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 Elke Duerr Interviews Wilma About Wolves on the Ranch Our new made friend Elke Duerr was here at Double Circle Ranch to get some more footage for her documentary “Stories of Wolves-The Lobo Returns” about the Mexican Gray Wolf recovery. She wanted to interview a rancher who lived in the heart of the Mexican Gray wolf recovery area and to learn how the rancher dealt with the wolf issue to experience firsthand what makes the co-existence between livestock and predators successful. Hopefully she got some useful footage. With only about 50 of these wolves living in the wild in the U.S, Elke hopes to increase public awareness and acceptance of the wolf in Arizona and New Mexico with her film and educational public outreach work.
Doug and I had a great time hosting Elke. She is the modern international adventurous woman – educated, fit, brave, and tons of fun to be around. We don’t agree with all of Elke’s ideas, but we do agree that the wolf is part of this ecosystem. All in all, we had a great time. Elke helped gather steers – got a little saddle sore in the process – and fit in on the ranch like she belonged here. Hopefully she will come back again. And hopefully there will be a few more wolves to hear howling and to see on Double Circle Ranch.
To learn more about Elke’s upcoming documentary and educational outreach work please visit her website at: www.wildwolffilm.com and her blog at: http://wolfpack.typepad.com/
 Elke Duerr Gathering Steers
 Our Friend Forrest Cioppa and Wilma Well, I am laid up with a broken leg. On a working ranch, that is a disaster. My not being able to work cuts our workforce in half – but 100% of the work still needs done. Fortunately, friends and neighbors have come to Double Circle Ranch to help. Gene and Bernice Isaac not only let Doug and I rest at their Tucson home, they came to the ranch and checked fences for our next cattle moves. They repaired and closed gates in the holding trap we go into next and got half of our next pasture fence ready for cattle. Then Doug’s nephew Ryan stepped up and finished the next pasture fence checking.
We border the San Carlos Apache reservation. Our neighbor Dale Pike and Steve Billy – both Apache stockmen – came and gathered remnant cattle out of our high country for me. They found all but 35 head before leaving for the big Apache rodeo – putting in four hard days of riding.
Then John and Judy Pence came all the way from California to help gather cattle. So far we are down to 21 strays to locate. The cattle are in a big, rough country with a million hiding places for a steer or two. Plus the Texas longhorns use all the country and are just as likely to be on the side of a bluff impassable on horseback, as lounging under a shade tree on the mesa. When the remnant numbers are low, it is like finding a needle in the haystack locating cattle here. Hope they get some more in today.
Plus our friend Forrest Cioppa is here- also from California. He and Ryan are doing a lot of Doug’s work – putting in waterlines today – while Doug is riding with the Pences. Everyone but me is busy. I wish I could be more help – but it will take a while.
Last but not least is Doug. I always appreciate all Doug does on the ranch. But when you need help with taking a shower, sweeping the floor, and doing the laundry as well as gathering cattle in rough country, you sure learn the worth of a good husband in a hurry. I don’t know how I would get by without him right now.
So – THANKS to everyone who is pitching in on the work here. And thanks to neighbors who bring supper and homemade desserts, check on me during the day, and email regularly. I am a lucky cowgirl with family, friends, and neighbors like these!
 Ranch Hand David Harding Herding Cattle David Harding came all the way from Cincinnati, Ohio to spend part of his vacation as a ranch hand volunteer at Double Circle Ranch. We certainly put him straight to work! He helped haul water pipe and work on new water systems on the ranch, picked up lots of trash on Eagle Creek road, was the extra set of hands needed to load generators, fusers, troughs, and tanks, and of course helped gather Texas longhorns from high pastures down to lower ones.
David did all chores with a smile and a can-do attitude – a much appreciated attribute on a ranch. Thank you David for all the hard work you did here at the Double Circle! We hope the rest of your road trip turns out well for you.
 The Buzzard Tree Poem and Photo - Bernice Isaacs Gene and Bernice Isaacs were recently here at the ranch herding cattle. Bernice took this picture of a tree near the old headquarters. The buzzards have made the old tree a roosting spot. The whole tree fills with buzzards every day – makes a great photo op! Bernice wrote a poem to accompany her photo. There is always something interesting to see at Double Circle Ranch.
Buzzards (Turkey Vultures) are just one of the 140+ species of birds we see at the ranch. They aren’t the prettiest birds, but they do have a unique place in the ecosystem. So buzzards are a welcome sight here.
 The Longhorn Steers - Bernice Isaacs Our friends Gene and Bernice Isaac have been back to Double Circle Ranch volunteering – again. They are retired and seem to have started a new career as volunteers for various environmental causes. They have helped clear trails, place and monitor trail cameras, record cat tracks and scat, reintroduce prairie dogs, eradicate bullfrogs, survey wildlife and invasive plants, and more.
Here at the ranch, they work on our erosion control projects, remove old barb wire, clean old water pipe of metal fittings and cut it to size for hauling to the recycling yard, and herd Texas longhorn cattle. They are excellent help – full of energy and always pleasant to work with. The amount of projects the Isaacs have done – totally free – would have cost agencies, environmental groups, and us thousands of dollars if all of us had hired the work done. Thank goodness for the Isaacs and all the other volunteers who help keep our country healthy and beautiful.
Bernice is also a poet and photographer. Here is a photo of two steers having a shoving match and Bernice’s steer poem. Bernice and Gene – come back anytime! You are much appreciated and very welcome at the Double Circle!
 Gray's Peak Pasture We have the Texas Longhorns in Gray’s Peak Pasture – and it is a bear. I guess it is the second roughest pasture we have. It is about 5000 acres of steep canyons, brush, and wooded ridges – with plenty of rock ledges thrown in for a challenge. It would probably measure 10,000 acres if it were flat.
To complicate matters, I have pretty well lost herding control on the steers. The first snowstorm scattered the cattle like quail – and they have stayed scattered. The ice on the north slopes of the canyons is treacherous for a horse. I sometimes wonder how the cattle even get to water. Last trip in on horseback my horse fell completely off a trail and Doug’s horse slid badly enough that Doug jumped off – and promptly fell flat on his back when his feet hit the packed ice. Fortunately no one was hurt- horses or riders.
I have done a D-minus job of herding. And now I will pay for it. I am supposed to have the herd out into an adjoining pasture by the end of February. Three weeks isn’t as long as it sounds when you are hunting steers in groups of 2 and 3 on every ridge and ledge in the area. Plus it is a 30-minute trailer haul and a one hour horseback ride each way just to get to the pasture. Many times I have seen cattle – but couldn’t get to them. I just make a mental note of how many and where I saw them – and hopefully have a marker steer or two in the group – and try and catch them out where a horse can go on another day. It is a slow, difficult process at best. One good thing – I will be motivated to do a better herding job whenever I do get the herd together again!
 Gray's Peak
 View of Guest Ranch House and Wall Tents Here is a picture of our ranch guest house (the NO Bar house) and classroom – plus the wall tents we have available for rent for our guests. They sit in a canyon bottom where a good breeze blows and the critters roam. We have seen bear, lion, turkey, coatimundi, whitetail and mule deer, elk, skunks, quail, lots of songbirds, and a variety of butterflies and bats at the NO Bar house. It is beautiful and wild country. Funny – my husband didn’t want to live in this house. He said it wasn’t remote enough – look at the picture again! So – we live in a small cabin another 7 miles of dirt road away – further from town. Remember town is 1.5 hours each way away – providing the roads are clear!
If you want to be remote and have a quiet getaway in the wilderness, I bet you would think this house, tents, and dining hall are just the ticket. It is plenty remote enough for 99.99% of people. Come see what you think – tents are open from April to October. It is like stepping back in time a century to visit the Double Circle Ranch – a real Western EXPERIENCE.
If you’re interested in staying on our guest ranch, you can stay by the day, the week or? You can take advantage of one of our programs or workshops, herd cattle, ride horses, or just relax!
Get away from it all and experience the Old West at our rustic western guest ranch – the Double Circle Ranch. Contact us now to make reservations!
 Aerial View of Guest Ranch House and Tents
 Cowdog Resting - Is It Time to go to Work Yet? Wanted, an SHSWBC – a short-haired, stock-working border collie. We want to breed Belle Starr. Belle is the smartest cowdog I have ever had. Too bad I am not a really good trainer. Belle should have had professional training. Even with limited training, Belle is essential to working the cattle out here. I want to get some of her pups so I don’t run out of working dogs.
We have an older long-haired border collie and she is not well suited for this country. The heat in the summer really affects her – plus she always is tangled in cockleburs and stickers. Even her feet grab thorns in the long hair between pads. So, a short hair is important to us.
Also, stock working is essential. Most border collies seem to naturally have good stock instincts, but we want a male dog that actually works cattle – and has a bloodline full of working dogs. Show dogs are not what the Double Circle needs. We need a dog like Belle – tireless, tough, and smart, with lots of try and a can-do attitude, along with a love of working stock.
So – we want to breed Belle and keep some pups. I love Belle’s tricolor. I like the red border collies too. But color is not as important as working. Neither is size. Belle is very small – but she thinks she is as big as an elephant – and the cattle think it too. So small is fine.
Anyone out there have a good working male who would like pick of the litter?
 Belle Starr the Cowdog Drinking From a Puddle
 Aerial View of Our Cabin on Double Circle Ranch I was looking at aerial photos of Double Circle Ranch. One little dot is our cabin and another dot our barns. Note the airplane near the barn – our driveway serves as an airstrip. Our other house is 7 miles away- another dot with a barn dot.
What else do you see? Nothing but wide open space. Miles of grassland and woods, ridge after ridge, canyon after canyon. No electric or telephone lines – certainly no subdivisions! No highways – just a few dirt roads winding for 20 miles from Hwy 191 northwest and finally dead ending at the base of the Mogollon Rim. Perfect – no wonder I love living here!
 Aerial View of the NO Bar House
 Javelina Eating Cactus This seems to be a good week for Javelina! Just before this last snow, I was walking out to check a gate in Grays Peak pasture. I had all three of my dogs with me. The fence line is on a narrow flat area on the side of Water Canyon. You can’t see over the edge from the foot trail. All of a sudden Belle bristled up all over and took off over the canyon side, barking for all she was worth. The two older dogs slunk away from the canyon edge. I should have known that was the first bad sign.
Sure enough – first I heard a stampede of several sets of hooves or feet and then Belle came shooting up over the canyon side, running like her life depended on it. That was a definite second bad sign. Then a black hairy missile exploded over the side in hot pursuit of Belle. Very definite third bad sign. This four-legged dynamo turned out to be a furious Javelina (a wild boar or peccary) bent on defending his family. Unfortunately, Belle ran to me – with the Javelina right behind her. I never realized just how fast a motivated Javelina can run – pretty impressive. But I was too scared to be impressed until later. All I had between me and a mad, jaw-chomping, hair-on-edge, big Javelina was a scrawny little bush. Belle and I were both running around the bush. You are supposed to make a lot of noise to scare away Javelina – seems they have poor eyesight but good hearing. No problem – I was hollering like a banshee.
The two older dogs left the country and for once, ferocious Belle was perfectly content to stay behind me – all her hunting instinct had vanished. The boar stopped; walked away a short distance – then ran back for round two. That bush was sure looking flimsy. I think that was the first time I was sorry that the Forest Service was working to remove invasive juniper trees. I sure would have liked to have a nice tall tree close about then. I would have been glad to climb up – Belle would have tried to climb too I would wager. Our defending Javelina hero finally left, and so did we. I crossed the fence and walked closer to trees on the way back to my 4-wheeler. Better safe than sorry.
This adventure had a plus side though. Belle has a healthy respect for Javelina now – I guess I do too. Today, walking back from the barn we ran into a batch of maybe 10 Javelina in our driveway. Belle bristled and barked – but she knew better then to chase them. Still two Javelina formed a rear defense unit. Once again – no trees close. These two defenders of the herd just came part way to us and stopped. I don’t know if Belle or I was the more relieved. Doug heard me calling (screeching is probably more accurate) and came out of the cabin with a .357 Magnum in hand – just in case things got ugly. But the two Javelina finally turned and confidently strolled to their buddies down in the creek bottom.
So…. its Javelina – 2 , Belle and I – 0.
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