Well just got in from my first bison hunt. Not real pleased with the outcome. I was told we would be hunting a 4000 thousand acre ranch for 3 1/2 year old bulls. Turns out to be a 365 acre fenced "ranch" with about 35 head of which we were only allowed to shoot 1 1/2 year old bulls. It was mostly steep timber but with several dirt logging type roads running through it. The bision were skittish of humans in that they would run off when they saw us. So my $800.00 got me 2-nites in a two room cabin with 4- other adults, no electricity, no running water, wood stove for heat in 15 degree nites,1- dinner,2- breakfast's and one small slightly ratty 1 1/2 year old bison
with a hanging weight at the butchers of 339#s,no head, no hide no hooves. I think I'll be looking for a new place to shoot them next year.

well that sucks.....

I wish they would just let the bison leave the park and start to repopulate in montana and wyoming. Hell they got the wolves to come back and the griz also.

Jim

Why not post enough details so ythe next person will not be mislead by the same BS bison hunt.
At least they will know going in what the deal is!
LouisB

Why didn't you just leave when they dropped the bomb on you?

George

Jim,

BUMMER! Sorry to hear about your hunt but it is a fact that truly proper bison hunts are NOT inexpensive affairs in spite of what some ranchers would like you to believe. If you want to join Frans Diepenstraten and I this February in Alberta to do one up right (just as cold and miserable but a REAL hunt for big wood/plains crosses outside Wood Buffalo National Park), just let me know. I also have a few other contacts for real (NO FENCES) bison hunting in the lower 48 and Canada if you are intersted. Feel free to drop me an email.

Best,

JohnTheGreek

If i'm not mistaken, the buffalo can not be imported into us, from canada.They are on usfw list.

From the Alberta Professional Outfitters Society Official Magazine:

"No license is required to hunt bison in Alberta, and because they are not considered pure wood bison strain, A CITES permit is not required for export"

Frans

Terra Incognita North America
www.terrahunt.com

.308,

Frans is right. Those in and around Wood Buffalo National park are a hybrid strain of Wood and Plains Bison due to a blunder by the game department many decades ago. You are right though in that pure Wood Bison are not importable into the US. I know this all too well as I currently have one at a taxidermist's place in Whitehorse, YT. The USFWS interpretation of the Endangered Species Act may be changing soon however and allow the importation of this and many other legally sport hunted trophies from throughout the world. Now, wanna come up and freeze with us in February?

Best,

JohnTheGreek

Jim,

Welcome to Montana. At least the beer was cheap and we dont have a sales tax.

Ski+3

In 2002, Ray Atkinson got me a 3 year old bull, on six full sections fenced, five star +++ lodge w/ gormet food and wine! Took two days to find the bulls and get a shot. Think he was selling these for only $1500. 339 pounds sounds like a calf? I shipped over 700 pounds of meat after giving some away. Have a beautiful robe and mount.

Jim,

I am sorry you had a bad hunt and were misled.

$800 for a "bison hunt?" for a long yearling or old cow is about right.

Trophy bulls are at least $1500 (bulls over 3)

6-12 year old bulls are about $2500 and up.

Cows are usually $500-800 and food is not usually included on day "hunts".

There are wild bison on big ranches that are wild, but those are damn rare.

I'm sorry you feel you got took, and as a guy that works on a bison ranch, I tend to agree with you. IMO it was shoddy treatment of a guest.

D99 has it about right on prices "now" if you just want the animal(hide, horns,& meat). The prices have recovered quite a bit since 03. I disagree with his statement about bison not being wild though. In fences or out, bison are wild animals. Maybe not wild like a deer but they don't "have" to be, never have. Their herd defences work against animal predators(most nonfirearm human predation too). We do mostly contract feeding of bison, but have occasionally had some "hunters" come and take bison(not everything is in lots and a couple of the hunts have been very "western"). Our place is about what they "said" their place was in size but it too is fenced. We charge by how much work it is to us. You want free chase? It can be arranged(maybe not in one of "our" pastures). Had one guy turned loose(about 12 sq. miles of "not much") in just such a "hunt" with a four wheeler. He was after a 2 year old bull. He never found the animal. We never found the animal. It kept some bowhunters up a tree for a few hours(bet you didn't know buffalo REALLY LIKE bucklure). A neighbor shot it a month later after we issued an "APB shoot on sight" order. "Scar" generated lots of stories before he became a mount in the hunting lodge.

I didn't realize how old this thread was when I started typing, but as slow as I type, I wasn't gonna just delete it.

Buff I missed how old it was too, until you said something. I found it on a search looking for a cheap wyoming heifer for meet for my parents when I am home.

D99, I actually like working with them, they're fun to just watch. They never loose that sense of play like a beef though they play pretty rough amongst themselves. It's an amaising sight to watch a 2K+ # 4-5 year old bull bouncing around like a calf. They go from 0-35mph faster than a Ferrari and can maintain that speed for miles. They are a lot smarter than beef(that has it's good and BAD points). We usually like bulls GONE before they're 3(usually they make weight at a little over 2) as they get hard to handle(too darn big) and they realize they really DON'T have to be afraid of us. The meat's better too but on cows age doesn't matter as much. We had some yearling bulls out of Custer State Park that were SCAARRRYYYY to have around(from tourists feeding them). The cows we feed aren't quite as bad. You have to respect all of them as they can do an unbelievable amount of damage to you VERY quickly but if you learn their body language(and to read that tail)going into the pens on foot to do something isn't very dangerous. They get used to you but they seem to KNOW somebody new. You DO NOT go into a pen with calving going on, on foot. The cows with calves get VERY protective(remember the Ferrari part? bison turn faster, they can go from 30mph one way to 30mph the opposite way in about 2 seconds and they are built to HIT things).

"Hunting" is another story, but when we sell a bison, the price is based on weight on the rail. At this time, I believe(subject to change without notice), what we are getting is around $1.50@# for bulls and $1.40@# for helfers(or cows). That's "fat" prices, they take on a fat "cover" like a deer but the meat doesn't marble like a beef. That's what we get when we haul them to a plant. Hanging weight is usually between 50-65% of live weight. Percentage depends on how the animal is handled, as in how far it's hauled, how long it waits, how long it takes to get it out of the trailer(they can get VERY*!!!!!!!* reluctant to leave a trailer alive at times),& how worked up they get, prior to killing. Processing at a locker runs around $350 in this area. Prices have been going up the last couple years but if you want a whole animal the price per pound generally is only a little more than a beef done the same way and when you put a 1/4# burger on the grill, you get "darn near" a 1/4# burger off the grill.

For the most part, I don't feel sorry for you. The ranch was smaller than you expected or were told, but the bison were "skitish" rather than dumb, fat farm animals. Sounds like you got a hunt out of the deal, and just no kill. Am I missing something?

Sorry to hear about your hunt going bad. I can help you with a true bison hunt in far west TX. These are not behind a high fence. Lodging is included. You will be hunting not shooting them out of a pen. The cost is $3500 for a mature bull.

I've been looking for a REAL bison hunt for years. I looked into the wood bison hunts in the Yukon, but as said, you cannot import those into the US yet AND I am looking to bowhunt and you cannot do that there. I also have been through the wood bison park in Alberta and talked to a lot of people there about it. I was told that the locals patrol the park boundary very diligently and although you could shoot one there with no licence the odds of getting a shot at one are very low. Of course I can apply for the lottery in Utah and if I live to be a 100 I have a fair chance to be drawn.