But this isn’t always the chain of events.

The Tulsa Stockyards are open day and night, and people can unload cattle around the clock. However, most drop off cattle on Sundays and Monday mornings and afternoons, Tulsa Stockyards owner Joe Don Eaves said.

When people shift from those hours, or when they’re ignorant of typical procedures, Eaves said he’s skeptical of them.

“If we have someone show up at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning with a load of cattle, that makes you suspicious,” Eaves said.

Unlike at the Vinita sale barn, though, Eaves said he waits for investigators to contact him and turns over records or will suspend sales as needed.

Past to present

The association’s rangers worked an average 883 livestock theft cases in both Texas and Oklahoma through 2010 to 2014, accounting for an average $4,374,170 in market value, according to the association’s theft report.

In Oklahoma, the dollar amount of property recovered from 2014 to 2015 rose by 45 percent from $436,916 to $636,282, according to association data.

Despite those numbers, Gray said people are sometimes surprised to learn cattle rustling still exists.