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Bison Hunt Revisited - and a late congrats to Fin.

MaxPower

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If you've not seen Fin's Bison hunt, do yourself a favor and watch it! If you've seen it already, watch it again! A serious congrats to Fin and all who were involved!

http://www.carbontv.com/videos/ZsZjR...HoCcp_PHySd392

If the episode isn't enough for you (as it wasn't for me) read the thread by Fin following the hunt. Always so much interesting info that's unfortunately left out of the episode, the time lapse of butchering the bull at the end is incredible!

http://onyourownadventures.com/huntt...d.php?t=253677

I think the professionalism, restraint, respect and even the decoying are most impressive, especially with a less than supportive audience at times. The hunt could have ended so many times before it actually did, but it culminated in the best possible outcome for all parties involved.

The reason I bring this up now is because as a poor grad student with no TV I'm limited to the internet - luckily I have the OYOA site and CarbonTV (which FINALLY posted Fin's Bison hunt). The episode, like all Fresh Tracks episodes, is amazing and definitely my favorite.

After going through the thread once again, I looked into the Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC) group. While I think a lot of their goals and reasons for doing what they do might align with hunters like us, there is (maybe luckily) little substance or results from what they claim. They recently posted a documentary dealing with the Bison's annual migration out of the park and the Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP).

https://vimeo.com/104296498

It's an interesting watch and includes impressive footage (if nothing else than to see Bison in Yellowstone), but is full of inaccuracies and relies heavily on anthropomorphism and pathos-style arguments/imagery. They erroneously tout the Yellowstone herd as the only free-roaming pure strain of Bison and infer a close relationship with the local Native American tribes implying them to be on the same page as BFC. I also think those BFC members featured could be found oversimplifying both the problem and the solution, as well as offering some logical solutions which they conveniently haven't done anything to bring about. Like I say, an interesting watch if you have the time.

Lastly, since a friend of mine and I will be hunting Bison on the Elk Refuge in Wyoming this winter (he drew the tag, not me), has anyone encountered these BFC folks on the Elk refuge or do they work only in Montana? The WY Game and Fish are more than supportive of sportsman being successful in harvesting Bison on the refuge, just curious if we're going to have similar company as Fin and his crew.
__________________
My biggest fear in life, is that when I die my wife will sell all my guns for what I told her I paid for them.
 
I had two of the BFC members watch me harvest my buffalo in the West yellowstone area last winter, as my son hiked out to get a snowmobile back to us the two BFC members thanked him for my choice of hunting ethically. I used archery equipment and the cow buffalo only traveled about 15 yards before expiring. Needless to say my view of the BFC has changed some, I don't think they are all anti-hunting extremists. Doesn't help with your wyoming question though, sorry!!
 
Thanks Max,
Two things: First, I couldn't get the link to the bison hunt to work. Second, where is there another free range pure strain bison population?
 
according to Boone and Crockett

Bison Locations

Alaska
1. Copper River
2. Delta Junction
3. Farewell
Arizona
1. House Rock Valley Herd - Coconino County
2. Ryamond Wildlife Area - Coconino County

Montana
1. Area adjacent to Yellowstone National Park - Park County
2. Portions of Crow Indian Reservation
South Dakota
1. Custer State Park
Utah
1. Antelope Island - Davis County
2. Henery Mountains - Garfield, Wayne, and San Juan Counties
3. Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation
Wyoming
1. Area adjacent to Yellowstone National Park - Teton County
Alberta
1. Northern
British Columbia
1. Pink Mountain
Northwest Territories
1. Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary
Yukon Territory
1. Aishihik Wood Bison Herd
 
They arent all anti hunting. I know a few that are ethical hunters, one described himself as a subsistence hunter. They work with me on things, we have shared data and such, they know I am a hunter and advocate for hunting. They know I want bison restored to public lands in Montana as a huntable species and they never give me any crap. I am not advocating or excusing interfering with a hunt in general, just stating they are not all anti-hunting. Personally, none of those that I have met or worked with have stated they were anti-hunting.

I dont know about previous seasons, didnt ask, but this bow season some hunters that helped the BFC this summer with their woodcutting, were allowed to use their camp as a base camp near Hebgen Lake.

As to the Native American association, it is not an inference. There are a number of different Nations here in Montana. I have been to several of the BFC functions in which various Nations have been represented and they work with BFC. One of their founders, Rosalie Little Thunder, a Lakota, just died recently. I have met Chief Earl Old Person and about a dozen other members of the Blackfoot Confederacy, including their Spiritual Leader James St. Goddard (EE-Suk-Yah), who has adopted BFC and acts as their spiritual leader. That picture I took at one of their joint BFC functions in Bozeman. John Trudell is a Santee Sioux and supports BFC. He and Mike Mease produced this video of one of Trudells poems. In the video you will see some of the Native Americans that protest with BFC over the way DOL and APHIS treat these bison, not respectfully as wildlife. This does not mean all Native Americans support BFC, or that as a Nation as a whole they do, but there are quite a number across the county and here in Montana that do and work with them.
 
2Rocky - Thanks for the list, you can add the Book Cliffs of Utah to that list now too.

RobG - Sorry that some of the links are working (not sure why). Big Fin's post about the hunt is titled "Tatonka", just search that and you'll find the thread. The video is on CarbonTV, go to their website and click on 'Shows', then find Fresh Tracks and it's the most recent episode.
 
Arizona Buffalo Hunt 2015

Im looking for a little help on a Arizona Buffalo Hunt starting January 1st 2015-may 31st 2015.

A good friend put his 12 year old son in for a buffalo tag in AZ and he actually was drawn. This hunt is once in a lifetime hunt. The hunt is up by the Grand Canyon and the buffalo spend a majority of time on the National Park. This hunt is a free range hunt and is not a cull hunt. The issues Im having is... my buddy is having problems with the cost of travel and then some family issues that are preventin us from actually spending an extended time hunting for a buffalo.

I am not familiar with this area of Arizona at all. Im hoping to get some information on where to actually start at. I know that the weather can make this hunt impossible if snow shows up. We can handle the hunt we have a mule and horses but have no idea where to camp or look. I dont want to show up on tis type of hunt blind so any info would be great. The hunt is on the House Rock ranch and is in game Units 12A, !2B and 13A.

Not looking for anyones honey hole just trying to give a 12 year old the chance to fill his tag.
 
I agree that the bison hunt episode was extremely well done. I commend Randy for doing such a great job of representing hunters.

On the other hand, and please excuse me, but the BFC people make me want to barf. They are truly misguided, and are definitely not acting in the best interest of bison. Unfortunately, there is no possibility of reasoning with these types of radical animal rights groups. They operate purely on unrestrained emotion, completely disconnected from reality.

These kinds of discussions always make me step back and think about the bigger picture. If we want to ensure that we have hunting on public lands for future generations, we really need to gain the upper hand against the animal rights movement (which includes groups like BFC). I am convinced we can do it, but we all need to stand up and do our part. Most of all, we can't compromise.

The hard part is that everyday more people are moving to the west, and unfortunately, many of them bring completely foreign values. They have no regard for our western heritage, nor for our culture. They would like to push most of us out of the way. They need to get the message that we're not going anywhere.
 

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