I got a phone call from my dad in Idaho the other day…that doesn’t happen very often, but he had an important request. Being internet-deprived, he asked me to post an advertisement for him to hire a couple of cowboys or “riders”, as they call them, for the summer months. So I put a Help Wanted ad on several websites, and am hoping he gets a good response and can hire someone soon. I didn’t tell him that I’d like to apply myself…and if I were a little younger and had a few less responsibilities (aka children) than I have now, I would jump at the chance!
Dad’s ranch includes grazing rights to some land owned by the Bureau of Land Management, and he is allowed to take a certain number of head of cattle up into the mountains for summer grazing. Several other area ranchers also have grazing rights in the same mountain range, and together they have formed a grazing association in order to do business as a whole. The members all contribute to a fund used to hire two riders to watch over the cattle during the summer months.
They have had some trouble with their cattle wandering into places that are restricted (but not fenced). It seems that the Forest Service oversees some of the areas, and one stream in particular has been stocked with a species of trout (not native trout, mind you, but trout that will draw more recreation and perhaps more income, or whatever). The cattle “disturb” the natural gravel bottom of the streambed, thus harming the habitat of these special trout that must be protected and preserved. So the grazing association gets a call from an angry Forest Service employee, and in the past they have actually shortened the time the cattle are allowed to graze, or threatened to not allow them to take cattle up there if they are not kept away from this certain protected stream.
Thus the need for riders is immediate. Dad, Mom, and my sister had to go up there themselves last week to move some cattle that were in the wrong area. They drove them all into some corrals and were loading them in their trailer and moving them to the correct area when, on delivering their last load, the transmission on their truck went out and would not move. They had left their horses back at the corrals, an estimated three miles away, and were at least eight miles from home. Their cell phones could not get reception in the area they were in, and it was getting dark. Dad and Karmen decided to start out on foot for the horses, leaving Mom in the pickup with instructions to not get out of the pickup, and to run the heater if she got cold. I’m not sure exactly how far they walked, but they somehow found a four wheeler to use to drive home on, and Dad said it was so cold that his thumb on the throttle about froze, driving through the night. Mom fell asleep in the pickup and got chilled, so My parents will be seventy years old this summer, and the whole story frankly worries me!
So they need help. They’re looking for two riders who are able to rope, handle, and doctor cattle in a mountain setting. Cabin, propane, fuel, and salary are provided, with a bonus at the end of the season. Call 208-339-2636 for more information on this job.
It’s the perfect opportunity for somebody to have a summertime adventure away from town, take a bunch of green-broke horses and put miles on them and get paid for it! I would do it in a heartbeat.
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Update: They hired two cowboys from Florida, who came out with their horses and were happy to take the job, but it got to be too much for them, and they notified them that they’d only stay until the end of July. So they’re looking for two riders to work from August 1 through October 1. If you know anyone interested in this job, please let them know!