Trailing Yearlings

I'm always up for something new, like trailing yearlings. I've been around them plenty, but never to this degree. No better way to learn than from those who run yearlings for a living. 

Bridget and Nathan Williams invited me down to help drive their herd of heifers to the other side of the interstate. 

Riding time was 6:15. So, Chief and I had to be saddled and on the road by 5:00. 

Reno Road, north of Kaycee, was our starting destination. 

It was a family affair. Seven riders.

Ike and I headed to the bowl to look for grazing critters. 

Found some.

I pushed them to Ike and we both go them heading out of this tough country. 

Of course, we had a few on the wrong side of the fence. Ike used some cowboy ninja moves and got them back on the right side. 

Down the other side we went to meet the other girls. 1200 total we were gathering! 

I've never found an arrowhead, but I have a good eye for antlers. 

Nice little whitetail. Probably a couple years old. 

It's easier to pull yearlings than to push them, is the old saying. They are curious and will follow almost anything, even a horse in the right circumstances. 

The final push. The other riders and been trickling the herd through the underpass while we were gathering the back corner. Their crossing really went without a hitch, thanks be to God! 

Good work. But we weren't done. 

Once we got them off of the county road, we had to trial them to next pasture. 

As we were gathering, a few lame ones surfaced. 

So we pushed them into the corral to be doctored later. Then we regrouped and headed south. 

Nice cows. This is about 1/3 of them. 

Cool old homesteads around here. This is the old Myer place. 

A big bunch looks cool, but lined out moves a lot better. 

End of the line. This'll be their grazing home for a couple weeks or so, before they move them to greener pastures. Outfits like this move their cattle on a pretty regular basis. 

Well deserved back scratch. 

Good ride. Fun time. Trailing yearlings is like herding teenagers. It's hard to predict what they are going to do next. It's best if you make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard for them. Worked out good today. I was back to the church by noon. Yearlings keep you on your toes. I bet if you ran only yearlings like the Willimas' do, you'd get pretty good at cowboying by the time the summer is over. I was thankful to be a part of this move. Taught me a trick or two and saw some cool country. Couldn't ask for much more. Just another day in the life of a cowboy priest.