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All-terrain vehicles (ATV) are changing the landscape of farming and ranching in Montana, and in the process, some die-hard cowboys have even made the transition from horses to four-wheelers.

One of them is 84 year old rancher John Rumney.

He bought his ranch in Cascade in 1965, and at the time he never imagined he'd be herding cattle on a four-wheeler.

Rumney said, "It came about quite a few years ago, some of our guys wanted ATVs and I wasn't in favor of it, but we got a couple of 'em and we found out how much country we could cover in a day."

Rumney Cattle Company first started using ATVs about 10 years ago, and just within the last five years, started using them more than horses.

Rumney commented, "I miss the horses. We still have horses and we use 'em occasionally, but the bulk of our work is done with ATVs."

Rumney notes that the cattle respond respond just the same to four wheelers, saying, "It's just a like a horse as far as getting something done with them."

As handy as they are, four wheelers can require the same amount of attention as riding horses.

"You don't want to get on a side hill where they'll tip over. They will tip over. You just have to use judgment, be careful. But I've been hurt on horses several times," he said.

Because ranches are private property, the Montana Highway Patrol doesn't even know about ATV accidents unless they're severe.

MHP Trooper Tom Taylor said, "Because people just don't report them or they're not serious enough. Oftentimes the way we find out is that we hear the page out for the ambulance because it's a serious crash."

And unless they're being used on public roadways, ATVs don't need any special outfitting; Taylor said, "There are no special requirements because it's an all-terrain vehicle to be used off-road. And usually they're already set up for off-road use."

Even though Rumney has embraced the change to ATVs, he'll always miss the horses; he remarked, "I'm certainly not knockin' the horses because I was born on a horse. It's just a new way of life."