Red Wolf #112 (1988 – December 29, 2006) was an American bucking bull. He won the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) Bull of the Year title in 1996 as well as other honors throughout his career. He bucked until 2000 when he was 12 years old, considered an old age for a bull to buck, and he did it at a very high level. He bucked more than 100 times at all levels, which very few bulls manage. In 2013, he was inducted into the Professional Bull Riders' Brand of Honor. He is also known for the accidental death of bull rider Brent Thurman.
In 2023, Red Wolf was ranked No. 9 on the list of the top 30 bulls in PBR history.<ref name="Ranked No. 9"
Background
Red Wolf was born in 1988. He was red with a mottled white face and both his horns were large and pointed downwards. Red Wolf's first owner was Don Kish of Kish's Buckin' Bulls. Red Wolf went to the 1994 National Finals Rodeo (NFR) while still with Don Kish. He competed multiple times at the NFR and was a contender for the PRCA Bucking Bull of the Year in 1994 and won it in 1996, receiving that honor as well as Sierra Circuit Bucking Bull of the Year in 1996.
Terry Williams bought Red Wolf from Kish at the conclusion of the 1996 NFR. The bull became sponsored by Dodge Ram trucks the year he was awarded the PRCA Bull of the Year, thus he was renamed as Dodge RAM Tough. However, his name was restored to Red Wolf shortly thereafter. In 1999, Terry Williams sold Red Wolf and three other noteworthy bulls (Hollywood, Moody Blues, and Locomotive Breath) to the Herrington Cattle Company for $200,000.
Career
Red Wolf maintained his powerful, intense performance ability far longer than other bulls, from 1995 through his retirement in 2000. During his second year in the PBR in 1995, Red Wolf made quite an impression in Rancho Murieta, California when he bucked off Heroes & Legends Celebration: Ring of Honor inductee and Livestock Director to-be Cody Lambert in 4.09 seconds. "He was a big bull," Lambert remembers, "but he felt even bigger when he was bucking." The next day, Red Wolf quickly dropped Bubba Dunn on the ground with the need for five stitches on his chin. Red Wolf was 7 years old at the time.
Red Wolf was as well known for his competitiveness. He was described as having the swagger of a champion boxer in the arena. Ty Murray recalls that the bull would often take a "high-headed" lap around the arena, which Lambert described as a “victory lap”. When someone rode him or almost rode him to the buzzer, he was dangerous; he would try to hook or trample the rider at the end of the performance, and if unable to do so, would go after any other rodeo official in the ring. Lambert commented that the bull had a “competitive fire” and appeared to become angrier the longer someone stayed on. "He would want to hook your ass when it was over, " Murray said. Once in 1995 when Lambert attempted to ride Red Wolf, he felt that anger rising. Lambert purposely fell to the ground after getting bucked off to avoid being injured. The bull could also be dangerous to bystanders; Lambert described an incident in 1997: "while one of the judges was calculating the score Red Wolf ran him over. We had to bring in an alternate judge to finish the round."
Dunn rode Red Wolf in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1999. Remembering that he had gotten five stitches on an earlier ride and that Red Wolf had accidentally killed Brent Thurman at the 1994 NFR, he was nervous. Nevertheless, Dunn rode Red Wolf for 96 points on his second encounter with the bull. At this point, Red Wolf was 11 years old. Dunn said, "He had great days and he had good days. He never had bad days."
At the 2000 PBR World Finals, Red Wolf gave up two qualified rides for his final two rides in his career. In Round 2, Jaron Nunnemaker rode him for 89.5 points, with a 44-point bull score. In Round 4, Pete Hessman rode him for 90 points, and Red Wolf received a bull score of 45 points in his final appearance. These would be considered outstanding bull scores for a young bull, let alone a bull his age. His final buckoff had come two months earlier when he bucked off World Champion Cody Custer in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Long time bull riding champion Ty Murray commented on the length of his career and said, "He wasn't supposed to be able to do it for as long as he did. I always thought he was a freak of nature." Red Wolf was known as an "eliminator bull," challenging because of the lack of set pattern to his jumps.