The first nasty chitstorm of the year is headed straight for the exact spot where we have been unloading pairs for the last week. Last load was around noon today.



It's 60-70 miles away from home but the radar shows an evil little pink/red center. Warning on the TV, etc., came home popped a beer and WTF......



Hopefully they stay mothered up and don't get pounded by hail.




And modern Doppler radar combined with the google earth type maps is an uber combination

Just hit, pink had turned to orange/red.



Hopefully it had unloaded before it got to the cows, luckily that pasture has decent junipers and pine trees.

Sam, about 10 years ago at our ranch we had a huge hail storm that killed 21 head of our cows. City folk don't realize the danger of hail to livestock.

Chl, that would be terrible. Thankfully we don't get much hail but you never know.

Well hope your cows do ok. I unloaded 3 loads last night (98 pair) in a spring snowstorm, temp dropped from 46 to 31 in about an hour. These cows came up from the coast range where it has been in the high 80's. Quite a shock on them. I rode them today, so far all is well. I won't complain though we need the moisture and this was a wet snow. Hope everything turns out alright for you Sam. Ed

Ed, damn sounds like the opposite of here!

Hit 90 the other day when we were branding but hasn't snowed in over a week.....grin

I had 3 more trucks coming this Sunday, I canceled them. Got about 5 miles of dirt road and I hate it when one of those trucks sink lol. 6 more loads and that ranch will be filled. This storm is supposed to last thru Wednesday. Ed

Damn Sammo! Hope all goes well....that country can dole out some surprises once in awhile, including tornadoes...

hopin for the best for the livestock Sammo


one thing farmin and ranchin do have in common


there's always some damned thing to be worried about

You are a busy man!

Pairing off loads is a pain in the ass...


Dump 'em in a corral for an hour or two and turn 'em out?

We have been hauling out loads of 42 pair(and one full load of yearling heifers). Rain held us up for 2-3 weeks, very lucky to get them out because it looks like this last one was substantial.




Stock dams are full and the grass is growing like crazy.

Sam,

Someone should be paying you $100/hr for the chitt you manage. Ya, I know...

We took our yearlings up to the mesa yesterday and today (~8000 + elevation) Grass about 5" tall - maybe we'll miss snow - We'll see how many lightning gets this year

Ed, we actually paid a young guy $50/hour to help brand the other day!
(worth every penny...)



Mark, you have us beat by about 6000'!

Here's to no lightning fires...

How many pairs do y'all run.

When I was on the farm, we run about 120, that was in the 80's-90's. Now my brother and his 3 boys run about 500, give or take.

I only run 20 pair but my folks have about 300 and keep 75-80 head of replacements.


Just dad and I, between farming and the cows we stay fairly busy.....grin


Gonna go road a couple tractors home here in a minute. Sunday morning is the perfect time for moving down the highway.

A'men.

Yeah, that's enough to keep y'all busy for sure. Hang in there. I miss those days for sure.

We are at about 4600 ft at the Lakeview, OR ranch and about 5500 at the Fandango ranch. Have corrals at both ranches Sam but getting the trucks to them can be tough when the weather turns to chit lol. Have the Lakeview ranch filled ( 300 pair) so only have to worry about getting trucks into one. Then I get to play cowboy for the rest of the summer, roping and doctoring sicks. Life is good lol. Hope to see your country some day before I cash in, lol love to see cows eating grass. Take care Sam. Ed

and just how big was this hail ? There is this thing called lighting that comes with most hail storms

That's hail freezing over kinda hail.

They had a few pictures of golfball size hail in Billings MT Friday, messed up a bunch of cars and roofs.

Good luck Sam. Its been kind of a tough spring up here. Wet snow and heavy rain. I guess we are making up for such a nice March when we start calving.

Watch out for white tails. Get them to survive the storm and scours kills them!

Thank god for out the gate grass.

The hired man got back Thursday from visiting his girlfriend in Billings, guess he made it out just in time!

don't forget your wife and mother WITHOUT them you 2 boys would not get the work done ,, WHAT'S FOR SUPPER HONEY . have you got my lunch packed oh and i need you to pick me up at the south range at 3oc and don't forget the kids appointments annnnnnnndddddd




norm

Yeh, my daughter's 2014 Camaro gut pretty well beat up and the windshield busted.

I picked up stones that were two inches across. Neighbors just west of us had a window broken in their house.

Softball size

Had a pair hit the ground from a strike last weekend. Lucky it hit the tree and not them and it didn't appear to be very strong. They got up and dazed around for 10 minutes or so smelling the ground.

Its been a week, so far that we can tell, they are fine and only a squirrel died.

Also lucky we've never lost anything to hail but there is always a first. We are GENERALLY a bit to far SE to get much in the way of hail but you never know.

Ed
Didn't realize you were in the Lakeview area. I am out in Lake county a couple times a year working for a client/friend. Bought my truck from a guy with a private lot there in Lakeview a couple years ago when I came through town after working cattle up by Fort Rock.

Tarkio, I live about 35 miles south of Lakeview , south end of Goose Lake.
Ed

Talked to my buddy on Monday and they had 60-70 mph wind and heavy rain but luckily no hail.


Got the last semi load out yesterday morning, now just 50-60 pair to some little pastures close to home. Got a good count and there are about 20 more calves than we thought, life is indeed good...
(rain/shipping prevented us from preg testing last Fall so we were a little nervous...)



Jim, grass out the gate would make life much easier!
(guess I need to keep buying powerball tickets....)