Hey everyone,

I just recently discovered that my girlfriend has some acres in the Boise Mountains, and have suddenly developed a long list of projects! Right now one issue is that cattle are grazing for free on her property. It has BLM land on two sides, and ranches all around, so the cattle just wander in. We're looking at fencing the property off.

Here's the rough part: It's 260 acres, and a lot of it is steep and rocky. Planning on 42" high barbed wire fence, primarily using metal stakes and trees as attachment points. My big concern is the areas where the ground is too rocky to get a stake in. Anyone have an advice on this, or fence building in general? Any tools I should pick up to make the job easier?

It's going to be me and whatever friends I can round up, but we're all Boiseans, and none of us have put up barbed wire fence before.

I'm probably going to sound ignorant but aside from establishing property boundaries, why are you interested in fencing the cows (future source of food that doesn't need refrigeration) out.

Perhaps a few friendly conversations with the ranchers may save you a great deal of money and sweat. Work out something that benefits both of you and doesn't rile up your neighbors against the "late comers"....

One reason is to preserve the water resources in the area. The cattle have pretty thoroughly trashed the springs on her property, turning them into essentially mud wallows. Most of the private property in the area is fenced off, and this property was previously. But fence doesn't last long without maintenance in a wooded area, and the fence here hasn't had any upkeep for a long time - in many places, there's no fence left at all.

There are also financial reasons - the going rate for grazing on private land in Idaho is something like $15 per head per month. Right now we're getting zero per head per month. We do plan on going around and meeting the neighbors, but will likely end up building a fence. If they're paying for grazing rights on the property, the ranchers are going to want a fence there too.

W-man has a very good point. If much of the property is steep and rocky, you probably don't have a lot of grazing time on it.

Are you planning to build or spend significant time there? A fence could be useful or even necessary then.

I suggest settling in and talking to the neighbors;get a feel for their customs and attitudes. Their friendship and good attitudes may be worth far more than any value gained by keeping their cattle out.

Based on what you have stated so far, you could be dealing with a variety of situations, so it is hard to give any specifics. I do feel that there is nothing much worse than heavily grazed land, complete with cow pies, etc.

I also have found that some of fairest, most decent people I have known and dealt with are ranchers. Be decent to them and they will be decent to you.

I see you were answering some of my questions,even as I posted them; If you are rebuilding an existing fence, that is a different story. A brand new fence would probably require a surveyor to establish the legal boundary on the ground. This may not be necessary for an existing barrier.

I have never build any significant amount of fence, especially barbed wire, but I can assure you that it is a lot of work, but you probably already know that - good luck!

The terrain is mixed - some open grassland, some forest, and some places with bedrock granite at or just under the surface. The soil all over it has a decent amount of small to medium sized rocks mixed in though. We do plan on building up there, tentatively three years from now. It's near one of my favorite rivers, so I'm pretty excited for it!

A good resource for such things is always the state Extension Service agent. Or just hike and look at what the area ranchers do.

Here is a PDF with lots of good info. <https://www.uidaho.edu/~/media/Files/Extension/Beef/Over%20the%20Wire%20Newsletters/June%202011%20cattle%20e-letter.ashx>

Building a perimeter fence on 260 acres is a lot of fence: 40 acres is 1,320 feet on a side (if it is square). So that is a mile of fence. It is also more than 500 t-posts plus wooden corner posts and line posts every 100 feet.

If the springs are your primary concern, focus your energy there.

I suggest exploring electric fence. Solar chargers work great. It is impressive how we'll a 2-wire fence works. Even a 1-wire keeps cows under control. My cows will see a new wire for rotational grazing and immediately turn 90 degrees. The calves only have to touch it once. Installation is work but not nearly as hard as 5-wire barbed.

Don't attach fence to trees, trees grow. You'll find that treed will quickly grow around the wire in short time then you have a mess. You may not care now but later you may want/need to cut one down and you'll wear your saw blade when it hits the wire inside the wood.

Gabion pillars. Lots of work.

Drift fences on trees. Take out the staples each winter and put up again in the spring.

Rent a tractor with auger.

Fence off water supplies first. Train the cows to live elsewhere.

Is it open range? Find out the laws and talk with the neighbors.

A word of caution about renting a tractor! If you have never operated one you have to understand they are not cars or trucks. They are technical pieces of equipment. Using one on a slope is VERY dangerous. The learning curve is long and steep. And maybe deadly.

This scenario has formed the plot line for a bunch of range war novels and movies. Pay close attention to the tempo of the background music, and If a guys in black hats show up, circle the wagons.