# Bison hunt



## wpmisport (Feb 9, 2010)

Officials have agreed to allow as many as 900 bison from Yellowstone National Park to be shot by hunters, sent to slaughter or placed in quarantine this winter in a program that seeks to prevent the animals from spreading a disease to cattle. 
Brucellosis is a bacterial disease that can cause cows to abort their calves.








900 bison at Yellowstone to be relocated, slaughtered or shot by hunters this winter


The hunting effort is a bid to prevent bison from spreading brucellosis, a bacterial disease that can cause cows to abort their calves, to cattle.




www.nbcnews.com





I do not know who is eligible to get in on the hunt.


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## sourdough44 (Mar 2, 2008)

Buffalo is great meat. If to many, let hunters/shooters do it. I’d expect the usual Federal red tape, still be worth it if local.


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## Nostromo (Feb 14, 2012)

I thought the wolves were supposed to take care of this for us.


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## sourdough44 (Mar 2, 2008)

Nostromo said:


> I thought the wolves were supposed to take care of this for us.


 Plenty out there like that plan.


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## wpmisport (Feb 9, 2010)

Nostromo said:


> I thought the wolves were supposed to take care of this for us.


I looks like they also keep the wolf numbers in check.


https://www.idahostatejournal.com/news/local/three-yellowstone-wolves-killed-in-first-week-of-montana-hunt/article_517d31cb-d2b3-58ab-86e8-820531bb0211.html


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## Macs13 (Apr 24, 2019)

I found this well-written article on the hunt that certainly evokes a few feelings of whether or not this is hunting at all. It's specifically about a well known bison travel corridor hunt that happens annually. I'm not saying the hunt is a bad thing - if the herd needs to be thinned, well, that's what we call game management and I generally trust the DNR to know what they're doing on the matter. I do wonder if the brucellosis reasoning is equivalent to CWD and no baiting in Michigan as the author states that there's never been a documented transfer from bison to domestic cattle. Interesting read, one-sided though it may be









The Reality of Yellowstone's Bison Hunt


a blog about protecting wildlife and preserving wildlands




ricklamplugh.blogspot.com






Apparently, they've started to attempt the same thing in the Grand Canyon. The first crack at it was woefully ineffective and I'm still trying to decide why they whittled it down to 12 hunters when they wanted 200 bison removed. Here's that article:









Grand Canyon Bison Hunt Update: Epic Fail, 5 Animals Killed


A lottery bison hunt recently held at the Grand Canyon didn't go so well. Only five animals were killed and some hunters didn't see any.




freerangeamerican.us





In both of these cases, most of the bison - that which isn't taken by the lottery chosen hunters - will be given to native tribes to slaughter and sell commercially. That creates issues and evokes emotions, both for and against, as well. It's a complex issue. 

Sent from my SM-G988U using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


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## Nostromo (Feb 14, 2012)

Macs13 said:


> I found this well-written article on the hunt that certainly evokes a few feelings of whether or not this is hunting at all.


_"But really, hunter is the wrong word. Those people we watch through binoculars in Beattie Gulch—there are at least fifty of them, some in camo, some in bright orange vests—they’re not hunters. They’re shooters. They’re a firing squad. They stand in the open, within sight of their pickup trucks, their guns ready, alongside the route that bison use each year. The shooters wait for bison to unwittingly enter their field of fire." (copied from article linked above)_
I wouldn't say public perception isn't important. Though hunters are hard put to get a favorable report from the folks who write stuff quoted above. These people are present in the national parks and they have their own agendas to front. Scientific data is of course more valuable and interesting to read. Enough of that. 

Hunting herd animals is different than hunting the deer that we are familiar with. Intercepting them while they travel is in fact the way it's done. When there was a winter caribou hunt in Northern Quebec I went. You could not imagine such a show. But, the herd was travelling from their summer grounds to their wintering grounds. Hunters set themselves up along possible paths and waited in 14 degree weather. Having hiked and rafted in the Grand canyon twice. I couldn't image tougher terrain than the North Rim even if you are accustomed to it.


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## sourdough44 (Mar 2, 2008)

Yes, I doubt it’s any resemblance of a back country hunt, more of a shoot. Seems a pain to pack a Buffalo out too, by a road suits me.


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## wpmisport (Feb 9, 2010)

It's been proven in the past that Bison are easy to shoot and decimate the population. 
I would be okay with just letting the natives take what is needed to reduce the numbers but I do not believe that would happen.


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