Now that I am back from SHOT show, all gears are engaged for the bison hunt that opens on Wednesday. Hoping a few bison are out of the park and one wants to be a TV star.
Montana requires an archery course for those wanting to archery hunt bison. It is well worth the time. Thanks to Jesse Nelson for making the time to teach the course to me and for all of his help in getting an arrow set up that will be best suited for bison. I can say without a doubt, had I not taken that course, I would have not known the proper arrow placement for a quick kill on a bison. Thanks for all your help, Jesse.
Montana FWP also sends out a big package of orientation information. The video is worthwhile, giving some background to the hunt, the history, and what it will take to properly care for a bison in the field. Here is a link to that video on their website. Worth the time to watch if you are interest in MT bison hunting.
http://fwp.mt.gov/education/videoLibrary/instructionalVideos/video_0013.html
The West Yellowstone hunt occurs in a pretty small area. The unit extends down into Gallatin Canyon, but hardly any bison get down to that area while the season is open. Most the bison will be out on Horse Butte.
If the bison are there, the hard part will be keeping my composure to make a good heart shot at 20 yards on an ornery old 1,800 pound bull. I have been practicing and I am confident that I can easily hit that size of a target at 20 yards. Just need to make sure I focus on the low area of the chest, wait until he swings his leg forward, and follow through.
If I have any hesitation about a perfect heart shot, I will grab the Howa and shoot. A lung shot, though lethal, takes up to fifteen minutes to kill them. With all the tourists, possible protesters, and other spectators, the last thing I want is to have a bison wandering around with an arrow in him for fifteen minutes. Not a good idea. If I release an arrow, it will be in complete confidence. As much as I want to arrow one, my personal desire is far subordinate to the image of hunters, specifically archery hunters and the new archery bison season.
An even harder part will be getting that huge shaggy chunk of meat out of the field. I helped a friend with a cow bison hunt in this same area, five years ago. It was a big project to take care of a cow bison. A bull is twice the size.
I hope to have some bison located before season opens Wednesday morning. If none can be located, it might be nothing more than a snowmobile and snowshoe expedition. If any people want to stand in the background and help out, send me a PM. Obviously for filming, we cannot have multiple characters in the scenes, but surely can have people standing behind, ready with knives and strong backs. Since my freezer can only hold so much, all who help will share in the bounty.
Will start giving field updates on Tuesday. Prior to that time, everything is preparation for the hunt, background story, etc.
Season goes until February 15th, so I will be after them again, if things don't happen this week.
Very excited to tell the story of bison, however tragic that is. Hope to raise some advocacy for treating bison as wildlife and not livestock, as has been the case for decades. We can do better for bison and still respect the other uses on our landscapes. Not easy solutions, but solutions that need to be considered.
Seems rather ironic that we have the best wildlife recovery model the world has seen - The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, yet the most iconic species on the continent has been left out of that Model. Their exemption from the NA Model is probably the biggest reason all our other wildlife has recovered to amazing levels over the last 80 years while bison continue to be relegated to small pockets of marginal habitat.
Tatonka!
Montana requires an archery course for those wanting to archery hunt bison. It is well worth the time. Thanks to Jesse Nelson for making the time to teach the course to me and for all of his help in getting an arrow set up that will be best suited for bison. I can say without a doubt, had I not taken that course, I would have not known the proper arrow placement for a quick kill on a bison. Thanks for all your help, Jesse.
Montana FWP also sends out a big package of orientation information. The video is worthwhile, giving some background to the hunt, the history, and what it will take to properly care for a bison in the field. Here is a link to that video on their website. Worth the time to watch if you are interest in MT bison hunting.
http://fwp.mt.gov/education/videoLibrary/instructionalVideos/video_0013.html
The West Yellowstone hunt occurs in a pretty small area. The unit extends down into Gallatin Canyon, but hardly any bison get down to that area while the season is open. Most the bison will be out on Horse Butte.
If the bison are there, the hard part will be keeping my composure to make a good heart shot at 20 yards on an ornery old 1,800 pound bull. I have been practicing and I am confident that I can easily hit that size of a target at 20 yards. Just need to make sure I focus on the low area of the chest, wait until he swings his leg forward, and follow through.
If I have any hesitation about a perfect heart shot, I will grab the Howa and shoot. A lung shot, though lethal, takes up to fifteen minutes to kill them. With all the tourists, possible protesters, and other spectators, the last thing I want is to have a bison wandering around with an arrow in him for fifteen minutes. Not a good idea. If I release an arrow, it will be in complete confidence. As much as I want to arrow one, my personal desire is far subordinate to the image of hunters, specifically archery hunters and the new archery bison season.
An even harder part will be getting that huge shaggy chunk of meat out of the field. I helped a friend with a cow bison hunt in this same area, five years ago. It was a big project to take care of a cow bison. A bull is twice the size.
I hope to have some bison located before season opens Wednesday morning. If none can be located, it might be nothing more than a snowmobile and snowshoe expedition. If any people want to stand in the background and help out, send me a PM. Obviously for filming, we cannot have multiple characters in the scenes, but surely can have people standing behind, ready with knives and strong backs. Since my freezer can only hold so much, all who help will share in the bounty.
Will start giving field updates on Tuesday. Prior to that time, everything is preparation for the hunt, background story, etc.
Season goes until February 15th, so I will be after them again, if things don't happen this week.
Very excited to tell the story of bison, however tragic that is. Hope to raise some advocacy for treating bison as wildlife and not livestock, as has been the case for decades. We can do better for bison and still respect the other uses on our landscapes. Not easy solutions, but solutions that need to be considered.
Seems rather ironic that we have the best wildlife recovery model the world has seen - The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, yet the most iconic species on the continent has been left out of that Model. Their exemption from the NA Model is probably the biggest reason all our other wildlife has recovered to amazing levels over the last 80 years while bison continue to be relegated to small pockets of marginal habitat.
Tatonka!
I am glad that you are going to try the bow to make things a bit more sporty...should help with the ratings. I'm guessing the toughest part of this hunt will be the tourists, and buffalo worshippers.
