I fished the Lugg at Lyepole on Thursday (see separate thread).

As I was packing up the owner (a really nice chap) came for a chat. He asked me if I had any trouble in the field where the bull was. Simple enough answer - "No, I heard it, saw it and decided to fish from the other bank!"

Am I being over cautious here? My view of the risk/reward equation is that the best that can happen is that you don't get chased, the worst is that you do get chased, caught, gored etc etc and that makes it a risk worth avoiding. It's not as though the best that can happen is that you win the lottery etc, the best that can happen is.....you don't get chased!

I mentioned this to a mate of mine who is an Agricultural Consultant. His view was that if it was a beef bull it would be fine, if it was a dairy bull it should be avoided - no help there, one bull looks as dangerous as any other to me.

Any thoughts?

Regards

Peter

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Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans
John Lennon

http://walksandfishes.blogspot.com/

I'm with you on this one - if I see a bull I stay well clear. The closest encounter I've had was this year wading up a small stream I passed a cattle crossing point, about 5 mins later I heard something behind me and there was a bull walking up the stream towards me! Its a good thing my waders were waterproof because if they weren't I'd have breached environmental guidelines on the discharge of raw sewage .
Escaped unharmed but keep a keener eye out now.

Steve

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Steve


"There he stands, draped in more equipment than a telephone lineman, trying to outwit an organism with a brain no bigger than a breadcrumb, and getting licked in the process." Paul O'Neil

I agree with your friend. By dairy bull he means friesian which are the black and white ones. Treat these with much caution!
I grew up working with cattle my family bred pedigree bulls and the rule is never trust any bull. In practice i never encountered a bad one but some you needed to keep a closer eye on.
I would have no problems entering a field with a bull as long as he looked contented ie not mental but i would keep a close eye on it at all times.

As a rule I always check a herd to see if it has a bull and then I procede with caution. Keep as far away as possible and dont come between him and any cow, basically hug the perimeter of the field and he should not bother you. The people usually attacked are the people that show the least caution, over familiarity can some times be fatal.

Never trust a black and white diary bull, seldom trust any other bull do not get between him and the cows and keep an eye on rams. (There are more people injured by rams every year than by bulls)

Not to sure about stallions either but seldom see them in fields so don't worry

Detours are better than quick exits I guess

Dont trust any bull ,full stop.What can be just as dangerous is a bullock that isnt casterated correctly.If there is any stock in a field keep in by the ditches.

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When the bugle sounds The last parade
and the light grows dim in the eye,
Make sure you say at the pearly gates
That you've come for the evening rise.

Do not think for one second that beef bulls are quiet. I am now colour blind after a rather nasty bang on the head from a beef bull. It was a totally unprovoked attack - I was only talking to his cows.

Maybe he thought you were chattin them up

Beef bulls do tend to be more docile than the dairy breeds (Jersey bulls are angry little sods), but I wouldn't take anything for granted. The nastiest bull I've ever had to work with was a Piedmontese. Fine if you were leading him on a halter, put him in with a group of cows and he'd go for anything that moved.

No point taking a chance, but to be honest you are more likely to get hurt by an over-curious group of heifers, than charged by a bull. Just give them space and they'll ignore you.

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I will NEVER trust a bull !!!

A long time ago, (c. 35 years), my Dad and I were walking from fishing the North Tyne across a field back to the car, carrying rods, fishing bags, etc. plus both wearing thigh waders.

We were keeping an eye on the bull in the field when it suddenly launched into a sprint in our direction.

I swear to this day that we both cleared the wall without touching it and it was a good 5' tall !!!

Avoided bulls totally since then.

w