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Cows

Probably not allowed these days but here goes. An old bull was watching a herd of heifers in the next field. His son said, if we get a move on we could look after a few of those. Dad replied, true but if we take our time we could look after all of them. Right guys, been nice knowing you and learning from your replies. Now I am about to be de listed, or whatever, good luck for the future! I will blame you Matt at the trial!
 
Hers my tips garnered from coming from a farming background and decades of fishing in areas where cows frequent . Bulls on their own in a field usually not a problem , don't bother them they won't bother you , they usually can't be arsed to go charging around . Herd of bullocks , they are nosey devils and will on occasion follow / run after you [ heifers are similar], DON'T run away they will just run after you , it's a game to them , just stand your ground or move towards them , they will back off . . Cows and calves , be more cautious , get between a cow and its calf and they can get aggressive , they are only protecting their own . Caution also needed in a field with cows with a bull amongst them , in this situation bulls can get aggressive .All cattle are naturally inquisitive , after all a bloke walking through their field with a bag over their shoulder might have some food for them so they will follow , golden rule is just stand your ground . Other tips , don't park your vehicle in a field with cows in , they will rub up against your vehicle and for whatever reason lick the paintwork , they have abrasive tongues , can get expensive . If your fishing with pellets keep a lid on your bait tin , they give off a smell like cow cake and they will get curious . The big danger is fishing at the bottom of a steep bank , if there are cows in the field they will all stand at the top of the bank and watch , bank collapses can result , beware . Also , if you don't like cows don't fish in a swim that is obviously a cow drink , give away is lots of cow pats and hoof marks . Apart from the above , cattle are usually curious but harmless creatures . Last tip . don't fish with a dog , cattle don't like them and will get aggressive if they feel threatened
 
This Hereford bull was on its own but there was another herd across the river.
It walked along the bank towards me then stopped about 30 yards away and went down on his front legs and started to rub his face in the dirt.
Having never seen this before I picked up the camera and started taking pics until I realised he was running at me . Natural reaction was to leg-it,… then I fell over in the flooded mud thinking I was a gonna. He then stopped charging and walked around me as I laid in the swamp and proceeded to roar at the ladies across the river.
Moral of the story,… if you see a bull blacking up find a tree.
Edit,… no idea why the face painting image is a thumbnail when it should have been full size and first?
Perhaps the memory of it affected my poorly constructed post.😂
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Dave Taylor said:
This Hereford bull was on its own but there was another herd across the river.
It walked along the bank towards me then stopped about 30 yards away and went down on his front legs and started to rub his face in the dirt.
Having never seen this before I picked up the camera and started taking pics until I realised he was running at me . Natural reaction was to leg-it,… then I fell over in the flooded mud thinking I was a gonna. He then stopped charging and walked around me as I laid in the swamp and proceeded to roar at the ladies across the river.
Moral of the story,… if you see a bull blacking up find a tree.
Edit,… no idea why the face painting image is a thumbnail when it should have been full size and first?
Perhaps the memory of it affected my poorly constructed post.😂
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Not something I would argue with. But the rsm no doubt would not hesitate!
 
As a teenager 13/14 when we first started fishing. We'd encounter cows all the time. Some of my mates were scared and would run. The cows just started to run too. I didn't mind them. I believed I could out run them. I read some where a few years later, any four legged mammal can run faster than us.
However what did scare me was a huge black bull, with massive horns. We nick named him 'El Torro' . We would always walk around the perimeter of El Torro's field. Horses too I was wary of, I knew I couldn't out run them.
 
Good fun thread this one. 😂 We’ve all had our fair share of run ins with livestock in one form or another over the years, I think it is a “right of passage” for the rural angler. I once had a mate who was hassled by a small donkey for about three hours non stop. He was petrified of livestock for some reason. There were three of us fishing in it’s field but it left us alone and only hassled him even went we went to shoo it off for him. Maybe it sensed his fear ! Needless to say he got loads of sympathy from us, if you consider laughing at him non stop sympathy. He didn’t ! LOL.
 
Steve Kenchington said:
Good fun thread this one. 😂 We’ve all had our fair share of run ins with livestock in one form or another over the years, I think it is a “right of passage” for the rural angler. I once had a mate who was hassled by a small donkey for about three hours non stop. He was petrified of livestock for some reason. There were three of us fishing in it’s field but it left us alone and only hassled him even went we went to shoo it off for him. Maybe it sensed his fear ! Needless to say he got loads of sympathy from us, if you consider laughing at him non stop sympathy. He didn’t ! LOL.
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Its like cats, they always know who in a room dislikes them and then plague the life out of them. Seen it lots of times, ha.
 
Matt Withers said:
I fished last night on one of my club stretches, it’s a nice stretch on farm land, and most of the time the fields are left fallow , occasionally sheep are put in to control the grass, but over the summer months the farm always puts around 30 cows in the field, it’s not ideal and in past years the cows have never really been that bothered by the people fishing,

Last night how ever, as I trudged back to the car park, I could see a few gathered by the stile into the field, great I though, as it’s never ideal having to walk through them, as I got to the stile doing my usual “ hi cow , move cow act, to shoo them away, they all wondered off toward the middle of the field, great I though, crossed the stile, and was happily walking along, when I hear an ominous rumble behind me, and all the cows were running at me, so I dropped down the banking to the escape the stamped, it was that bad I ended up jumping into the river and wading a couple hundred metres towards the next stile, all the time being followed by the herd, Iuckly the river is low, but I still ended up soaked and drove home in me undies, if it had been an older chap the outcome might not have been so good,

Does any one have a suggestions of the best way of dealing with cows in this situation?
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My mate got charged by a bull once on the W.Avon.

He had to do the same and dived into the river in the middle of October.
 
You have to be confident with cows etc, shout and scare them, give one of them a crack with a stick, preferably a bit of Willow. Show them.your in charge, if they rush you, rush them they will scarper.
 
I was chatting to a farmer yesterday morning, as when we go fishing on the river his cattle are in the fields and sometimes come over to see us, which in itself isn't a problem.. but when you are down a bank and they are towering above your heads, it does make you feel vulnerable. The farmer told me that his heifers would not be a problem and won't take much notice of us, in fact he said his bull probably wouldn't bother us, either if we didn't bother him. he also told me that the bullocks would be very inquisitive and would follow us ( especially if we run ) on the other hand he did warn me never to take a dog into the field or get between a mother and her calf. At the end of the conversation, he did say that he was talking about his cattle, which might be totally different to someone else cattle. I think the answer is to look at each situation differently and go by your gut feeling, whilst most cattle wouldn't be a problem.. you wouldn't want one sliding down the bank on top of you.
 
About 40 years ago I was sitting back from the bank above four feet of water on the short bank above school bridge on D Stour between the two oaks that used to be there that for those of us old enough to remember that far back. I heard a noise and looked over and came face to face with a large bull that had waded down river from the field above. He got grumpy and started to thrash about a bit and I just ignored the silly sod. An hour later the he appeared behind me and got even more grumpy ! I did the shouty, agressive bit and he backed off but I retreated afterwards and went below the bridge. Better to be safe than sorry.
 
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