where to hunt Buffalo?

[bbassi]

If someone wanted to plan a fair chase, wild buffalo hunt without having to hunt a private ranch herd, where would that be? I assume any public land hunts would require a lottery drawing.

[mmgrode]

I'm assuming you mean American Bison and not the Cape Buffalo or Asiatic water buffalo. I think Utah is one of the only ones to draw for bison(pretty low odds), but look forward to someone who knows for sure to chime in.

[wapitimike1]

Kiabab in Arizona is the only free range in the lower 48 I know of. Its not cheep, tags almost $5000.00 and takes about 15 years to get. There's also a place in I think Alberta or BC Canada that's free range to. Then there's Alaska not sure about that tag though. I was thinking about the Alaska route myself.

[IB]

You can draw a WY. tag to hunt the Refuge in Jackson. I think it's what would be called a Cull hunt.....

[steadman]

Utah on the Henries is free range also the Kaibab as mentioned before, there is a herd in Alaska, and one in the Pink Mtns of B.C.
Those are the only free range I believe. The tags are expensive or very hard to draw. Let me know if I can help you with the Ut draw process.
Good luck, Steadman

[Walt Francis]

Montana has a season for the Northern Yellowstone herd.  I can't say for sure, but I believe it is for residents only and a gun only season.  Lack of a bow season is the reason I haven't applied, just purchase the preference points for when it becomes legal to use a bow.

[killinstuff]

Alberta Canada for Wood Bison. They are bigger then the Plains Buffalo and live in wooded areas prefect for stalking. Getting a tag is easy but most live on a wildlife refuge (not a game ranch) and can be hunted only if they range outside the boundery. Most guide services I've talked to don't guide for just bison but will add it to your moose or bear hunt as and extra animal ($5000, this past springs price). I would have no idea what to do with all that meat if I was to shoot a moose and a bison on the same hunt so if you go, you had better have plans for getting heads, hides and meat home. One other thing, I have never heard of anyone taking a wood bison with a longbow or recurve though I'm sure someome must have. It would make an interesting story.

CJ

[Rick McGowan]

Its a very dim picture, I have been trying to do this myself for many years with ZERO progress. You can apply for Utah, Arizona and Alaska, but the odds are EXTREMELY low and AZ and UT now will force you to buy a licence before you can even apply. There are free range wood bison in the Yukon, but they apparently do not like bowhunters, I worked with the wildlife folks up there for several years and they just making silly excuses for not allowing bowhunters, also you CANNOT import the wood bison from Canada into the US. The "wood" bison in the Wood Bison Park in the NE corner of Alberta are not purebred wood bison, they released plains bison in there at some point, so they may be able to be imported and there are hunts there for the ones that wander out of the park. They generally hunt them in the winter by patroling just outside of the park boundary on snow machines. Last I heard, no licence is required, since they are not considered wildlife. You can book a hunt in the Pink Mountains of BC, but you can count on the hunt costing you $8000 or more.

[Steve H.]

The base price is $9000 now RicMic.  Heard there were extra tags this year and excessive # hunters reducing the quality experience.

Alaska tages vary from half a percent to a couple percent draw odds and you need to buy the $85 license first.