Intern Andrew Mainini got to experience a new aspect of ranching this week; moving cows and their calves to summer pastures.
It was an exciting and much anticipated week here at the E Bar U, because it was finally time to trail cattle to the mountain. This trip took three full days of trailing and another two full days of cow work at the beginning of the week to prepare the calves for the rest of their summer. We took roughly 400 pairs into the Bighorns Mountains to spend the rest of the summer in their grazing allotments. This week has been very hot here so that meant very early mornings and slow going cattle. Riding the face of the mountain was something that was very new and exciting to me. I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the trail.
The most important part of taking cattle to the mountain is working with the forest service to be in compliance of the guidelines that they set for grazing permits. Guidelines set by the forest service vary from forage use, animal units, and even if the permittee can drive off road or not. If these guidelines are not met the forest service will delay your date for taking cattle to the mountain and could even cite you for non compliance. What I leaned most about this week is how to work with the forest service.
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