Herding Antelope

 

         We were on yet another long cattle drive.  We had started with two teams.  One team started at the Southeast Hogan well and worked west toward the Salt Well and then west to the Well on the Dike.  The other group started at the westernmost side of the pasture and worked east toward the Well on the Dike.  The two groups met up at lunch, let the cattle rest, and then we pushed on north to the Hogan.  We would work the north end of the large pasture the next morning and finish the week off by branding the new calves and cutting out the herd bulls.

         We were on top of the hill on a high, grassy plain moving several hundred head of cattle when I noticed something odd.  I was in my normal position, pushing the herd along at the rear slot.  Among the red and white cows were some funny looking bovines.  They were paler, skinnier, and had altogether different horns.  Somehow we had picked up a small herd of pronghorn antelope who thought this was a fun game.

         They joined in our fun for a mile or so and behaved like good little cows until they spotted our ultimate objective.  The antelope, being a heck of a lot smarter than the cows, started getting a little nervous.  We were in the small valley leading up to the Hogan corrals when all hell broke loose.

         As if on cue, the ten or fifteen antelope bolted from the herd in all different directions.  Naturally, the cattle joined in.  Within a few short minutes, the entire herd was scattered across the valley and into the hills.  All the cowboys were running pell mell over the countryside trying to pull together the herd. After a good hour of cleaning up the mess, we only collected half of the herd.  Cows and calves had been separated and the coyotes would eat well if we continued on.

         There were only a few times that I ever saw what happened next on my days at the ranch, but that day was one of them.  We stopped what we were doing, rode the last mile to the Hogan without the cattle, and vowed to try again the next day.  We also made a solemn promise to our little antlered enemies.  We would rope them all and make them a part of the herd officially.  Sadly, it never came to be, except once, and that is another story.