Not if it's open range, no. The person who hit the livestock is responsible for damages.
BUT...if the animal escaped private land from a private fence the livestock owner is responsible.
Now you know why rural NV is called the "cow-counties".
In rural western states there is a lot of fenced private ground/farms in open range districts. That does not matter, it is still open range.
The area around Council where this accident occurred, bordering Hiway 95 is all private fenced property. Most ranchers do not like the thought of folks getting killed because a black cow got out on the hiway at night. They like the thought of injured people a lot less than they like the thought of losing cattle.
That said, sometimes cows will jump any reasonable fence. All that is needed for a bull to jump a five foot barb wire fence is for him to smell a hot cow on the other side.
Just this week we had to separate the neighbors black angus bull from my small herd of longhorns. I had a heifer in heat....and a fence five feet high composed of two tightly stretched barb wires over woven wire fencing just does not stand a chance when an 1800 pound bull comes down on top of it.
Sometimes in very rural areas you see warning signs that you are in open range. I have never seen such a sign in Payette Co where I live. But the vast majority of the county is open range.
I loaned a horse to some young girls so they could go for a ride about twenty years ago. The horse managed to get untied in their yard and trotted out onto the hiway where he was hit by a car. Fortunately the driver was not injured. But damn, I hated putting a bullet into that fine little cow pony. And the drivers liability ins cut a check for the value of the horse.
While it sounds like a very plausible scenario. I kind of doubt the origins of the statement concerning the rancher trying to interfere with the deputies shooting his bull. Adams Co Sheriff's Dept is certainly not talking with ISP conducting an investigation of the incident. And if there were any witnesses other than the deputies involved, I have not seen where the news media has gotten a word out of them. News media specifically stated that the rancher's wife had a heart attack after hearing of her husband's death.
Concerning the account credited to face book. Outraged family members would have flocked to local media outlets It would be on the front page of every tabloid in the state as well as the feature story on every news channel through the northwest.
People who choose to brew up their own storms bitch loudest about the rain.
