I got a call from a rancher friend of mine. He told me he had a cow he wanted me to help bring off the range. She had been up a small canyon choaked with Russian Olives, heavy brush, and rocks. This canyon is rough, bad country. He wanted me to help him by ridding my Motorcycle after her. I told him I was lousy at riding off road, but I would help. Well I went up one side and a few guys went up the middle and a couple on the other side. Soon I hear some yelling and a gun shot. The cow was in some thick stuff and they put a dog on her. She charged, and the owner was carring a .22 LR for snakes. He pulls up and shoots the cow as she is charging. The shot was low in the sinus and she tore off for even thicker nastier spot. She was in there bellowing, and by the sounds we backed off. This was last fall.
I talked to him about a month ago and the cow was still loose and she had a bull with her. The bull had been missed at round up. Well he asked if he could borrow a gun big enough to put her down. I said if you want to sell her to me I will give you between 400 and 450 for her. I figured after that long she would be healed and would make good hamburger. Well He thought about it. Then I find out two cowboys said they would take her back to town for him. This cow was so wild she would leave her calf to keep from being cought. He put out hay in the winter tryin to trap her, and she never ate it.
Well the cowboys got there with dogs and horses. These dogs meant buisness. The cow and bull came out and split up. One guy went after the bull, the other after the cow. The Bull was roped and drug back to the trailer no big deal. The cow went for a canyon. She was headed off by the pack of dogs and the cowboy's noose fell around her neck. As soon as the cow felt the rope she came down it on a charge like a Cape buffalo. The horse was cought off guard, but was fast enough to get away. The cowboy streched the rope tight and choaked the cow down. The horse was a roping horse so it kept the rope tight as he went to put a set of hobbels on her. He put her right front and left back in the hobbles and went for the other guy to give him help. The bull was winched into the trailer and the pannel put up between him and the door. They drug the cow with the hobbels on into the trailer. They took her to the rodeo grounds here in town and turned her loose. She got up and jumped the fence and was loose in town. They chased her down and roped her again. She went back into the hobbels. She was taken to the sale yard with the hobbels on. the sale yard was told about he and the owner said this is a warning she is crazy, and might even kill a person.
When she went through the ring the guys stayed behind the metal guards. She sold for $425.00
I wanted to hunt this cow with my 50 cal muzzleloader. Would this be a cow in a pasture hunt or would you concider this something more?
Would you do it? Ron

There was an article in one of the gun rags a few years ago by, IIRC, John Wooters on a similar subject. Apparently some cows have gone totally wild in the thick brush along the Texas/Mexico Border and some people actually hunt them just as if they were Cape Buffalo.
According to the article, these wild cows would charge a cowboy without provocation and it was felt that they were more dangerous than the African Cape Buffalo and just as hard to kill.
Based on that, if I were to hunt that cow with a muzzle loader, I'd damn well want a couple of very good shots backing me up with some very heavy artillery. After all, a Cape Buffalo isn't a buffalo, but a wild cow. For all I know, they might even be capable in interbreeding. Wouldn't that be one hell of a combination?
Paul B.

There is a management area in Okla that has buffalo and feral long horns. The game folks will tell you the long horns are much more dangerous than the buffalo.

I read an article by Murry (sp?) Burnham years ago about hunting wild cattle along the Rio Grande. He made it sound like you were taking your life in your hands hunting these ferals...

And yes I would do it, with heavy conicals and a 50-cal muzzleloader. (But then I was never declared overly smart, either...)

Sure I would have done it to! Maybe my 7 mag instead, and I bet she tasted good!

I wished I would have had the chance. She was wild as any animal I have ever seen. The canyon she lived in was about 2 miles long, but only about 300 yards wide and maybe 75 foot deep. She did come out of the canyon at night to feed. I wanted to just get on top of the area she was in and just wait for her to make a mistake. The take her with the muzzleloader. Man I think it would have been fun. Ron

Charlie Askins talked about hunting feral cattle too.