Montana Rancher Feature: Twin Wranglers

Montana Rancher Feature: Twin Wranglers

Those who are not following the adventures of life on the ranch with the Twin Wranglers, are missing out! These twin sisters, living near Libby, Montana, are amazing photographers and share images of ranch activity every day…in the thickest of snow and warmest of summer days. Surrounded by all kinds of critters, Kim and Kari’s days are filled with excitement, hard work, and moments to stop and take in the beauty of their Montana ranch.

How long has your family been involved in ranching?

We were horse ranchers long before we started raising cattle. From the time we were no bigger than ankle high to a June Bug we knew we wanted to be ranchers and got our start with Appaloosa horses back in 1973. After breeding our mares to outside stallions for a number of years we purchased Deep Thought, a nice yearling colt by Deep South and stood him until we lost him to colic at the age of 16. We couldn’t imagine finding another stallion prospect better than Deep Thought so turned our attention to raising cattle.

What was your favorite part about growing up on the ranch?

We weren’t lucky enough to grow up on the ranch. All our folks had was about a 5 acre piece outside of Bozeman. We got our first horses when we were eight years old. At the age of 14 our family moved to Florida and we took our two grade horses with us. We had more acreage there so in ’73 we started raising Appaloosas and opened a boarding stable as well. Florida was a nice place to visit but after twenty years there we needed to get back to the mountains and traded it all for a ranch about 23 miles from a wide spot in the road called Libby in the northwest corner of our home state of Montana. On our return to Montana we brought 17 horses with us.

Tell us about your ranch today.

We raise cross bred beef cattle of mostly Black Angus and Hereford. What have been some of the trials you’ve had to overcome? What is one thing you wish more people knew about life on the ranch? No matter if the weather is brutally cold or the sun is sucking the life out of you, you have to take care of the livestock. There are not any days off or even sick days available to you. We’ve had days we could barely crawl out of bed, but you do just that, and if you are injured you still have to find the strength to work through the pain so that you can care for your animals. They count on you to be there. What does it mean to you to be able to work with your family every day? We’re twins and are so close that you couldn’t get a crowbar between us to pry us apart. That’s not to say we don’t have disagreements but working together and playing together is the only thing we have ever known and we wouldn’t change that for the world.