Dealing With Cattle.

[sitsinhedges]

I avoid cattle as much as possible but have just got another 150 acres of spring rape to go at whose only access is thru a field of beef cattle.

I'm wondering the best way to go about it. I don't really want to drive my new van thru them and get it bashed up and it would be quite daunting on my little quad bike.

I'm also worried about one of them getting past a gate when I open them and getting into a crop field or onto the road. Could be a very productive spot for shooting though.

Thundering herds of cattle scare the **** out of me to be honest.

 

Any thoughts?

[bruno22rf]

If you stand in the gateway for long enough they will generally come over and give you the once over - after a while they will wonder off and lose interest in you - once they have done this you should be fine, just keep away from them as much as possible - walk around the field if you can near to the hedgerow or fence. If you do get "cornered" so to speak I have always found that running straight at them and shouting does the trick but make sure they have plenty of room to "escape" - failing this a single shot into the air can buy you time.

[old man]

Same with me too. Far too big and stupid to play about with?

 

The only time they are in favour is when on my plate.

[Hendrix's rifle]

Find the biggest one and slap it on the back they will run scared then Providing you move through slowly and don't spook them you will be fine. If they do charge you try and stare them down and stand ground. If all else fails a shot in the air and ******* run :lol:

 

Edit-last time I was with beef cattle I was on the other side of a fence whilst they were walking through the yard when I turned around to see one on my side of the fence looking rather quite wee'd off, I briskly moved and let it pass(didn't help it was a young ish bullock) stupid things

Edited May 2, 2016 by Hendrix's rifle

[la bala]

About 10 years ago my wife and i were walking in a field of bullocks, they watched us from about a hundred and then decided to check us out at full gallop. The noise made by 25 bullocks coming toward you in full flight i found a bit off putting. My wife in her 60s at the time bottled it and made a 50 yard sprint and somehow cleared a 5 bar gate, bless her. Decision time for me as they were 30 yards and closing, at about 15 yards i raised my stick and other arm and just shouted at them. Well that did the trick, they just braked and swerved away. I think most of the time they are just inquisitive. I must say i had a good laugh at the wife, it would have made a good bit of video footage. My next problem was getting the wife to do the return journey, but this time the beasts were fine.

[figgy]

Takes some nerve to stand your ground with beef cattle. Used to help a farmer in my teens round up his bullocks. Always one or two stubborn ones would charge you.

 

The more your round them the less your bothered by them. If they start shoving you slap on *** and make some noise they sharp move off.

[Big Al]

You havent said if they are cows or bullocks. If they are cows make sure there are no calves with them. It's likely at this time of year. They can be as aggressive as a bad tempered bull if you get between them and their calves. The calves can be hidden in a hedgerow so sneaking around the edge of the field can be risky.
I once had a dog badly bored by a cow with a calf. Thankfully the ground was soft so cushioned him from the attack. If the dog hadn't been with me I might have been fine, or I might have got the treatment. As with any female, an excess of hormones is a dangerous thing!
You havent said if they are cows or bullocks. If they are cows make sure there are no calves with them. It's likely at this time of year. They can be as aggressive as a bad tempered bull if you get between them and their calves. The calves can be hidden in a hedgerow so sneaking around the edge of the field can be risky.

[TONY R]

You are right to be cautious i have been around them my whole life and they can get silly at times.

Youngsters are just inquisitive most of the time, but can get stupid round dogs esspecialy as they get older they get bolder and push their luck a bit if you let them.

A wading stick if a good deterent if things get too close, best advice i can give is stay as far away from the bulk of them as the field will allow and do not hang about move quickly and again more so with a dog.

If you can practicaly use an ATV i would use it everytime over walking.

Now with cows and calves its steped up another gear and try to avoid getting between the cow and calf trouble can kick off fast if you dont watch this, its better to avoid a problem than rectify it after some things gone wrong.

Anyone who just says they wont hurt you are you a man or a mouse atitude is just stupid, you have to keep your eye on the ball around cattle no matter who you are or how experienced you are, a mate nearly got killed by a limmy that decided to charge him and for no obvious reason.

Cattle are not inherently aggressive but they are big animals and you can get hurt or killed if you are not carefull its that simple.

[ben0850]

You are right to be cautious i have been around them my whole life and they can get silly at times.

Youngsters are just inquisitive most of the time, but can get stupid round dogs esspecialy as they get older they get bolder and push their luck a bit if you let them.

A wading stick if a good deterent if things get too close, best advice i can give is stay as far away from the bulk of them as the field will allow and do not hang about move quickly and again more so with a dog.

If you can practicaly use an ATV i would use it everytime over walking.

Now with cows and calves its steped up another gear and try to avoid getting between the cow and calf trouble can kick off fast if you dont watch this, its better to avoid a problem than rectify it after some things gone wrong.

Anyone who just says they wont hurt you are you a man or a mouse atitude is just stupid, you have to keep your eye on the ball around cattle no matter who you are or how experienced you are, a mate nearly got killed by a limmy that decided to charge him and for no obvious reason.

Cattle are not inherently aggressive but they are big animals and you can get hurt or killed if you are not carefull its that simple.

This ^^^ good advice, I always have a stick if I'm in with our cattle, always know where the closest wall or fence is too!

One thing I would add is go often and the cattle will gradually get to know you and your vehicle and become less curious, on the plus side chances are they won't be outdoors in the winter months either (unless they are a hardy breed like shorthorn / belties etc).

 

Ps: if they are belties good luck lol

[TONY R]

This ^^^ good advice, I always have a stick if I'm in with our cattle, always know where the closest wall or fence is too!

One thing I would add is go often and the cattle will gradually get to know you and your vehicle and become less curious, on the plus side chances are they won't be outdoors in the winter months either (unless they are a hardy breed like shorthorn / belties etc).

 

Ps: if they are belties good luck lol

Limmeys are not saints either .

[ben0850]

Limmeys are not saints either .

Haha you're not wrong! Wouldn't be the first time we've had to follow one into the container with the load all bucket to make sure it stayed there long enough to shut the door!

[Alpha Mule]

Get yourself a length of that blue pipe/hose that the farmers seem so keen on. About 4ft should be about right.

The youngsters can get a bit pushy if you are in 'their' fieild, so a wee clout on the nose and some "Oosh, oosh, move, go-wan!" can do the trick.

 

Stand at the gate and let them get your scent. They will be curious and come for a sniff. They generally bog off after a while, but the young ones are thick as poo in the neck of a bottle!

I NEVER shoot in the field they are in! If/when they spook and go charging around, unless you are tucked into a hedge or can get out of the way quick, you are in serious trouble!

I gave a fox the bad news in the dark one night and a herd of about 20, year-olds, from 3 fields away came thundering past.

I was also once in the wrong place once, when a car backfired and some young 'uns decided to get out of the way and went through a barbed wire fence as though it didn't exist. Stealth went out the window as I legged it in the other direction.

 

I'll take sheep any day. Cattle are completely no-go for me.

I'm fortunate enough to have an alternative if the cattle are in the fields I want to play in.

Edited May 2, 2016 by Alpha Mule

[Dougy]

If you have to take a dog with you be prepared to let it off the lead if you have calves and cow's. If they decide to go in defence mode your dog will out run the cattle, thats what they will be after.

[kent]

Beef cows can be very dangerous if you panic them or if they have calves. Never walk with a dog through them, if your dog is the sort to stand and fight be at least a field and a half away

 

We have to deal with them at home including a big bull. Be firm but never aggressive and stay calm. Walking slowly towards them wafting a stick or blue pipe gently up and down a just say cows. Cows cows in o board relaxed voice if I need to shift them

Years ago a bold well grown calf trapped me in a river. It kept charging everytime I tried to get out. In the end I smacked him hard on the nose with a right hander- he moved alright and so did all the others making the situation far worse

[hushpower]

There was a case a couple of years ago a woman I think was going through a field of cows and calves with a dog the cows were getting aggressive , she let the dog off the lead instead of leggin it the dog kept coming back to heel , she was trampled to death.They were after her dog by the sounds of it.

[oowee]

Give me cattle any time but horses no thx. One of my farms has polo ponies on the track that I have to drive down. The track is split with electric wires dividing the ponies in groups. They wont move for anything. The farmers wife showed me how to make a halter with my arms over the ponies lol no way am i doing that. There are four pones in each block so one halter is about as much use as a chocolate teapot.

I would rather walk the long way around than go through.

[fuzzypigeon]

One of the farms I shoot has around 500 head of cattle, when I first started going up there they scared the **** out of me.....now I feel comfortable around them, only had one kick me when I was helping move a few that were being separated ready to go to the supermarket. Just don't turn your back on them, walk towards them and make yourself as wide as possible wave your arms up and down (not like you are trying to take flight or anything) and they will move, I shoot in the field with them now. The worst thing is when they come and stand on the decoys or try to eat the hide, generally they are fine as long as you keep an eye on them.

[tx4cabbie]

Was doing a Duke of Edinburgh walk many years ago, pottering across a field with several friends, enjoying a marlboro red, when we became aware that the field contained a bull, and he seemed less than pleased with our invading his turf.

 

My mate fell under his enormous rucksack a few yards short of the five bar gate, I grabbed the back of his pack and helped him over the gate head first, and realised that the bull was too close for me to get over too,so did the first thing that comes to an East end lad when presented with a challenge - i chinned the beefy ****** as hard as I could.

 

I'd seen blazing saddles, and I fully expected him to go down as the horse does when mongo hits it.

He didn't seem to even notice, just seemed somewhat nonplussed. I scrambled over the gate before he took offence and tried to get his own back for all the sirloin.

Since then, I've stayed relatively clear of cattle. I do hear that a dab of horseradish behind each ear can frighten them away!

[Houseplant]

I got full on charged by a cow a little while ago. Not a bull, a cow (with a calf). Literally threw myself over an electrified fence to get away! Mentioned it to the land owner, a no-nonsense tough Kiwi bloke and he said "yup, a cow will kill you, don't take any chances". I'm now very wary.

[oowee]

I got full on charged by a cow a little while ago. Not a bull, a cow (with a calf). Literally threw myself over an electrified fence to get away! Mentioned it to the land owner, a no-nonsense tough Kiwi bloke and he said "yup, a cow will kill you, don't take any chances". I'm now very wary.

I thought all your cows were white fluffy ones?

[Houseplant]

I wish!

[kingsy18]

back a couple of years back went out foxing in the night ,jumped over a gate walked across two or three fields lamping saw sod all so walking back towards the gateway didn,t see a big bull on the way in,i couldn,t run so i just walked slowly ,could hear him right behind me so i stopped,bloody thing was right next to me ,thats all i could think of was to pat him on the head thank god he was a hereford bull tame as hell,told farmer week after he laughed his head off ,***.

[motty]

I used to go lamping a lot on the back of a quad and regularly had to go through herds of cattle. They were generally well behaved, and moved when you got near them. Sometimes a slap on the *** would be required to shift them.

Be brave and take the quad.

[TONY R]

I thought all your cows were white fluffy ones?

If they get out living breeding wild in the bush they are vertualy killers apparently, some very remote areas out there Ausie cattle stations can get nasty stock when out the back of beyond. .

I used to go lamping a lot on the back of a quad and regularly had to go through herds of cattle. They were generally well behaved, and moved when you got near them. Sometimes a slap on the *** would be required to shift them.

Be brave and take the quad.

Yep use the quad, its the best option .

[Pushandpull]

.375 H & H is the minimum round for their African cousins..........