Saying Goodbye to Pablo

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January 7, 2021

Today we harvested Pablo. There was a lot of thought put into the decision, so we knew it was the right decision. We always knew it would happen. The way a meat business pays its bills is by producing producing protein. We harvested Pablo on 1/7/21, and were able to also keep the hide and skull, which took 4 guys to carry. We brought the hide into a taxidermist to flesh and prepare to be made into a shoulder mount. It is estimated a shoulder mount will take 12-18 months to finish. When the shoulder mount is finished, our plan is to sell it to whoever is interested. It should be a spectacle, as his darker color is not common around the Midwestern region. If you or someone you know is interested, please contact us.

The skull will we removed from the hide. Don't ask me how, I can only imagine some very small surgical knives are used. I'm sure it is a very delicate process. We asked the skull be European Mounted, so we can hang it in the house on the wall descending the steps to the basement. It is a perfect spot for it. Many people will be able to see it and appreciate Pablo. I wanted to include my goodbye reflection from Pablo's harvest, which includes a goodbye in Dakota language, courtesy of a farm customer friend. It seemed like a very fitting touch.

Pablo, you have taught us so much... I learned bison bulls are the new honey badger. They don’t care. I learned to respect your size and your attitude, sometimes that respect went both ways, sometimes it did not. I learned power and agility can be found in one being. I learned not to mess with you and your females, sometimes you seemed to understand I was your wing man not a competitor.
You taught me what tough is. What cold is. What courage is. How to be bull headed. You epitomized a male.
You had your photogenic days, shoot you’re even the model for our farm logo! Some days you could do no wrong... and some days you were a real stinker. Some of those days you were really good at tearing things apart and throwing a fit when you weren’t happy. Some days you were a big teddy bear, and you let people get close to you (on the other side of the fence) and take a picture.
You’ve been with us from the start, and we have done our best to provide you with a healthy, happy life. We thank you for what you have taught and given us. You will always have a special place in our hearts and have been the face of our growing bison business for the past 7 years. It is time to turn a new page, introduce some new genetics and reduce our maintenance bills.
Thanks for enjoying Johnny Cash songs with me big guy.
I will see you again
Tókša akhé waƞčhíyaƞkiƞ kte

Buckling Down to Bear the Cold

My goodness where has the summer gone? It seems we went from a waning summer, to a short lived fall, straight into 8” of snow in October with an expected low of 9 degrees a week before Halloween. Goodness, too early for that. The family farm was working on harvesting corn until the snow chased us out of the fields. It is early, and we are confident the snow isn’t here to stay. If not, we will have 100+ acres of deer habitat standing until we can get it out of the field. We wouldn’t have minded another longer opportunity to fill the sheds with hay either, or to be done with the pigs before the white fluff comes. Feeling a bit bad for them, as they don’t have hair like the bison, but they do have plenty of dry bedding, food, and water. They will be fine for a few days, and then bye-bye piggies until next spring. With 3 boys at home, there are likely countless toys scattered across the yard. Undoubtedly there would also be some toys and balls scattered around the porch, that were used to try and keep the chickens away from the porch. As you can imagine, a flower bed with wood chips is a losing battle with 200 curious chickens. The days are getting colder, and the tasks needing to be completed seem endless. We are looking forward to continuing to harvest the bison that are scheduled, as well as the opportunity to harvest the winter hides with their prime hair coats. These can be tanned and made into a rug, or a "hair on robe" (we would call it a tanned hide), hung on a wall, table centerpiece, lofted railing cover, etc. They are so well insulated I bring our tanned hide out to the open deer stand to help keep my feet warm. I have literally slept with the tanned hide as my blanket and woke up at midnight drenched in sweat. This upcoming January we are also planning to retire our long time herd bull, sometimes grumpy, photogenic bison. He has been with us since 2013, when we got our first animals. It will be a sad day, but a necessary day for our family farm to move on and progress. Every harvest is a time to thank that animal for its sacrifice, so that we may live and thrive, and a time to remember a healthy, wonderful life. We take harvest seriously, whether it be animals or family grains. It is a sign of a hard production season, or 3 for the bison, coming to an end. Time to button down the hatches for winter, and plan out the next growing season and harvest.

Saying Goodbye to Pablo

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