Can one (or more) of us get in on this?

[Sean Gadhar]

Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the National Park Service (NPS) has prepared an Initial Bison Herd Reduction Environmental Assessment (EA) which evaluated management actions that would reduce the House Rock bison herd located on Grand Canyon National Park's North Rim over the next three to five years. A Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) selecting the action alternative has been signed authorizing the Park.

Under the action alternative, the herd, which is approximately 400 to 600 animals, will be reduced over the next three to fewer than 200 utilizing lethal culling by skilled volunteers and non-lethal capture and transfer to cooperating agencies and tribes.

https://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectHome.cfm?projectID=49574

I'm thinking We see if a few of us can go as a group, try to take a buff with BP & round ball then (so far as parks service will allow it) Try to process it in traditional ways.

Who would be willing?? It's wild Buffalo Boys!! Ah Heap of fat meat. Sounds like shining times to me. And we may well Never get this chance again

What do ya say?


Post script: Herb? You reading this? I'd give a good bottle of Irish to see you shoot an honest wild Buffalo with that copy of Jim Bridger's Rifle you made, I surely would.

 

[cynthialee]

That sounds so cool.
If you manage to make this happen you have to get some video.

Bison is so yummy.

Processing a big bull would be a hell of a lot of work for a few guys.

I do hope that someone gets to hunt one with a muzzleloader.

 

[Sean Gadhar]

There is a short list in my head of people Id rather had the chance then me, almost all of them are on this Forum (like myself), Hunt with BP & a round ball (like myself) and reenact ( :redface: Where I fall short) I'd be mighty proud to be 2nd assistant Skinner and bottle washer for a Traditional Buffalo hunt.

 

[jrmflintlock]

I think it's a great idea. I'm curious how the State who technically manages big game will do its part to charge an arm and a leg for such a unique opportunity!

Definey keep me posted on how things develop!!

 

[azmntman]

Well I live here and have read alot about it. # 1 you have to shoot 5 shots (not 6) and all must hit in a 5" circle at 200 yards. I see a few of us cut here. Even at the "ranch" they make ya shoot at 100 yds prior to going out, if you cant hit the bullseye they shoot yer buff (pop did it standing with his .58 :shocked2: ) Next the hunt is expected to be in snow conditions at 8K feet (it can really SNOW up there) with a 60 lb pack on foot in the wilderness (wilderness is a funny word, up there you can get lost going to pee, GPS is iffy and cell phones are just extra weight in most areas). Next you will not get any of the hide or head (or horns), tribes get em.

I am still thinking but OMG its a lot of work. I have a e-mail out asking about retrieval. If they allow (or provide) ATV for retrieval its a go. I cringe at the 6-8 trips back and forth to the truck with the meat on a pack board in the snow in the wilderness etc etc. (I'm older and more of a winnie now tho)

Now we must shoot every day for many months and get the 200 yd target down! :idunno:

 

[cynthialee]

The paper patch conical shooting boys can make that 200 yard grade.

 

[Sean Gadhar]

At 52 that 5 inch target has gotten mighty small at 200 yards with iron sights.

:hmm: I wonder what part of the buffalo the Parks service thinks 5" represents? I've held a buffalo hart and 5" ain't in it. In fact I can only think of one part of, well, some buffalo that's round and about 5 inches across but if you shoot a bull buffalo there He's going to be pretty darn angry. :rotf:

 

[jrmflintlock]

:shocked2:

:rotf: :rotf:

I wonder if we (someone) could do a documentary of how it was done in the old days! It would be good PR and a hoot to do!

That might get us past the silly requirements/restrictions.

 

[azmntman]

The paper patch conical shooting boys can make that 200 yard grade.

Like I said "a few of us" are culled here (dat'd be ME :shocked2: )

 

[azmntman]

At 52 that 5 inch target has gotten mighty small at 200 yards with iron sights.

"what 5" target? I dont see no 5" target" :shake:

 

[azmntman]

:shocked2:

:rotf: :rotf:

I wonder if we (someone) could do a documentary of how it was done in the old days! It would be good PR and a hoot to do!

That might get us past the silly requirements/restrictions.

Too busy (for a change) to fight the govment. If any of ya'all can get a go I can hit a 5" target at 100 yds 4-5 times tho and would be in (still subject to reasonableness in retrieval). Hiking, pack and snow not too big a deal. A dead 2000lb carcass 2 miles from de truck is a different deal

 

[Patocazador]

It will be a hard sell to convince the Feds (Parks Service especially) to allow muzzleloaders, bows or any other primitive weapon to do a culling operation. They want the bison dead right there, right now!

They usually hire professionals who use night vision scopes and do it after dark. They are not trying to give people a hunt; they want a kill as quietly and secretively as possible so as not to upset their core anti-hunting base.

 

[ddoyle]

snow not too big a deal. A dead 2000lb carcass 2 miles from de truck is a different deal

Snow is your friend! That 2000lbs is alot more manegable if ya got an old vw bug hood or a proper skimmer sled. Plus your not in a rush. It is cold. Be a nice way to spend some days. Just gotta get it reduced to freezer size hunks before it freezes.

Re the Bison with PRB. I knew a fellow up north who went by "cush". He told a tale of how following an disagreement between an outfitter/ rancher and the gov. regarding ownership of a herd a great number of bison were culled. Cush killed alot of them with a PRB in a smooth bore .58 (or maybe a .54) that said, he was a real old school guide and mountain man and could do cleanly what many would turn into a tragedy.

Bison ranchers that I know, when it comes time to kill a bison for meat use an awful lot of gun and shoot from the roof of very large tractors. Not a critter that you want to make a mistake around.

 

[azmntman]

15-20 years ago I had a buddy that was deer hunting up there and a mean ol bull buff chased em hard. They ran into thick aspens but he was knocking down slowly and gettin close so BAM. Called game n fish who responded, looked over the scene told him where they has seen a huge mulie on the way in and G&F dealt with the bull and buddy and his son dragged out a 34" mulie!

Contrary to what many say G&F (at least here) are very easy going. My wife had a deer tag and we found a paralyzed spike elk caught in a fence and G& F came out and shot him and LOADED him in our truck for us with a salvage tag. Now one dont often get a G&F officer to load a dead elk in yer truck in deer season!

 

[jrmflintlock]

I agree! Like most Government agencies, its not the guys on the ground who are the problem, its the Yahoo's in the city office who make ridiculous rules that the poor ground pounders have to enforce.

My long time Hunting Partner used to be a Game warden and he and most of the guys that he worked along side of were some of the best guys I have known! Always willing to help no matter the situation!

Just like any group of folks there is always one or two who give the rest a bad name.

:v

 

[Herb]

Hey, Sean! Nice of you to think of me. I'd have to have a gun bearer and cross sticks to shoot over. Don't have the muscle anymore to shoot a 10 3/4 pound rifle off-hand. Just killed a 15" antelope buck with a 7 pound 10 ounce .50 fullstock caplock "Hawken" I built. (you remember I can't shoot a flintlock well off-hand). Gave my good friend a quart of Bird Dog Blackberry flavored whiskey for his help in driving me to the desert and loading it and a quart of Pendleton whiskey to another friend for helping cut and package it. I've been around bison in my work in refuges, and seen culling in North Dakota and the National Bison Range in Montana. I certainly would never shoot one at 200 yards, but a five-inch group at that range is do-able with good light, no wind and a rest. I always enjoy your posts.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

I agree the public would not permit the feds to be any other way than instant kill. Probably be a mountain of folks against the hunting anyway.

 

[James Stella]

I thought your idea was great, so I did a little checking into this. Arizona Game and Fish proposed to make this an actual hunt where they issued tags. That would have been great. It would have also generated money. A bull Bison tag in Az is over $5000. The Parks Department said no. They are going to do it Feb. to March when that portion of the park is closed. They are going to have one shooter, a park employee and hopefully a few skinners. They are going to use snowmobiles with sled to get the meat out. The other problem for us is the Parks Dep. said the shooter have to use Non-Lead projectiles. Hunting is getting way to political.

 

[azmntman]

Condors apparently love to eat lead? :youcrazy: ALL hunts up there require non lead (forgot that part). When it first become a done deal G&F was sending hunter who drew tags up there a voucher for 2 boxes of copper ammo in their choice of caliber. Didn't offer round balls or maxi's though?