by Terry Lidral
Featured image photo by Susan Hanrahan.
The great bucking bull Air Time was one-of-a-kind from the very beginning. A son of WNFR Finals Bull Jack Daniels Happy Hour called Big Cat and a Backlash daughter (Broke Back V granddaughter) had an accidental breeding. That accident in the pasture created one of the most athletic and unpredictable bulls ever to buck in the sport of bull riding.
“Air Time was that once in a lifetime bull,” said Matt Scharping of Phenom Genetics who acquired Air Time from Scott Accomazzo as a part of the Jared Allen Pro Bull Team. “He was a freak, actually. He was different from every other bull. You could say he was not a bull as much as he was an athlete.”
Air Time’s genetics are being passed on through the Phenom Genetics breeding program. Read more here: https://buckingstocktalk.com/phenom-genetics-putting-together-great-bloodlines-to-get-great-result/
There was one thing in particular about Air Time that Scharping found amazing.
“Air Time had this incredible athletic ability to bend. For a bull his size, that’s just not normal,” Scharping told us. “Another thing about that bull was that he could really get off the ground.”
Air Time went 10 – 0 on the BFT PBR series in 2015 with an overall average bull score of 45.05
As great as he was as an athlete, Air Time was a very difficult bull to manage. It took Scharping a lot of time and hard work to settle the bull down enough to keep him from hurting himself.
“Air Time could be violent to himself when he was young,” explained Scharping. “He was high strung and afraid of his own shadow. I eventually built up trust the more time we spent together. Air Time got to the point where he’d take hay out of my hand but he never allowed touching.”
“He did chill later on in life,” Scharping went on to say. “At first, he didn’t like having people come around and he’d run to the back of the pen and stare. He really didn’t like having his picture taken. But once he got used to how things were and that there would always be cameras, he tolerated human attention.”
Air Time is remembered as one of the most unforgettable and intimidating bulls to buck in the sport of bull riding.
When it came to doing his job in the PBR, Air Time was passionate about getting rid of his rider.
“Air Time was proud of what he did. That bull knew his job was to get the guy off from his back and he’d go about doing as quickly as possible,” Scharping told us about the bull who was ridden only once in the Built Ford Tough PBR. “He was real smart. He could adjust to the rider and no trip was ever the same. That bull never got caught in a trap.”
When it was time to buck, Air Time was all business. He was intense from the moment he stepped into the alleyway.
“Air Time had his motor going running into the lead-up and when the flank was hung on him, he got amped up,” said Scharping. “Air Time would get so intense that he’d quiver with excitement. It was interesting to watch a guy hang his rope for his first ride on Air Time because the bull’s body would be trembling under him.”
Air Time, who retired from the PBR in 2017 due to a back injury, has left a legacy of 31 buck-offs out of 32 rides and a 2.07 average buck-off time. He is credited with 15 round wins and the only ride by Renato Nunes was a round winner with a score of 92.50.
Air Time earned a bull score of 47 points for this spectacular buck-off of the then PBR points leader Viera. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PorH8GHAScM
“For me, there were 2 outs that I think were Air Time’s rankest. One was with Joseph McConnell in 2014 at the Last Cowboy Standing event. The other was with Joao Ricardo Viera in 2016 at the PBR Phoenix event more for what happened at the end of the ride,” Scharping said with a little laugh.
Air Time spent his retirement on the Scharping ranch building a legacy of sons and daughters that will carry on his remarkable heritage. The great bull was laid to rest in February 2025.
Author: Terry Lidral
Terry Lidral is a western writer/journalist who lives in Idaho. She is the publisher and editor of the online magazine Bucking Stock Talk and the online magazine Western Living Journal. Her publishing credits include Storyteller for Real American Cowboy Magazine, writing feature articles for Humps N Horns Magazine as well as a wide variety of national and international web sites, historical magazines and news publications. She is known for her "up close and personal" profiles of celebrities and industry moguls such as NPR's Tom Bodett; PBR's Wiley Petersen and D.H. Page, PRCA's Sammy Andrews, Cindy Rosser and Julio Moreno to name a few. She has been applauded for her way of making a personal connection between her readers and her subjects. She indulges in her love of rodeo by serving as an associate board member for the Caldwell Night Rodeo. She is also an accomplished trainer and handler in dog agility. Her shelties Amelie and Milo are titled in NADAC, USDAA and AKC.