Most of my adult life had been spent hunting and managing for timber wildlife on my family’s property.
When I was a child our Shorthorn cattle provided many opportunities for adventure, namely the opportunity to hone your tracking skills…

Winters were no problem as we fed hay and there was no greener pastures. Summers, however were another matter. Once they had grazed down what little pasture we had and had browsed the woodlots it was over  the fence and through the woods. They would usually be found at one of many kudzu patches in the area. If you’ve never pushed cattle through the woods at night without a flashlight you  don’t know what you’re missing.

So fast forward 30+ years and the fellow that didn’t want to be tied down taking care of cattle or horses  just could not run away from a constant internal nagging about raising cattle again. If you have ever experienced this in your life you know what I mean…you can’t out run it.. I began my research exactly where I left off, with shorthorns. I never knew why my Father and Grandfather chose shorthorns so I began to learn what I could. Along the way I had also given in, quit running from  my desire to learn to work mules and horses. At an event that I traveled to to speak with Suffolk horse owners I came across the Livestock Conservancy and began looking over their website about critical cattle breeds, Imagine my surprise to discover this breed called Pineywoods. Here was a breed tailor made for my situation, hardy, smaller size, heat tolerant and parasite resistant. Bottom line, able to make the most out of what they’re given. This  sounded to good to be true so I had to see for myself. I attended several meeting to see for myself if the claims were true. The owners all seemed sincere and I heard many stories from people that had tried other modern breeds on marginal land and conditions with many of them having to wave the white flag. These same people gave Pineywoods a try and were pleasantly surprised. At one of the Meetings Mr. Freddie Brinson of Millen, Georgia inquired about my interest and endeavored to tell me the history of the Palmer-Dunn strain of Pineywoods and invited me to his farm to see his Palmer -Dunn cattle that he had rescued from possible extinction. He had a great story and I liked the looks and docility of his cattle. So here I am now knee deep in cattle again… so far no midnight cattle drives.