The Congress was an eye-opening experience. There were lots of people spending lots of time and money on horses for ribbons. Sure was some nice horseflesh out there, but I couldn’t help but wonder how they’d react to the loose reins I ride my horses in. I was also concerned that if I was riding one of those trained up rascals and really needed to get somewhere, our signals might get crossed and instead of turning on their motor they’d do a spur stop. (Isn’t that an oxymoron?)

Well, anyway, not my scene.

I felt considerably more comfortable at the bull riding. I’ve gotten to know the bull riders on the XBulls/PRCA circuit pretty well, and it was fun to be around them for a long afternoon. Chance Smart proved to me that he’ll win the world by rising up to some serious pressure in the short round out there. But I don’t think B.J. Schumacher will go down without a fight. Bobby Welsh and J.W. Harris will also throw their hats in the ring. I was also impressed by Spud Jones, he’s riding 62 percent of his bulls. That’s amazing.

Anyway, a very diverse week to say the least, but I enjoyed it all. I’ve got one weekend off before I’m gone to Dallas, the Working Ranch Rodeo Finals, Thanksgiving and then the NFR. It’s going to be a busy fall.

I was fortunate enough to have a chance at both an antelope and an elk on my family’s place south of Fowler. My brother had been scouting this one buck for most of the fall, so it didn’t take long and I got the buck within an hour of starting.

I also had an elk tag for the area just north of my house. I had been scouting them on the cattle lease I’ve got all fall. I had a good one located but got snakebit on my hunts. He just outsmarted me. One day it got too dark as I got in close enough. The next day it was too foggy and I couldn’t get him located. Got close the next day and he got my wind and took off. Finally, on the last day of the season I finally put a great hunt together, got right to the herd, and it was a different herd. There was a smaller bull in them so I took him.

My neighbor and I butchered him in his shop, I got about 100 pounds of ground meat and probably another 40 pounds of steaks and roasts. It was fun and I learned a lot, but I probably got my hunting fix for the next little while. 

The Heartland Series was created to provide support for rodeos with committee purses of $30,000 or less. In 2008 about 260 rodeos declared Heartland Status.

Waco would host the Finals in October with a $482,000 purse. The idea was to give cowboys incentive to travel to these smaller rodeos, therefore increasing the number of entries at these rodeos.

The idea is great, I think. In concept it’s a little like the circuit system. I hope that it has indeed helped those committees. The more rodeo prospers at every level the better it is for everyone.

Not many people are too familiar with this new addition to rodeo’s list of tours and series, so hopefully this helps shed some light on an interesting concept.

Here are the winners:

Bareback riding – 1. Dave Worsfold, 89 points on Classic Pro Rodeo’s Goodtime Charlie, $7,500; 2. Caleb Bennett, 88, $5,000; 3. Silas Richards, 83; 4. Matt Bright, 73.

Tie-down roping - 1. Stran Smith, 8.3 seconds, $7,500; 2. Kody Curry, 9.7, $5,000; 3. Cimarron Boardman, 19.2; 4. Scott Kormos, NT.

Steer wrestling – (tie) 1. Rodney Burks and Zack Cobb, 3.7 seconds, $6,250 each; 3. Gary Daniel, 4.8; 4. Chad Van Campen, 13.4. *Burks won the tiebreaker thanks to his 4.2-second run in the eight-man round on Oct. 11.

Saddle bronc riding - 1. Kobyn Williams, 67 points on Rafter G Rodeo’s Billings, $7,500; no other qualified rides.

Team roping - 1. Bubba/Bohac/Twister Cain, 5.7 seconds, $7,500 each; 2. Nick Sartain/Mickey Gomez, 6.6, $5,000; 3. Joel Bach/Wes Goodrich, 20.9; 4. Casey Gattis/Seth Smithson, NT.

Bull riding – 1. J.W. Harris*; no qualified rides. 

*Harris wins by virtue of finishing first in the semifinals. 
**Harris did not compete in 30 Heartland ProRodeo Series rodeos, so the overall championship prizes and title went to Bobby Welsh, who finished second to Harris in the eight-man round.