Wood Bison: A good hunt or just hype?

BourbonTrail

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I read an article a while back about the hybrid bison hunts in Canada. Any Canadians (or anyone else) ever hunt them? How is it? Is winter season or fair weather hunting better?

-BourbonTrail
 
Technically we Americans cannot import pure strain. From what I have read, bison outside the National Park don’t count because they could be mixed with plains bison —hence importable/huntable by your southern neighbor
 
Technically we Americans cannot import pure strain. From what I have read, bison outside the National Park don’t count because they could be mixed with plains bison —hence importable/huntable by your southern neighbor
Plains bison were actually introduced to that herd in the past is why they are not pure wood bison. This would be one of my top hunts, but you apparently have to more or less be on call for when they cross out of park. I talked with Mervyn outfitters in Yukon at DSC last year about their hunts, they are much much more successful, but i unfortunately already knew pure wood bison can’t be imported.
 
The 2 bison herds in Utah are genetically pure bison that were brought in from Yellowstone back in the 40's.

They were first placed along the Dirty Devil River and they then moved to the Henry Mountains where they live now.

About 13 years ago the Utah DWR transplanted a number of them to the Book Cliffs, however the Book Cliffs herd has a possibility of breeding with a herd that is on the Ute Reservation so only time will tell on that herd.
 
When I spoke with the Yukon outfitter, i didn’t even ask if the trophy could be imported because I thought I knew it couldn’t. Do you know if any pure wood bison trophy have actually been successfully brought into the USA?
 
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"A good book about bison is American Bison by Steven Rinella. Alot of good infromatiom about them"

+1 and an interesting read.
 
The regulations here in Alberta create a situation in which the Wood Bison may be hunted when they leave the National Park. Which they do fairly frequently.
The herd is known to have brucellosis, hence the desire to keep them controlled and not wandering too far from the park.

 

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I read an article a while back about the hybrid bison hunts in Canada. Any Canadians (or anyone else) ever hunt them? How is it? Is winter season or fair weather hunting better?

-BourbonTrail

We have several different hunting opportunities for Bison in Alberta.
1. A draw for Residents, that you have minimal hope of being getting as a resident. It is also suspended at the moment. These are Plains Bison and they are no where near Wood Buffalo National Park (WBNP) where the Wood Bison reside.

2. Penned variety. (Plains Bison) Just go shoot a cow at home.

3. Wood Bison that "escape" from Wood Buffalo National Park. There is no fence so they really just migrate as they see fit. These may be hunted without a license. Typically hunted in the winter from Snow machines. This is a middle of no where hunt in deep snow and finding the Bison is the biggest challenge. Oh ya, not freezing to death up there is probably even more of a challenge.
I can't even imagine trying to hunt up there in the summer. The bugs and the keg would be the end of you.

Apparently we do have an Outfitter who chases Wood Bison in Alberta. I can not recommend any personally. I know some guys who have done the hunts for themselves and it is WORK!

There is a kids school class in the NWT that hunts a Bison every year as part of the curriculum. It is done in winter.
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As noted in my post above, when they leave the WBNP they are considered a threat to cattle and disease free Plains Bison herds so they are vermin at that point.


I can see where the confusion comes in. From a report done in NWT.

"Under the federal Species at Risk Act, a species listed as threatened may not be killed on federal Crown land that is under the authority of the federal Minister of the Environment, such as National Parks or National Wildlife Areas, except where permitted under a national recovery strategy. For this reason, bison hunting is not allowed in WBNP.

Hunting for wood bison from the Nahanni and Mackenzie populations is allowed under a quota system, but regulations differ between the two populations. In the SRL, General Hunting Licence (GHL) holders may hunt bison without limit or closed season because the NWT Big Game Hunting Regulations consider these animals to be hybrid bison.

Harvesting is also used as a recovery management tool in the Yukon and Alberta. Management concerns in these jurisdictions include bison exceeding target population sizes and traffic safety. In Alberta, there is also concern the disease-free Hay-Zama population may come into contact with infected bison from the WBNP area."


https://www.wildlifecollisions.ca/docs/wood_bison_management_strategynwt2010.pdf

We have Wood Bison, Plains Bison and Hybrid's in Canada.
Depends on the jurisdiction which may be available to hunt. Every Province and territory treats them differently under their regulations.

Good luck with your research
 

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Why not a BC plains bison hunt? I do think there is an outfitter (Sikanni River Outfitters) who offers them on a cold, winter skidoo hunt. With the new GOS season surrounding the LEH areas maybe a few less in years to come. But from resident reports dam low odds last year and lots of work. I have applied for 20 years, no luck yet.

MB
 
A friend of mine used his .45-70 to take a 3000+ pound bison bull in northern New Mexico and had a shoulder mount made. He works from home and his desk sits under that massive mount! I would have bad dreams about it falling on me.
 
crs............I would have bad dreams about carrying it out of the field. In reality, I think the Wood Buf would be an adventure. But here in the real world, I have 15 pref points for Utah bison, and I am going to let them expire. The logistics of killing a wild bison are probably hellish.................FWB
 
crs............I would have bad dreams about carrying it out of the field. In reality, I think the Wood Buf would be an adventure. But here in the real world, I have 15 pref points for Utah bison, and I am going to let them expire. The logistics of killing a wild bison are probably hellish.................FWB

If you are a non resident I suggest that you start putting in for just a cow tag.

I'm sitting at 23 points and figure that I have another 5-10 years to wait for a either sex tag. There are that many ahead of me. But when Utah's DWR only lets out a couple of tags a year for a non resident we don't have much of a chance.

My only hope is that those that are ahead of me drop out of the system.
 
A friend of mine used his .45-70 to take a 3000+ pound bison bull in northern New Mexico and had a shoulder mount made. He works from home and his desk sits under that massive mount! I would have bad dreams about it falling on me.
That's what makes the Bison dangerous game! If the mount falls on you, you're dead! Lol!
 

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