Hi Country team takes first place in Ranch Rodeo at Montezuma County Fair

The Montezuma County Fairgrounds on Friday hosted the 2025 Ranch Rodeo, a competition that pit eight teams of ranch hands against others as they completed the tasks of calf branding, the scramble and wild cow milking.

The three events are timed.

The Hi Country team, composed of Bodie Hine of Bayfield, Dylan Rector of Bloomfield, Kayson Shahan of Chromo and Denton Favor of Pagosa Springs, came in first, with a $2,500 share of the $4,500 in Calcutta bidding.

The Top Hand award went to Denton Favor, and Top Horse went to Sheldon Randall. Both were sponsored by Yellowjacket Livestock.

The challenge in calf branding was roping a calf from a tightly packed herd in a small pen. Once the calf was pulled from the group, team members on foot simply tapped the calf with an unheated brand and released the calf back into the pen.

In the scramble, teams had four steers; one to be tied, one to be trailered and two to be penned in five minutes or less.

Wild cow milking required teams to cut a numbered cow from a herd, drive her across a line, rope her and milk a few drops into an empty water bottle.

Second place and $1,400 went to the Brush Beaters – Derek Goldtooth, Cody Hatcher, Jeremiah Karsten and Cayleigh Odel.

Third place and $600 went to the Rogers Ranches team of Cody Meyer, Sheldon Randall, Wayne Rogers, Tim Bradshaw and James Oliver.