The most dangerous animal on public land

[11boo]

It’s never the bull it’s the high headed cow that’s decided to be super mom.

That’s what I’ve heard. Friend who kept 30 or so had a wife learn the hard way and got a busted leg. They always run from me in the field. So far..

 

[Newtosavage]

Cows (and bulls) on public land are a royal pita as far as I'm concerned. Always tipping off my location to every animal within miles.

I've been around livestock my whole life and worked a lot of "cows" (and bulls) and only once have I ever been charged by a bull, but I had to do a whole lot to piss him off before that happened and frankly I would have charged me too by then. LOL

Reading the OP's story, most likely they were hungry and thought you guys had food.

I've hunted with city folk who expressed concern about cows in the pasture we were walking through in the dark many times. My 200 ac. deer lease usually has about 40-50 cows (and a few bulls) on it at all times. Like I said, royal pita. But I walk through them in the dark all the time. Funny thing is in the dark, they will let me walk within 30 yards of them. But if it's light out, the exact same animals will run like the devil if I get within 100 yards. Stupid animals. No wonder we eat them.

 

[Newtosavage]

Not to "steer" the thread away...

But IMO the most dangerous animal on public lands are humans.
Cows won't shoot at you.

that's a fact.

 

[EastMT]

It’s never the bull it’s the high headed cow that’s decided to be super mom.

Yup, when that head is up and looks like a prancing horse, she usually means business.

 

[Ucsdryder]

I was hunting antelope in a walk in area in Wyoming with a buddy. We had spotted a group of lopes in an opening near a fence line. As we planned our stalk we found a washed out gully that would keep us out of sight until we got to 400 ish yards. A perfect situation. As we slipped along this gully we spitted a group of cows above the gully on our right side. Well.. we thought they were all cows. Anyways, we made eye contact with the cows and everything seemed fine, they stared at us bug eyed as cows do, but unlike all the other cows we had encountered this trip they did not move away. We did not pay much attention to them until we were about 25 yards beside them. Then I hear my buddy, in a loud somewhat panicked whisper, say "hey man, those cows are coming towards us", I responded with some choice expletives and said "that one in front is a bull". As most of you know, Angus bulls do not have horns it is another part of their anatomy that tipped me off. Their pace quickened to a trot as they came into the gully we were exiting on the other side. We backpedaled out of the gully, across a flat, toward a hill. Shouting and waving our hands did nothing to stop their advances. The bull in front was now 15 yards away. Instinctively I fired a .308 round just a few feet in front of the lead bull's hooves. He stopped for a second bewildered before continuing his approach somewhat more cautiously. We turned our quick walking pace into a full run and beelined it to the nearest fence. After we reached the safety of the other side of the fence we looked back to see the bull cresting the hill with the rest of the herd several yards behind.

Once in the truck, a quick google search revealed that cows kill abut 22 people a year. A sobering statistic about an animal we regard as somewhat innocuous compared to all the other hazards we face in the woods.

Has anyone else had this happen to them? Do you think we overreacted?

Cattle are curious. I imagine the rancher would have gotten a good laugh out of you guys running from them. Minus the part where you almost shot his bull! Like most animals, it’s pretty easy to tell their intent based on the way they’re acting and holding their heads.

what’s really annoying is the public cattle on USFS land. They see you about 1/4 mile away and like the idiots they are they take off running. Then every cow they run past starts running and pretty soon those stupid bastards have a stampede that Helen Keller could hear. I’ll take 100 elk barks over a herd of stampeding dumbass cattle!

 

[SIontheHunt]

Cattle are curious. I imagine the rancher would have gotten a good laugh out of you guys running from them. Minus the part where you almost shot his bull! Like most animals, it’s pretty easy to tell their intent based on the way they’re acting and holding their heads.

what’s really annoying is the public cattle on USFS land. They see you about 1/4 mile away and like the idiots they are they take off running. Then every cow they run past starts running and pretty soon those stupid bastards have a stampede that Helen Keller could hear. I’ll take 100 elk barks over a herd of stampeding dumbass cattle!

I am not an expert but when he reached the top of the hill he paused and postured up. I feel as though we got too close and he did not like it. Either way i didnt want to test the theory that they were just curious. They are big and unpredictable. I agree that if the rancher saw me shoot, we would have had some words. But I am sure I didnt hurt him.

 

[Mt Al]

There I was....

The two primary places I hunt have cattle all over. A few years ago I shot an antelope way off the road. Soon from down wind comes a herd of about 10 bulls (was hunting in the bull pasture of course) all drooling, foaming and bellowing. I quickly stripped the guts out, grabbed the horns and hauled the lope to the nearest fence and got everything over. The bulls stayed at the gut pile stomping, scraping and bellowing. I think they had demon eyes and fangs, but not certain. In my head Johnny Cash was singing "Ghost Riders in the Sky". I hunt there all the time, but keep pretty close to fences.

Another place I hunt has cows, no bulls. I just run full steam toward them, toss a few branches, etc.. There's always "That One" that comes back to investigate while I'm in my bow site hide. A few big rocks in the side and they eventually leave.

When I was a kid my cousin was stomped by a loose bull, made it out fine but I think that childhood memory makes me more wary of bulls than need be.

Most dangerous animal on public land are humans fo' sho'

 

[M22]

I was hunting antelope in a walk in area in Wyoming with a buddy. We had spotted a group of lopes in an opening near a fence line. As we planned our stalk we found a washed out gully that would keep us out of sight until we got to 400 ish yards. A perfect situation. As we slipped along this gully we spitted a group of cows above the gully on our right side. Well.. we thought they were all cows. Anyways, we made eye contact with the cows and everything seemed fine, they stared at us bug eyed as cows do, but unlike all the other cows we had encountered this trip they did not move away. We did not pay much attention to them until we were about 25 yards beside them. Then I hear my buddy, in a loud somewhat panicked whisper, say "hey man, those cows are coming towards us", I responded with some choice expletives and said "that one in front is a bull". As most of you know, Angus bulls do not have horns it is another part of their anatomy that tipped me off. Their pace quickened to a trot as they came into the gully we were exiting on the other side. We backpedaled out of the gully, across a flat, toward a hill. Shouting and waving our hands did nothing to stop their advances. The bull in front was now 15 yards away. Instinctively I fired a .308 round just a few feet in front of the lead bull's hooves. He stopped for a second bewildered before continuing his approach somewhat more cautiously. We turned our quick walking pace into a full run and beelined it to the nearest fence. After we reached the safety of the other side of the fence we looked back to see the bull cresting the hill with the rest of the herd several yards behind.

Once in the truck, a quick google search revealed that cows kill abut 22 people a year. A sobering statistic about an animal we regard as somewhat innocuous compared to all the other hazards we face in the woods.

Has anyone else had this happen to them? Do you think we overreacted?

That's a sketchy encounter. Lots of the areas I hunt chukar / huns are leased for grazing, and when I go with my dog, the cattle steer clear. When I go out by myself to the same areas during bow season, the cows mess with me and have a lot more gumption. It's the flushing dog though, they don't want anything to do with him, so whenever I'm big game hunting (obviously without my bird dog), I steer clear of the steer.

Depends largely on where you are, but for lots of these grazing leases, the owner / manager turns em out and shows up once in a while to check on em throughout the lease term, so the herds get beat up and chased around by predators with minimal human-interface, so they're real jumpy and in defensive mode once they've been out there a while.

 

[Southforkguy]

Many stories to tell also my favorite was the time my now since passed Aunt, in her childhood early 1950s was chased down by a bull. Hid under a manure spreader and luckily enough one of the men was around to distract the bull. She was nearly killed. Great story about the sheep dogs as well but my first response was pack horses, whicharguably injure more hunters each year than anything else.

 

[moose droppings]

Only serious run-in with public lands cattle was when i was on a climbing trip down in the cordillera blancas. Had a basecamp set up in ishinca basin, which, being surrounded by awe-inspiring peaks, was also notorious for a band of semi-feral cattle.
Due to scarcity of natural food (at ~15000ft) them SOBs would literal sack unoccupied and even occupied base camps at the slighted scent of food. you'd literally have to scramble into a nearby talus field in order to cook and eat in peace. suckers were aggressive.
On the first night, a dark moonless night, and wracked with minor altitude adjustment hallucinations, i woke up to the sound of rustling inside the tent vestibule. half awake, i was thinking it was some sort of rodent. i unzipped the door, fired up the head torch, and to my surprise i was face to face with a cow who had wiggled its head (and horns) under the vestibule in a prone position, and was mealing on a tube of toothpaste. wtf!?, i yelled, it bellered, i smacked it, it stood, pivoted, and destroyed the vestibule while it scrambled away. safe, nope. other cattle where queued up, unbothered, to get their shot at what toothpaste remained. armed with ice tools, i had to throw the toothpaste tube and an tore up and tossed an alpine bun that was smeared with toothpaste as far away from our tent as possible.
The next day a handful of arrieros found it quite hilarious that our ultralight tarp (which was drying out untethered atop of the tent) was now wrapped around the perp's horn and caped around his neck.
Good times.

 

[Jhdavis444]

Wow. I thought the raccoons here in east were bad. I can’t imagine having to cow-proof my camp!

 

[Grouseman]

I was hunting antelope in a walk in area in Wyoming with a buddy. We had spotted a group of lopes in an opening near a fence line. As we planned our stalk we found a washed out gully that would keep us out of sight until we got to 400 ish yards. A perfect situation. As we slipped along this gully we spitted a group of cows above the gully on our right side. Well.. we thought they were all cows. Anyways, we made eye contact with the cows and everything seemed fine, they stared at us bug eyed as cows do, but unlike all the other cows we had encountered this trip they did not move away. We did not pay much attention to them until we were about 25 yards beside them. Then I hear my buddy, in a loud somewhat panicked whisper, say "hey man, those cows are coming towards us", I responded with some choice expletives and said "that one in front is a bull". As most of you know, Angus bulls do not have horns it is another part of their anatomy that tipped me off. Their pace quickened to a trot as they came into the gully we were exiting on the other side. We backpedaled out of the gully, across a flat, toward a hill. Shouting and waving our hands did nothing to stop their advances. The bull in front was now 15 yards away. Instinctively I fired a .308 round just a few feet in front of the lead bull's hooves. He stopped for a second bewildered before continuing his approach somewhat more cautiously. We turned our quick walking pace into a full run and beelined it to the nearest fence. After we reached the safety of the other side of the fence we looked back to see the bull cresting the hill with the rest of the herd several yards behind.

Once in the truck, a quick google search revealed that cows kill abut 22 people a year. A sobering statistic about an animal we regard as somewhat innocuous compared to all the other hazards we face in the woods.

Has anyone else had this happen to them? Do you think we overreacted?

I've had many bulls chase me over fences as a kid. Not so much with the steer and cows/heifers thus far...they tend to walk your way for food as I saw someone else post....but that doesn't mean they won't turn on ya. I always make sure I have a solid escape plan. Biggest danger this far for me in CO has been great pyrenees sheep dogs.

 

[Elk97]

Never had any trouble with range cattle while hunting even though we're around them a lot in MT.
Probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for a good dog while feeding a herd a long time ago. Must have got between a cow and calf, never heard her coming but the dog whipped around and ran right at it as it was running right at my back. Good dog, still miss her.

 

[dieNqvrs]

Didn’t read all comments to see if this was mentioned or not. My dad works with many different cattle and has been ruffed up pretty bad by a few over the years. He now carries bear spray and uses a few cans a year on those kind of bulls. Works like a champ. Keep in mind the wind! Also watch the training videos, stuff has to be close to be effective!

 

[jcarpenter28]

Crazy

 

[Next Ridge]

I grew up on western cattle ranch. Basically, If they are in a group in open range and approaching you they are just curious/expecting food. If they are in confined space or cornered (corral) a few can be aggressive (or bat shit crazy!) depending on circumstance. If they are solo, left in mountains and gone native, they are unpredictable.

 

[Jardo]

by far the most dangerous animal is a california hunter on opening morning of the general season rifle hunt in any non-california state.


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[jmez]

Wow. I thought the raccoons here in east were bad. I can’t imagine having to cow-proof my camp!

The only situation that cows out west need to be worried about. They will make a mess out of a camp and tear shit up.

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[Voyageur]

Pretty normal reaction for cows in a pasture. If they spot you they most often will come over for a look. Generally running to get there. Would be very rare, even with a bull, for one to actually harm you in a pasture.

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Lived around cattle my whole life and I agree with this assessment. Working cattle in a pen is another matter, but out in the pasture I've never had a dangerous situation. I've had them cluster around me out of curiosity and be totally annoying, but have never felt endangered.
One of my most startling episodes with cattle occured years ago when I was resetting a fox trap after dark. As I knelt there with my headlamp lighting the dirthole totally engrossed with remaking the set I was oblivious to anything outside my small circle of illuminated ground. When I finished and stood up I experienced a moment of intense panic when I discovered I was surrounded by 30 or so cattle who had apparently been silently watching me remake the set. Took a moment for my pulse to return to normal!

 

[Shrek]

Couple of thoughts. First is cows are stupid strong ! Even the most gentle sweetest cow can kill you without trying. Second is they’re animals and are not completely predictable third is that wild cattle can be really aggressive and mean !
Friend is a part time cowboy. He’s at least fifth generation cowboy. He got a call to round up some 100 head out of a swamp down south along the Everglades. He goes with himself , son , cousin and cow dog. They spent most of the morning setting up a pen. After lunch they saddled up to get started on rounding up cattle. These were “Florida” cattle that had been loose or over three years. Think Longhorns. They went to cut the first couple of cows out and all hell broke loose ! The cows attacked them and in just a minute there were two dead horses , his son had a broken leg and ribs , he had half the scalp on the back of his head flopping and a concussion , and his dog was limping from a kick. His cousin shot two cows trying to kill his son and he’s shot the one trying to kill him. Lesson is they’re animals and you never can be certain no matter how long you have been working with them.