I did a search and came up with little info about the current situation....Endangered Specie? I see that they are up in northern B.C., Alberta, N.W. Territories, Saskatchawan, and the Yukon. And I recall from a discussion last year that the Woodland Bison lives in areas that are really tough to get into....unless it's winter. What's with that? Do they live in mushy tundra that's impossible to get around in unless you're four footed?

And also is there a disease in the herds that's common that they can't be eaten? I've been thinking about going on a bison 'hunt' with a new big bore rifle I have and the thought of going to a farm to shoot one isn't really my cup of tea. But the meat is fantastic enough that I know of one fellow who shoots one every year in....I think it's Oregon.

Are you Canadians hunting bison and if so I'd like to know how, when, etc.

Thanks in advance for your info.

Are these creatures hunted at all by locals?

quote:

Originally posted by idahochukar2:
I did a search and came up with little info about the current situation....Endangered Specie? I see that they are up in northern B.C., Alberta, N.W. Territories, Saskatchawan, and the Yukon. And I recall from a discussion last year that the Woodland Bison lives in areas that are really tough to get into....unless it's winter. What's with that? Do they live in mushy tundra that's impossible to get around in unless you're four footed?

And also is there a disease in the herds that's common that they can't be eaten? I've been thinking about going on a bison 'hunt' with a new big bore rifle I have and the thought of going to a farm to shoot one isn't really my cup of tea. But the meat is fantastic enough that I know of one fellow who shoots one every year in....I think it's Oregon.

Are you Canadians hunting bison and if so I'd like to know how, when, etc.

Thanks in advance for your info.

Are these creatures hunted at all by locals?

Here in B.C., we have Limited Entry Hunting for Bison. (it's a lottery for hunting) Bison have few draws for them. The odds are hundreds to one against you being successful. I haven't got one yet.

Non BC resident fee for a tag is $700. You'll need a guide and I imagine the number of Bison available for hunting is low.

I know the Wood Bison is huntable in Alberta near the Wood Bison National Park. A well know outfitter is Eric Grinnell who offered me his hunt few years ago. I think in Alberta the bison ( I'm sure about the plains bison) is not considered game but like cattle so I dont think they have a hunting season but is huntable all the year.
The WB bison is also huntable in Yukon. An outfitter is Tim Mervyn
http://www.yukonsheep.com/bison.htm

the grinnell's web site:http://www.silvertipoutfitters.com/hunt/bison_hunts.html

see a very interesting story about a grinnell's hunts:

http://www.kingofthemountainonline.com/bison.htm

Idaho-the whole north is muskeg. You can get around in it anytime with the right vehicle, but winter is easiest. There was a thread here awhile ago about the logistics of it all.

the chef

Wow, this is indeed one hellofa hunt. Skimmed the article and will digest it later. This sure is a 'different' hunt that few (it seems) could do.

There's lots to this hunt that a guy never would have imagined. Country, method of hunting, remoteness has it all. One that I'll have to learn about for sure before pulling the trigger. And getting the meat back to the states is critical. Thanks guys. Will do my home work on this one. I just wonder if it's as much as a moose hunt or a bear hunt. Maybe I should look into that first, aigh ?

Wood bison hunts are anything but a slam dunk. They're also huge...larger than our American bison.

Unless things have changed, the Wood Bison is on the Cites list and can't be imported into the U.S.A. .............doesn't have to make sense, I know there are thousands spread around the west and north.
~Arctic~

For clarification, There are 2 species of Bison:
1) Wood (bison-bison-athabasca) The wood is not exportable to US as it is listed as endangered.
2) Plains (bison-bison-bison). Found this differnece out the expensive way The plains are exportable to US.

The main difference between the two is that wood is taller (6-7ft at shoulder) and more lanky (think dairy cattle for comparison) where the plains is shorter (5-6 1/2 ft) and more stocky (think herford cattle). There are many woods bison in Wood buffalo park but the herd is infected with TB and burcelacious (sp.). The Bison that are in the huntable areas of Canada tend to be a cross of wood and plains bison but are refered to as plains. There are many Woods crosses in the domestic herds of buffalo in Canada including some pure woods animals. Our herd has 1 pure woods cow.

In Alberta there is no tag required for hunting them as they are considered domestic livestock. Up at Manning, AB the herd there crosses regulary between AB and BC, and was established for a reserve in Northern BC by an oil company. They escaped from their pastures after the fences were left unmaintained. If you hunt them near Wood Buffalo National Park (no hunting is allowed inside National park), they are from the herds that leave the park in search of food mainly during the winter months.

The best time to hunt them is from late November to mid January, when there is snow on the ground and their winter coats area in the best condition. After mid January the hair tends to start to slip and get rub marks.

Hope this helps

As pointed out, Wood Bison are not currently importable to the US. Currently the Yukon Territory allows the hunting of true wood bison. If you're interested, you might want to try Mervyn's Yukon Outfitting: http://www.yukonsheep.com/

Tim has taken some outstanding Wood Bison, and has guided Jim Shockey to his bison.

quote:

Originally posted by Mario:
see a very interesting story about a grinnell's hunts:

http://www.kingofthemountainonline.com/bison.htm

Hey Mario, no wonder a 10 kid family was poor back in the 30s, or before synthethics. Wool and cotton is expensive, eh?

Exit,
I'm agree.But the story is nice.

Up at Manning, AB the herd there crosses regulary between AB and BC, and was established for a reserve in Northern BC by an oil company. They escaped from their pastures after the fences were left unmaintained.

This herd is protected. The only place to hunt them are the ones that wander out of Wood Buffalo national park.

The big question is how do you get the animal certified? Certainly not by just size as it would appear since there are 'crosses' you have a problem.


I can just see myself doing the biology with a 'customs agent'. When I came back from Canada last August I was asked if I had any meat in the truck. "Do you consider fish 'meat'" I asked with a big grin? I'm strickly a C and R fisherman so I had none but the border guy was cool. Wanted to know where we'd been, etc.

Shootist,
There is no such protection as they are domestic animals and can be hunted with licence once they wander out of the Hay zama protection zone (Ab wildlife status report no. 38 page 9).

For furthure information on Bison and differences between the two please see the report http://srd.alberta.ca/fishwildlife/status/pdf/bison.pdf

quote:

Originally posted by Canuck32:
Shootist,
There is no such protection as they are domestic animals and can be hunted with licence once they wander out of the Hay zama protection zone (Ab wildlife status report no. 38 page 9).

For furthure information on Bison and differences between the two please see the report http://srd.alberta.ca/fishwildlife/status/pdf/bison.pdf

That"s what I said-you can not hunt this herd in this area. They are protected. Read the fall issue of Alberta Game Warden to find out what happened to one guy that did. Once they wander out of that area you can hunt them but they are few and far between. Your beast bet is east of High Level where they wander out of Wood park.

I've done this hunt, and on foot or quads it's pretty tough. Unless you're lucky enough to catch them near the (yes THE, as in one and only) road, they're tough to get to. The trails are too overgrown for quads, not enough snow for snowmobiles this early in the year, and not enough ice on the lakes and rivers to use them as travel routes. Later in the year is best, in the Caribou Mountains area by Wentzler Lake/River. There are a few trappers in the area and they are logging right up to the park, so access may be better now then it was the last time we were in, hard to say without going, and it's a bit of a drive from here. - dan

Thanks you guys for all the good input here but I've seen no answers to my quesions in my last post......i.e., how do you do the meat proof with getting the animal back through customs?

They cross breed and agreed, a grown wood bison appears a different from a plains, how do you know if it's safe to eat, etc.?