I don’t watch much TV and have never seen the reality show about bachelors, but the real bachelor show isn’t on television anyhow. It’s in Valentine, Nebraska on the Saturday nearest to Valentine’s Day, when the big boys come to town to strut their stuff. Main Street gets blocked off, and pens are set up for breeders to bring a few of their top bulls to show. Implement dealers and other ag related businesses display some of their wares too, and indoors there are 4-H raffles, book signings, and various nooks where soup, hot chocolate, and goodies are served to ranch folks in coveralls and mittens who roam around to visit and look over the offerings. There’s generally an evening concert of some kind for those who don’t have to pack up all the equipment and animals and get home by dark.
Just as for a television show, the real heroes are those behind the scenes, the fellers who haul hay and panels to make the animals comfortable, and clean up the street after it’s all done. Before the sun goes down, Main Street is clean as a whistle and big rigs roll through town as if the obstructions had never existed.
The Bull Bash is sort of a mid-winter Fourth of July event. By now, everyone has cabin fever and is eager to get out and socialize one more time before being confined to headquarters for calving. I can’t speak for the bulls, but maybe having been chosen as one of the show offs carries some bragging rights in the home pasture.
Bull sale season is upon us, so even the stay-at-homes get their day in the spotlight. Catalogs with photos and descriptions of the new bachelor crop come in the mail, newspaper inserts have ads for whoever is selling that week, and radio announcements remind anyone who plans to attend that they’ll be well fed. Sale barn cafes and bull sale lunches offer some of the best eating in the West.
I haven’t been to a bull sale for a while. My sons have taken over that part of the business, but I still enjoy looking. Kind of like when it’s the end of the month and you have to leave the checkbook and plastic at home but window shopping is fun anyway.
If you need to replace the boys who didn’t make the cut at testing time, and are tied down at home, you can always go online and bid via video, but for me, the fun of a bull sale is walking the pens before the bidding starts, picking the numbers of the ones you prefer, and scratching a wooly head here and there. I learned early on that I have good taste in cattle. The ones I pick out are never affordable; kind of like the stuff in that shop window at the mall.
I’m a people watcher too, and the most fun I ever had was watching a young rancher-to-be sitting with an older gentleman, likely his granddad, and doing the bidding. The youngster knew what he wanted, but looked at Granddad now and then when the bidding got hot, before giving a nod. I didn’t notice the other bidders cutting him any slack, so he was able to compete in an even market. The young man and his granddad took home a very nice animal, and the look of pride on both faces was worth every mile I drove to get to that sale. Teachable moments are everywhere, and we adults need to be watching for them.