Bison Hunt

[hawk22]

I noticed on the modifying wensel woodsman heads thread that some of you guys have gone after these monsters.  Where did you guys go? I've been wanting to go out west and hunt something and this looks interesting. thanks guys

[fireman_3311]

From what I've read, some opt for a "Ranch hunt"...seems tags are harder to come by, in most cases. I killed one with the rifle last fall....by far the best eatin around!!!!!!

[Steve H.]

Bison tags are almost impossible to get or you can pay $9000 in BC for Fair-chase/free-range hunts.

MOST bison are slaughtered, not hunted even when they get posed as "trophies".

That said, there is a huge ranch in Colorado with FREE-RANGE bison that seems like it deserves a bit closer inspection and may afford an opportunity at a real hunt.  VERY affordable too for their cow hunts.  Do a search on "Stick and String Outfitters" to find some info.

[Basic Instinct]

there is a ranch in Ashwood Oregon that has some on it as well for hunting. Big ranch, It is fenced, but steep and they are really hard to lacate at times. Ranch has good cover on it. They have exotics as well.

[Terry Green]

Steve H is correct.  I shot a rouge buff that was going to be shot with a gun due to his bad disposition and walking thought a fence to head out across God's creation more than once, but I was allowed a chance to take it with my longbow.  I never have passed it off as a hunt, but more like grocery shopping in a hostile environment, but is sure was a testimony to the longbow....and it gets compounders attention when I show them the pic after they ask me the same o'l tired question...."can you really kill anything with that".

Barbed wire to a bison is like a briar patch to us....we might not want to walk through it, but it aint gonna stop us.  They all are free range really if they decide to be so, unless you build a wall around them.(ask Doug Campbell)  You aint gonna contain them with a fence if they decide to trample out into the wild blue yonder.

Some of these 'kills' are more of a hunt than others, as mine was suppose to be.  The buff I was going to shoot was going to be moved into an area with some boulders so I could stalk it....but when I got there the rut had kicked in, and that made the 'kill' a little more dangerous since the 2000# hear bull was a rutting...and it sure was an experience!!!

I wont ever pass if off as a hunt, but it sure was exciting....and like I said earlier, a sho-nuff testimony to the longbow.....and my my what a load of yummy meat that will last ya a couple of years.

[killinstuff]

Bison have always been "slaughtered" regardless if they are ranch animals or free ranging. They are not the smartest critter out there and that's why they were almost wiped from the face of the earth. I don't understand why a large ranch hunt is thought to be unsporting? Bison are not Elk and don't hide in the woods. They live in a open grassland and have always relied on the herd and their size for protection rather then running from a predator. They would still be acting the same way fence or no fence. What's the differance of killing a Bison on a 15,000 acre ranch or a Pronghorn or Mule Deer on the same ranch? A Bison hunt is what it is, a meat hunt number one. It's also a chance to take a very large animal something a deer only hunter will seldom if ever get a chance to do.  You also have the Bison hide that is second to none as far as a rug.

I PM'ed you Hawk22 on Alberta.

CJ

[hawk22]

Sorry for opening up a can of worms. I was just curious.

[Terry Green]

No can of worms....no worries.

[Jager]

I went to that ranch in Ashwood and walked up to the buffalo eating on a hay bale, I dont think there would be too much challenge in it. Although he did have some goats that I would like to go and hunt. Jumpy little creatures with cool horns.

[Basic Instinct]

Jager, I was there about 7 yrs ago. They were far from tame the ones I seen. I was not hunting them but they were very spooky. I did get to within shooting range several times. I ended up with A Desert Corsican ram.

[AkDan]

Bison are not Elk and don't hide in the woods

You need to take a look at Alaskas 3 woodland bison herds before you make this kind of statement.  And dumb?   Well at times I wonder about that one myself though I've yet to hunt them, I know many who have.

[Steve H.]

About a dozen years ago Dale Drilling who is an ex-traditionalist but had done so for many many years told me that when he drew and hunted bison in Utah's henry Mountains that it was probably the best hunt he had ever been on at that time.  He since has hunted much further and wider but he still had been to far more places that most ever will at that time in life.

Alaska's bison are Plains bison but there is a push to re-introduce the nat8ive wood bison species.

One of the best huters I know is an archer from Hawaii.  I suspect he kills 50-100 animals a year and lives on that meat.  He had a tag when he lived in Alaska so that alone tells me they ain't easy everywhere if he didn't kill one!

BTW, I suspect most farm bison aren't killed on 15,000 acres.

[John/Alaska]

Steve's right. Alaska's bison are of the plains clan. The herd I mainly chased down on the Copper when I did work for my SIL hides very well in the woods. It can be a tough herd to find due to the wide area that it travels and the cover it has to hide in. Those critters can scale the river bluffs better & faster then us two legged guys. They are very wary and take offense if you try and get close. Too bad I don't seem to have the mojo to draw a tag for them. Last time SIL took two hunters out they both scored and he took a moose that day. Talk about a lot of meat all at once! Glad I missed that trip.

[hunt it]

Wood Bison can be hunted in BC, Alberta and the Yukon in a free range situation. Plains Bison hunted in Utah - Henery Mountains and also an island in Utah see Utah regs along with Custer State Park in South Dakota and Alaska as far as free ranging and record books go. All others not considered free ranging. Utah and Dakota are draw situations, not sure about Alaska. Yukon will not allow any form of bow where as BC and Alberta permit bow. There are a few other situations out there like Wyoming where wild populations leave protected parkland and can be hunted. None of these permit archery that I am aware of. For Alberta check out Andrews Lake Lodge and Yukon see Mervyn Outfitting.

[Steve H.]

Alaska is by extremely low odds drawing.

Antelope Island in UT and SD are not recognized by P&Y.

[AkDan]

ok ok..they aint woodland bison for scientific sake......but the bison dont know that  

[Kevin Bahr]

The Antelope Island herd of bison in Utah are "wild", but are like "park" bison.  All the ones I saw had ear tags.  It is strictly a cull hunt.  Antelope Island is in the Great Salt Lake and is accessible by vehicle via a long causeway.  I believe they were planted there long ago.

[Rick McGowan]

Most people base their opinions on their own experience and never stop to think that there could be more to it. There are lots of options for shooting a bison, not so many for hunting them. I'm not making any judgement calls, I am just saying that don't judge the difficulty of hunting any species based on what you see on a farm or small acreage ranch. Most folks would not think shooting a milk cow on a a dairy farm as hunting, but I have hunted truly wild cattle and they are nearly impossible to take with a bow and very dangerous to hunt in thick cover.  Bison, even the plains variety do not spend all their time on the open plains and not only does that make it more difficult if they did, it would make it near impossible. Hunting animals in large herds also dosn't make it easier. When I guide for water buffalo, we intentionally avoid herds, it makes a tough stalk nearly impossible. The draws for free range bison in UT or AK are both extremely low odds. Neither is an easy hunt from what I have been told. I spent several years trying to get the Yukon F&G to legalize bowhunting for bison, but they just kept coming up with silly excuses on why it can't be done, supposedly they couldn't be killed with a muzzleloader either, but when a bignamed TV hunter wanted to hunt and film them, all of a sudden it was OK for him to do a "test" hunt! It isn't legal to import wood bison into the US however. What a shame, we used to have 35 million bison in N.A. and now its nearly impossible to go on a free range bowhunt for them.

[8th Dwarf]

If you want truly WILD, FREE ROAMING Bison, then start applying in Utah.  I drew a tag there on my first attempt, but that was a long time ago and there were two tags and five applicants.  I took a massive, old bull with a John Schulz longbow and compressed Lodge Pole Pine shafts that I built myself.  

The way you hunt them there is to STAY AWAY FROM THE HERDS and find single or double bull tracks in the sandy soil.  You follow until you see droppings.  If they are fairly fresh, take off on the tracks.  Be prepared to cover MILES and MILES and know that you are hunting a single, smart, OLD animal that is probably as smart as an old Whitetail buck.  They do a J when they are ready to bed and they watch their back trail.

I tracked mine into his bed, got the wind in my face and shot him at 18 yards when he finally stood up.  Unreal!!!!!

Utah has a lot of applicants now, but does have a preference system.  Put in for the Henry Mountains.  About 2,000,000 acres of the most magnificent mountain/desert country I have ever seen!!!!

If it weren't a once-in-a-lifetime tag, I would keep putting in until I am dead!

Too Short

[Rick McGowan]

I have a bunch of points for Utah, however I won't be sending them anymore money. They now require you to buy a license to even apply, so Its $75 to get that point. You do in theory have a chance of being drawn, but its way under a 1% chance. If I remember right, in 2006 a nr's odds of being drawn for a Henry Mt. hunters choice(bull) tag was 1 in 550.