The Magic of Three (Drovers)

[Happytrails]

I might be old fashioned but can't see much potential in RC roundups. But more seriously since it is the time of year for roundups I'm going to offer some observations on how to do a good one.

I saw a quote from Buster Welch some time back where he stated that one rider could drive one cow, two riders could drive 2 cows and three riders could drive 200 cows. Having spent 40 years herding cattle and still not having a good rules of thumb for crew size I decided to try and strictly follow Buster's advice. That is if there are more that 2 cows involved there should be 3 or more drovers.

After 2 or 3 years of quite religiously following that rule I have to say that I am a believer. I'm not sure what it is; it might be a simple as 3 drovers can cover 3 points of the compass. Or maybe cows have trouble counting past 2. Whatever the reason, working cattle with a crew of 3 seems to go very smooth with a positive experience for both man and beast.

And I'm not talking about 3 Bud William's out there. I have enlisted some pretty green help with good success. Also we mix horses and atv's or utv's no problem. The important thing is to get 3 hands in the game.

That is my FWIW today and no doubt there will be other good ideas and strategies. And before you solo artists jump on me for wasting manpower let's get clear on the types of work we are doing. I'm talking about corralling cattle or pushing them across or down a road, etc. Something that could result in a wreck. Putting cattle thru a gate from one field to another wouldn't qualify. They would do that themselves as soon as they found it. Best Regards HT

[per]

Does a "good" dog count. Timely topic as I just got back from rounding up out of a section of hills and bush down a road and into a 1/4 that has the corrals on the other end with creeks and bush in between. The intent was to vaccinate the calves. The 2 of us had enough after the move so we deferred the vaccinations until Monday. I think with 3 we could have completed the task.

[Happytrails]

Hey Per, I seriously don't think a good dog counts as another hand. They are a big help in lots of situations and work cheap but the answer is still "NO". Sounds like you did a good job getting your cattle moved and likely worked a little harder than you wanted. Try it with 3 and I bet you like it better. Regards, HT

[per]

Often I have 3 and I agree with your analysis. The great part of 3 is I usually get to take lots of pics from some strategic spot and only pitch in when needed. In between dogs right now (working on one) but a good dog and handler are worth quite a bit.

[perfecho]

Quad, grain wagon and gate= 1
Best if you "train" for 2 or 3 days before.

[kato]

We don't have three, so we have to be inventive.

For one of our pastures we use a bucket of grain, one good leader cow in the bunch, and me and the dogs to walk behind and make sure they all see what's up and follow along.

In the other one, we put a bale of hay in the catch pen, leave the gate shut for a day so they see it, then let them in and close the door behind them.

Pasture three.. close the gate so they can't drink from the creek and have to come to the yard for water. Then close that gate.

That being said, back in the day when we drove them home twelve miles on the road, we had at least three people to do it. One in front with the truck (with grain sprinkled on the tail gate), one walking behind, and me on the horse behind in case something happened that needed a bit of speed. We wouldn't do that drive without at least the three of us.

We've also had roundups where having extra people who didn't know what they were doing did more harm than good.

[Happytrails]

Hey Kato I'm sure you and the man handle your cattle jobs in fine fashion. I will however question your statement that you don't have 3 hands available. My take on this world is that we have NO shortage of people. Reaching out to get more help should be fairly easy. Lord knows that most people aren't routinely overworked. I hear you when you say that sometimes the "help" is worse than nothing. I know it takes time to inform and educate your helpers but it is necessary. Also the point of my post is that having 3 drovers even of mediocre skill is superior to 2 top hands. HT