Neil Molendyk
AH fanatic
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2014
- Messages
- 611
- Reaction score
- 1,488
- Location
- Alberta Canada
- Media
- 22
- Member of
- SCI,CCFR
- Hunted
- Alberta Canada,Saskatchewan Canada, Namibia, Limpopo RSA, Eastern Cape RSA
Not just wild animals but domesticated can be as well.
My first DG hunt
A bit long winded but I thought I should share this
About 20 years ago I had a very dramatic and eye opening experience that I would like to share with AH members.
We run a cow calf beef operation and one of the tasks that we do annually in the spring is semen test our herd bulls before breeding season to check their semen for acceptable levels of semen quality and vitality after the winter cold. It can be along swim to the egg and healthy and active sperm are a necessity. We had two bulls to test and I decide to take them into the veterinary clinic to perform the tests there. For the uninitiated, the test requires a prostate massage as well as a physical examination of the sex organs of the bull being tested. The prostate massage involves the insertion of an electronic massager, a probe about 3 inches in diameter and 10-12 long, inserted in the bulls anus, and an electric pulse is applied rhythmically to induce the penis to protrude and then provide a semen sample by ejaculation, which is captured into a test tube to be examined under a microscope. So I decided to haul one bull in at a time, an hour round trip time. Well I hauled one bull in, unloaded him and then returned home to haul the next one in while the vet performed the test on the first bull. Upon arriving with the second bull, the vet informed me that the first bulls test were completed, he passed and it wouldn't take long to complete the test on bull number 2. So I decide to wait on bull 2 to be finished and then haul them both home at once. I had bull 1 loader into the trailer and was closing the divider gate when bull 2 came up the loading alley behind me and entered the trailer before the divider gate got latched. And he wasn't very happy. And then the bull fight was on. The divider gate was smashed as they started fighting in the trailer. while Im still in the trailer. Somehow, and I don't know how, I managed to get out the back of the trailer unscathed. But the bull fight in the trailer continued to the point that their actions pushed the truck and stock trailer away from the loading chute, at which point the loosing bull, bull 2 was out of the trailer and now in the general area of the town that was open to the public. I managed to slam the tailgate door closed on bull 1 but now we had a real problem on our hands. The freed bull decide to head into town, but thankfully with help from local residents we managed to get him away from the general public and persuaded to go into an open field on the outskirts of town. Bull 1 was hauled back home but what about Bull 2. If i tried to approach him, once I got closer than 50 feet, it provoked him into a charge, not a bluff but a threat to kill charge. What to do? I suggested to the vet that I thought the only solution would be to tranquilize him, but how. The vet informed me that he had tranquilizer serum but no way of administering it in an open field. I told him that I had a tranquilizer gun if I could get close enough to the bull to shoot him with it. A local farmer friend came out to the field with his front end loader tractor thinking that he could possibly herd the bull to his cattle herd only a half mile away but the bull was still so mad that he refused to herded and only charger into the front end of the tractor, luckily only hitting the front end loader frame. Plan number two. Because it was mid March, the field that the bull was in was extremely muddy with melting snow. The only way to approach the bull was with the farm tractor. So I got into the front end loader bucket, after the vet pleaded with me to be careful, there was enough serum in the dart that if I accidentally shot myself with it, it would kill me instantly ,was elevated about 8 feet up and with the loaded tranquilizer gun we approached the bull with the intent of hitting him with a tranquiler dart. At about 50 feet separation, the bull charged the front of the tractor and hit the loader frame at full speed, rocking the tractor vilently with me in the bucket. Leaning over the edge of the bucket I shot him in the neck muscle hump successfully and he just turned away and ran away. We waited for the tranquilizer to take affect but after 20 minutes or so, no affect was apparent. So it was decide to try again. Same scenario, same full bore chart into the front of the tractor, another dart hit into the neck of the bull and then he ran back to where he started the charge. Another wait for 20 minuted, no change in the bulls demeanour. One more time, again. Round three, same approach, same charged, another successful darting and the bull retreated to to his starting point. Keep in mind that the bull received 3 doses of tranquilizer serum for a 2500 pound animal each time, 3 times, a true testament of the power of adrenaline. So we decide to wait as we didn't want the bull to die in the field. After about another 40 minutes or so I began to notice that the bull was displaying the characteristics of an inebriated person so I took a lariat out to him, placed it around is neck and made a rope halter out of it and put it on him, as docile as a sleeping old dog. I began leading him to the truck and stock trailer when he collapsed in a heap. we managed to load him into the trailer with the assistance of the front end loader tractor.to haul him home. At home he had recovered enough to unload but for the next three weeks he would charge anyone and everything that came into the corral. He was shipped to market and his breeding days were over.
Incidentally, the bulls semen test passed but he failed miserably on his attitude.
My first DG hunt
A bit long winded but I thought I should share this
About 20 years ago I had a very dramatic and eye opening experience that I would like to share with AH members.
We run a cow calf beef operation and one of the tasks that we do annually in the spring is semen test our herd bulls before breeding season to check their semen for acceptable levels of semen quality and vitality after the winter cold. It can be along swim to the egg and healthy and active sperm are a necessity. We had two bulls to test and I decide to take them into the veterinary clinic to perform the tests there. For the uninitiated, the test requires a prostate massage as well as a physical examination of the sex organs of the bull being tested. The prostate massage involves the insertion of an electronic massager, a probe about 3 inches in diameter and 10-12 long, inserted in the bulls anus, and an electric pulse is applied rhythmically to induce the penis to protrude and then provide a semen sample by ejaculation, which is captured into a test tube to be examined under a microscope. So I decided to haul one bull in at a time, an hour round trip time. Well I hauled one bull in, unloaded him and then returned home to haul the next one in while the vet performed the test on the first bull. Upon arriving with the second bull, the vet informed me that the first bulls test were completed, he passed and it wouldn't take long to complete the test on bull number 2. So I decide to wait on bull 2 to be finished and then haul them both home at once. I had bull 1 loader into the trailer and was closing the divider gate when bull 2 came up the loading alley behind me and entered the trailer before the divider gate got latched. And he wasn't very happy. And then the bull fight was on. The divider gate was smashed as they started fighting in the trailer. while Im still in the trailer. Somehow, and I don't know how, I managed to get out the back of the trailer unscathed. But the bull fight in the trailer continued to the point that their actions pushed the truck and stock trailer away from the loading chute, at which point the loosing bull, bull 2 was out of the trailer and now in the general area of the town that was open to the public. I managed to slam the tailgate door closed on bull 1 but now we had a real problem on our hands. The freed bull decide to head into town, but thankfully with help from local residents we managed to get him away from the general public and persuaded to go into an open field on the outskirts of town. Bull 1 was hauled back home but what about Bull 2. If i tried to approach him, once I got closer than 50 feet, it provoked him into a charge, not a bluff but a threat to kill charge. What to do? I suggested to the vet that I thought the only solution would be to tranquilize him, but how. The vet informed me that he had tranquilizer serum but no way of administering it in an open field. I told him that I had a tranquilizer gun if I could get close enough to the bull to shoot him with it. A local farmer friend came out to the field with his front end loader tractor thinking that he could possibly herd the bull to his cattle herd only a half mile away but the bull was still so mad that he refused to herded and only charger into the front end of the tractor, luckily only hitting the front end loader frame. Plan number two. Because it was mid March, the field that the bull was in was extremely muddy with melting snow. The only way to approach the bull was with the farm tractor. So I got into the front end loader bucket, after the vet pleaded with me to be careful, there was enough serum in the dart that if I accidentally shot myself with it, it would kill me instantly ,was elevated about 8 feet up and with the loaded tranquilizer gun we approached the bull with the intent of hitting him with a tranquiler dart. At about 50 feet separation, the bull charged the front of the tractor and hit the loader frame at full speed, rocking the tractor vilently with me in the bucket. Leaning over the edge of the bucket I shot him in the neck muscle hump successfully and he just turned away and ran away. We waited for the tranquilizer to take affect but after 20 minutes or so, no affect was apparent. So it was decide to try again. Same scenario, same full bore chart into the front of the tractor, another dart hit into the neck of the bull and then he ran back to where he started the charge. Another wait for 20 minuted, no change in the bulls demeanour. One more time, again. Round three, same approach, same charged, another successful darting and the bull retreated to to his starting point. Keep in mind that the bull received 3 doses of tranquilizer serum for a 2500 pound animal each time, 3 times, a true testament of the power of adrenaline. So we decide to wait as we didn't want the bull to die in the field. After about another 40 minutes or so I began to notice that the bull was displaying the characteristics of an inebriated person so I took a lariat out to him, placed it around is neck and made a rope halter out of it and put it on him, as docile as a sleeping old dog. I began leading him to the truck and stock trailer when he collapsed in a heap. we managed to load him into the trailer with the assistance of the front end loader tractor.to haul him home. At home he had recovered enough to unload but for the next three weeks he would charge anyone and everything that came into the corral. He was shipped to market and his breeding days were over.
Incidentally, the bulls semen test passed but he failed miserably on his attitude.