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| Doctor Proctor and one of his clones |
This is about a bull named K24 Dr. Proctor and his eight identical copies.
Six of them were ordered in 2005, and two more were ordered in 2006. (If you’re not sure exactly how it’s done, here’s an overview of the process and some frequently asked questions.)
The clones are owned, in various combinations, by Gary Long, Rod Chumley, Lupe Rodriquez, and the Morrissey family. The Katich family, it should be noted, were outspoken about their opposition to the cloning of Dr. Proctor, who came from their breeding program.
Everyone acknowledges that there is some controversy about cloning in the bucking bull industry. Gary Long says that for him the decision to make the clones was more of an experiment than any desire to "stir the pot."
Long has a BS in zoology from WSU. “This is a grand experiment,” he says. It’s clear from talking with him that while he is delighted with the clones, what really excites him are the prospects of breeding a really good bull the old fashioned way, from scratch.
Long’s bull 703 Ranger Pride, for example, is a son of Raspberry Wine and the MS 20 cow, making him a grandson of Spook on the sire side and Houdini on the dam side. Ranger Pride won the ABBI Classic in Pueblo this year and is 4th in the current Classic Standings. (He has since been sidelined with a serious horn injury.)
But back to the Dr. Proctors. Do they buck like the original Doc? Mike Corey, who is hauling one called Doc Holiday (unridden in three Touring Pro outs), says that he sees the tendency. “He’s showing the same traits and mannerisms,” he says. "He seems to get ranker every time."
One of the things Corey has heard about clones is that they start out with a mental maturity that is equal to that of the original at the time he was cloned.
“Most of the time it seems like the best ones are really smart,” he says. “And they want to win.”
Rod Chumley says that he’s not sure the clones will be as good as Dr. Proctor because they haven't yet been bucked enough to prove themselves, though another of the Dr. Proctor clones, Protege, is reportedly doing well.
He also notes the differences between the environment in which the clones were raised and the environment in which Dr. Proctor was raised. The clones were raised on a ranch by their recip mothers and were accustomed to people from birth. Dr. Proctor lived wild in the mountains of Washington until he was two. (The Katich family, breeders of Dr. Proctor, Major Payne, Wild & Out, Smackdown, and others, ship their bulls to a mountain every summer where they live alone in the wild.) Chumley said that Doc was so wild when they first started working with him they could barely get him in a chute.
The clones, on the other hand, are like “big pets" and will shoulder each other aside to get the first pats and scratches from visitors.
“They come up like a bunch of puppies,” says Chumley. (Except now they can run you over.)
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| "Doc" and the clones at the ranch - Photos courtesy of Gary Long |
People often use the word eerie, and sometimes they use the word spooky, to describe what it is like to see them, all in a group, with their identical coloring and behavior, looking and acting like the original. While the Panhandle Slim clones do not have the same spot configurations as each other or Panhandle Slim, the Dr. Proctor clones look exactly like each other.
Chumley says that he has some regrets about cloning. He also thinks that the novelty of seeing clones on the circuit will wear off. “People want something new,” he says. “That’s the beauty of breeding. When you have a really great bull, go [breed] another one.”
Regarding the issue of having clones in the gene pool, Long has no intention of breeding or collecting the clones.
Whatever you think about them, the Dr. Proctor clones have a lot to prove. Dr. Proctor was ridden only seven times in 40 BFTS outs, for a career buckoff percentage of 84.75 and an average score of 44. 476. Doctor Proctor was reserve champion bull of the year in 2006 (second to Mossy Oak Mudslinger). He was retired in 2008.
Dr. Proctor in 2008
Dr. Proctor in 2006
