Bison Hunt?
 

I am curious if anyone has ever gone on an American Bison hunt? If so, where and how was it? I know there are some free range in Alberta and some fenced. Seems like the Dakotas have a number of fenced operations.

Any experiences you want to share appreciated.

Thanks, Rob

I've shot 5 of them but none of them were free ranging in UT,AZ or SD. I got mine off of big ranches in either WY or MT. There are several ranches that raise bison for the meat market but that market is fairly small and they try to keep the herds in check and don't want them getting too big or they would flood the market and kill the price. So these ranches often want to take out young heifers before they get the chance to calve. All the bison I have taken were yearling heifers for meat.

Bison aren't a really difficult animal to hunt, that's why they could slaughter them by the millions in the 1870s. Once you locate them and even on those big ranches that can take some looking, it is merely a point of picking the one you want. They are big and the carcass is hard to handle. That thick hair is full of dirt and grit and is really tough on knife blades.

This one came off a ranch in MT. we found a small herd raiding some haystacks for the cattle in a remote pasture on a 100,000 acre ranch outside of Billings. A bison like this will give you about 350-400 lbs of meat.

Nice photo. What did you shoot it with and how far were your shots? I have had Bison meat before and it was really good. Where these good eating? Seems like you are able to keep to entire animal from what I have recently read. Was that the case in your experiences?

Many places that offer Bison hunts do not give you your own meat. You get the head and hide and some meat that was killed by another hunter and butchered and frozen. I did some research on bison hunts not all that long ago. There are some places where you do keep your own meat so research before you buy.

All the bison I have taken were shot with a 450 Marlin. Average range was probably between 125 to 150 yards. Bison is great on the table and I have always been allowed to keep the entire animal. The skin of the one in the pic is tanned and I use it as a bed spread when it gets cold. You won't be chilled sleeping under a buffalo robe!

slaughtered by the millions????? yep we were taught that in school but that couldn't have happened. 60 million bison don't disappear in 10 years by hunting. Disease got most of them.

Nonsense, you should have believed what you were taught in school, it wasn't disease, it was the white man. They killed that many Buffalo that a whole new industry spring up, buffalo bones for fertilizer. There were huge piles of buffalo bones through out the area that there used to be Buffalo. They used to have train rides where the so called "sports sat on the train and shot the Bison as the train went by and left them lay. They killed them for just their tongues and left the rest of the meat lay, they killed them for their hides after buffalo robes became a popular item in the east. They also killed them because they were the plains Indians main food source. Make no mistake about it, it was the white man, not disease that for all intent and purpose wiped out the American Bison. You need to throw away that revised history book you got your information from. If you have ever hunted Bison you would quickly see they are not the brightest bulb in the box, they are pretty much stupid, the buffalo hunters would kill hundreds at one sitting by shooting around the outside of the herd. When a Bison goes down, it is common for the cows to rush to its aid. When I killed mine we had to chase the cows away three times when they came back and were trying to get the one I shot back on its feet. Don't think that doesn't create a pucker factor. Nope, there is only one entity at fault in the slaughter of the American Bison and it was the white man for fast money and politics.

And just where did you come up with that "10 years" estimate? Pre 1800's estimate at 60 million and you honestly have to think about that estimate just because of the time period. But that decline was from PRE 1800's at 60 million to 1870 at 5.5 million... Now forgive me if my Math is wrong here but that is a hell of a lot longer than 10 years!

Now as to your other 100% uneducated statement, the white man decimated around 45 million of those numbers while Bovine diseases took out an estimated 10-12 million (Cattle are not native to the Americas so the white man is still responsible for that 10-12 million since they brought them over). It's pretty hard to argue with documented evidence even though many try and fail. Especially since there are literally thousands of photos documenting the many train cars loaded down with hides and the many bone piles stacked up to over 30 feet or 7 feet and 100 yards long.

:rock::rock::rock::rock::rock::rock::rock::rock:

Wow those photos are shocking.

You need one of those in your cabin. Can you imagine what Gordon would do with all that meat?:biggrin:

Tagged along with my father on his WY free range bison hunt maybe a decade ago?
It was his 1st year applying...

Even though it was "free range" it seemed like more of a "shoot"

The hunt was trying to find a legal bison on public ground...


They're an awesome animal, great table fare, and an awesome mount.

I've heard there are some high fence operations that will truly offer you a hunt... 10,000 plus acre type operations.

I don't doubt one could have more of a hunt on a high fence operation than a free range hunt, not saying that's always the case, but I believe one could find that if they look.

Either you're not too bright or you don't know your history. The bison was slaughtered by the millions and they tanned the skins into leather and made the leather into drive belts to power the industrial revolution. Rubber didn't exist in a commercially usable form back then so leather belts were used.

May want to do some reading:
http://allaboutbison.com/bison-in-hi...ison-timeline/

By the way, those numbers were only for the region around Kansas. Maybe you don't understand it but if they were shipping hides to market and paying the freight on them they would have a pretty accurate count of the numbers being shipped right?

let me guess, you don't live in the west do you?

Rob, don't get me wrong partner. I have taken a few Bison and enjoyed every last bite! I am in no way against regulated hunting of the Bison. But when uneducated people start trying to revise history to make the white man look better it kind of peeves my Native American heritage a bit.

Mine too. My bloodline is Arapaho and my people know exactly what happened to the herds. After all, we were Plains Tribes in the region the slaughter happened. Even General William Tecumseh Sherman was quoted as saying the bison had to go so the farmers could have the prairies. When the bison went so did the Horse Culture of the Plains Tribes. Why do you think they had an Indian Head Nickle? Note the bison is on the reverse. That nickle was a celebration of slaughter and conquest.

Disease my butt!

Disease was part of the problem Flags. A LARGE part given that an estimated 10-12 million Bison fell to various Bovine diseases brought over with the cattle. Brucellosis was a serious problem because it not only sickened and weakened the animal, but it also aborts fetuses. Putting stress on an already decimated group. But to say that the white man had very little to do with the demise of the Bison is ridiculous considering not only the all out slaughter of them but it was also the white man that brought all the diseases that aided in the almost extinction of the beloved animal. It's sheer stupidity and denial of reality to think anything other than the white man is pretty much the sole cause of the destruction of the Bison.

Here's another article about the decline of the buffalo. I don't know about hunters having the major part of the blame though. Like many things, it would seem logical that many factors caused the decline--hunters, cattle diseases, other diseases, lack of food from dry years, etc. IIRC, one of the reasons buffalo initially flourished was being able to continually roam to newer pastures so to speak with untouched food sources that hadn't been grazed down. It would seem logical that continuing development (settlements, cattle, etc. would cut into that seemingly unlimited supply of grass and food.


http://www.petersenshunting.com/feat...ar-extinction/

And everything in that little statement, other than the dry years which were not uncommon and was natures way of thinning the herd, was all due to the invasion of the white man. Point blank and simple. And yes Cal, it is estimated among most historical experts that the hunting industry as well as the Army (slaughters to drive the Natives out) that between 40-45 million Bison were taken in a 30 year time span with the years between 1855-1870 being the main years of the destruction. Of course there are revisionist histories out there trying to discredit those numbers with complete fabrications to try to make the theft of our lands, through the decimation of a primary food and needs source, by the all mighty white man look better to the kiddies rather than the kiddies know the actual truth.

Thanks Flags and Superhunt54 for proving my point better than I. 70 years 60 million bison....in a straight line chart you make a point. Forgot about reproduction and bison don't live to be 70 years old. First year of your 70 over 10 million bison would have had to been killed by hunters before a declining population ( 60 million...50/50 ratio bulls to cows and 33% birth rate of cows = 10 million calves) So as you can see Disease killed far more than arrows and bullets.......45 million as your number killed would take us to about the third or fourth year in 70.......Simple math and don't believe the liberal history books. By the way Rob in VT my father and brother did a South Dakota bison hunt years ago. The rancher killed bison with a 22 mag. so not a lot needed for take down with proper bullet placement. They were allowed the heads to take home and meat cost so much a pound over and above the HUNT price.

Look, the bottom line is if it had not been for the white man slaughtering the Bison and the white man's cattle and the white man's farming and destroying the habitat of the American Bison there would still be millions of them instead of the pitiful numbers there are today. Great herds of Bison on the plains were incompatible with settling and so called civilizing the west, the Bison had to go because they were in the way and they were the major source of protein for the American Indian. The white man brought the disease with their cattle and the slaughter for their own devices, wealth and or freedom, to hurt the Indians, to further farming and other selfish reasons, no one has proved your point, your statement was simplistic and wrong and was not a point of any kind but an attempt to obscure the real reason and proximate cause for the the decimation of the American Bison and that was America's determination to move west and settle the west and they were not going to allow anyone or anything to stop the movement. .

You, Sir, have no idea what you are talking about and the more you type on this thread the more embarrassed you should feel because the facts are out there and they are not as you have posted!

He obviously missed Math and Biology classes in school that's for dang sure. And he obviously ignored American History!! Educating the foolish isn't within my job description tonight.

Wow, this thread took an unexpected turn.

Going back to the OP's post, haven't got a buff yet but it's on the bucket list. :biggrin:

It's on my list. Just for the experience. I know Bronko2200 has also gone on a buffalo hunt(s?) Maybe he'll chime in when he logs in next.
-Jake

Not really unexpected.....:biggrin:

common core teaching.lol.

lol. nope . folks will fight about most anything , most any opportunity they get.
I would agree that it was indeed the white man that wiped em out.
I would only add that while it was going on , the native americans were still killing their fair share also.

not implying anything negative in that statement. it just is what it is.
if the native americans , retained the status quo , in regards to buffler pops one can only conclude that adding whiteman to the mix must have contributed.
point is , as most I think, would agree growing human populations on the plains helped the decline.

I am not trying to argue that the whiteman didn't waste an awful lot. however I would add that the "revisionist history " saying native americans used every scrap and wasted nothing is also false. the natives would run entire herds of of cliffs and pack away only what they could carry.
again JUST STATING A FACT.not trying to imply anything negative. it was their way of life and they did what they had to do to survive.

what really happened to the buffler , is what happens to many species when an outside influence is introduced. they were unable to adapt to the added pressure, and they declined.
same can be said of the native americans, and one day, the same will be said of the entire human race.


life goes on but only for those able to adapt.

ONE COULD ALSO ARGUE ,that all that which we call wasted was really not wasted. nature , eventually reclaimed every scrap. again just another truth.

Yeah, TOP, it took me just a few seconds to understand this guy doesn't have a clue. Perhaps they taught a different type of history where he grew up. But hey what do I know? A large part of my family has only lived in bison country for a couple of thousand years.

I just finished reading (well, I did the audiobook, so I guess "listening") to Steven Rinella's "American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon". It's an AWESOME story about his hunt for a Buffalo near the Copper River in Alaska. Not only does it go into some pretty great detail about his hunt, it also covers the history of buffalo and buffalo hunting. Highly recommend it.

https://www.amazon.com/American-Buff...=rinella+bison

I got lucky and drew a NR Utah bull tag in 2004, but failed to fill it, mostly due to poor planning due to money drain unemployed ex-wife. That is not a hunt you want to do solo, even if you have a carcass extractor hired. The hunt is alli n locating the sparse herds in the Henry Mountains. Not easy for one guy on his own. I actually did get on one herd of 7 and stalked within range but foolishly passed a wide open shot on a ~5 year old bull gambling I'd get a shot at the boss. I got winded while waiting for him to get up. Oh well but it was a very cool hunt. Just wish I had my current awesome wife instead of the trailer trash ex. Whole different mindset.

I shot a small bull a few years ago, I was in Wyoming for an antelope hunt, was on a private ranch called Whispering Pines near Douglas. I think they charged me $1,000, I know the price has gone up considerably since then. It was about 800 lbs on the hoof, yielded about 200 lbs boned and trimmed. GREAT eating, since then I'm pretty much sold on grass-fed beef, also got to keep the hide and a nifty skull that I Euro mounted. I wouldn't really call it a hunt, but I'm glad I did it.

Uncle Nicky, here is a picture of my young bull skull.

I'll have to check out the Rinella book. I like his way of writing.

If I save just one guy from forfeiting his retirement, all his hard earned money, dreams, and worse of all children, due to a lazy worthless wife, it will be more than worth it.

bison hunt
 

Just harvested a cow bison on NER in Jackson. Wyoming has free range bison hunts on state tags. It is a hard hunt depending on conditions. 10 degree average temp with feet of snow to hunt through. Did it on our own with help from Tag and Drag after the harvest.

This post is no good without pictures. Congrats.

Here ya go Oldtimr. I took these from another site that Wytex visits!

Thanks Top. Nice Buffalo.

That's a cool pic in the snow. I also like the horseback riders in the background.