United States-$5,000 reward for man who shot cattle.

UNITED STATES-REWARD FOR BULL SHOOTER.

Indian Canyon Ranch is offering a $5000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for shooting two bulls about six weeks ago.

The two registered red Angus bulls were found dead in the brush about 30 yards from the highway and about 50 yards apart. Wyndel Culp, manager of Indian Canyon, believes kids are likely to blame, and that the bulls were probably shot by mistake.

"I really and truly don’t think it was malicious shooting of cattle. I think they were accidently shot, but still, they ought to know better," he said.

Culp figures someone was spotlighting over the fence and shot at eyes, not knowing those eyes belonged to cattle. He said some of the folks running around with spotlights can’t tell the difference between cattle eyes and those of feral hogs.

"I’m sure they had shot some hogs there before, and they were driving around at night and saw those bulls’ eyes, and shot them. It’s aggravating. If they would just fess up to it, it wouldn’t be near as hard on them as it’s gonna be if they get caught. If they’d just fess up they could probably just pay for the bulls and be done with it," Culp said.

The bulls were purchased for somewhere between $3500 and $7000 apiece, but Culp said they are not yet certain which bulls were shot and will have to gather the rest of the bulls and compare registration papers. The bulls were three years old and had only been used for one year.

There is a growing problem in the area with hunters who are not concerned with property lines. Several deer have been shot on the ranch and left without their heads, and Culp knows that hogs are often shot over the fence.

"You know, when we were kids our parents had a little supervision over us, but these kids go wild. They drive our outside fences, and if they see a pair of eyes, they shoot," he said. "We don’t like the hogs, but we’d rather not have people shoot across the fence."

The sheriff’s department, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association and the game warden are all investigating the case.