Ryan McConnel is not backing down.

The No. 7 bull rider in the world, who claimed in the latest edition of Pro Bull Rider magazine that World Champion Bull contender Bushwhacker was “out of line” and “liable to hurt somebody,” expanded on his comments recently when asked to clarify.

Ryan McConnel described the 4-year-old bull as “unpredictable,” and compared him to the infamous Bodacious.

“I told everybody I thought Bushwhacker could be a dangerous bull if he got things right,” McConnel said. “What I mean by that is if he were to line you up, James Crider, if he would have had me in the right spot to where my face came down on his head, he probably would have broke most of my face.”

In a Podcast last week, PBR Livestock Director Cody Lambert defended Bushwhacker.

Lambert said he thought Bushwhacker had everything a professional bull rider would want in a bull, and that he’s a “bucking son-of-a-gun.”

McConnel agreed.

“He’s one of the buckingest bulls going down the road, by far,” McConnel explained. “I recognized that when I got on him, but I think he has a Bodacious-type of move, to where he can pull you down on his head and possibly hurt you pretty good.”

McConnel recalled watching Bushwhacker hit Elliott Jacoby twice, Shane Proctor on another occasion and Ross Coleman as well. McConnel said Valdiron de Oliveira is the only rider he’s seen get by the first few moves out of the chute.

Bushwhacker has been ridden once in 10 outs and is a perfect 0-for-6 this season, including a pair of buckoffs last weekend in Tulsa, Okla., when he dumped Austin Meier and Ben Jones.

As for selecting him in a bull draft, McConnel said, “I’d probably go ahead and pick him if I had to, but I’d more than likely pick around him.

“He’s kind of unpredictable. You don’t know if he’s going to spin or not. He didn’t spin with Valdiron in Pueblo [Colo.], which would have called for a high score, so it’s kind of hard to go with picking him. It could go either way, but I would probably have to be pretty deep in the draft and be pretty confident in myself, thinking I could get past him in a few hard-to-ride jumps.

“If he does spin he’s a really nice bull to get on,” he continued, “but it’s weathering the storm to get to the spin, and that’s a pretty tough storm to get through.”

— by Keith Ryan Cartwright