The Sorting Crash

It's a wonderful time of year. The "fall run" is on and cowboys all over the country are celebrating as they ship calves.

Many ranches today precondition (vaccinate) the calves a few weeks before weaning them off of their mamas. These vaccinations are follow-up boosters to the shots they received at branding time. This is a proactive approach to cattle health. The vaccine develops the immune systems of the calves who are about to be stressed from being weaned.

Good natured jokes can abound with each cowboy doing his best to not be outdone. On one such occasion, up on a large ranch in Wyoming,...