The bulls are bred, raised, and grown on Rosebud Creek.
Our registered and commercial cattle run together, with some exception at breeding season where we will sort off groups of registered females and turn out certain groups of bulls. The registered first-calf heifers start calving the first week of April. They calve on pasture, fed at dark and not checked until day light. The registered cows start calving a week later, and they are checked twice a day to be tagged. The commercial cows start calving April 18th and calve for 50 days.
This past breeding season we AIed using home raised bulls and outside sires from proven programs. Home raised bulls and new young sires from McCumber Angus that have foundation female’s multiple generations behind them. Providing a select new influence that is in line with our program and goals.
At pre-conditioning time is when we make the first cut on our bull calves. We put them down the ally between us and decide if they get to make the cut. All bulls that don’t make it get headed and heeled and cut to go with the steers that fall. We wean bulls the last week of October and all heifer calves are weaned the following week. The steers are delivered at that time also.
Cows are preg-tested after weaning and turned back to graze as long as possible. We usually make it until after the first of the year for the cows to graze. We could graze longer but the pine trees start making it more challenging the longer we go into winter. If pastures get covered up with snow or we have extreme cold, we will feed DDG’s and some ADM roughage buster. We put up grass hay off the Rosebud Creek meadows and some dryland hay consisting of pubescent, intermediate, with a little alfalfa. We usually buy some barley straw or corn stalks to extend our roughage. Cattle graze out the majority of the year, receiving free choice salt and mineral year round.
The two-year-old bulls summer on native pasture and are winter grazed on Rosebud Creek with some hay, and DDG’s. The yearling bulls are hand fed a grower ration of CHS Bull Challenger, DDGs, Flax Lick tubs and long stem hay. All bulls have had full vaccination program along with being poured. The EPD’s are estimations: formulated using sire and dam EPD’s. We emphasize functional and economical traits rather than chasing numbers.
The Cook Angus program is based on a moderate, functional female that breeds every year and raises a quality calf requiring limited resources. Cows that are structurally sound, fertile, good feet/udders, and temperament with mothering ability.
SIRES
DR Paxton X01X AAA: 16821191
J Mc 6936 of 4832B AAA: 19398300 -- “936” is a bull we bought from Jack McNamee to use on heifers. We used him two years on heifers, liked what he sired, so we turned him out on cows ever since. Just what you expect from a lined-up McNamee bull: smart prolific breeder, sires even and consistent calves. His daughters are productive, attractive, typical Shoshone females.
CR Horse Butte 165 of 116 -- “165” was our pick of the ET bull calves out of Cole’s 392 Shoshone Rosemary cow that originated from Larry Leonhert. She was 15 when we flushed her. You can read his pedigree. Don’t know how you could make ‘em any better? Really like how this bull has matured and better yet, his progeny. We have 3 full sisters in production, and they are doing a good job for us. “165” was used by McNamee’s this past breeding season. With a good amount of “165” daughters in production we went to JAD Angus for a new herd sire. Our Shoshone gene pool is made up of 35 to 40 cows. Look for us to continue to provide proven Shoshone genetics.
NCC General 4248 AAA: 18439999 -- “248” is a bull we purchased from Ryan Neiman to use on our OCC bred cattle. He expresses the OCC thickness, depth, natural fleshing ability, with above average length of rib and spine. His sire group is an even, consistent set of calves. His daughters have enough femininity and length, while his sons are thick, deep, and long. This bull continues to stamp his offspring with the OCC “248” look. As always, several top bulls come from this sire. We have used several sons for our own use. “248” turns 9 this spring, still 100% sound and active.
DDA Great Plains 50U AAA: 19041478 -- A bull we purchased from Diamond D Angus 2019. 50U was turned out with our yearling heifers. Calving ease was exceptional and his calves have been impressive. We have started feeding our bred heifers just before dark and check them at daylight. Everything has worked out last few years, the only time we touched a calf was to tag and weigh them. 50U is a very clean made bull with enough depth of rib, length, good stifle, tight sheathed, and excellent feet. We liked “50U” and his calves enough we turned him out with a set of cows this past year. Excited to see the calves this spring.
O C C Fervent 790F AAA: *19698277 -- Our pick at the 2020 Ohlde Cattle Company sale. This Blue Print son offers moderate birth with exceptional weaning and yearling performance. Very thick, deep bull with a good disposition. Backed by proven OCC genetics. OCC Focus 813F, OCC Paxton, OCC Moderator.
Mc Cumber Edge of Glory 1119 AAA: 20152695 -- Purchased from McCumber Angus in 2022. These are his first calves to hit the ground and they have all stood out. We AI'd this bull to all the coming 3 year old cows and used him for clean up on all of our cows and man, did it work. These calves have impressive mass, muscle, and rib dimension just like their sire. Dam of 1119 goes back to an outstanding cow family from McCumber Angus that has feminine, deep rib and easy fleshing productive females.
Mc Cumber Zodiac 9119 AAA: +*19505189 -- 9119 was a bull we really liked from the 2020 McCumber bull sale. Redland Angus purchased the bull and use him in their cow herd. This bull will add a lot of depth and fleshing ability to a cowherd. We feel his daughters are going to be great do-it-yourself cows. Pictured is "255" (Reg # 20814261), this is a son of 9119 that we used on our heifers. We are very excited for the future of his offspring in our program as we feel he will be our next herd builder with the likes of "165" and "248".
JAD Phoenix G2549 AAA: *19708697 -- "94" was purchased from Dockweiler Angus, John & Ann. We felt this was a bull that would add to our Shoshone genetic line in great ways and he has! We will calve the first set of 2 year old heifers from 94 this year and boy, do they look like they are going to be great cows. They have the look to be great Shoshone cows!
O C C Tremendous 619T AAA: #+15992634 -- AI Sire. We feel the proven genetics from this sire will add thick, muscular bulls that will go on to become herd sires and feminine, productive daughters that will become foundation cows in our herd.
Jad Logan X1488 AAA: 17128089 -- This bull we bought from John Dockweiler to use on our commercial cows. When we got him home, we liked him so much that we turned him in with some registered cows and have never looked back. Cows have great shape and style to them and have longevity to them. We have used both JAD Logan and a son on heifers.
Loyning Equinox 7 AAA: +*18995523 -- This is an AI sire we used for his style, shape, and female-producing ability. When asking Ben Loyning about him, Equinox has great feet, a quiet disposition and would make beautiful cows. He goes back to 1116 and complements our Shoshone breeding wonderfully. His first daughters will calve this spring.
D D A Fahren 21X AAA: 12773616 -- AI Sire. He's a sleep all night heifer bull. We've AI'd to him off and on for 20 years and never touched a calf. He also produces outstanding females with piles of longevity.
Mc Cumber Tribute 1133 AAA: 20152700
C A General 767 of 4248 AAA: 20233221 - “767” is a home raised bull. Sired by our OCC General bull “248” out of a nice young cow. He follows the OCC type of cattle we breed for: Clean fronted, deep, natural thickness, with extra length of rib. Last set of bulls out of this sire due to losing him to injury. We have retained several daughters in production. They have turned out like expected. Moderate, broody, females.
Sinclair Elation 0SG3 AAA: *19934984 - We purchased Sinclair Elation from Sinclairs to clean up our heifers with some style and shape. We were looking for a bull that would fit our program of not checking heifers at night and he fit the program to a T. We did not touch one until we weighed and tagged them. His sons should follow in his foot steps.
COOKS Horse Butte 037 AAA: *17171883 - We figured it was time to go digging in the semen tank and start using our old herd sires again. If you look at the pedigrees of our older Shoshone cows you see this bull a lot. He was real nice complete bull that had the Shoshone look to him and he has added a lot of longevity to our cow herd. He is a full brother to our 165 bull that both us and McNamee's are using today. In 2004, we turned 4 bulls out to breed our cows. When we sent the DNA in to be tested, 29 of the 50 calves were sired by him. We never saw him breed a cow and you could not semen test him either. High libido in this bull. This bull is a full brother to CR Horse Butte 165 of 116 (see above).
J Mc 0653 of 6946 AAA: 20312322 - We bought this bull from Jack in 2022. He is out of McNamee’s Sweet Sarah cow family and really caught our eye at the sale with his muscle expression and style. We have used him on both our registered and commercial cows.
B H Doctor 063 AAA: 13698413 - Foundation sire
J Mc 5276 of 2201 AAA: 19398299 - Foundation sire
Longevity IN A COWHERD is a profitable trait.
Several cow families in our herd have multi-generations producing. We do not waiver our core values for open, hard keeping, poor udder, bad footed, high headed cows.
THERE IS A DIFFERENCE!
Our herd sires are home raised or meticulously selected from proven programs to enhance the consistent quality of like kind with profitability. We don’t chase fads or numbers. We do raise cattle that live in a harsh, native environment, take care of themselves and work for us.