While several real-life cowboys and ranchers find things to criticize in “Yellowstone,” they also often have plenty of positive things to say. Rancher Gary Shelton wrote in Distinctly Montana that a ranch the size of Yellowstone would be unlikely in that particular area of Montana but otherwise praised the series for its realism.
On his YouTube channel, real-life Montana cowboy Trinity Vandenacre had good things to say about the show’s overall handling of stuff like predator maintenance but pointed out some things he disagreed with, such as the Dutton ranch hands being hard partiers. He also noted that while the cattle care on “Yellowstone” is generally on point, Season 5, Episode 7 — “The Dream Is Not Me” drops the ball with its convoluted plot to move a potentially brucellosis-contaminated herd to a distant pasture in Texas. According to Vandenacre, this isn’t how things would play out in real life, and the herd wouldn’t be moved anywhere. Instead, they’d be tested and treated where they are because otherwise, they’d only spread the contamination.
To its credit, the show is aware of the line it walks between authenticity and fiction, judging by how Taylor Sheridan has used real cowboys to teach the “Yellowstone” cast how it’s done. Horse trainer Jake Ream and a group of genuine ranchers took some of the actors on a four-day pack trip, and Ream listed stars Cole Hauser and Jefferson White as two people who benefitted from the experience.
