Cattle Drives have been the most popular activity which we share with our guests at the Dryhead Ranch. You will ride with real cowboys and experience an authentic working ranch experience.
We trail cows through Bad Pass Trail, through the Pryor Mountain Mustang Reserve down into Deadman and north up the trail to the Dryhead Ranch.
Each spring we bring from winter pastures into the rich grasslands of the Dryhead Country 800 head of mother cows with their calves. These cows and calves will spend the summer months on native grass which the Dryhead Ranch is known for. The Dryhead Country is rich in Indian history which we will have time to explore once we have the cows at the ranch.
We pick up at 4:00 PM at the Billings airport and drive back to the ranch that evening. This is a three hour drive that will give you time to get acquainted with the beautiful Montana country, your ranch driver and the other guests. Our cook will have supper waiting and the bunkhouse rooms will be ready.
You will ride with us from Monday till Friday.
Saturday is a "getting ready to go home" morning. We eat breakfast as always at 7:00 and have time to pick up some things in our small ranch store as well as exchange goodbyes with the cowboys and other guests. We leave the ranch around 10:00 and have some time to visit several historic sites and get back into Billings by early afternoon. You can find some hotel information on the rates page.
There is a "list of things to bring" on the rates page that will help with packing the right things to wear.
SPRING CATTLE DRIVES
Spring Cattle Drives begin on Sunday, April 20, 2008 with your arrival at the Billings, Montana airport. We have three spring cattle drives which begin on: April 20, April 27, and May 4, 2008.
On Monday morning we pick up the cattle at a set of correls across the Shoshone River from our farm ground in Lovell. The first day covers the bad lands just north of Lovell, Wyoming. We go to the Wyoming-Montana Inspection correls for our overnight stop and for the brand inspector to come and look at all of the brands before we go into Montana.
We will be trailing mother cows and baby calves. This is a 50 mile, four-day trek. We will camp if weather permits and all of the guests agree. Spring time in Montana can be a wonderful experience. Bring warm winter clothes as well as lots of layers for the warm and cold temperatures that bless our wonderful state.
Tuesday through Thursday will be trailing these cows and calves all the way to the Dryhead Ranch. We will trail them through Horse Thief Canyon, near Devil's Canyon Overlook, by Carolyn Lockhart Ranch and across Deadman's Creek.
Our home range is on the Southern edge of the Crow Indian Reservation. Dryhead Ranch is six miles wide and ten miles long. The Dryhead Canyon runs down the middle of the ranch and our cowboys take care of 20,000 acres of mountain grassland country.
Friday we will be at the ranch. In the spring we will give the cows ivermectin and a series of shots as we put them through the chute. We will also give the calves a shot before we turn them back in with their mothers. After they are mothered again we will trail them out to their spring pastures and get them settled on grass.
On Saturday it's time to get ready to go back to Billings.
SUMMER CATTLE DRIVES
Summer Cattle Drives begin on Sunday, June 15, 2008 with your arrival at the Billings, Montana airport. The summer cattle drives have a schedule of their own. All riding levels are easily accomplished.
June 15 - 21, 2008 cattle drive: Pryor Mountains
We are going to be trailing 150 cows and calves from a set of correls near Pryor, Montana east toward the Will James Ranch and up the mountain to some grass near the Schively Ranch. We have been able to lease some grass in that area this year and will be putting cows and calves there.
June 22 - 28, and June 29 - July 5, 2008: Big Horn Mountains
We have the privilege of riding with the Tippetts family during this week. We meet whatever schedule they feel necessary to move their cows up into the Big Horn Mountain. We will camp several nights during these weeks.
Mornings will be early and we will ride evenings until dark. The days are hot and often we have several hours during the afternoon when we "brush up like the cows".
The first week will trail the cows up to the foot of the mountain. The second week will trail the cows to the top of the mountain. We will trail two days and possibly three each week with the Tippetts family. The other two or three days will be riding at the Dryhead Ranch.
We always visit the historical Medicine Wheel Historical Site and marvel at the beautiful countryside. You can easily see for several hundred miles toward Yellowstone National Park from the top of the Big Horn Mountains. This is definately a photographic paradise.
The Forest Service decides when the cows will go onto these mountain pastures. We will be going when they say the grass is ready. If the grass is not ready, we will be riding at the Dryhead Ranch all week.
August 17 - 23, 2008
Our last summer Cattle Drive of the season begins Sunday, August 17, 2008. We will ride the Dryhead area.
FALL CATTLE DRIVES
Fall Cattle Drives begin on Sunday, October 26, 2008 with your arrival at the Billings, Montana airport. We have two more fall cattle drives which begin October 26, 2008 and November 2, 2008.
The fall cattle drives are three days. We will be trailing just mother cows as the calves have already been weaned and trucked to the feedlot in Wyoming. Two days of the week we will be gathering cows and the other three days will be spent trailing them to winter pastures in Wyoming. Weather has a huge influence as to which days we will trail or gather. We will not be camping on the fall cattle drives, we will return to the Dryhead Ranch each night of the drive for a wonderful home cooked meal and a warm dry bed.
Fall is a varied season to ride in Montana. The trail home to Wyoming is full of varied temperatures and varied challenges and rugged awesome beauty. This is what REAL cowboys experiences are made of.
Come ride with the Cowboys...........It will change your life.
Here are the Dryhead Ranch Slide Shows,
where you also can find pictures of some of our cattle drives...
Please note: We changed the ranch week June 15 - 21, 2008 to an additional CATTLE DRIVE!
|
Cattle Drive Dates 2008
|
Spring Cattle Drives
April 20th - April 26, 2008
April 27th - May 3, 2008
May 4th - May 10, 2008
|
Summer Cattle Drives
June 15th - June 21, 2008 (Pryor Mountains)
June 22nd - June 28, 2008 (Big Horn Mountains)
June 29th - July 5, 2008 (Big Horn Mountains)
August 17th - August 23, 2008 (Dryhead Country)
|
Fall Cattle Drives
October 26th - November 1, 2008
November 2nd - November 8, 2008
|
|
