Stances on Bison?

[Hammsolo]

What are your stances on bison? I won’t share mine or add details. I’m curious. I’ve just been enjoying Backcountry Journal, and a dream of mine is hunting wild bison.

 

[MTLabrador]

I like eating them.

 

[mtmiller]

Shooting them or hooking them?

 

[JLS]

Shooting them or hooking them?

Snap it!

 

[Hammsolo]

Delicious! Imagine hooking into a 1 ton hairy lunker!

 

[Trigger50]

Love em...but their nomadic lifestyle doesn't fit into the modern landscape. Plus ranchers have alot of political power and they dont like bison.

 

[MTLabrador]

A friend of mine killed a cow on the elk refuge a few years ago. That was the best wild game I’ve had. Seems like we ate it every day and barely made a dent in the freezer.

 

[geetar]

Would love to shoot one but mainly for the meat and the novel idea of it that I have held since childhood of wanting to shoot one someday. I don’t think it would be as much of a challenge as say hunting elk, moose, sheep ect but I could be wrong.

 

[Panda Bear]

They provide more meat than caribou and the taste is better, but they are not a hard hunt.

Would love to shoot one but mainly for the meat and the novel idea of it that I have held since childhood of wanting to shoot one someday. I don’t think it would be as much of a challenge as say hunting elk, moose, sheep ect but I could be wrong.

In my experience you are correct, they are not a difficult hunt, much like the Muskox.

p.s. I am sure everyone knows, but our "Bison" are "Wood" Bison. They are a bit heavier and taller but basically the same as the "Plains" Bison.

 

[geetar]

They provide more meat than caribou and the taste is better, but they are not a hard hunt.



In my experience you are correct, they are not a difficult hunt, much like the Muskox.

p.s. I am sure everyone knows, but our "Bison" are "Wood" Bison. They are a bit heavier and taller but basically the same as the "Plains" Bison.

Thanks for the reply. That’s about what I had figured. Still more exciting that walking into a super market but yea it would be about the meat and the history involved in bison hunting for me.

 

[Schaaf]

They deserve to have more space to roam than they are given now. Like other big game animals, most of their original habitat range is too far gone but there are places they can still live on public land without issues.

 

[wytex]

I don't know where you all are hunting them because my last cow hunt was not an easy hunt. 3 days of post holing through thigh deep snow in well below zero temps. I did not get to just walk up to one and shoot it, either time. They were both hunts, I have taken 2 cow bison from the refuge in Wyoming, actually first was not on the NER no hunting was allowed there yet.
The meat is great !

 

[Straight Arrow]

... their nomadic lifestyle doesn't fit into the modern landscape.

Not true. The Flying D Ranch and other large bison ranges (landscapes) in Montana and elsewhere attest to the fact that nomadic bison can be easily managed to roam as nomads with no adverse effects.

Some ranchers (esp those neighbors of bison operations) have absolutely no problem with bison. Other ranchers and folks with ideologically derived paranoia do oppose bison, but not for valid rationale.

 

[Straight Arrow]

"Other ranchers and folks with ideologically derived paranoia do oppose bison, but not for valid rationale."

 

[Ben Lamb]

Bison in MT are not going to happen anytime soon. Now there are a suite of laws that have to change as well as eliminating the political management of bison through county commissions (elk next?)

Other states will offer limited bison hunting long before MT. Tribal conservation efforts remain at the vanguard of this issue. If you want to hunt bison, I'd check with tribes before states.

 

[buffybr]

I shot my buffalo on the Flying D Ranch. The nostalgia in me led me to use my .54 Caliber Hawken rifle with a 435 grain lead Maxi Hunter bullet.

When I had him processed I told them to cut the backstraps and loins into 1 pound roasts and grind everything else into burger. I got 495 pounds of burger and another box of steaks/roasts. The burger was great, but when we cooked the first roast the flavor was great, but the meat was TOUGH! So I thawed all of the roasts and ground them into burger.

His shoulder mount is a great addition to my trophy room, and I look at him eye to eye every time I go out of my house.

 

[Panda Bear]

I don't know where you all are hunting them because my last cow hunt was not an easy hunt. 3 days of post holing through thigh deep snow in well below zero temps. I did not get to just walk up to one and shoot it, either time. They were both hunts, I have taken 2 cow bison from the refuge in Wyoming, actually first was not on the NER no hunting was allowed there yet.
The meat is great !

The Territories in Canada

Not true. The Flying D Ranch and other large bison ranges (landscapes) in Montana and elsewhere attest to the fact that nomadic bison can be easily managed to roam as nomads with no adverse effects.

Some ranchers (esp those neighbors of bison operations) have absolutely no problem with bison. Other ranchers and folks with ideologically derived paranoia do oppose bison, but not for valid rationale.

This has been our experience as well. The herds in our area have continued to grow . Our herds are free range herds however. None are on a ranch.

 

[Hammsolo]

Love em...but their nomadic lifestyle doesn't fit into the modern landscape. Plus ranchers have alot of political power and they dont like bison.

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?

 

[Hammsolo]

Would love to shoot one but mainly for the meat and the novel idea of it that I have held since childhood of wanting to shoot one someday. I don’t think it would be as much of a challenge as say hunting elk, moose, sheep ect but I could be wrong.

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

 

[geetar]

I shot my buffalo on the Flying D Ranch. The nostalgia in me led me to use my .54 Caliber Hawken rifle with a 435 grain lead Maxi Hunter bullet.

When I had him processed I told them to cut the backstraps and loins into 1 pound roasts and grind everything else into burger. I got 495 pounds of burger and another box of steaks/roasts. The burger was great, but when we cooked the first roast the flavor was great, but the meat was TOUGH! So I thawed all of the roasts and ground them into burger.

His shoulder mount is a great addition to my trophy room, and I look at him eye to eye every time I go out of my house.

Love it! It would be a nostalgic caliber that I would want to use myself if I got a tag. Probably something in a Sharps Rifle.