I was hunting back in late September when I spotted a couple of strange cows in a pasture where there shouldn't be any. Closed the gates so they wouldn't wander farther into the place, told the owner & went on about my business. Figured the guy would get them back onto his place as soon as he was able; the owner had spoken to him soon after about it.

Flash forward three months - they are still in the pasture. And they have both dropped calves.

They neighbor is an Aggie and I've known him for 25 years... he was just a few years older than me in school.
Nice guy, just doesn't seem too concerned about retrieving his livestock.
The landowner is a nice guy & doesn't want to cause any fuss, but this situation is ridiculous to me.

What would y'all do in this situation? Is the landowner legally entitled to any compensation?

I figure the calves are belong to the new landowner... anchor calves, right?!

Tell the guy he has a couple days to remove them or call the sheriff.

The owner should be compensated for the grass the cattle ate and any damages they caused.

sounds like the OB needs to meet up for a steak cookout

Pen them and let them know where they are.

Ursus says cattle taste okay with the proper marinade.

Open range county ?

Calves? What calves??

http://www.texascattleraisers.org/theft-law/livestock-laws.html#.VJjE5lA0

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Who do I call about estray (stray) livestock?

According to the Chapter 142 of the Texas Agriculture Code, the person in possession of the estray, or stray livestock, is required to "report the presence of the estray to the sheriff of the county in which the estray is discovered."

There is no such thing as finders keepers regarding estray livestock in Texas or Oklahoma. The finder of an estray may be charged with "Theft of Livestock" if he or she disposed of the estray outside of the estray procedure (Section 142 of the Texas Agriculture Code and Title 4-85.3 of the Oklahoma Animal Code).

Please assist the sheriff by providing the location, number and description of the estray livestock.

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I'd call the sheriff

Is the county a "free range" area? If so, it's the landowner's responsibility to keep the neighbor's cows off his land, not the neighbor's to keep his cows at home.

I'd suggest driving the cows back to where they belong and then wiring up the hole in the
fence they're using to get into the property in question.

If I am not mistaken, unless voted on by the county, or even the specific precinct, with the exception of numbered Interstate and US Highways, Texas is a "fence out" state, meaning the landowner is responsible for keeping unwanted stock off his property. Not sure how this plays out in a shared gate situation, but it would seem sensible to me that the landowner would be responsible for making sure the gate is closed.

We've had it happen lately as we have a creek crossing our fence line that makes upkeep on the fence a pain. We usually just let the owners know and tell them we'll call them the next time we pen the cow/calves and they can come get them. Not really hurting us, as we aren't running a feeding schedule.

Not really sure what damage is occurring to the landowner, and it doesn't seem he is too interested in remediation right now anyway. Unless the cattle owner said "I ain't coming to get them," I'd let the owners hash it out.

(My read says you are leasing the land for hunting or other purposes in the way you referred to the landowner? Correct me if I am wrong.)

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If I am not mistaken, unless voted on by the county, or even the specific precinct, with the exception of numbered Interstate and US Highways, Texas is a "fence out" state, meaning the landowner is responsible for keeping unwanted stock off his property. Not sure how this plays out in a shared gate situation, but it would seem sensible to me that the landowner would be responsible for making sure the gate is closed.

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Not true. The vast majority of Texas counties are "closed range". I think it was somewhere around 234 out of 254 back in 2011.

http://agrilife.org/texasaglaw/2014/05/19/texas-fence-law-open-range-or-not-part-1/

http://agrilife.org/texasaglaw/2014/05/25/texas-fence-law-open-range-or-not-part-2/

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If I am not mistaken, unless voted on by the county, or even the specific precinct, with the exception of numbered Interstate and US Highways, Texas is a "fence out" state, meaning the landowner is responsible for keeping unwanted stock off his property.

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Pretty sure it's a fence in state unless you're in an open range county.

Sec. 143.028. FENCES. (a) A person is not required to fence against animals that are not permitted to run at large. Except as otherwise provided by this section, a fence is sufficient for purposes of this chapter if it is sufficient to keep out ordinary livestock permitted to run at large.

Source

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Calves? What calves??

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Calf fry it is!

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We usually just let the owners know and tell them we'll call them the next time we pen the cow/calves and they can come get them.

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This.

I'm not exactly clear on OP's stake in this, if the owner of the cows isn't concerned, and the landowner isn't concerned, then why is OP so concerned?

With what cattle are bringing these days I have a hard time understanding the owners indifference.

Good fences make good neighbors.

So we have 3 parties here: The OP, the landowner, and the rancher. The OP seems to be the only one worried about the cattle at this point. And he's really the only one with no say in the matter. The only exception would be if the cows are somehow messing up his hunting. If that is the case, then he has to work that out with the landowner. It's not the OP's place to get between the landowner and the rancher.

As said above, it's weird that the rancher isn't concerned about some very expensive cattle. But the OP can't do anything about that. If I were the rancher, I'd also be very embarrassed that I was neglecting my herd and stealing a little free grazing.

its really not that weird that the landowner is not getting worked up. The cattle probably aren't hurting anything, and they aren't eating very many dollars worth of grass. Maybe the little but of grass is less important than a good relationship with the neighbor. Maybe the landowner just hates conflict. Maybe he knows the rancher is busy right now and will come after the cattle in a week or two.

in my part of the world, you find loose cattle, you pen them up if you can, to keep them off the highway. If you can't find the owner, then you call the sheriff. But hopefully you know who they belong to, and you call him.

The owner will be there that day to get them, if he can, or else he'll work something out with you. If not, you call him the next day and the next. Or you drive them back to his place, close the gate, and call him to tell him you moved them.

Calling the sheriff when you know the owner is a last resort, to be used only if the owner refuses to take responsibility.

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went on about my business.

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This is what I'd keep doing.

Catch em, call the sheriff and owner you're taking them to auction. He has to pay you for your efforts; he gets the proceeds from the sale.

You really believe that the OP who probably only has a hunting lease....who doesn't own the land....doesn't have any sort of grazing rights has the right to haul off a couple of head of cattle and calves?

Let's say the cattle get sold...the sheriff shows up...the land owner shows up....the cattle owner shows up...the OP shows up. The cattle owner says the rancher said I can run them on his place, he never asked me to remove them...rancher agrees.

Who needs a lawyer?

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With what cattle are bringing these days I have a hard time understanding the owners indifference.

Good fences make good neighbors.

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Probably a guy who buzzes his pastures to the nub and likes free grass.

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This is what I'd keep doing

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Of course I'm going to keep minding my own business. I don't have a dog in this fight.

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Calling the sheriff when you know the owner is a last resort, to be used only if the owner refuses to take responsibility.

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I'd think 90 days free grazing for couple of head (now 4 with the calves that just dropped) is refusing to take responsibility. If it was my place, that's what I would do after that long. There are no cattle on the place I hunt, so they won't be getting penned up next time the cattle get worked. I'm all for being a good neighbor, but I feel like my landowner is being taken advantage of. He doesn't like the cattle on his place & is annoyed the owner hasn't taken care of his livestock. He's just not one to rock the boat at all.

Oh well. I'm really disappointed no one commented on my "anchor calves" comment. Thought that was pretty good.

Sound like it needs to be addressed with your land owner if it's your hunting lease that they are disturbing.

Had a similar issue. I'd fence them in and refuse to release them until fences were fixed or damages paid if you wish. I closed them in and chained the gates. They're mine until the situation that caused it is remedied. Piece of cake.

First of all, I'm glad they aren't mine. I'm going to give the counterpoint here.

Cattle have minds of their own, and one brain versus four stomachs. They are stupid and made of meat. In cheaper times they would get eaten. But nowadays, a mature cow is something that you regret selling because of lost revenue and replacement costs.

The neighbor needs to move the cows to another place if he is able. Many cannot, for various reasons. You can call him after catching his cows and tell him to move them somewhere where they can't get back. And fix the fence. After a few times of that, you can tell him you're taking them to the sale barn in his name. Hire out a local cow hand to do it, they do it all the time. They will put a lien on them for their time.

If this is back home, Gonzales co. is open range btw. And if these cows are crossing the river because of low water level (happening everywhere right now, including mine), you can either build electric fence to keep them out, or live with it.

Not crossing the river, SWC. You would know the guy whose cattle they are. Nice enough person, but par for the course. Didn't realize it was still open range there... interesting.

Well, I looked it up and it looks like it got changed a few years ago. Closed range now.

Regardless, it sounds like a situation where neither party is particularly aggrieved.

1 stomach w 4 compartments, technically

While I get the OP's annoyed and perhaps inconvenienced, legally, his only recourse is through HIS landlord, the landowner, who it appears is unmotivated to change the status quo. The inference is that he's unconcerned about the OP's chagrin, which implies he gets little to no compensation from the OP for the right to hunt on said property.

Bottom line, it seems to me the OP's expectations are simply based on false assumptions rendering them unreasonable from the standpoint of the landowner's relationship with the owner of the two cows (which btw are more than likely not having a negative impact on the pasture).

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(which btw are more than likely not having a negative impact on the pasture).

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My thoughts, too. How much does one charge for grazing on grass pasture these days? Maybe $10-$15 a month for a cow-calf pair? So we're talking $60 to $90 dollars worth of grazing? And people want to 'rustle' the cattle off to a sale barn for under $100 in damages?

Not the kind of move to make if you want to be a good neighbor. Of course, lettting your cows stray isn't neighborly, either.

And I doubt the cattle would be sold at auction. Rather, they'd likely just be held until the owner was located, whereupon he'd have the option of retrieving them, after paying a feed and yardage bill. The OP might be able to haul em to the sale barn, but it hardly seems worth the trouble.

Nope, not gonna haul any cattle anywhere.

Has the OP ever said he has a lease on the property where the cows are?