May 11th - BISON!

May 11^th

There is no more historically important animal in North America then the Bison.  It provided the ultimate in sustainable lifestyle for the Plains Indians, and the migratory people that preceded them.  It became the preeminent icon for our westward expansion.  It’s precarious flirtation with extinction was our national tragedy.  Not a tragedy limited to the killing off of such a magnificent creature, but a tragedy in the whole interconnected ecosystem it supported…..mainly the same Plains Indians mentioned earlier.  The killing off of the Bison was not just an environmental tragedy,… it was a form of genocide. 

Historians debate weather the great kill off of the late 1800’s was a direct military exercise to eradicate a food source for the Plains Indians, or simply a negligent act on the part of market hunters.  Regardless of the intentions, the fact is the Bison were almost wiped out, and a way of life for thousands was permanently changed.

But…devastation sometimes breeds awareness, and that awareness can breed positive change.

Even during the die off, people began noticing that the Bison were in trouble.  From that whole sale slaughter came the birth of the North American Model of Game Management.  Never again would a species be threatened as a result of hunting over pressure.  Indeed….from hence forth, hunting would be used as a tool of game managers to increase herd sizes and help make healthier populations. 

Like a spy movie with a time bomb about to detonate, the Bison was saved…albeit at the last possible second.

Bison numbers now grow…not like before, when literally millions wandered the plains, but their numbers steadily increase from year to year.  A major source of funding for this is through hunting, and like our ancestors that roamed this land for thousands of years, I wanted to join them in hunting and gaining nourishment from the Bison

After a bunch of research, and some really good recommendations I settled on Folsom Outfitters of New Mexico to help me in this pursuit.  I really was not expecting this to be a “hunt” in the traditional sense.  With no real natural enemies the Bison tends to be fairly docile.  I sort of figured it would be like shooting  domestic cattle.  Not particularly exciting, but in the context of the historical process, I was willing to do it anyway.

I was flat out wrong.  Hunting Bison is a hell of a lot harder then you would think.

I think one of the reasons that people, (me included) have a misguided notion of bison hunting is that they are really easy to spot.  Hunters spend a lot of time “looking” for game….with a herd of bison on the range it’s just not that hard to find them…even from a long long long way off.  On a sea of beige grass, they are the giant island of black. 

The problem is not finding them…it’s getting close enough to shoot one.  The ease in finding them is also their natural defense.  A herd has a thousand eyes looking in all directions, and by definition a prairie has no trees…there is just nothing to hide in to allow you to get close.  On top of that you also have the swirling New Mexico winds to contend with…you might be able to belly crawl in out of sight…but one sniff of you from 200 yards out results in a stampeding herd.

You also need to isolate a sub herd from the main herd.  Take a bull from the main herd and the other bulls will stomp and mutilate it  when it goes down.  You need to find a sub herd with a bull on the outside edge.  Then when it goes down, you hope and pray that the sub herd stampedes into the main herd and away from their fallen comrade. 

After three attempts at this scenario we were finally successful at isolating a bull.  I shot and he went down.  The herd stampeded away….Cool!  Then it stood up and started eating like nothing had happened.  Shocked, I shot again…this time a lung shot.  I heard the “THWACK” of the bullets impact, and the bison just kept on feeding for another 3 minutes.  Finally It laid down.  When we dressed it out I found the bullet from my first shot….it had completely obliterated it’s heart…it just didn’t seem to care.

I am proud of my bison…not just in the difficulty that it proved in getting it…but also in the context of the bison itself.  Like our predecessors I used every part of the animal.  The meat obviously, but the bones, as well as the skin.  I also did this knowing that the hunt helped ensure that this bison herd will continue to thrive and grow, and will be here for my grandkids, and their grandkids.