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Buffalo/Bison
- Thread starter horkeye
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Yes,.... Alaska has a Bison season and permits are by "drawing". Montana also allowed Bison to be hunted, but I'm not familiar with how the "hunt" was set up.
Ther are also privite ranchs in Wyoming thet offers Bison hunts.
YMHS
rollingb
Ther are also privite ranchs in Wyoming thet offers Bison hunts.
YMHS
rollingb
lehigh_county,
why do you ask??? are you thinkin
of coman up to get one???? mite be cheaper to
contact ted turner and have him ship you one. he is
kinda the king of buffalo/bison up here. he owns
food joints and that is their specialilty. he owns
huge pieces of property in our western states and also
in South America from what i understand.
snake-eyes
eace: :redthumb:
why do you ask??? are you thinkin
of coman up to get one???? mite be cheaper to
contact ted turner and have him ship you one. he is
kinda the king of buffalo/bison up here. he owns
food joints and that is their specialilty. he owns
huge pieces of property in our western states and also
in South America from what i understand.
snake-eyes
eace: :redthumb: bigbore442001
50 Cal.
There are a number of states that I can think of that have wild bison herds with limited hunting opportunities. Utah and Wyoming come to mind. The big thing is drawing the permit. You have to apply for the permit and it goes into a lottery. So, like playing the lottery, if your number is picked you're a winner. The odds are dependent on how many permits as well as how many apply.
Most of the bison in the US are privately owned. There are many private ranches all over our nation that offer hunts. Some hunts are what you could call "canned" , in other words not a challenge. Other hunts have more of a challenge to it. As an example, I hunted on a preserve for Russian boar and the owner had a couple of bison. They sort of stood there looking at us. It wouldn't have been all that difficult to sort of walk within range and drop the hammer on them. What really turned me off was that the two had bright yellow ear tags. It was a huge turn off to me. Some places have a tag just like a brand of cattle. Others have none. Something that you have to check into.
I have looked into a bison hunt myself and I have obtained the opinions from many. The hunts range in challenge or difficulty from very easy( like shooting a milk cow) to a challenge where the one animal you wanted was a pain to get to. You would have to ask how big of a piece of property is the hunt on. A small area would sort of pu that in the canned hunt. With large acreage, they would move around more. Many have stated that the hunt is more of a meat hunt. You're hunting not so much for a trophy as you are for a lot of fine eating meat. In addition,I have noticed that the prices for the hunts can vary.Some places charge around 1000 dollars or less for managemnet bulls, cows or yearlings. Others want 3-4000 or more for a bonafide trophy bull hunt.
I would say that if you were to hunt one with a muzzleloader, the added challenge would make it more memorable. If you were to shoot one with something like a scoped 30-06, then it wouldn't be so hard. I believe anothr factor is this hunt is that the bison is such a large animal that it fears little. When you are the size of a truck, who is going to bother you? As an example, when I was in South Dakota I was looking at a herd of wild bison at Wind Cave National Park. They kind of do what they want and there are signs warning people to beware of them. It seems that each year, some fool will get gored because they wanted that better picture. I spoke with someone who had a friend hit one with a Chevy Suburban vehicle( they're big) The rig was totally destroyed and the big bull bison trotted off as if nothing happened. Something to keep in mind.
I am not an expert on this subject. I too have contemplated hunting bison and I would like to as my next big game hunt. so I did a little research and this is what I know. I hope that this has shed some light on the subject.
Most of the bison in the US are privately owned. There are many private ranches all over our nation that offer hunts. Some hunts are what you could call "canned" , in other words not a challenge. Other hunts have more of a challenge to it. As an example, I hunted on a preserve for Russian boar and the owner had a couple of bison. They sort of stood there looking at us. It wouldn't have been all that difficult to sort of walk within range and drop the hammer on them. What really turned me off was that the two had bright yellow ear tags. It was a huge turn off to me. Some places have a tag just like a brand of cattle. Others have none. Something that you have to check into.
I have looked into a bison hunt myself and I have obtained the opinions from many. The hunts range in challenge or difficulty from very easy( like shooting a milk cow) to a challenge where the one animal you wanted was a pain to get to. You would have to ask how big of a piece of property is the hunt on. A small area would sort of pu that in the canned hunt. With large acreage, they would move around more. Many have stated that the hunt is more of a meat hunt. You're hunting not so much for a trophy as you are for a lot of fine eating meat. In addition,I have noticed that the prices for the hunts can vary.Some places charge around 1000 dollars or less for managemnet bulls, cows or yearlings. Others want 3-4000 or more for a bonafide trophy bull hunt.
I would say that if you were to hunt one with a muzzleloader, the added challenge would make it more memorable. If you were to shoot one with something like a scoped 30-06, then it wouldn't be so hard. I believe anothr factor is this hunt is that the bison is such a large animal that it fears little. When you are the size of a truck, who is going to bother you? As an example, when I was in South Dakota I was looking at a herd of wild bison at Wind Cave National Park. They kind of do what they want and there are signs warning people to beware of them. It seems that each year, some fool will get gored because they wanted that better picture. I spoke with someone who had a friend hit one with a Chevy Suburban vehicle( they're big) The rig was totally destroyed and the big bull bison trotted off as if nothing happened. Something to keep in mind.
I am not an expert on this subject. I too have contemplated hunting bison and I would like to as my next big game hunt. so I did a little research and this is what I know. I hope that this has shed some light on the subject.
There are a number of private land outfits that do bison hunting in Kansas. It'll set you back about 4 grand to drop the hammer on one. I might suggest that you see if any local dairy farmers have a cow that needs culled. The hunting challenge is about the same. ::
Thanks for the replies, especially bigbore442001; I am now enlightened! It doesn't sound too much of a challenge, except for the $3-4K! At this stage I have no intention of coming to the US to "hunt" for buff, unless you all want to take a collection for me, you know, air fares, accomodation etc, etc :crackup: as I can't really afford it :cry:.
Jim.
:thumbsup:
Jim.
:thumbsup:
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Kodiak Cattle Company (907-486-3705) on Kodiak Island has a limited number of hunts each year. Rugged country, wild and spooky lone bulls away from the herds, everything on horseback. Bill, Cathy and Buck Burton have one of the purtiest ranches in the world, and a hunt there will be the experience of a lifetime. Add in a Sitka blacktail deer hunt, and it's enough to make you start saving your money.
This article was just published recently. He didn't use a front stuffer but at least it burns black powder. http://www.riflemagazine.com/magazine/article.cfm?magid=103&tocid=1498
I've read in the days before the buffalo slaughter that it wasn't regarded as an especially difficult thing to hunt buffalo, except for running them. That was more dangerous than requiring any great skill.
As someone mentioned they are BIG. Thay don't fear much of anything, because not much wants to go do battle with one. I saw quite a few in Yellowstone. I recall being very close to one while in my Chevy Blazer and thinking that he is almost as big as my truck. That wasn't even one of the real big bulls either. If that animal had taken a dislike to my red truck I would've been in trouble. Suddenly it seemed I was way to close.
I've read in the days before the buffalo slaughter that it wasn't regarded as an especially difficult thing to hunt buffalo, except for running them. That was more dangerous than requiring any great skill.
As someone mentioned they are BIG. Thay don't fear much of anything, because not much wants to go do battle with one. I saw quite a few in Yellowstone. I recall being very close to one while in my Chevy Blazer and thinking that he is almost as big as my truck. That wasn't even one of the real big bulls either. If that animal had taken a dislike to my red truck I would've been in trouble. Suddenly it seemed I was way to close.
flaming canvas
45 Cal.
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lehigh_county,
why do you ask??? are you thinkin
of coman up to get one???? mite be cheaper to
contact ted turner and have him ship you one. he is
kinda the king of buffalo/bison up here. he owns
food joints and that is their specialilty. he owns
huge pieces of property in our western states and also
in South America from what i understand.
snake-eyes
He also has some close to Elephant Butte reservoir in New Mexico. I think the price was $600 for a friend of mine that went and shot one.
BigBore,
Your post reminds me of a story I don't tell a lot anymore 'cause of the looks I get. About 10 years ago, my brother & I got into the late ML deer season in PA. Rules were flint and PRB only - we both had .50 hawkens. Snowed about 8" that night so we could not drive into our hunting spot as far as usual - trees all bowed over the road with snow. So, 1st light, we got out and walked an old railbed (tracks long gone)a mile or so deep in the woods. We were seeing tracks in the snow bigger that we'd ever seen. We rounded a curve in the bed and I stopped and turned to my brother to see if he saw what I thought I was looking at. Up ahead, in the middle of the railbed stood 2 bison, looking at us. In a moment, they turned and galloped away out of site. We were a couple of curious PA boys, so we followed to get another look at what shouldn't have been within 2000 miles of us. A curve or two later, there they were again, curious about us as well. We were looking through our binoculars to get a closer look when I noticed that one of them began to paw the snow with one of his front feet. My brother must have noticed the same gesture and to this day, I don't know who started running first me or him or one of those bulls. For a few minutes we were all running and I began to really hope to see my truck around the bend before that noise behind us got any louder. Well, a few seconds later, the pounding behind us stopped and we celebrated the fact that the young bulls lost interest in us.
Turns out that a local farmer decided to raise bison to take advantage of premium meat prices. He got rid of his cows and had a dozen bison delivered just a few days before the snow storm. He thought his cow fences would work equally well on bison, so he left them in place. Seems the snow storm got the bison all worked up and they steamrolled the fence and got out in the woods for the day.
To this day I wonder how well a .50 cal PRB would work on a charging bison assuming I could have held it steady enough after that little sprint, if I had to.
Bison hunting in PA - who'd ever believe that?
Finnwolf
Your post reminds me of a story I don't tell a lot anymore 'cause of the looks I get. About 10 years ago, my brother & I got into the late ML deer season in PA. Rules were flint and PRB only - we both had .50 hawkens. Snowed about 8" that night so we could not drive into our hunting spot as far as usual - trees all bowed over the road with snow. So, 1st light, we got out and walked an old railbed (tracks long gone)a mile or so deep in the woods. We were seeing tracks in the snow bigger that we'd ever seen. We rounded a curve in the bed and I stopped and turned to my brother to see if he saw what I thought I was looking at. Up ahead, in the middle of the railbed stood 2 bison, looking at us. In a moment, they turned and galloped away out of site. We were a couple of curious PA boys, so we followed to get another look at what shouldn't have been within 2000 miles of us. A curve or two later, there they were again, curious about us as well. We were looking through our binoculars to get a closer look when I noticed that one of them began to paw the snow with one of his front feet. My brother must have noticed the same gesture and to this day, I don't know who started running first me or him or one of those bulls. For a few minutes we were all running and I began to really hope to see my truck around the bend before that noise behind us got any louder. Well, a few seconds later, the pounding behind us stopped and we celebrated the fact that the young bulls lost interest in us.
Turns out that a local farmer decided to raise bison to take advantage of premium meat prices. He got rid of his cows and had a dozen bison delivered just a few days before the snow storm. He thought his cow fences would work equally well on bison, so he left them in place. Seems the snow storm got the bison all worked up and they steamrolled the fence and got out in the woods for the day.
To this day I wonder how well a .50 cal PRB would work on a charging bison assuming I could have held it steady enough after that little sprint, if I had to.
Bison hunting in PA - who'd ever believe that?
Finnwolf
There are quite a number of bison herds here in Michigan (privately owned, of course). Some of the larger grocery stores raise them to sell in northern lower penninsula. With all of the fenced "hunting ranches" that are springing up, and all the "exotic" animals they are raising for wealthy hunters, it wouldn't surprise me if bison became a popular choice. :imo:
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I haven't shot one myself, but have watched half a dozen hit with everything a 30-06 to a 348 Winchester and a 375 H&H, and whichever 300 magnums. All of them dropped and died pretty easy, but it took a few seconds for all but one to show any sign of a hit. The one with the 06 was the only one to go down right away. Doesn't prove a thing about caliber, but when you're in rough country you really would rather not let them run off and fall into a hole. I'd take the lung shot for sure, if the heart shot is likely to send them charging off somewhere, even 50 yards. We worked half a day trying to drag one up out of a narrow ravine about 6 feet deep that fell in head first and wedged tail up. The horses couldn't budge it, so I finally went back and brought my Bronco crosscountry and chained off to the hind legs. Popped out of there like a cork out of a wine bottle.
I've heard about that particular Alaskan Island hunt and that the challenge is pretty good. I was supposed to go to some island off of California with Val Forgett on a bison hunt but it fell through... always disappointed that we didn't do that. J&R Outfitters in Florida do some Indian River Buffalo hunts. I went on one with Doc White and it was challenging and fun. But we all have our goals. Here's some blok from Aussie-land wanting to come here for bison and I'd LOVE to go over there for a North Australia water buffalo hunt. Go Figgur!
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