Working Ranch Magazine Summer 2025

Base of the Butte

FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 2025 Today was a doozie! We have a year ling bull we are taking to the sale. At branding time, we band our bulls, but this particular bull’s band came off. Dan and I worked him through the pens toward the loading area. I went to close one of the gates and Dan was behind me approximately fifty feet at another gate. As I got four or five feet from the gate, I noticed he was com ing back so I jumped up on the gate to get out of the way. Well, the little fart head-butted me in the butt as he ran by, then he got Dan on the thigh with his shoulder as Dan was trying to close the gate where he was. We both could not believe it, but it hap pened fast. Steve came over about then, so he helped Dan get the little whipper-snapper loaded and took him to the sale barn. There was no way I

could sit and if you have ever had a tailbone injury, you know the pain. Praise God neither one of us had bro

ken bones, just our pride. SATURDAY, APRIL 12, 2025

I was not feeling like riding in a bumpy side-by-side so Dan checked the cows. This time of year, I tend to post a lot of calf pictures along with ranch life on our Instagram page. Dan fed the cows around lunch and shortly after, a family from Sheridan drove to the ranch to pick up their beef. Dan and I love meeting our customers. Their kids were so excited to see the cows and calves, but their highlight was playing in the dirt and collect ing rocks. They met Steve and his wife Kathleen who teaches school in Ten Sleep. We had the best time and sent them home with coolers full of Hampton beef. After dinner, I whipped the tallow we made earlier with a hand mixer. We set the jars out and filled each one using a piping bag. It is Dan’s favorite

THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 2025 Today we gathered our bulls so Dan could haul them to the homestead. Our neighbor has a corral nearby and lets us use it when hauling. Dan drove his semi with the cattle pot to the cor ral while Steve and I gathered the bulls on horses. We trailed most of them to the corral but had to go back and get the rest. We loaded them and Dan left for the homestead. They will spend about forty-five days putting on the gain before we take them to the mountain for the breeding season.

Dan Hampton

PHOTO COURTESY OF BRENDA HAMPTON

54 I SUMMER 2025 WORKING RANCH audited readers run 21 million head of beef cattle.