Just got around to posting my Yukon Territory Wood Bison photos online and thought you guys might enjoy them.<br /><br /> <img src="http://www..jpg" alt=" - " /> <br /><br /> <img src="http://www.jpg" alt=" - " /> <br /><br />I hunted for eight days with Mervyn's Yukon outfitters and while it took us four days to find and finally take my Bison, it took two of us the remaining four days to quarter him and get him off the mountain. Of course, I HAD to take him on top of a ridge as you can see from the second photo. Our camp was on the other side of the mountain in the background of the second pic. Transport of this big boy was a bit of a chore for two guys and a pair of 250cc snow machines! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" /> <br /><br />Enjoy,<br /><br />JohnTheGreek

Great bison John, what did you bag him with and what do you figure the live weight was? 1200 lb?

Nice Buff!
Are you having a winter coat made out of the hide?

Congratulations!

ElkMan,

He was taken from about 30 feet with three rounds from a .416 Rem Mag. He had ZERO reaction to the first shot into the boiler room and the second into the same area brought only a slight flinch to his leg. A quick third shot into the spine put him down for good without even taking a step. Amazingly, NONE of the bullets exited even from such short range.
Wood Bison weigh about 15-20% more than plains bison and can, therefore, reach weights of between 2200-2400 pounds. This Buff was the oldest and most heavily broomed of the animals in his group of five (which is why I wanted to take him) but was not the biggest in body. I would still bet he weighed over a ton. There was a prime youngster in the group that I wouldn't have taken for another couple of years who probably weighed about 2400.

Amosgreg,

I had thought of that and would LOVE to have a knee length buffalo coat some day but decided to do a shoulder mount with this guy and use the back skin for a bedspread. Not too much call for heavy buffler' coats in Northern Arizona unfortunately.

Regards,

JohnTheGreek

Yesiree! Nice stuff John.

Now thats a cool story and cooler pictures - thanks for letting this desk jockie share your success

John,

Great hunt, great trophy! Man, that's great country, Eh?

Joe

Glad you guys like the photos. How's this sound for an omen . . . We spotted this small group of Bison on top of this very mountain the previous afternoon but it was too late to go after them so we watched them bed down. It easily hit 30 below that February night and as I slept in my flimsy uninsulated plywood cabin something woke me up. It was the northern lights coming through my frosty window. I slipped on my Sorels at about 2:00 AM and trudged out into the snow in only my long underwear and Filson Double Mackinaw Cruiser to see that the lights were particularly bright and stretching from horizon to horizon! Man, at that point, I just knew we were gonna be successful the next day as it was like destiny to complete this amazing experience. I just stood there in the bitter cold for about 15 minutes knowing that my Bison and I were enjoying the same natural light show.
We slowly made our way into the valley the next morning and saw them still bedded down on the same mountaintop. After three hours of walking and stalking up the mountain, my bull stood at the exact moment I came over the back side of the ridge. All I could think about was the borderline cosmic connection I had with this bull and the fact that my Father wanted to hunt Buffalo his whole life and never got the chance. That one was for YOU Dad!

Ovis,

That region really is the most amazing place I have ever seen. I keep telling people it was more breathtaking than anything I have ever seen in the lower 48 and, while the size of Calif, Nev, Ore and Wash, has a population of under 40,000 people. UNREAL! Like yellowstone National Park but a thousand times bigger and without all the motorhomes and stupid people who think those animals are out of a disney cartoon!

Regards,

JohnTheGreek

[ 10-02-2002, 02:26: Message edited by: JohnTheGreek ]

John,
What a big hairy beast and that bison is impressive too! Seriously, congradulations on a beautiful bull . By the way, we only have 30,000 people.
Jim

jhaney, and about 60 something bars if I remember correctly!! Most drinking establishments per capita in Canada anyway. Makes it hard to find my relatives sometimes.

J-T-G, Nice buffalo. Thanks for posting the pics. I like the classic B&W shots, and you know I am always up for a good bison picture. That bull looks like a solid 2000lbs to me.

Canuck

Jim,

I am, unfortunately, not nearly the hairy beast I used to be. The stresses of grad. school did a serious number on my hairline! Hey, as I'm sure you will see him around, tell Tim Mervyn "hello" for me and "thanks". As for the non-bovid population there, it has been declining in recent years am I correct?

Canuck,

There are 60 bars in Whitehorse Man, I only remember visiting about two before waking up in a haze.
Glad you liked the photos. I really only do B&W anymore for hunting photos. Gives 'em a nice retro feel doesn't it.
Man, you should have seen the big boy in this herd. Guaranteed he went 2400lbs. We could see in the spotting scope that he was a hand or two taller than my bull at the top of the hump. He was also probably longer in the horn but I wanted an old and battered bull past his breeding years and that's what I was fortunate enough to get. After my bull was down I walked over the ridge and spooked the big boy and another bull from their beds . . . only one round left in the .416 . . . Note to self: always reload the magazine COMPLETELY before approaching ANY animal.

Regards,

JohnTheGreek

John,

Congratulations on a monster bison! What bullet did you use on him?

Were you able to get all the meat back?

George

George,

I used 400 grain X-Bullets. Really was surprised they didn't exit.
Anyway, the meat had to go to the locals as Wood Bison, although now category II according to CITES, have yet to be downlisted from endangered to threatened by the USFWS. Hence, nothing is currently importable . . . no hides, taxidermy or anything until the up-grade of the species is official. Until then, the nearly completed taxidermy is paid in full and waiting for U.S. approval. Wheels grind slowly in this area but there is apparently some recent hope with regard to this species in particular. Conservation force is, apparently, on the case.

Regards,

JohnTheGreek

[ 10-02-2002, 05:22: Message edited by: JohnTheGreek ]

Great Pics, Great Story. Thanks for sharing.

This is one of my dreams.

Jim B.

JohnTheGreek,

What a monster bison. Congratulations.

Is there some special reason that you post B&W photos? Just curious.

Saad

[ 10-02-2002, 10:31: Message edited by: Saad ]

Fantastic story and Pics !!!. I to am suprised those Barnes X bullets did not exit. You would think that from such a powerful rifle at that range they would whistle through !!

John. Thanks for adding the details. The Northern Lights had to be the ethereal connection. 10-4 on the Dad thing. Still wishing Dad and I could go out and squirrel hunt at the least. And it's been almost 30 years. This Bison hunt would have been a thing to remember. All you guys that can go on a hunt with your sons or daughters, do it! They will remember it fondly even after the pictures fade. Hope you get that mount soon, John. Pak

Saad,

I post and print all my hunting photos in black and white because, as good as color film is, it never quite looks true to life to me. B&W really captures the subject and has a nice retro feel to it. All the great old hunting photos that we drool over today are B&W, hell some of them are even out of focus and poorly composed (i.e. a huge whitetail buck casually tied to the hood of a 1937 Chevy Business Coupe or like the ones below) and in my opinion, even most of the great ones taken today would look better in B&W.



Other examples of photos that would be less visually appealing to me if in color or if more care were taken in the composition include : This 185lb Harry Manners Elephant


or this Kouprey



Either of these photos in color would just lose something I think.

JMHO,

JohnTheGreek

John,
Those are some GREAT pictures!
Do you have a website for your collection?
I could spend several days looking through them as I believe you probobly have thousands!

John the Greek - Putting all our battles aside over politics and other such crap, let me say congrats on one mighty bison! He will make a truly impressive mount. A mighty animal and I know an enormous amount of work from you. I salute your effort.

amosgreg,

Actually I just randomly found these photos online. You might do some web searches for "antique hunting photos" and check out the safaripress.com "world record gallery" for similar images.

Pecos,

Hey man, I am ALWAYS willing to put aside political garbage for hunting discussions
Glad you liked the photos. The mount really should be interesting as my taxidermist in Whitehorse said they use the biggest plains bison form they can find and then scale it up 20% for the Woods subspecies. Probably time to start thinking about that addition to the little tiny cabin I live in

Best Regards,

JohnTheGreek

That bison took THREE 400 grain X-Bullets from a .416 at 30 feet before he went down?
THAT is one tuff critter.

Elk_Man,

Bison are notorious for taking a lot of lead and just standing there or perhaps sort of just walking around for a bit before falling over. If my third round had not hit the spine (amazingly, as I intended) he might have taken a few minutes to expire. We wanted no part of that! There was some pretty thick brush out of frame to the left and below us in my bottom photo. We did NOT want to see him get there before toppling over as butchering and skinning in that nasty stuff would have been quite the miserable experience. It was bad enough trying to cut a trail through some of it to get the snow machines and sleds up there. My plan, therefore, was to buy my insurance ahead of time with two quick rounds into the heart/lung area and then follow up with a round somewhere into the central nervous system. Worked out pretty well, I think.
Nice handle by the way! The Elk are bugling so much around my place that they are waking me up at night lately. I almost took my bull the hard way last night as there was a heavily palmed 6x6 right in the middle of this forest service road on the way to my house. If I hadn't already seen and slowed down for his growing harem, he might have been in my lap I'm afraid. I just moved down here to AZ and, I'll tell you, it is giving me elk fever in a big way.

Saad,

Yes, I imagine there are some really great old hunting photos originating from your part of the world! Wish I could see more of them as a Westerner. A colleague of mine in school was from India and had some great stories about her family hunting Nilgai and the like over the years. I can only dream of what it must have been like to venture out for Tiger, Nilgai or Markhor without the promise of either a prison sentence or a VERY hefty bill at the end of the Shikar.

Best Regards,

JohnTheGreek

John,
Nice thread. Good show. Congratulations! I would love to follow in your tracks on that one. I have driven through "The Yukon" six times. Or is that just "Yukon," eh, Yukoners? Yukcanucks?

I saw a bison herd one time, along a most desolate and beautiful stretch, and a big fat grizzly ran across the road in front of me just before I got to the herd, so I figure he was hunting bison, and I wished I could have been too. Someday ...

My first time through Whitehorse, I had to stop and take a leak in the Yukon River, picked up a native woman at the Kentucky Fried Chicken joint in Whitehorse, and nearly ran over a grizzly as I approached Alaska on the highway. I was almost a sourdough before I set foot in Alaska.

The Northern Lights are indeed magical.

Thanks for sharing the bison pictures and story.

Ron,

Glad you liked the thread. Sounds like you have had some interesting Yukon experiences . Where did you see your bison? They were having problems with vehicle/bison collisions before they allowed hunting of the herd we were after. They were moving south and crossing the Alaska Highway around Haines Junction I think. Imagine that collision!!!

Regards,

JohnTheGreek

John,
It was indeed between Whitehorse and Haines Junction, Yukon Territory. The large herd of grazing bison was just south of the Alaska Highway, and the grizzly was skeedaddling south across the Alcan when I nearly hit him in the lard saddlebags he was wearing. I was driving my old 1985 Jimmy (back when the Jimmy was the full size GMC 4WD).

People get killed in collisions with moose. I imagine a collision with a bison could be unpleasant.

So I may have spotted the relatives of your bull then? It was a beautiful area, close to an old burn that had sprouted a lot of new green growth in the low areas with mountains in the distance, sort of a Yukon Ngoro Ngoro.

I did dine on a bison burger near Teslin Lake, south and east of Whitehorse on another trip through.

Of six times driving through there, I only saw the bison and a grizzly bear one time.

My family went with me the first trip, but after that they flew and I drove solo for the other Alcan (Alaska Highway and Cassiar Highway) trips.

Sometimes there were stone sheep on the shoulder, moose, caribou, and Dall sheep here and there, and a couple of times I stopped and threw rocks at black bears that were not shy at all.

I got to see some of the Peace River vistas that Jack O'Connor wrote about, in the B.C. part of the drives.

Beautiful.

Ron,

You are a lucky an to have spent that much time up there. I think I might go up there just to hit the bars in Whitehorse this winter.

That grizzly just might have been trying to figure out what to do with those bison you saw. He may not have even recognized them as food, in fact. 180 Wood Bison were released in that area between 1988 and 1991 and ,from what I understand, the large predators in the area have yet to figure out how to hunt them effectively. This is, at least partially, why resident and non-resident hunting was necessary from a management perspective. The biologists estimate that the region can sustain about 450-500 animals and the wolves and bears were just not keeping those numbers in check.

My guide and I were talking about this and we reached the conclusion that, given the terrain, the Yukon Department of Wildlife really has no idea, despite aerial surveys, how many bison are up there and the populations in isolated valleys and deep canyons might just blow up one day. Since they started hunting the herd, more and more and getting pushed into this really rough country and hunter success among the locals is falling steadily. Sounds like these big boys are doing pretty good for a species that was thought to be extinct just 60 years ago.

Regards,

JohnTheGreek

[ 10-07-2002, 23:52: Message edited by: JohnTheGreek ]

Great bison, I have never hunted the Wood Bison and would greatly love to hunt them...speaking of nice old B&W photogragphs, I have a photograph of my grandad and several other Texas Rangers horseback and draggng up the bodies of dead Bandits to a pile for burning, no shovels so the bandits were burned to prevent the spread of disease..Photo was taken at La Norias, Texas (on the King Ranch in 1902.) It is a real photo to behold, very explicit and lots of detail if you can imagine. A great piece of Texas history recorded.

Ray,

Thanks! Sounds like an opportunity for you! You might contact www.mervynsoutfit.com for more information or hey, maybe he is looking for a US agent? His prices are generally pretty high (picked the Bison up on a last minute cancellation hunt if you can believe it) on sheep and moose etc. but from what I have seen the trophy quality is definitely there to justify them. 40" Dall sheep taken pretty much every year and he seems to hunt his area wisely enough to allow them to get pretty old.

Your photo sounds . . . interesting
Any photo where dead bodies are the primary subject will definitely get your attention!
A certain amount of morbidity is, in fact, always interesting. An old Greek man I was related to by marriage used to keep his grandfather's skull in drawer in his office. YIKES!

Best Regards,

JohnTheGreek

[ 10-08-2002, 02:13: Message edited by: JohnTheGreek ]

Nice, very nice. How did you like Tim. I have spoke with him and his wife a couple times. One day I will be up in that country I hope for one of his mt. caribou.

Scrappy,

I have heard that Tim has a bit of reputation for being a "business man" when it comes to hunting and one guy I talked to on this board actually felt ripped off by him but hell, he is in business to make money and can't really afford to be giving away free or heavily discounted hunts to every guy that gets snowed out in a sheep hunt. You buy your tag and take your chances when it comes to weather I think. Hell, I was hunting in February and you just gotta push on through it and hunt like hell regardless of the weather I think.
My experience with Tim was nothing but positive. I liked him, his wife, his kids, his wrangler/guide and frankly, the whole lot of people I met in Whitehorse. Of course, I was on cloud nine after the Buff and could have met a nutcase serial killer, bought him a drink, and come to the conclusion that "he's good with a knife".

If you are after Mt. Caribou, his area is apparently the place to do it! As I'm sure you know, the new world record came out of there just four years ago. This ought to get your blood flowing! - Net score - 453 B&C!


I love the expression on the guys face . . . he's like "Holy SH!T I just shot a BIG BOU!"

Best Regards,

JohnTheGreek

[ 10-08-2002, 05:43: Message edited by: JohnTheGreek ]