Montana Fun.....

This last weekend my husband and I got to tag along with some very dear and special friends of ours to Turner,Montana.

Ray and Connie Ball

What were we going to do in Montana?   Well, you see every year on Mother's Day weekend
some of their family members and friends get together and help out another friend/family member and they make a weekend of it.   So I bet you are wondering what type of help they needed.....well you will find out later in this post so keep your eyes open...

So first we have to go over some minor details of our trip....here we are on the road to Turner, Montana.  OK well as of here we had only made it as far as Detroit Lakes, MN and needed to stop and get hmmm...well I do not remember what the guys had to get lol, but it was something very important I do remember that much, lolol.....really it was or they would not have instisted we had to stop.  

We made it as far as Jamestown, ND and stayed over night at a motel there and ate breakfast early and took off to Turner, MT.

And all of a sudden Connie gets really sick.  Poor girl was so miserable.   Then we missed our turn near Circle and ended up in timbucktwo!!  Oh yeah there really is a place where you know you are know where and heading know where...We were on this county road the men thought would get us to the right road to go to Turner (rather than headin back the direction we came), lol.....and all of a sudden...the road turns into a dirt road and there are animals...

all over the roads, and not just any animals but cows, sheep, and horses...this is new to meeeee...............but the guys say it is a free range area and if you hit the animals you pay.   Even if the animal is in the middle of the road and will not get off they all have the right of way and that is final!!  WOW, I did not know that!!   Thank goodness it was Ray driving and not me I would have so worried I would have been going about 5 miles a hour, lol.  The animals stay in there by fences and these gates that are on the ground...the are weird this is what they look like...they are called cattle grids not gates, lol, I guess...

(this is just a photo off the internet of one so I could show you)

They are so neat!!   You do not need a gate at all because they animals do not go on this at all.   These are everywhere in Montana!!    So anyway we finally get to Turner and yes the road the guys sent us down did take us to another road that took us to another road and yet another that got us to Turner.  LOL!!   So we had to say "yes, you were right you did get us here!!,lol"

We met some awsome new friends/family that day that let us stay in their cabin ( I can't believe I forgot to take Val and Donnie's photo together, so sorry!!)for the night to be able to get Connie all better and for us all to get ONE last shower for the weekend.  Hmmmm........yep, I am sure you are wondering what Connie and I were thinking.....last shower for the weekend.....hmmmmm.......and still thinking hmmmm......are we gonna have to potty with the rattle snakes too......hmmmmm..........starting to get a little nervous here........hmmmm.......ok I said "we will put our big girl panties on and suck it up and off we will go with the guys on a guys weekend!"  " We can do it Connie and if we can't we will leave and come back and get the guys, later" lol....so off we went.   A little leary and very apprehensive about it but we went.   So everyone gets packed up and off we go....

Once we were there and setting up camp the first thing Connie and I did was looked around for a biffy....aka potty.....and found this one!!  Thank goodness because we both had to go really  BAD!!!!

Then we saw the sign...
Well, we ran out of dimes about half way into the weekend and would just follow someone else up the hill and found if we slipped in as they were leaving all was good and we did not have to pay the 10 cents, lol....This biffy became our friend this weekend....we were there often and we so happy to have it!!!!
Here is what we got to see inside...

And here is what we got to see outside of it....

There were so many neat old things on the ranch to check out and see....like this old house that was a beauty in the age it was built....

It was built in the 1800's and was a flat long house that got the logs shipped up from Missouri so I am sure it cost a pretty penny too to build.   It was in such wonderful shape it was amazing.   And Cranny who is the ranch owner used to stay in this home many years back when it was time to brand and do stuff with the cattle.  So that was cool!!!

Here is a old building that was so neat with all the brands and items used on a ranch.   I loved it!!

I thought my boys might like to see the old trucks around the ranch.   I guess they even still work not sure I really did not hear one start up all, lol.   Although Cranny did ask if I knew of anyone who wanted to buy a old truck....

Here is a photo of camp.   The guys had most of the campers in a horseshoe shape too be able to block some of the wind and keep close.  It worked great and was wonderful to be close to the camper at bedtime.

Here are some of the supplies that are needed to go out and fix a fence that a tree had fell on.   They had to fix it because the bulls were getting out into the pasture with the cows and calves and well they do not belong together until Cranny says soo.  And that is not till about June.  So they fixed the fence and then rounded up the bulls that got out...and put them back with all the other bulls.

The is Cranny he is the ranch owner.  He is 83 years old and still chasing bulls!!  He used to be in rodeos and is a retired tribal judge that sat the bench for 36 years.  Wow, huh!  He is a really neat man to visit with.  Boy does he have some stories to tell....

Ok so if you have a weak stomach this is where you might want to detour from the photos.

Sorry but this what we did and I wanted to share it with everyone.   We went gopher hunting.   To do this it is not like at home where you just put traps in the holes nope you actually go out in a truck and hunt them down.   Why do they do that well...the gophers NEED to be removed from the ranch because they make home in the ground and to do this they make holes in the groud and well the cows and calves could break a leg falling into one of these holes.   So this is why we got to go gopher hunting...Ray was our driver and Randy was our reloader and drink boy...I guess you could say he was our cobana boy and our right hand man on this day, lol....      

The above photo is what our day consisted of and we had tons of fun!!  Between Connie and I we got about 50 gophers over the whole trip.   Not bad huh!!

We got to shoot 22's and here is a look at what the Montana gopher look like...

As you can see they are not like our gophers at home and you can shoot these as they are running around or coming out of their hole.   They are fast so we are so impresed with ourselves that we shot about 50 total!!!
I just thought of them as mice because I HATE MICE!!!  lol.  Well it worked.  

We also got to go Prarie Dog hunting.  This is the same them as the gophers they need to be removed or a cow could get hurt badly.  I did not get any photos of a gopher though just their hole sorry!!

This is a photo of the guys coming to visit us.

Here is a shot of one of the prairie dog holes.

So with Prairie Dogs you sit and wait for them to come out of their hole and you shoot them.   Connie and I each got 2 of these they are alot harder to hit and are alot farther away too.  So you need use a bigger gun.   Connie and I were very leary of doing this hunt until Ray and Francis talked us into just trying it out.   So we did.  We got to use 22/250's this time.   I got to use the crowbar of them, thanks to Francis!!  Thanks for the use of the gun!!  This gun was SOOOOO HEAVY!!!

My arm was soooo sore the next day, lol.  I know I am a wimp!!

Between Connie and I we shot off about 50 rounds of these heavy guns, so we were ready to get back to camp this day!   Lol, but it was so much fun!!  The guys just sat back and laughed at us and kept reloading the guns for us, lol...great guys huh!!!

Round up day!!    YEP, this is where they needed the help...we helped round up the 200 some cows and calves...

They are on the move.   Poor things have been able to roam aound all winter and relax and eat and now here we all come and moving them around.   We had no right as far as they were concerned!!

This is a mamma that was not too happy to have to be moved and neither was her calf.  And she let us know it too by mooing lots at us and looking at us when she could.

The modern day cowboy/cowgirls here anyway are not riding a horse but they are on 4 wheel'ers, trucks and even on foot some too.   The motorized vehicle's make things go so much faster and usually easier I would think.  

Right about here is where Connie and I got out of the ranger and the truck to be able to walk them the rest of the way to the corale so that they were not running and getting to scared.  There were others on the other side of the fence doing the same thing.   Then Connie left me to go get the truck moved....hmmmmm.....I am not a animal person.....Hmmmmm.....then Iam by myself on this side of the fence with all those upset cows.....hmmmmm..........I started getting a little nervous for a little bit there till Connie got back anyway...not like Connie would be able to stop a mamma cow from getting mad at me for moving her and her baby but at least Connie could hmmmm............what could she do........ok.....well she could run the other direction at least.....lol...well Connie having you right next to me at the time sure made me feel better just so you know!!

This mamma cow had a eye that was injured at some time but she did really well and it sure did not seem to bother her getting MAD at us for accidently having her baby on the other side of the fence and not with her on that side.   She was not a happy camper at this time she wanted her baby on the other side with her and now!

Why do they round them up?  Well in the spring they need to get branded.   The mamma's are already branded so the calves are the ones that then need to be seperated from the rest...

They brand their animals out in Montana so they know it is that owners animal and they have so many of them that they can tell from a distance if one is theirs or not.   Also they have such a huge pasture for them to roam year round that with the brand will help if they get out to know who's is who's.   We don't usually brand in Minnesota because we have such small pastures compared with them and are able to keep a little better eye on the animals because of that. (They are also usually much closer to our home sometimes too)

These cows pasture at times is as far out as you can see in this photo and farther.   So you see they have alot of land to be able to cover.

Their branding is not as bad as I thought it would be.  They come down a shoot to a calving table that tilts and holds them on it and with in about 1 minute they get a shot, branded, ear clipped and if they are a boy they get a band on the their lower items.  Then they are off and running.  They then go to another smaller corale and then off to mamma.  That is that.  

There was even one being born as we were doing the branding and stuff.   They do not brand them that young so no worries.....but it was pretty neat seeing the new baby calf!!  Can you see it right in the middle of all the others on the ground.   Here next in the photo it is trying to stand up only a little while after it was born looking for something to eat...

So after the branding there is the clean up and they put the cows back out to the pasture.   The babies are very happy to be back with their mamma's that is for sure!!   After clean up time is time to visit and relax a bit!

Then it is time to EAT!!  Yep, we got to have a meal fit for a KING the only thing is I was so darn hungry I forgot to take photos!!   Cranny's wife Jess brought us out the most amazing foods it was wonderful!!

We got to eat fried chicken, roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy of course.  We also got corn on the cob, 5 salads(yes 5 salads),homemade buns and cinnamon rolls.   It was all so good and you got so stuffed that it was hard to get up into the back of the truck to head on out to go Prairie Dog hunting again, lol.   But we did.  Then we got to take a wonderful ride out the a water tower which was about the end of the ranch.  We got to see sweat rag trees.   These are just trees that the natives hang their rags on after they have been to a sweat lodge.   It is supposed to be good luck I guess.   There were lots of them on trees in this one spot.

Some were old and some were new too so they must have just had one recently.

Then came the goodbye's.   We met some very awsome new friends out there in Montana and I hope they are friends for a lifetime!  They welcomed us with open arms and sent us off with open arms.  This was great!

We were told we were welcomed back next year so we must not have done to bad right, lol...or maybe they just want us back to laugh at...cause I know I made a few laugh with the way I shoot and at how scared I am of animals, lolllllll....but that is ok I had a great time laughing with them!  Thank you Montana crew!!

Thank you Ray and Connie for the invite we had a great time!!!