Stances on Bison?

[geetar]

Wild Buffalo that experience hunting pressure with a bow? That would be awesome!

I haven’t bow hunted in several years so it doesn’t pop up in my mind as quickly these days but you have a point. A man could make it more challenging that way.

 

[Wildabeest]

Don’t we have other nomads? Mule deer and elk? They may migrate hundreds of miles. White tails aren’t, and live in amazingly small areas. I don’t understand why they aren’t treated more like elk. Elk knock down fences sometimes. Elk will forage on ranches. Elk can carry brucellosis. I think you’re right about the political power. Humans are terrified of change and the unknown.

Why can’t we let them semi-naturally spread, or not, and manage them like we do with many other critters?

Deer and elk can jump fences. Bison can’t. Makes it tough for them to be nomadic when much of their existing range is covered over with fences.

 

[TheTone]

Not even recognized as wildlife in Idaho. Any that wander out of Yellowstone are basically shot on sight by dept of at. It’s silly and ridiculous

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

I call them buffalo. I think it would be great if they were reintroduced to much of their historic range. Would love to hunt one someday. Apparently the G&F doesn't want to draw my number, haha.

 

[Hammsolo]

Deer and elk can jump fences. Bison can’t. Makes it tough for them to be nomadic when much of their existing range is covered over with fences.

Good point. Elk are notorious for mowing them down though. I believe where there’s a will there’s a way, even when the way is challenging.

 

[Foxtrot1]

I think bison are one of the biggest failures of North American conservation. Greed and lobbyists have limited their recovery. There are viable areas that can support them. The massive herds of the past are gone, but we have room for more than the handful of free ranging herds that we have

 

[Panda Bear]

I haven’t bow hunted in several years so it doesn’t pop up in my mind as quickly these days but you have a point. A man could make it more challenging that way.

maybe while riding a horse bareback

Deer and elk can jump fences. Bison can’t. Makes it tough for them to be nomadic when much of their existing range is covered over with fences.

they dont have any fences to contend with here. watching wolf packs attempt to bring down a calf usually ends badly for the wolf. But we do watch for over grazing that would hurt caribou numbers. This is done, if necessary, by increasing harvesting numbers of the bison each year. In the last twenty years Bison numbers have increased and Caribou numbers have decreased, but the decrease in the Caribou numbers is not because of the small increase in the Bison numbers, or the Wolf.

Foxtrot1, we feel the same way about the Caribou herds. They have tried to pin the decreases on the wolf, but it is the lumber, mineral and oil companies disrupting the land that has created the problem --In my humble opinion !

I probably should add that my response to Foxtrot1 is not shared by all Canadians, but it is shared by many. The main argument is "man's needs must come before the animals needs" ( lumber, oil, gas, etc ) . I am not smart enough to have the answer, but since I live on the land they are mining and logging, I am against it.

 

[TheBenHoyle]

I would love to do a bison hunt one day. Love the animal and I wish they were more prevalent on the landscape. I live in Illinois where there used to be millions of acres of prairie with bison roaming on it. Won't see that change in my lifetime.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Bison can jump fences fairly easily.

 

[mtmuley]

Bison can jump fences fairly easily.

That will make it easier for them to expand their range. mtmuley

 

[MarvB]

Even an occasional stock gate...

 

[Straight Arrow]

Bison can jump fences fairly easily.

That will make it easier for them to expand their range. mtmuley

Depends on the fence. But where there are significant numbers of bison and established bison landscapes ... it just is NOT happening.
Anecdotal scary stories of a bison jumping a fence or over a gate don't really establish a valid reason for the rationale of paranoia. The factual information and the reality easily refute the ideologically driven anti bison assertions and hollow conjectures.

 

[mtmuley]

Depends on the fence. But where there are significant numbers of bison and established bison landscapes ... it just is NOT happening.
Anecdotal scary stories of a bison jumping a fence or over a gate don't really establish a valid reason for the rationale of paranoia. The factual information and the reality easily refute the ideologically driven anti bison assertions and hollow conjectures.

I'm not paranoid. mtmuley

 

[Straight Arrow]

I'm not paranoid. mtmuley

'Fooled me ... but I'm easy.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

Who cares if they jump a fence?

 

[Ben Lamb]

Depends on the fence. But where there are significant numbers of bison and established bison landscapes ... it just is NOT happening.
Anecdotal scary stories of a bison jumping a fence or over a gate don't really establish a valid reason for the rationale of paranoia. The factual information and the reality easily refute the ideologically driven anti bison assertions and hollow conjectures.

Yes, I understand that. I was just responding to the thought that bison can't jump a fence.

 

[mtmuley]

Who cares if they jump a fence?

The guy on the other side of the fence. mtmuley

 

[Hammsolo]

'Fooled me ... but I'm easy.

That’s what she said…

 

[diamond hitch]

Graduated from a reservation school. Bison was what was for lunch every day of school. I prefer it over beef.

Through the 60s there was a small herd of bison in the mission valley. They destroyed fences between St Ignatious and Polson. It takes some differant fencing to keep them acceptable. Stories were that loading bison in rail cars required heavy planking in the walls or they just ran out the other side.

While working on the Ft Hall rez in Idaho the tribe said their original bison hunts were with archery. They indicated that they went to rifles after observing bison pin cushions. Just saying!

I like eating a young cow but don't think I would buy a license for a bison season. Just not high on my interest list. Maybe its time to start some herds in the big cities. They would provide food for the homeless and give them something to shoot besides each other.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I call them buffalo. I think it would be great if they were reintroduced to much of their historic range. Would love to hunt one someday. Apparently the G&F doesn't want to draw my number, haha.

Funny how we pick and choose which animals we would like to see re-introduced into their historic range. There is no way bison could ever return to their historic range with all the highways, fences and most of all people.
Do you fee the same way about wolves and grizzly bears?