# Bison Bow hunting



## Wintergrower_OH (Sep 21, 2010)

Couldn't find much info . I know the arrow needs to be pretty tough . Where the best place to hunt bison ? What involved getting a tag ?


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## Micheal (Jan 28, 2009)

Did a quick search of my "outdoor" mags and found ads for everything from elk, deer, hog, bear, moose, etc without.......
Opps wait a minute!
Broadmouth Cayon Ranch in Uath offers 100% guaranteed elk hunts, mule deer, shiras moose, BUFFALO, and elk hunts for $3900, $4900, and $5900. (You do the rest of the search if interested)
Guess they would be a good place to start - cause I doubt that other than a private ranch setting you just can't hunt buffalo........
Now since I do not bow hunt I have a "dumb" question - as to your comment of the "arrow needs to be pretty tough" - do arrows come in different strengths like fishing line comes in pound sizes??


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## Wintergrower_OH (Sep 21, 2010)

Not a dumb question . The arrow and broadhead have to gear toward big game . Buffalo is one of the toughest to penetrate .
The prices they charge , must be why allot of people don't hunt buffalo . I also did a google search. But being from ohio it doesn't hurt to ask people who have more experience or live out west . Private hunting ranches don't sit to well with me . That not real hunting , i rather more landowner take a interest in food plots for deer . I'm more interested in harvesting the meat than if i get a Boone and crocket deer ,etc . Looks like buying meat from local farmer who raises Scottish highlander is better deal.


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

My Son has went several times but I'm not sure if it was South Dakota or Wyoming.He used Rifle.

I do know he was Mad after a Taxidermist Stole one of his Mounts,Sold it and left State.

big rockpile


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## gunseller (Feb 20, 2010)

There is a ranch in Nebraska to hunt Bufs. There are also several places you can buy Buf meat.
Steve


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## farmerj (Aug 20, 2011)

only five states offers bison hunting.
http://fwp.mt.gov/hunting/hunt.html

Any place else you go is going to be "high fence" hunting. You are on someone's ranch and culling their herd really.

SD has a couple places that offer this. Check with a local rancher too. He might be willing to let you shoot a buffalo as well.

You will want an arrow with the ability to penetrate heavy bone. My thoughts are that's would be at least a 75# longbow. Anything you get for that bow will be spined for that when you tune it. Can't change that factor. You might consider going to a 150+ gr broadhead for the penetration.

I'd take my 56# horsebow with a decent 150gr broad head in a moment.


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## farmerj (Aug 20, 2011)

Micheal said:


> Now since I do not bow hunt I have a "dumb" question - as to your comment of the "arrow needs to be pretty tough" - do arrows come in different strengths like fishing line comes in pound sizes??



Arrows have to be spined according to the weight of the bow. If it's too heavy a spine, it won't be accurate. If it's too light, it could explode on you when you release the string.

When you might have a 60# bow, you might shoot an arrow that is spined for 60-65 or 55-60. It really depends on how tuning goes for it.

To tune an arrow, at 15 feet out, put up a sheet of butcher paper and shoot through it. How the hole looks will tell you what needs to be done.

Torn up or down, change the nock point.

torn side to side, change the spine of the arrow.


That's how I was taught anyway.


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## Pops2 (Jan 27, 2003)

utah has public bison hunts on antelope island & the henry mountains down south. tags are lottery & cost is horrific for nonresident. you'll need to stack up bonus points for about 5-10 years before you even get into the main drawing pool.


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## Malamute (Sep 15, 2011)

Hunting buffalo isnt a cost effective meat strategy, unless in Alaska and you live close to where they are, its somethng you do because you want to hunt a buff.

I think hunting wild buff is going to be expensive and difficult. Some states have a waiting list, when a buff is seem in a hunt area, such as wandering out of Yellowstone, the call list is started. If someone doesn't answer their phone and can come immediately, the next person on the list is called. Not sure if it's still that way, or all the hunts are that way, but that's been the case in some hunts in the past. There simply aren't many wild, freeranging buff.

I think Arizon has a wild buff herd, I believe they range a huge area in the Az Strip country north of the Colorado River. I don't think getting a tag in Az is easy tho.

I wouldnt throw out the idea of hunting a game ranch, some may be shooting an animal in a pasture, as many seem to assume (incorrectly) all ranch hunting is, tho some are on huge ranges, and you have to go find them and stalk them. The ranch may supply a guide, but it isnt shooting a penned animal or one in a small pasture by any means.


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## farmerj (Aug 20, 2011)

It was not suggested you were shooting a penned animal.

You are culling a herd for a game ranch in a high fence pasture. It may be 100 acres, it may be 1000 acres. Some ranches are larger than others.

But you are still paying someone BIG money to cull THEIR herd.

From the link I posted above.


> Q. Do other states have public hunts for wild bison?
> A.Yes. Five other states hunt bison with no controversy. Each year, wild bison are hunted (and harvested) in Alaska (100), Arizona (45-65), South Dakota (35), Utah (60), and Wyoming (42).


Not many as the amount in parentheses are how many licenses issued as I understand it.


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## Malamute (Sep 15, 2011)

> farmerj
> It was not suggested you were shooting a penned animal ...


 I wasnt saying you were, the OP made a comment,




Wintergrower_OH said:


> ... Private hunting ranches don't sit to well with me . That not real hunting...



Just wanted to say, many don't understand what large ranch hunting is about. Don't recall where I saw it brought up, but many ranches have vastly larger areas to hunt than many woods hunters use for deer or whatever. It isn't as simple as getting out of your car, walking up and shooting something standing there looking at you, like a cow in a farmers farmyard, or, as someone said elsewhere, being driven up to an animal by ranch staff and shooting an animal thats tied up.

Many think hunting from a tree stand or walking around in a woodlot on a farm or rural area is "real" hunting, but walking for miles and miles on a huge ranch looking for an animal or spending days looking for an animal isn't "real" hunting. Not sure I can see how the determination one is "real" and the other isn't.

I recall that the buff in Az are on a state "ranch" (in a vast area), but I've heard of hunters not being able to find one.


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## Pops2 (Jan 27, 2003)

granted there are the 100 acre feedlots out there but the average size of a TX game ranch is 5000 acres. the largest i've heard of is over 30,000 acres. most have stocking densities no higher than half the population densities of eastern whitetails. some have even lower densities. and keep in mind how many guys looking for just the right buck get skunked in eastern states. the reason success rates are high is because the guides are out there every day and have developed a strong personal knowledge of the game & terrain. 
Malamute
i have the same confusion about deer shooter ethics. shooting a deer from 300 yds as it's munching corn at a feeder is real. sticking an arrow in a deer from a tree in a 50 acre woodlot surrounded by mcmansion subdivisions is real. but walking 10 miles trying to locate 1 of 5 large male kudu on 5,000-10,000 acres isn't real because there is a fence around the whole chunk of land whose purpose is as much to keep the whitetails out as to keep the kudu in. heck i've hunted whitetail on eastern military bases , which BTW are high fenced, and can tell you even on small bases the critters know where to go to be safe. you really have to know & make the effort to find them.


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

Pops2 said:


> granted there are the 100 acre feedlots out there but the average size of a TX game ranch is 5000 acres. the largest i've heard of is over 30,000 acres. most have stocking densities no higher than half the population densities of eastern whitetails. some have even lower densities. and keep in mind how many guys looking for just the right buck get skunked in eastern states. the reason success rates are high is because the guides are out there every day and have developed a strong personal knowledge of the game & terrain.
> Malamute
> i have the same confusion about deer shooter ethics. shooting a deer from 300 yds as it's munching corn at a feeder is real. sticking an arrow in a deer from a tree in a 50 acre woodlot surrounded by mcmansion subdivisions is real. but walking 10 miles trying to locate 1 of 5 large male kudu on 5,000-10,000 acres isn't real because there is a fence around the whole chunk of land whose purpose is as much to keep the whitetails out as to keep the kudu in. heck i've hunted whitetail on eastern military bases , which BTW are high fenced, and can tell you even on small bases the critters know where to go to be safe. you really have to know & make the effort to find them.


Old argument but how do you feel about hunting animals on Islands where there is no escape?

I've hunted many High Fenced areas and came home empty handed,not Guaranteed Hunt so I was out a bunch of money and nothing to show but Good time for a few days.Last High Fenced Sheep I killed took me two days,got lucky with snow and a Guy seeing Sheep knowing I was after one,still took a running shot through heavy brush.

big rockpile


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## Ed Norman (Jun 8, 2002)

big rockpile said:


> Old argument but how do you feel about hunting animals on Islands where there is no escape?


Like Australia? I'm fine with it.

When I was a kid I canoed out to an island in the middle of a big cold river and started sneaking through it to arrow a trapped whitetail. I heard a big splash and watched the whole herd of deer escape their island and ruin my plans.


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## Pops2 (Jan 27, 2003)

i like hunting an island w/ two guys, one to set at a choke point and the other to push them.


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## Micheal (Jan 28, 2009)

Just a side note: Thanks to those that explained about the arrow(s)....
Who woulda thunk.
Just wonder on how the Indians ever did it way back when? After all they didn't have all this new-fangled technology......


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## fordy (Sep 13, 2003)

Micheal said:


> Just a side note: Thanks to those that explained about the arrow(s)....
> Who woulda thunk.
> Just wonder on how the Indians ever did it way back when? After all they didn't have all this new-fangled technology......



.................They ran them off a cliff !! , fordy:bowtie:


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## Pops2 (Jan 27, 2003)

fordy said:


> .................They ran them off a cliff !! , fordy:bowtie:


or stabbed them w/ a spear from horseback or shot arrows into them the same way


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