Morrison cattle catcher helps Maple Park family’s lost calves return home

MORRISON, Ill. — It’s not often that you see a cowboy rounding up cattle on the farms of northern Illinois.

But in July, a cattle catcher did just that, rescuing six escaped calves from a western Kane County farm and ending a weeklong hunt.

Half a dozen 6-month-old calves escaped their home at the Burgin family’s farm on Route 38 in Maple Park during a storm the weekend before the Fourth of July. Just more than a week later, all six calves were home safe, thanks to Wesley Bush.

Bush is a professional cattle catcher from Morrison, who rescues escaped cattle from Minnesota to Tennessee, mainly operating in Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin.

The Burgins have been living at their farm home for 23 years and they keep about 25 cows, 300 chickens, 30 ducks and one pet pig. They sell their products at the little shop in front of their home and at the Batavia farmers market.

When Marcia Burgin and her husband, Bob, realized their calves were missing Sunday, July 2, she said their family and friends scrambled into action. On the first day, they had 10 people searching, including their son and daughter in-law, Tyler and Marissa Burgin, and several friends and neighbors.

The search party wandered and hiked the area in the rain for hours and managed to corral two of the six calves on the first day. The other four evaded them and took off in different directions, beginning a weeklong hunt.

On Monday morning, July 3, the Burgins found fresh tracks in the abandoned farm across Route 38 from their home, but didn’t find the calves.

“We were starting to get concerned because nobody had sighted them,” Marcia Burgin said. “It’s not quite as bad as losing your children, but it’s kind of like that.”

After failing to find the calves Wednesday, July 5, the Burgins decided to call Bush, who showed up at 4 a.m. Friday, July 7, with his team of dogs and two horses.

“He’s very intense, very focused. He’s like a hound dog on a scent. He really is,” Marcia Burgin said. “He isn’t messing around. He’s doing his job.”

After coming up empty-handed after a search in Elburn, Bush was fairly certain the cattle had traveled south and advised the Burgins to again canvass in that direction.

Six days after the calves escaped, the Burgins got a call that someone driving on Interstate 88 had spotted them. Bush showed up at 11:30 p.m. and began corralling the four calves after finding them in a bean field near Watson Road north of I-88.

Bush was unable to lead the calves by hand, so he roped two and pulled them into his trailer while on horseback. Burgin said the cows fought him the whole way into the trailer.

“It was fascinating to see him work with his animals,” Burgin said. “They were a team. It was just amazing.”

After tracking the last two runaways for almost a mile through fields toward Dauberman Road, Bush and his dogs lost their trail and returned about 2:30 a.m. July 9. He told the Burgins to call him as soon as they were sighted again.

“I’ve seen cattle get so smart that they will open the gate themselves. They’ll use their tongue to undo latches and chains and such.”

—  Wes Bush

On the evening of July 10, the Burgins got a call from nearby farmer Dave Nelson, who reported the cows in a hay field off Dauberman Road. She said Bush showed up about 11 p.m. and had the calves roped and in the trailer in about an hour and a half, though it was quite a task.

Bush loaded his dogs in his truck and went back to get the calf and led it into the trailer. The last calf suffered a minor wound to one ear during the process and Bush treated it with anti-septic spray before bringing it in and checking over his horses.

“I was impressed that he took care of his animals before he even dumped out his own boots,” Burgin said. “That’s the kind of character this man is. He’s just a really amazing man and very caring of the animals. He is not some guy in a Stetson hat. He is the real cowboy.”

Burgin said she would have called Bush immediately if she had known that cattle catchers existed and she now has him on speed dial should they ever lose cattle again.

“We didn’t even know they existed, that there was such a person,” Burgin said. “Now, he’s my first phone call. From start to finish, he was absolutely amazing and you couldn’t find a nicer personality.”

While cowboys and cattle wranglers are prevalent in the South, Bush said he is one of the last of his kind in the Midwest.

Bush grew up with horses and cattle and was eager to get into rodeo. He has been roping since he was a freshman in high school where he competed in team roping. As a senior, he won the Illinois state championship and placed 11th in the nation, earning him a college roping scholarship.

He started roping professionally as a cattle catcher about 10 years ago with 2B Wild Cattle Catching Services, which he eventually bought and now owns. He said as far as he knows he is the only full-time cattle catcher in Illinois.

Bush said being one of the only cattle catchers in the area, he is kept fairly busy, working about three to eight jobs a week.

“I’ve seen cattle get so smart that they will open the gate themselves,” Bush said. “They’ll use their tongue to undo latches and chains and such.”