Livestock up for auction

One hundred and sixteen livestock animals and one big bird sold at ranch liquidation auction at the Sanders County Fairgrounds Saturday afternoon. 

"They were just like my kids; I was sorry to see them go," said James Kuntz of Plains, who sold the animals for his health reasons. The 83-year-old Kuntz didn't really want to sell the animals, but he wished they would have brought in more money. Auctioneer Kevin Hill fetched $33,000 in his two-hour sale, which included cattle, horses, donkeys, sheep and the three-year-old female emu. Eric Kuntz said his father had 50 emus destined for slaughter. One got over a fence and escaped, but was recently captured. Former Plains resident Kate Borton, who owns the nonprofit livestock rescue facility All Mosta Ranch in Marion, started the bidding on the emu at $10, but she was quickly outbid. The bird was purchased for $500 by Janet Fulmer, who owns Big Sky Critter Farm in Great Falls. She has a male emu at the petting zoo and hopes to mate them.

The animals were kept in separate pens until bidding time and were brought into a pen surrounded by just over 200 people, including about 150 registered buyers from throughout Montana, Idaho and Washington. Hill's helpers rounded the animals up in small groups. Each animal had a number attached, though a couple fell off. Hill auctioned 22 bulls, 12 calves, one steer and 42 cows, including one that was pregnant. He also sold four Appaloosa horses, two Jack donkeys, and 32 Barbados and Katahdin sheep. The auction for the sheep took place in the fairgrounds beef barn and were sold in groups ranging from two ewes that went for $200 to nine rams that sold for $1,650. Hill said a Kalispell man was the biggest buyer, purchasing a dozen cows, several ewes and the two biggest rams. The highest priced animal was a steer that Hill said fetched $800. The two donkeys sold for $275 apiece and were bought by the same person. Though there were numerous bidders from outside Sanders County, Hill said several people from the Plains area bought animals.

The sale started at 1 p.m. on Saturday, but the animals were available for viewing in pens at the fairgrounds by potential buyers and curious onlookers. Plains resident John Holland of Holland Ranch grew up in the area and said livestock auctions are rare. Hill, a Trout Creek resident, has been an auctioneer in Sanders County since 1983 and said this was his first livestock liquidation sale. 

It took three days for Kelly Caldwell, Gary Lammert and Eric Kuntz, James' son, to round up the animals and truck them from property near Airport Drive to the fairgrounds. Caldwell said they initially considered having a cattle drive through town, but instead decided to put them in trailers, which took a dozen trips. Kuntz said five of the bulls escaped onto Forest Service land prior to transport and didn't return until Saturday night. He said they plan to sell two of them.

Kuntz said the sale went fine, but it was bittersweet. Eric said James enjoyed the animals, which his father had collected over the last three years, but he added they were getting to be too much work for his dad. Eric said he'll especially miss "Alien," a black angus bull that sired all their calves this year.