I will be reposting this around hunting season. Next to the “No Trespassing” sign, I want to hang a sign that says, “Close the Gate D@m^ It!”
If you don’t know how to shut a gate, then ride in the middle of the pickup (the driver’s side obviously drives and the passenger door must get the gate). If you ride in the middle, you do neither. It’s where the smart cowboy sits.
Unspoken rule of the Sandhills: If you opened the gate, you shut the gate.
No excuses, no forgetting, just do it. One of the reasons most ranchers don’t like hunters or other people driving through their pastures.
I will demonstrate how to shut a gate with a lever, if ignorance is your excuse.
First, put the bottom of your gate post into the bottom wire.
Put the bottom of the gate post in the wire holder.
Push the gate post as far as you can into the wire. You may need to reach down and pull the wire up.
Push the gate post as far as you can into the bottom wire. This will give you more leverage and make it easier to put the lever on the top of the gate post.
Use physics to your advantage. The farther the gate post is in the wire holder, the easier the gate will close.
Now wrestle the top of the gate post close enough to the gate lever. Come on- use that upper body strength!
Put the lever on the top of the gate post (you will see the wear marks). And push the lever towards the gate wires.
Once the lever has made it to the top of the gate post, use your muscles to push the lever towards the wires on the gate. PUSH- PUSH!
If you absolutely can’t get the lever over, make sure your gate post is in the bottom wire all the way. Check your lever to see if the chain has been twisted (making your lever shorter and physics is working against you). Check to see if your super-strong husband installed the gate, because he is much more powerful and could shut the gate with his little finger.
Once the lever is over to the wires, snap on the lever. (Double check that your horse’s reins are not in the lever. I did this once. Struggled to shut a super tough gate, only to find my roping reins were inbetween the lever and the gate. Luckily my horse didn’t spook and tear off the gate. Unluckily, I have to open and reshut that darn gate again.)
The snap on the lever can be attached at the top or next top wire. Sometimes the cows rub on the gate and the snap slips off.
The finished product should look like this:
The snap is on the wire properly and the gate is closed. Remember the unspoken rule… this is what it should look like when you leave.
This article definitely needs to be included on the Nebraska Game and Parks website in their Hunter/Landowner Relations link.
One of the first things Grandma taught me….always sit in the middle!