Founded on principles of high-functioning cattle at high altitudes, Herring Angus Ranch has been providing sires to their customers from their home base in Encampment, Wyoming for well over two decades.  

Their High Country Bull and Horse Sale, slated for April 26, 2025, will feature both bulls and horses, as it has since its inception in 2002. A planned catalog of 70-80 bulls and 10 horses makes their sale a one-stop shop in the spring. Selling a total of 150 bulls per year, the remainder of their bulls are available private treaty.  

PAP Scores a Crucial Starting Point 

“Our main thing on selling these bulls here is the high altitude,” said Kal Herring. With every bull meticulously developed at 7,500 feet elevation from birth to the sale, buyers are assured of durability and performance.  

Herring bulls are PAP tested not once, but twice before they are sold. “If we don’t have a good PAP score on these bulls here, we just as well not try to sell them because nobody wants them,” Herring said. “PAP testing twice – it makes a big difference. It’s just what we do to keep the best bulls here that we can possibly have for our customers.” 

Additionally, to create the most robust herd possible, all females are PAP tested. “We PAP test our heifers so we don’t have any cows in our herd that aren’t good. That’s done us a lot of good.”  

Many of his bulls are sold within a small radius of the ranch. “We have people that come from high altitude country. Actually, quite a lot of our business is in northern Colorado. We sell bulls around the state of Wyoming, but our main business is the people that are fairly close to us.”  

Herring’s cattle are born and fed at 7,500 feet in elevation and summer at even higher elevations in the mountains, so their propensity for high altitude is well proven before market. 

Herrings keep back more females than needed and sell bred heifers privately in the fall. “Usually, people are return customers,” he said.  

While Herring appreciates a strong EPD, he knows that function has to come first for his ranch and his customer base. A good PAP score must be the first box checked.  

“The next main thing is structural soundness for cattle that run in this mountain country,” he said. “They have to be structurally sound. Cattle that have all the good traits – good EPDs – we breed for that every year, but some of the cattle that have the best numbers are sometimes the worst on high altitude.”  

Balancing Angus and Simmental Traits 

Kal and his wife Vickie keep all records and EPDs of their cattle.  

“If anybody wants registered Angus, we can usually register them, but mostthe people we deal with, the last thing they want is a registration paper.”  

Angus remains the bedrock of their herd, but roughly half of the bulls offered to the public are Simmental crosses.  

“As a breed, Simmentals originated at a lot higher altitude in Europe. They’re just better high-altitude cattle,” Herring said. He asserted that Angus cattle can function well in mountain country, too, but those genetics in the Angus breed can be more difficult to find.  

Herring does not remain complacent in seeking better genetics. “We just try to pick some of the best Angus bulls we can and AI to them every year. Sometimes the bulls we breed to – we don’t really know if they’re going to work in high altitudes. We just have to do it and find out the first year.”  

Herring makes it his mission to find high-performing Angus bloodlines and incorporate them into his herd. “We find the good ones. The people that are our customers absolutely love that,” he said. 

Ranch History 

Herrings have deep roots in raising quality cattle in southern Wyoming. “My granddad and grandmother had homesteaded a place on Brush Creek. Then in 1937, they bought the place where we live right now.  

“My dad started in the registered Angus business in the late 50s or early 60s. When I got back from college I pretty much took over and started the bull business. 

“My brother and I expanded and bought a bigger place beside my folks’ original place in 1972. Then in 1995, I bought my brother out.” 

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Herrings were prominent entrants at the National Western Stock Show. To their best memory, they won the Feeder Calf Show in Denver five to six times, and were reserve champions on several more occasions. “It was a big part of our life in that time. We quit doing that when we got more invested in the bull business,” Herring said.  

Kal and Vickie started their annual bull sale in 2003. “Before that we sold quite a few bulls, but always privately.”  

From the first sale, they partnered with Silver Spur Ranches, which have divisions in Encampment and nearby Walden, Colorado. Thad York, general manager of The Silver Spur, first had the idea for a joint sale of horses and cattle. The Silver Spur consigned Charolais bulls and a few horses each year until about 10 years ago.  

Cody Miller, a longtime employee of Silver Spur Ranches, has managed the horse sale since the start.  

Horses for the High Country 

Miller handpicks consignors to bring roughly 10 quality ranch horses in each annual sale. “There’s a handful of consignors that I trust will represent their horses for what they are. Most guys will have one or two a year.” Miller also consigns one or two a year. “They’ve all been ranched on and seen all aspects of ranching. Some are picked up on, hauled to rodeos, some are outfitted on and roped on,” he said.  

Ranchers in rugged country cannot always rely upon four-wheelers and side-by-sides to do their cow work, so a horse is a necessity for some. Herring and Miller see a lot of crossover from bull buyers to horse buyers. “A lot of people that buy a horse buy a bull also,” said Miller. 

Miller lists the traits he desires in a horse. “You need a horse that has big bone and feet and body mass and pays attention to the holes and rocks They’re and cowy and can be used on the ranch for all aspects and gentle enough for [anyone], yet you can go rope on them in the arena.” 

Honesty is integral to Miller’s approach at the horse sale. “There’s a lot of return buyers for the bulls and horses. I think it’s just because they are what we say they are. We encourage [potential buyers] to come and ride them.”  

At the cattle viewing the night before the sale, horse buyers can see and try sale horses. Miller also likes to have videos prepared to highlight a horse’s strengths.  

Horses from the Herring Angus Ranch sale are sold all over the country, but the majority are sold close to home. For now, going to the sale in person is the only way to bid. “There’s something about going to a sale and seeing what you’re buying,” Miller said.  

The Future 

Kal and Vicki’s two daughters and their families live near headquarters. “They’re getting more involved all the time. We’ve got to have quite a bit of help because we’re getting pretty old,” he smiled. Fortunately, plenty of help is to be had.  

Their daughter, Heather and husband Greg (Bartlett) live nearby with their five sons, Gage, Gavin, Grady, Grant, Griffin. Their second daughter, Heidi and husband John (Suttee) also help on the operation with their children, Savannah, Hayden, Mesa, and Kaycee. Their son, Shane and his wife Kendrea live in Riverton.  

While Kal and Vickie are planning on downsizing and thinking about the transfer of their operation to the next generation, they are still committed to bringing the best cattle to their loyal customers into the near future.  

Stay up to date at their Facebook page, Herring Angus Ranch.