Denver Bulls 2011

[BRdoc]

Just a few of my opinions of the display bulls at Denver.  Yes, it was a "Monopoly-fest". Some good bulls but I was, overall, not overwhelmed with quality.
Bodacious: very nice bull, hair like a yak, wide, seemed pretty sound, just really cool.
Master of Puppets: nice bull, pretty complete, impressed
Icy Hot: nice enough bull, just not enough guts for me
Fast Freddy: nice Heatwave son, wide, good hair
Believe In Me: nice bull, just seemed fairly short, cool little package though.
Cloud Nine: I don't do Shorties, but, this was the real deal. I really think he will make some females. very impressed.

I breed more maternal. There wasn't a "super" maternal bull this year like Stands Alone.
What are your thoughts??

 

[MYT Farms]

I did not like Cloud Nine. Looked to me like he might break his back in half if he tried to cover his front hoof print with his back leg. There are so many soft made, thick, good haired bulls out there that to me, soundness and overall structural correctness need to be paid a little closer attention to. JMHO. I stood there while Oakbar was talking with Cate, so maybe he could shed some light on that calf.

 

[CAB]

Thanks for the update and your evaluation of a few of the bulls. Not a whole lot of chatter so far this year. I've just heard that there a lot of really good bulls out this year. Would love to hear about more of them from those that were out to Denver & saw them!!

 

[oakbar]

I really enjoyed meeting you, MYT, and talking with you about some of the bulls. 

I agree with you about Cloud Nine.  He looked as good as he could have---they did a great job of presenting him-- but I'd still have some trouble believing he's structurally correct on the move.  I didn't actually get to see him walk, so this is conjecture on my part, but the set and structure of his rear legs  just didnt seem right to me.  Having said that, Bob Duis told me he thinks he's the real deal and I respect Bob's opinions.    I think he's one of those bulls that some people are going to think great things about and some(like me) will be skeptical until we see what he produces.   

Overall, there were an awful lot of Monopoly sons,  and frankly, I thought there were more bulls than usual  with structural problems.    Overall, I was unimpressed with the total offering and I can't really name a bull that knocked my eye out. JMHO

 

[oakbar]

One bull that impressed me in the Shorthorn show was Schrag's  SS Red Rocket.  I liked him in  Louisville and I liked him in Denver.    I could be wrong, but I think we may hear a lot more about this bull.  JMHO

 

[jackpotcattle]

  Overall, there were an awful lot of Monopoly sons,  and frankly, I thought there were more bulls than usual  with structural problems.    Overall, I was unimpressed with the total offering and I can't really name a bull that knocked my eye out. JMHO
[/quote]

This is what I have been hearing. Master of Puppets was one of the few bulls they had videoed on the move and I sure was not impressed. I am sure one of the 65 bulls will sire a great one, but sounds like the clubby deal is getting a little carried away with the bull promoting. Most of them probably should have been steers....and the steer clones should have stayed steers ;D

 

[Silverline]

I made it out to denver and this is my take on the cattle. Believe In Me- Super stout, wide skeleton, huge ass lots of power and hair. Will definetely change some cows in terms of muscle. Didnt get a chance to see him travel so Im not sold on his structure. Making one that stout and powerful something has to give. But one of my Top 5. Fast Freddy- Chunky, great rib cage hairy stout, nice jointed and has enough set to his hind leg to be sound. Maybe the best bull I saw out there. Monopoly Money- super extended, long necked, will most likely make the best replacement females. One of my top 5. Easy Rider- Scott always brings solid cattle to Denver, After bringing Smiling Bob last year he may have been one of the best calves to ever been displayed at Denver. Easy Rider isnt Bob but he isnt supposed to be. For an easy calver i think Easy Rider is a good choice. He is made good in terms of his structure and has the bloodline to be worth alot of money. Brass Knuckles- I think alot of people overlooked this calf. So many people come into denver looking at the bulls who actually dont know how to break them down and evaluate them. They see a stout, huge assed one with tons of hair and a huge top and call him the bull to use. I actually had the opportunity to go see brass knuckles out in tie outs sunday morning. He was laying down. I opened up the pen got him up and watched him walk. No exercise at all. He hit his step everytime, never snapped his pastern and flexed really well at his hock. I got to see him in his working clothes unwashed and he is as genuine  as any calf I saw. Study this calf his rib cage is great for a calf of that size and that age. As he comes at you he has more width to his skeleton and will be able to power up those femine long necked cows. Probably the most overlooked calf in Denver. Master of Puppets- I thought he was a glorified show steer. Nothing extreme about him. Good complete calf but not one to grab ahold of. Icy Hot-nice calf that was extremely green. not sure if he will ever get enough guts but one that you have to like from the side. Power and Balance- Wow loved his picture. Thought he could probably be one the best calves there. So I ask this, Why wasnt he there. Well thats my input on the calves. Take it or leave it

 

[thebulllady]

It's interesting to me that anyone would promote a bull that isn't structurally correct.  Is it because they are such good salesmen that people don't know better, or is it because they figure the bull produces terminal offspring?

 

[buck33]

There were three bulls in Denver unlike most of the clubby bulls.  If you want to breed maternal club calf cattle you would have to consider Mojito, Flashback, and Long Time Coming.  All bulls defect free, and no Heatwave or Heatseeker in pedigrees.  They were also probably the biggest bulls on display for their age.  That's re-freshing considering the price of feeder cattle.

 

[MYT Farms]

One bull that impressed me in the Shorthorn show was Schrag's  SS Red Rocket.   I liked him in  Louisville and I liked him in Denver.    I could be wrong, but I think we may hear a lot more about this bull.  JMHO

Cory talked about getting me some semen on him for my Augusta heifer. I think he's going to keep getting better. With as tall as my heifer is, I'm a little concerned with creeping that frame score. But a sound, good bodied, nicely balanced bull.

 

[ploughshare]

From the videos Long Time Coming was about the only one that caught my eye. Did I miss the silver/yellow/smoke colored bulls?

 

[shakes]

I agree with silverline about the top 7 or 8 bulls at Denver. I didn't get a chance to go but by looking at the videos my top 7 bulls were the same as his. It really just depends on what kind of cows u have to match up with the best bull for that cow. Now I haven't seen the bull Brass Knuckles yet.

 

[cwbyup62]

Power and Balance- Wow loved his picture. Thought he could probably be one the best calves there. So I ask this, Why wasnt he there.

In order to answer your question about Power and Balance, it was very simple.  He was really just not broke well enough to go to Denver for display.  He is really great natured, but a little bull headed and there had been no plan to take him to Denver and Jerrod did not have a display pen there to display him.  With all of the problems with getting bulls pictured this year in the yards, Stoltz's did not bring their bull to Denver and offered the pen for use.  I took the pictures and did the video of Power and Balance about one week ahead of Denver and absolutely loved him and with that ended up buying part of him.  The whole thing was put together at the last minute so that was the decision that was made.  He was certainly not being intentionally hid from anyone and he will be at REI this week for anyone going by there.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

 

[CAB]

Thanks Mark for the update. Can you mention any other owners of Power & Balance?

P.S., I had also heard the rumor about Foundation being alive!! Saw some good calves out of him last fall.

 

[olsun]

I am going to shoot my mouth off at the risk of pissing some people off. Sorry. Some friends and I looked at 2 of the top 5 bulls a week or so before Denver, and before they were clipped out. We saw what we felt were serious soundness issues with one of the top 5 bulls. He also just did not look the part. One of those same friends went to Denver, and he said that the bulls (the one we didn't like) fit job was siper, and that it made him look super. That concerns me because if I didn't like the 5th  best bull, would I like any of them? My plan is to look at a lot of them at Nichols and Hawkeye in their every day clothes and make up my mind then.

 

[cwbyup62]

On Power and Balance, he was owned by Jerrod Arthur and Tyler Atwood.  When I did the photo work for them I really liked him and at that point Todd Caldwell and myself purchased half semen interest in the bull.  Nick Reiman has purchased the spring possession on the bull.  As far as marketing, we are not sure yet, all of the major distributors have requested semen, but we have not decided how that will work yet.  We have also not gotten a price on the semen, but based on ownership, I think it will be at one of the reasonable levels.

Thanks for the interest,

Mark

 

[sgetz007]

Power and Balance- Wow loved his picture. Thought he could probably be one the best calves there. So I ask this, Why wasnt he there.

In order to answer your question about Power and Balance, it was very simple.  He was really just not broke well enough to go to Denver for display.  He is really great natured, but a little bull headed and there had been no plan to take him to Denver and Jerrod did not have a display pen there to display him.  With all of the problems with getting bulls pictured this year in the yards, Stoltz's did not bring their bull to Denver and offered the pen for use.  I took the pictures and did the video of Power and Balance about one week ahead of Denver and absolutely loved him and with that ended up buying part of him.  The whole thing was put together at the last minute so that was the decision that was made.  He was certainly not being intentionally hid from anyone and he will be at REI this week for anyone going by there.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

Can the video of him be viewed anywhere?

 

[Jill]

This was by far the least impressive set I have ever seen in Denver, seemed like more of the same old same thing, just my opinion but I think it's time for a new direction in the clubby world.
Power and Balance (from the pictures I have seen) is one of the few bulls I would consider using, I would put him at the top of the list from what I saw out there.  I was told he wasn't really ready to go for Denver and they hadn't planned on taking him, but after getting him in and clipped up they were kicking themselves for that decision, I think if you are anywhere close to REI he would be the one to check out.

 

[cwbyup62]

Here is the link for the Power and Balance video, it was shot about a week before Denver.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mViSzwc7sVo

 

[CAB]

Anyone have any thoughts about the bull, Game Plan, Monopoly X 734 X Harrietta X WMW?