WHAT WORKS FOR US
Winter Feeding By TERRI MASON
Usually, I interview a couple of ranchers on any given topic. However, my old friend Doug had so much variety to his story of living, as he describes it, “so far back in the bush I have to come out to go hunting” that the interview easily ran over an hour. So with that, here are some tales from the Devil’s Head Ranch.
DEVIL’S HEAD RANCH
DOUG RICHARDS
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Well, I guess the easiest way I can explain it is that I’m not just in the business of raising rodeo stock. Our main objective is to continue to raise natural, sustainable grass/pasture. Healthy and productive livestock is a by-product. We have a lot of native grass here in the hills, but we have invasive species here too, like Kentucky bluegrass. I know a lot of people think this is a bad weed; however, Timothy and Creeping Red Fescue are what grows the best up here. Because horses need less protein in their diet, with the exception of your broodmares, you can winter a horse on less protein. Our biggest battle here is to keep the land that we do have cleared and clear from the invading poplars and the spruce trees. We don’t have a lot of running water. We do have a small lake (30 acres), some sloughs, and the odd little creek, but I have wintered a lot of cows and horses on just the snow at times. When I was a young boy here, there were tons of moose everywhere. But they have pretty well gone by the wayside from hunting pressure and all-terrain vehicles running all over where they shouldn’t be. What we see now as far as ungulates go, is mostly whitetail deer. Fortunately, we don’t have the big elk problem like some people ranching not too far from us do. But in the last 40–50 years, we’ve had an influx of predators including cougars, wolves and bears.
I remember one particular bear here about 35 years ago. I think over the course of two or three years that boar killed somewhere between 30 and 40 cows. I don’t know for sure if it was him because, at that time, we rented some ground from the Reserve just west of us, and we’d run our cows out there for the summer. It was about a township of ground — all bush and muskeg, so it was hard to keep track. But one spring I turned out 65 pairs, and in the fall, I got 62 cows and 50 calves back. Whether he got them all or not, I don’t know. But the next spring when I got the bear, I never lost anything for years after that winter. So, I believe Devil’s Head Ranch he was the problem. Owners: Doug & Jill Richards He had been here for Nearest town: Cochrane, Alta., three or four years. but closest to Morley Other than that, we have cougars once in Established: Homesteaded by Doug’s a while that kill colts, dad in 1935 and we had a wolf Elevation: 4,500 feet/1371.6 meters here a couple of years ago that killed a mare Average Precipitation: 784 mm/ 30.9 inches and a colt. Then this spring, I had an eagle Size: 2,500 acres, plus rented grass from the Stoney-Nakota Reserve kill at least one colt on me; very unusual. This Rodeo Stock: 150 horses (from mares and foals to competitors), 15 bulls mare had a colt; it was up, and everything Brands: Lazy H Hanging X (RR) (cattle)
7 over Bar (RT) (horses)
Checking the horses before winter sets in; early 1990s
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