In the spirit of love, this Valentines I wanted to share a Buffalo Love story with you, and a dessert that will bring the sweetness out in anyone! A BUFFALO LOVE STORY A few months ago Dan and I moved all but seven of our buffalo on to their winter pasture in the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands. The seven left behind, consisted of a crippled up older cow with her calf, a calf-less cow, a young bull, and three older, big bulls, each with their own unique personality. The cow and calf started to keep to themselves a few months earlier to stay out of harms way, which we were hoping for, as we wanted to keep a close eye on them during the colder winter months that lay ahead. And, a few of the bigger breeding bulls had slipped away from the main heard, as they often do. The calf-less cow and young bull were a bit odd, or were they? After a couple of weeks, the motherless cow had palled up with the three big bulls, and the younger bull stayed within a few hundred yards of the cow and calf. We monitored the cow and calf daily, ensuring that the mother was getting around to food and water. After a day or so of not seeing her, we set out in search for the trio, keeping our distance, so they would not feel pressured. We found the two of them tucked into a hillside, where water flows from a spring year round. The younger bull was just below, keeping his usual distance. We guessed that the young bull was one of her offspring from a few years back, and was doing his required hospice duty. To insure that she wouldn’t have to roam for her food, Dan put out a two thousand pound round bale of grass hay that we had put up this past summer. She died within the week in the comfort of her home, and as if on cue, the young bull took the motherless calf into his care, and slowly lead it to the others. The separated small herd was now one, and I watched with binoculars from the window as the calf leaped around and frolicked between the massive bison bulls watchful eyes. The cow assisted too, nudging it now and then when it would lollygag behind. In the early mornings and also just as the sun was setting, they would often stop by the hay to take a few bites. I snuck a little closer on a couple of those occasions, to try to get a few photographs. The two-ton hay bale looked like a marshmallow next to their large frames. Once I was noticed, the calf moved on with its loving family into the setting golden light. DULCE DE LECHE BANANA PIE “LOVE HANDLE PIE ” Serves 16 Recently while in the panhandle of Texas, we stumbled upon this fabulous concoction at a restaurant in Lubbock. Encased in a thick graham cracker crust, was two inches of caramel, topped with bananas and brown sugared whipped cream. Oh my, who knew there was such decadence? I knew after one bite that I would have to try to duplicate it. Although I searched the web for something that looked like what I had consumed, the images and recipes came up short. Most recipes called for sweetened condensed milk, so I gave it a try, but also caramelized organic cream and sugar. There was no comparison, the fresh cream won hands down. I also doubled the cream & sugar amount, to achieve the …
Preparation For Winter Grazing
In preparation for the annual move of Wild Idea buffalo into their winter grazing area in the Indian Creek/Big Corral Draw area of the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, the perimeter fence enclosing the 22,000 acres must be inspected and repaired. That job has often fallen to me. One person can handle some of the fence fairly easily, but most of the work requires two people. Some of the country to be traversed, however beautiful, is tough to get around in, and after the devastating snowstorm/blizzard that we just endured the familiar trails often change course and become impassable by the old routes. So getting to some of the isolated areas that contain a fence that stretches between natural barriers can be quite an adventure. A team of workers, therefore, is safer than for one person alone. I have worked this fence line with several different people. It usually takes about a week to complete the roughly twenty-six miles of fence. This year, like last year, Colton Jones (by now a familiar to Wild Idea Buffalo Company), and I started out on a Saturday morning toward one of these remote areas, Taylor Mountain and the East branch of Big Corral Draw. There is a narrow trail up the mountain that we hike. It is about 3/4 of a mile to the beginning of our inspection tour. The fence itself is maybe about 1/2 mile long, but it spans some deep, steep gullies where some of the posts had been knocked down by the weight of the snow and wind. We had carried our tools with us: fencing pliers, hammers, post pounder, wire stretcher, and wire splicer. We worked our way down the mountain and re-strung, the water crossings at the base of the mountain. Colton and I work easily together, and catch up on the details of each other’s lives in between pounding fence posts and stringing wire. It was late afternoon; so we headed for home. The next day was longer but without the adventure of blazing new trails. In between weekends Dan and I spend a couple of days pheasant hunting while Colton attends classes at BHSU in Spearfish. On these occasions I have the privilege of staying in my former apartment at the ranch, with my two dogs. I feel right at home and enjoy some of my old routines of; coffee with Erney, buttoning up the shop at night, and dinner with Dan and Jill. Back to work, Colton and I head out to the headwaters of Indian Creek. Indian Creek presents its own challenges. Mud and creek crossings, steep hills and deep gullies. We load a four-wheeler on a trailer pulled by a pickup truck and drive for about 1 1/2 hours to arrive at where we start. It’s more of the same but always with a new problem to solve. High water from snowmelt and runoff does amazing damage to fences that cross the waterways. It is a little less remote in this area, but nobody ever comes out to see what we are doing or to give us a hand. We just go along, do our job until it’s finished and go home.The following day we finish that section. There are only two more sections to go, which isn’t too bad for a crew with an average age of 50 years old. Note: I’m writing this piece on the birthday of the US Marine Corps. Happy Birthday to all Marines–past and present. Once a marine, always a marine. Semper Fi.