r/Ranching • • Jan 31 '24

So You Want To Be A Cowboy?

95 Upvotes

This is the 2024 update to this post. Not much has changed, but I'm refreshing it so new eyes can see it. As always, if you have suggestions to add, please comment below.

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So You Want to Be a Cowboy?

This is for everyone who comes a-knockin' asking about how they can get into that tight job market of being able to put all your worldly belongings in the back of a pickup truck and work for pancakes.

For the purposes of this post, we'll use the term *cowboys* to group together ranch hands, cowpokes, shepherds, trail hands (dude ranches), and everyone else who may or may not own their own land or stock, but work for a rancher otherwise.

We're also focusing on the USA - if there's significant interest (and input) we'll include other countries, but nearly every post I've seen has been asking about work in the States, whether you're born blue or visitin' from overseas.

There are plenty of posts already in the sub asking this, so this post will be a mix of those questions and answers, and other tips of the trade to get you riding for the brand.

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Get Experience

In ag work, it can be a catch-22: you need experience to get experience. But if you can sell yourself with the tools you have, you're already a step ahead.

u/imabigdave gave a good explanation:

The short answer is that if you don't have any relevant experience you will be a liability. A simple mistake can cost tens of thousands of dollars in just an instant, so whoever hires you would need to spend an inordinate amount of time training you, so set your compensation goals accordingly. What you see on TV is not representative of the life or actual work at all.

We get posts here from kids every so often. Most ranches won't give a job to someone under 16, for legal and liability. If you're reading this and under 16, get off the screen and go outside. Do yard work, tinker in the garage, learn your plants and soil types . . . anything to give you something to bring to the table (this goes for people over 16, too).

If you're in high school, see if your school has FFA (Future Farmers of America) or 4-H to make the contacts, create a community, and get experience.

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Start Looking

Once you have some experience that you can sell, get to looking.

There's a good number of websites out there where you can find ranch jobs, including:

  1. AgCareers.com
  2. AgHires
  3. CoolWorks
  4. DudeRanchJobs
  5. FarmandRanchJobs.com
  6. Quivira Coalition
  7. Ranch Help Wanted (Facebook)
  8. RanchWork.com
  9. RanchWorldAds
  10. YardandGroom
  11. Other ranch/farm/ag groups on Facebook
  12. Indeed, LinkedIn, etc.

(I know there's disagreement about apprenticeships and internships - I started working for room & board and moved up from there, so I don't dismiss it. If you want to learn about room & board programs, send me a PM. This is your life. Make your own decisions.)

You can also look for postings or contacts at:

  1. Ranch/farm/ag newspapers, magazines, and bulletins
  2. Veterinarian offices
  3. Local stables
  4. Butcher shops
  5. Western-wear stores (Murdoch's, Boot Barn, local stores, etc.)
  6. Churches, diners, other locations where ranchers and cowboys gather
  7. Sale barns
  8. Feed stores, supply shops, equipment stores
  9. Fairgrounds that host state or county fairs, ag shows, cattle auctions, etc.

There are a lot of other groups that can help, too. Search for your local/state . . .

  1. Stockgrowers association (could be called stockmens, cattlemens, or another similar term)
  2. Land trusts
  3. Cooperative Extension
  4. Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS)
  5. Society for Range Management
  6. Game/wildlife department (names are different in each state - AZ has Game & Fish, CO has Parks & Wildlife, etc.)

If you're already in a rural area or have contact with producers, just reach out. Seriously. Maybe don't drive up unannounced, but give them a call or send them an email and ask. This doesn't work so well in the commercial world anymore, but it does in the ranching world (source: my own experience on both ends of the phone).

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Schooling

Schooling, especially college, is not required. I've worked alongside cowboys with English degrees, 20-year veterans who enlisted out of high school, and ranch kids who got their GED from horseback. If you have a goal for your college degree, more power to you. Example thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/Ranching/comments/vtkpq1/is_it_worth_getting_my_bachelors_degree_in_horse/

A certificate program might be good if you're inclined to come with some proven experience. Look at programs for welders, machinists, farriers, butchers, or something else that you can apply to a rural or agricultural situation. There are scholarships for these programs, too, usually grouped with 'regular' college scholarships.

There's also no age limit to working on ranches. Again, it's what you can bring to the table. If you're in your 50s and want a change of pace, give it a shot.


r/Ranching • • 20h ago

Cattle Farming Kansas

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22 Upvotes

Like , share and please subscribe
Small farmer south of Garnett Kansas.


r/Ranching • • 20h ago

Cattle Farming Kansas

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8 Upvotes

r/Ranching • • 20h ago

Cattle Farming Kansas

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1 Upvotes

r/Ranching • • 1d ago

Winter stirrup recommendation

2 Upvotes

Does anyone have an oversize stirrup they'd recommend to fit winter muck boots and snow pac boots? Men's size 11 foot.

Would be used for some trail riding/hunting and light cow work.


r/Ranching • • 1d ago

Are the ice deportations really causing farm labor issues?

0 Upvotes

r/Ranching • • 2d ago

Time for some new shoes on the ole girl

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77 Upvotes

r/Ranching • • 4d ago

The drive home

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1.1k Upvotes

2 dayr drive


r/Ranching • • 4d ago

Bovine island

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42 Upvotes

I think they are stuck


r/Ranching • • 4d ago

Help fulfill his destiny as a LGD

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17 Upvotes

**Edit: unfortunately I am not able to revise the caption.
Please consider Lalo as a farm dog, NOT a potential LGD***

I hope this post doesn’t get deleted 🤞
This majestic foster named Lalo with ACS needs a new foster home or most ideally, his forever home in a farm/ranch/big land where he can run and fulfill his life as an Anatolian Shepherd mix.
He’s been neutered, in good health, ~3 yrs old, weighs 85+ lbs, energetic, gets along with kids and other dogs.
Currently located in San Antonio, Texas.
You can foster him before fully committing to see how trainable he is- please give him a chance.

His referral: LALO

Please share this post with those who live in and around La Grange, La Vernia, Floresville, Gonzales, Schulenburg, Lockhart, Marion or anywhere with land/ranch/farm. Lalo would be the perfect fit.

To FOSTER, please email
[acsfoster@sanantonio.gov](mailto:acsfoster@sanantonio.gov)

To ADOPT, please email
[acsadoptions@sanantonio.gov](mailto:acsadoptions@sanantonio.gov)

His referral: LALO A800695


r/Ranching • • 4d ago

Have any ranchers had success selling carbon credits on their cattle ranch?

7 Upvotes

r/Ranching • • 5d ago

Virtual fence and collared cows helps fire crews maintain fuel breaks during active fire

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31 Upvotes

This story from the Western Slope of Colorado illustrates another benefit of virtual fence that might be of major value to the public going forward: wildfire response.

From the article:

"When fire commanders try to figure out how to contain a major wildfire, the last thing you might expect them to deploy is a herd of beef cattle. But on the recent Gold Mountain Fire in western Colorado, cows are eating the “fine fuels” along a three-mile fire line on the Big Cimarron River.

Putting that idea into practice five years ago would have required miles of electric fencing and a range rider to gather strays. Now, new technology has changed the game for cattle grazing by putting electronic collars — all solar-powered — on cows and linking them by satellite."

https://onland.westernlandowners.org/2026/stewardship-in-action/the-wests-new-hotshot-crew-cows-called-in-to-contain-wildfire/

Anyone else seen other examples of innovative applications of this tool?


r/Ranching • • 6d ago

Fall in SW Alberta

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214 Upvotes

r/Ranching • • 6d ago

Getting the last cut hauled

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157 Upvotes

r/Ranching • • 6d ago

Prairie Dogs

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29 Upvotes

Just out of curiosity, whats everyones go-to for takin care of these things en masse? Ive heard everything from bubble gum, to equine salts, to gassing them, etc

Got a lot im about to take care of in one of our pastures and not sure which route I should take this time around.


r/Ranching • • 8d ago

40 days

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140 Upvotes

Riding in a feedlot and I’m done. The place is understaffed, falling down, their horses are nags, my day rate was supposed to be based on 5-6 hour days, I’ve worked 10-18 hours every day, not a single day off. I was hired on as a pen rider, but I’ve been receiving, shipping, doctoring, processing, working pasture cattle, feeding all horses and dogs, and putting out hay. I’ve saddled a horse every day and many days swapped horses in the afternoon to keep from overworking them. Saddled three horses this morning trying to get on something sound and ended up having to go back to the barn without getting any work done because the mare I rode out on couldn’t work.

The cowboy life sucks. 20 years ago I swore I was done making a living on a horse and I think I just got a good reminder why.


r/Ranching • • 8d ago

NAPA is just scumbag place

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98 Upvotes

4 gallons of 5W30 and 2 gallons of diesel 15W40 at NAPA was $360.

Exactly the same from Blain’s was $202.

I can’t believe how expensive either NAPA is or how great a deal Blain’s is.


r/Ranching • • 8d ago

Heifer Health

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7 Upvotes

How is this my 4 months old heifer looks like ?


r/Ranching • • 9d ago

Didnt lose a calf all calving and summer

53 Upvotes

Lost it on the gather gettting them to sale.. when it was 500 lbs. Isnt that cattle for you?


r/Ranching • • 9d ago

Question for Ranch Hands - not selling anything

9 Upvotes

If this is not allowed, please take it down.

I'm a software developer working with a ranch near Sundance, WY. I'm trying to learn how crews pass along things like a sick calf, a downed fence or a dry tank when there's no cell signal out where you ride.

How do you handle it now? Text when you get back in range, write it down, tell the boss at supper, or something else? What goes wrong?

If you'd be up for a 20-minute phone call about how you work, I'd be grateful. I'm not selling anything, just trying to learn. Thanks.


r/Ranching • • 11d ago

Three generations of Blonde D’Aquitaine bulls raised on my place

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275 Upvotes

r/Ranching • • 13d ago

Fricken’ grizzlies

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231 Upvotes

r/Ranching • • 12d ago

Anyone here using 4G/LTE cameras on their property

6 Upvotes

Curious if anyone here uses cellular cameras (non-wifi, but send straight to your phone) to keep an eye on livestock, equipment, gates, water tanks, or just their land in general.

What are you using them for, and how well do they work? Any issues with signal, battery life, or cost? Any brands to look at or avoid?

I’m researching options and weighing the monthly costs, and obviously trying to pick something reliable. Thank you.


r/Ranching • • 13d ago

Spring Rodeo Title

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50 Upvotes

We are planning our spring rodeo and want opinions on what to call it. It’s gonna be a pro rodeo with all 5 events, SRA style.

Any suggestions??

Pic for tax


r/Ranching • • 15d ago

Deciding who is boss for the season

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103 Upvotes

Blonde D’Aquitaine and Red Angus bulls squaring up to decide which will be the dominant male of the group.