Modern-day cattle rustlers hit ranches in southeast Oregon

[stevedeshazer]

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/11/modern-day_cattle_rustlers_hit.html

JORDAN VALLEY -- They were spotted from a small airplane, two cattle rustlers on horseback hazing 125 white-faced cows across Malheur County's forbidding "empty quarter" in Oregon's far southeast corner.

The men, sighted last spring, were pushing the stolen herd south through a high-desert tapestry of chaparral, manzanita, juniper and sagebrush. They looked like ordinary cowboys.

The pilot descended for a closer view, but the men didn't look up, said brand inspector Rodger Huffman of the Oregon Department of Agriculture. The pilot finally had to break away, and the Malheur County Sheriff's Office didn't hear about the sighting until a week later.

It was one of the frustratingly few glimpses anyone has caught of men suspected of stealing 1,240 cattle worth $1.2 million over the past three years from Malheur County ranches. Hundreds more cows have been taken in bordering counties in Idaho and Nevada.

Despite common misperception, cattle rustling did not fade away with the Old West. What makes these thieves unusual, investigators said, is the scale and duration of their operations, their use of horses to reach areas inaccessible to car or truck, and the fact that they sometimes drive their plundered herds for days, carefully sweeping around ranches and people.

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This area is one of the most remote places in the lower 48. They call it ION Country -- where Idaho, Oregon and Nevada meet.

[Kali]

1. prices are in the toilet, you'd think that would put a damper on theft

but it hasn't.

[flvegan]

3. Hey, question because I think you might know

How hard would that be, for 2 people to push that number of animals like that? That would take some significant experience, right?




And I don't mean that "you might know" because you're some kind of cattle rustler, but I figure on DU if anyone would know an answer about cattle it would be you.

[Kali]

5. If the cattle are gentle (that means they have been handled on horseback a lot) ONE guy could do it.

and one guy and a good dog or a couple of them could do it pretty easily too. The second person is handy for cutting fences or opening gates.

One advantage to half wild cattle - take a LOT more skill to steal them and even then it's kind of a rough one at a time deal:rofl:

[flvegan]

6. 125 by one person?

I can barely wrangle 12 dogs by myself. Wow. So if they're gentle, these aren't feedlot cattle right? They don't get that kind of horseback handling I wouldn't guess at all. Interesting.

See, I knew you'd know. Thanks.

[Kali]

7. no because cattle are herding animals

a bigger herd is actually easier to move around than a few at a time. The whole reason the saying "Like trying to herd cats" has meaning is because it is so very opposite to handling actual herding animals. They prefer to be together. That is one aspect that doesn't bother me about feedlots - the conditions can be gross, but the animals don't mind a degree of togetherness we would call crowding. Especially if they stay in a group and don't get constantly rearranged. Once they have their pecking order sorted out they are happy to eat and sleep in a small area.

Back to herding. Because of some shoddy thinking in the 50's there was a big trend in range management to scatter cattle out as widely as possible and to select for super docile animals that don't have the urge to bunch together, so you sill see some breeds that are lots harder to "put together" in a herd for moving than others. And those are actually harder to move around with just a few people than the ones that bunch up and want to get moving away. But in general once they are together and moving they are pretty easy to maneuver and take where you want.

[flvegan]

8. Interesting.

I guess that since it seems like such a huge task, one (or I specifically) takes the behavior aspect out of it. I mean I've seen a few guys and their dogs herd sheep, etc so I guess cows, with their size, seems more daunting. A LOT more daunting.

Thanks.

[XemaSab]

11. In northern California ranch dogs are a dime a dozen

Of my last four dogs, I've had two half cattle dogs, a dog whose mom was a working dog on a ranch, and a dog who is half border collie.

Cattle dogs, springers, and border collies all run about 45 pounds. Not big dogs at all, but all capable of moving a cow.

[stevedeshazer]

9. I can answer that

First, I've raised cattle.

Second, I'm somewhat familiar with the terrain.

For two cowboys to do this would be hard, but not impossible if they know the land. Three or four is better.

This area is really rugged; high desert with burning hot summers and freezing ass winters. It is very exposed, and anyone out there from November to April (or any other time, for that matter) better know what the hell they are doing.

That said, my impression is that even in a crappy beef market people who obviously are locals even in the most remote areas of the country need to resort to theft in order to survive.

For the record, these days I avoid meat.

[flvegan]

10. It seems like it would be a long drive, too.

In such harsh conditions.

[ddeclue]

2. In other news: Stagecoach robberies up 34%

:rofl:

[kestrel91316]

4. For those who are interested in reading more on the subject,

check out John McPhee's excellent essay from the New Yorker titled "Irons In The Fire", found now as the title essay in the book of the same name. I am very proud to tell that my beloved Uncle Shirley Robison was the subject of that essay. He was a Nevada State Brand Inspector for his entire career, and the essay is a great read.