun. The box came addressed to me in the mail.

Before that, I hunted dove and quail with Stevens .410 single-shot and roamed the foothills on cow trails shooting ground squirrels with a used, J C Higgins single-shot .22 rifle that my mother’s cousin, Stanley Dickover, had given me for Christmas when I was 10. Different days and times, my parents would likely have been thrown in jail today for turning a youngster loose with a gun. But I loved it—not the killing as much as the hunting and exploring.

In those days, finding a place to hunt was not difficult. For me, there was always the ranch. But most all of my teenage friends had permission from local landowners to fish and hunt whatever was in season. Poaching happened, but was seldom an issue in this small community where everyone knew everyone else, when a young man built his reputation early in life.

In the mid-60s with the advent of affordable air conditioning, the local population began to explode, and with more people, less places to hunt. Trespass and poaching became serious problems for landowners who lost livestock, had water troughs shot full of holes and experienced a general increase in vandalism that impacted their operations. Then again, the clash of cultures after the Vietnam War when many Hmong refugees, used to living off the land, were relocated to the Central Valley.

Today, the prices of guns and ammunition, as well as license and tag fees to the California Fish and Game, continue to increase while places to hunt have decreased dramatically. It’s not surprising that poaching has become a problem, and in some instances, a business where deer, feral hogs and livestock are butchered in backyards and the meat sold locally. While budgetary restraints have wardens stretched thinly, the problem of poaching falls precariously on landowners more than ever before. Rather than to have to sort the good guys from the bad, we are inclined not give anyone permission to hunt.

Today’s poachers seem to believe that if they have a gun, they have a right to hunt anywhere they want, indignant when caught, and blame the landowner when prosecuted. Our latest incident on July 22, 2012, a slam-dunk case for the Fish and Game and D.A.’s office with indisputable photographic evidence, has to be pursued if we expect help and support from local wardens in the future.

I’ve never been an advocate of stricter gun laws, but if the common belief that the purchase of a gun increases one’s rights while diminishing the rights of others, then something has to change.

Though high temperatures have dropped into the 90s, I’m trying get out and around early to keep the sun off my face. My back is taped with a battery of patches to give my dermatologist a clue as to what I’ve become allergic to that has triggered my immune system to keep producing new skin on my face to burn, peel and itch continuously. After feeding our replacement heifers, then starting my irrigation water, I caught these geese at the pond at dawn. Quite tame and never flew while I open the gate to let water into the pipeline.

A tough shot into the sun, the dragonflies of all colors and shapes have begun to show, and sparkled this morning.

The evening before we were to ship our two loads of steers, this genius and his compadres were among them all on the irrigated pasture trying to kill a pig. He circulated so many photos of his hunting prowess, one was emailed to me. They left a gut pile in the creek and a trail of blood all the way to the road where they waited for someone to pick them up where they hid in the neighbor’s corrals.

Poaching is nothing new to us on Dry Creek, there’s always a new crop of youngsters that think that killing a hog makes them a man. Spencer (Rambo) Jensen used to crawl through grass without a gun and touch them before they knew he was there.

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With Clarence on vacation and missing shipping for the first time in twenty years, Zach, Robbin and I were saddled and ready to gather the steers before 6:00 a.m., as they began filing off the irrigated pasture, and the dry feed along the road, as if an invisible rider was getting them up and started towards the corrals. Obviously not needing me horseback, the Kubota and I began scattering a few flakes of hay as most of the bunch walked into the corrals. Robbin and Zach eased the last few in and we were ready to weigh by 6:15 a.m. I ran the sprinklers in the corral Sunday afternoon to keep the dust down, but didn’t get the lane wet. We had plenty of time before we were scheduled to start weighing at 7:00 p.m. Trucks gone by 9:00 a.m., steers net 762# – Beautiful dawn, great day!!

These guys sell 9:00 a.m.: roundupcattle.com

Ten months ago some of these steer calves were just being born, entering this world wet and vulnerable, and attentively licked to standing and nursing for the first time. Perhaps our fanciest steers to date, we come full circle—they have to go.

There’s always apprehension before an auction, especially an Internet auction where the cattle under the gavel are just still pictures, but even with detailed descriptions, it’s not the same as the sale barn. The Internet, however, exposes your cattle to more buyers than you could find locally. Cattle prices have softened since spring, feedlot placements up due to drought in much of the West. Recent media has hyped the impact of the drought on corn and grain prices, cutting margins for feedlot operators, less eager to pay top dollar for cattle. The media, of course, assumes that higher prices for corn will be passed on to the consumer, but it doesn’t generally work that way in agriculture when input prices increase, instead downward price pressure is put on producers. Farmers and ranchers don’t have the luxury of holding their perishable products off the market until the price gets better, when the crop is ready, they have to sell.

In any event, we’re looking forward to a new season, satisfied with our steers. I think the market is still strong enough that we’ll be happy with the price they’ll bring.

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The day isn’t over yet, but this Friday the 13th went awfully well. Trying to beat the forecast 103°, Robbin, Zach and Clarence were in the saddle by 5:30 a.m. to gather our heifers for processing with a second round of vaccinations, plus get their Bangs vaccination that has to be administered by a veterinarian. Stuart Hall, our regular vet, was out of the country, so rather than wait for him to get home, we tried another vet from Lone Oak, Dr. Taylor Davies, at his suggestion. She arrived at 7:00 a.m.

The gather to the corrals was a slam dunk. We had the heifers weighed and waiting by 6:30 a.m., very pleased with their 725 lbs. average. Because the heifers have to be tagged and tattooed as well as vaccinated, each one has to be caught in the chute—manual, not hydraulic. 106 head later, we were done by 8:30 a.m. Clarence and Zach had them back home in their pasture by 9:00 a.m., just as the sun was peeking through the monsoonal clouds leaking over the Sierras. Great day and glad to have that job done!

Followers of the blog recall this pair of crows earlier in the spring, regular visitors in the evening. I am assuming that they’ve raised their brood and enjoying a drink and conversation, as are we. (click pic to enlarge)

Two loads of weaned steers, 775 lbs. average. Angus, Angus-Hereford cross, 15% red.

2 rounds of vaccinations at branding and weaning. Bovishield Gold 5 and 1 Shot Ultra 8. Ocuguard MB-1 at branding. Ivermectin Pour-on at weaning.

No implants or hormones. 20 eyes doctored, identified: 1/2 cc penicillin/1/2 cc steroid under eyelid, otherwise no antibiotics.

On irrigated pasture, 2 lbs./day/head of long stem alfalfa hay for roughage.

Our current plan is sell July 19th, Internet auction, “Heart of the West’ sale, RoundupCattle.com Immediate delivery.

Links to more photos: DCJ 6/24 DCJ 6/22