A couple years ago I received a call from some friends asking if I would come to their ranch to take some branding pictures. Obviously, I said yes without hesitation, but what I didn’t realize is that I was about to fall head over heels for this place they call Hobson Montana.
So, I never being one to venture far from home, braved the long two-and-a-half-hour trek to the diamond dot ranch only managing to take a wrong turn once. When the branding started, the creative side of my brain instantly exploded with all the photographic possibilities in front of me. After all, is there anything more beautiful than a family all working cattle together? I think not.
After a successful afternoon of branding pictures, I was ready to go home and dig into editing. However, the magic of this place kept throwing its beauty my way and as everyone started taking the calves back out to pasture, I was a little overwhelmed with the scene laid out in front of me. There we were, in the middle of a wide-open space with nothing standing between us and the circle of mountains around us except for a few people on horseback and a few hundred head of cattle. I wasn’t sure what was prettier- the foreground or the background. Either way, it was breathtaking.
I left there with a full heart and a handful of pictures that are still favorites to this day. I also knew that out of everywhere I had gone, that was the one place I would want to visit again. So, eventually I found myself making every excuse to go back- jackpot shows, bull sales, calving, even graduations? You betcha, I would find my way up there for all of it.
Unfortunately, one day I found my self no longer leaving with a full heart. Instead it was with heart ache for this place had lured me in and stolen a piece of it. How can a place you have never lived in feel like home? It’s beyond me, but it must be a part of the Central Montana magic. Nothing around you except wide-open space, mountains, and cows? Sounds like a little slice of heaven to me.
So recently my list of life goals has grown but they are still pretty simple-
- Love Jesus
- Take the best pictures I can
- Live in Hobson Montana
Montana Ag 
My feelings exactly. I came out here from Virginia for many years to bird hunt. Finally could not stand it any longer. I move to Hobson two and a half years ago. Bought a home and remarried, a wonderful widow from Moore. Thanks for your story.
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