Is it possible to hunt a free ranging, spot and stalk buffalo that would qualify for Boone & Crockett?

I am not interesred in a ranch where they are not wild and would be like shooting an Angus cow out of the pasture.

Thanks

Yes! I am a bison addict and, if you do a search on this site, you will find many past discussions relating to this topic. Basically, if you are willing to wait to draw (possibly decades) start putting in IMMEDIATELY for the Henry Mountain hunt in Utah or the House Rock hunt in Northern Arizona. Both are truly tough hunts with guys (sometimes a lot of them) going home empty every year. You will earn your bull in these places for sure. You can also put in for the Custer State Park, SD hunt but the tag is much more expensive than in Utah or AZ (about $4000)...consequently, you will draw within three years for sure. While B&C eligible, this hunt is not nearly as wild as Utah or Arizona. I believe the same is true for the wanderers out of Yellowstone if Wyoming and Montana are still doing those. If you don't want to wait for a draw or wade through the bureaucracy of Wyoming or Montana's "on again/off again bison saga", there is an outfitter running hunts in BC for Plains Bison and guys in The Yukon and NWT for Wood Bison (note: Wood Bison are not currently importable into the US). Any of these three options is going to be truly pricey but well worth it I can assure you. Any of these destinations in January obviously represents an adventure and a half! Further, all of the above hunts are B&C and P&Y eligible.
If you need any more info after digging around the past threads here on AR, feel free to send me a PM.

Best,

JohnTheGreek

Free Ranging buffalo can be hunted in South Dakota, Arizona, Utah and Alaska. Getting a tag is the problem. Very limited and expensive for non-residents. You can also hunt Wood Bison in Canada, but I don't believe you can import them into the USA. Montana is issuing tags for outside Yellowstone as well this year, but I don't know if non-residents can get one.

Mac

I have a free ranging buffalo hunt in South Dakota, in fact it is where Dances with Wolves movie was made...

They have 33,000 plus acres and about 800 Buffalo...Its as fair chase as a Bison hunt can be, but Bison are hunted like pronghorn antelope on open plains in So. Dakota and they are easy to find, and fairly easy to stalk...

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
I have a free ranging buffalo hunt in South Dakota...in fact it is where Dances with Wolves movie was made...Its as fair chase as a Bison hunt can be...

Are you serious? They don't qualify for B&C as requested above, and are certainly NOT "as fair chace as a Bison hunt can be"! As for being easy to stalk? I can't disagree there...if diesel stalking is your chosen method. SHEESH! Honestly Ray, if a guy wants to spend $1800 for a trophy (no meat included) he might as well just buy a mount and robe off ebay then a bunch of steaks from the Triple U. Save some gas that way. Now, if a guy wants to shoot his own meat under Triple U circumstances (paying by the pound) then really I got no problem with that either but that is NOT what this guy has asked for. Sadly, it's also not what you are representing. He did not ask to be lied to about the nature of this bison hunt or bison hunting in general. A guy who wants a REAL hunt should save the money for a few years and do it right, not be fooled into believing that a ranch hunt is the best he can expect from a species. Your solicitation defames a noble animal plain and simple.

JMHO,

JohnTheGreek

Why are the "woods bison" not importable?

I would be interested in the outfitter that has the plains bison hunts in BC, any contact info ?

Thanks.

C-Roy,

Here is the BC contact...figure about $7500 USD or so.
http://www.sikanniriver.com

Wood bison can be hunted with Jerome Knap in the NWT (can't find his contact info at the moment but he should be pretty east to find online) or Tim Mervyn in the Yukon ( http://www.yukonsheep.com ). Jerome's reputation precedes him and I can vouch for the high quality of Tim's operation should you decide to go this route. Wood Bison aren't currently importable to the US because they are listed as Endangered rather than Threatened by the U.S. Endangered Species Act even though CITES gives them an Appendix II rating rather than Appendix I. So, in essence, the US Act is overriding CITES even though the US is a "CITES country" for lack of a better term. All this in spite of the fact that the Yukon herd in particular is at its target population given habitat and institutional constraints.

I forgot to mention in my other response that there are other outfitters that run hunts for legally shootable (no license required) bison wandering out of Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta. These would also be truly free roaming. I have had no experience with these outfitters so I would proceed with caution. On the plus side, these animals are importable due to the fact that they are not "pure" Wood Bison but Wood/Plains crosses.

Hope this helps,

JohnTheGreek

I talked to several people about the Wood Bison park "hunts" and even though no licence or permits are required(they aren't considered game animals, by F&W), it didn't sound like a good hunt to me. They just patrol the park boundary on snow machines in deep snow, until they find a track coming out of the park and then follow it. Bison that leave the park, don't live long. The locals turn them into meat very quickly.

I have bison in Montana on an Indian reservation. The reservation is 2 million acres but I do think these animals are restricted to part of the reservation. The tribe allows limited trophy hunts on old bulls and some meat animals.

These bison are not tame and won't stand there for you. The old ones are ornery and if you think they are coming to you to get a pat on the head you better think again! They are quite aggressive.

This tribe is getting into game management by allowing sport hunters to come in for bison and antelope. They are working directly with my on-location outfitter. I took a nice antelope there a few weeks ago.

If you think this interests you drop me a line.

aspenhill@triton.net

quote:

Originally posted by loboga:
it didn't sound like a good hunt to me. They just patrol the park boundary on snow machines in deep snow, until they find a track coming out of the park and then follow it.

I just read an interesting piece about one of these hunts. It didn't sound like a cake walk at all. I do think one must be very careful which outfitter to choose in this scenario but remember we are talking about Northern Alberta in winter here...it's not like a lot of this country is all that easy to get to or too comfortable once you get there. Either way, the critters are unfenced and ANY free roaming bison hunt is a pretty rare commodity making it worth a look at the very least.

As an aside, I have also read that the B&C eligible hunts in Alaska are not all that challenging either since many congregate on agricultural lands. Landowners charge a $200-$300 trasspass fee and you are in business. Considering how many people put in for this hunt every year and will likely NEVER draw makes a $4000-$8000 real deal hunt (whether it be in the NWT, Alberta or wherever) look pretty damn attractive.

JMHO,

John

quote:

Originally posted by loboga:
I talked to several people about the Wood Bison park "hunts" and even though no licence or permits are required(they aren't considered game animals, by F&W), it didn't sound like a good hunt to me. They just patrol the park boundary on snow machines in deep snow, until they find a track coming out of the park and then follow it. Bison that leave the park, don't live long. The locals turn them into meat very quickly.

That just shows how wrong you can be!! There are a few people on this board that tried to get anywhere near the bison last fall, and they gave up after days of trying.

Don't imagine the park "boundary" as something you can patrol. This is a really tough hunt as finding the buffalo in the vast expanses of AB's North is an onerous task. Unless of course they show up near some highway. In that case they probably fall victim to a local gun very quickly. But you wouldn't be gambling on those rare occurences anyway.

Frans

I drew a Henry Mtn tag in 2001 an killed a nice meat size 3 yr old bull with my BC1871 45-70 after doing alot of glassing and walking.I could've killed some really spectacular bulls as I had a bull tag and saw some, but wanted good meat. Arrangements need to be made forehand for the transportation and meat handleing. It was a nice easy paced hunt but a hunt nonetheless.You'll wait YRS to draw a tag!
I also have bought for $1500 several meat bulls over the years from Kaye & Cliff Houge (sp?)at Triple U, Ft Pierre,SD for that $1500 I got the entire animal an it was cutup for me too.No hunting involved just picking the one you want. As far as "Dancing with Wolves"/Ft. Sedgewick being there it is a joke. A fiberglass shod shed that has been moved to eyesight of the ranch...nothing but a meat hunt...serves that purpose soley .
What one needs to keep in mind is even when Plains Bison were plentiful they were not very wary and will easily allow you to approach to within 200 yds or less on foot.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
I have a free ranging buffalo hunt in South Dakota...in fact it is where Dances with Wolves movie was made...Its as fair chase as a Bison hunt can be...

Ray, I have to agree with J-T-G re: your particular choice of words.

Maybe it would be more accurately stated as " as fair chase as a Bison hunt can be..in the lower 48"??? I don't know. But I have been on the bison hunts in Northern BC...they are VERY fair chase. I shot my free-roaming bison 42 kms from the nearest fence, on open crown land. You'll catch those bison on the ranches early in the season, but after a little hunting pressure they get spooky and move up the valley. From there they can go wherever they please and they have about 10 million hectares of rugged wilderness to go to if they want! The area they can disperse to is probably twice the size of South Dakota.

FWIW, I've also been to South Dakota a couple times. They're as different as night and day.

Cheers,
Canuck

I booked the bison hunt Ann is talking about. She hooked me up with the outfitter, Rock Creek Outfitters. If the hunt is anything like talking to the outfitter and his wife it will be great.

Thanks Ann, I'll let you all know how the hunt goes in a few months.....................JJ

quote:

Originally posted by Canuck:
...I have been on the bison hunts in Northern BC...they are VERY fair chase. I shot my free-roaming bison 42 kms from the nearest fence, on open crown land.

Any photos of your BC bull? Would love to see them.

Best,

John