Branding at the 4-R Ranch

Yesterday was branding day at the 4-R Ranch.

Calves at the 4-R are given both a number and a name by the Russ family.  This year, many of the calves were given the names of Norse gods and goddesses.  Thor.  Freya.  That sort of thing.  All in honor of a damned cold winter, thank you.

I attended the branding event.

It was quite an operation.  Chase managed gathering and herding the calves.  Tom did the actual branding.  Anna administered shots.  Patti tracked the Norse Gods on a clipboard.  The rest of us operated gates, chutes, the branding table, or we simply watched.

I am no cowboy and no rancher, but I enjoy the 4-R branding event.  Good people gather there.  People who are not afraid of mud.  Horse people.  Young couples with toddlers in cool sunglasses.  Older kids climbing fences.  Lifelong friends.  Dogs.  Horses.  The occasional butterfly. 

The branding event has the added benefit of providing me with a reason to surround myself with the Elkhorn Mountains. The ranch is in the heart of the mountains.  Tom Russ and I (and many others from East Helena) spent a lot of summer days exploring the Elkhorns.  It’s fair to say I grew up in those mountains.  It’s no accident my bay window faces them.

Good people gathering in the best mountains.

--Mitchell Hegman