Spring 2020 4R Ranch Newsletter
Hello to all our friends in the 4R Family. I trust this letter finds all of you healthy and safe.
I have been sending out newsletters for 16 years and I can safely say the timing of this letter finds all of us in a common harbor of uncertain times. As I discussed with my father earlier this week, we are living in 24-hour windows. Not by design, but by the daily reporting of numbers. Are there more cases, less cases, flattening curve or still moving upward? All these questions lead to further questions and at the end of that line of questions, we still revert to the first question, what are the numbers saying? None of us have been here before and we are all looking at this through a different lens based on our life situation.
Life at the ranch moves forward with the seasons as it does every year. The fields need plowed and planted, pastures need to be sprayed for weeds and the cows need to be worked. The seasonal chores have rolled on as they always do and we are down to our last 2 groups of cows to work. Social distancing and self-isolation are pretty much standard operating procedure out here, so when those edicts went out, we were already “practicing anti-socialites”. Jill says we live in a cocoon. I had to remind her that our IRA was fully exposed when it got “real” here a couple of weeks ago, so not everything was protected!
As most of you are going through the task of planning how you are going to run your businesses and households over the coming days, weeks and months, we are doing no different. The current reality for most of you is that planning for anything a week from now, much less this fall does not rate high on the “things to do” list. We get that. However, our supply chain for birds demands that we plan for the upcoming season. Why? Let me take you through the process.
To hunt a 16-week-old bird on November 1st, that bird had to be hatched on July 6th. The hen that laid that egg did so 23-24 days earlier on June 18th. The breeder has to get the hens and roosters staged and ready to breed NOW to keep the supply chain going without disruptions.
So what are we at the 4R Ranch going to do? We are going to prepare for the upcoming season as we always do in hopes we will be able to hunt this fall! We realize there are many unknowns. Will lodging be allowed? What if the virus erupts in the fall? All of these questions are beyond our control, so we are going to control what we can and leave the rest to be answered in time. If we cannot hunt, the 4R will be fine and ready for the 2021-2022 hunting season. In the sands of time, this is merely a speed bump.
The booking process this year will be different than past years. Normally we have our calendar carved on stone and signed in blood by May 1st. We will move that date back to July 1st, later if necessary. We are not in a position that we need to throw the baby out with the bathwater in light of the circumstances.
We will follow up with a phone call in a not so distant future. Until then, please know we appreciate everyone of you and trust you will stay healthy and safe.
Adios for now,
Deryl & Jill
Posted in: News
