Absaroka-Beartooth Bison Hunt

[DaveC]

You can count the number of genuinely free range bison hunts in the lower 48 on one hand, and the number of fingers you need is up for debate. The Henry Mountains count, without question. The House Rock/Kaibab hunt in Arizona seems questionable, as most end up waiting for the bison to leave Grand Canyon NP. Similar things could be said for the traditional winter hunts outside Yellowstone, such that I stopped applying for them a while ago. But plenty of bison wander outside the park to summer in headwaters areas, and three years ago Montana created a hunt with this in mind, allowing folks to hunt the upper basins of Hellroaring and Slough Creeks, north of Yellowstone.

This year I got one of those five tags.

Bison let me back in to hunting as an adult. A few years of sitting in trees for whitetails bored me for a long time, until Steve Rinella's 2006 Outside article about hunting bison off the Copper River in Alaska. 12 years ago I knew a lot about climbing and backpacking and general backcountry stuff, but hunting, killing, and packing out a bison, largely solo and way out from roads or trails was beyond my comprehension. The article, and the book it inspired a few years later, got me interested in pursuing deer and elk and sheep in the backcountry of the lower 48, and many good adventures have followed. Things I've learned hunting have increased my backpacking skills, and last fall I fulfilled a long term goal when I shot a bull well back in the Bob and packed it out, solo, over the two days which followed.

The tag gods waited until I was ready.

My resolution for this tag is to shoot a dark old bull back in some beautiful country, and get the meat, skull, and hide out to the road entirely under human power. Thankfully I know a good number of skilled folks with similar interests, and recruiting a good crew proved easy, as the level of interest was very high. In a month I have folks flying in from as far as Alaska and the east coast to help out, and tomorrow I'm heading in for the first serious scouting mission. Over the Fourth I headed in to Slough Creek, mainly to packraft the section above the park, but also to get eyes on some bison in the name of practice. Lots of likely candidates seen on that trip, though most were still down within the park. Hopefully over the next three days I'll see plenty in the Hellroaring drainage.

Updates to come.

 

[aggieland]

Freaking awesome.

 

[weekender7]

Standing by for as many updates as you can muster. Best wishes on success.

 

[WJS23]

Good luck man and will be waiting to hear about the hunt!

 

[Carl]

Good luck! It is a fun animal to hunt. Dont under estimate the amount of work it takes once the animal is on the ground. I killed a mature bull outside of gardiner last year. It took six skilled hands over two hours to skin and bone it. With no bones, other than the ribs, I had exactly 600 lbs of meat. The head was nearly 100 lbs, as was the hide. The meat is incredibly hard to cool. It was near 0 when I killed mine, i turned it twice overnight in the bed of my pickup, amd the next day some was still warm. Brian, the park game warden said he has seen quarters spoil at -20. I am by no means trying to discourage you, but just hoping that you know what you are in for. Good luck!

Sent from my LM-G710VM using Tapatalk

 

[Muttly]

That is straight up awesome! Little bit jealous..
Congrats, and good luck!!

 

[mtnkid85]

This is the same tag I apply for every year! Very excited to hear your story. Ive also been trying to spend time in those two drainages the past few years.

 

[mtmiller]

Very deserving. Best of luck.

 

[DaveC]

Got a scouting trip in to Hellroaring the weekend before last; no bison nor any especially recent evidence. Surprising, as the only semi-solid rumor I'd heard about someone else with this tag was that they horse-packed one out of Hellroaring last year. Obligations meant the only days I had coincided with less than ideal weather (Beartooth Pass was closed by the same storm that rained on me), so questions about what I was and was not able to see will always linger.

This is the first big-ticket draw tag I've pulled, but even the less rarified ones (Bighorn ewe tags the last two years) have taught me a lot about managing anxiety, expectations, and respecting the process. Now we have essentially one option, to go into Slough Creek from the Cooke City side, and hope the evidence I saw back in July will have resulted in bison being present. With folks traveling from out of town to help me on this, the prospect of getting skunked is anxiety provoking. On the other hand, I've done what I can in terms of scouting and preparation, and while I don't want to let go of a commitment to focus and effort the whole duration of the hunt, I do want to acknowledge that there is only so much I can do to control the outcome.

Last September hunting sheep I had a hard time with that, and spent 4 rainy and muddy days on the CMR pondering if I was there for the experience, or just to have done it and ticked it off the list, with a ewe skull on the wall and good riddance. I did shoot a sheep, and have baffled seemingly everyone with my choice to leave the skull sitting on a rock overlooking the reservoir. It just felt right in the moment, as if the experience had been so intense and conflicted that all external evidence should be left out there (except the endless mud I'm still cleaning out of my gear). Above all else my goal for this bison hunt is to give full effort while not being overly attached to the outcome. More than anything achieving that is an intimidating prospect.

Forthcoming; rifle and meat management/storage strategies and planning.

 

[DaveC]

Carl, numbers are much appreciated. Lots of hyperbole and second-hand information out there on this subject!

 

[weekender7]

Hoping it starts to turn your way Dave, best wishes.

 

[Sniff]

This is my #1 goal as a hunter. I have many smaller (more realistic and obtainable) goals. Like getting an elk, and mule deer, moose, and black bear. But a bison....wow. Enjoy the experience and thank you for sharing

 

[jspradley]

Awesome!!!!!!!!!

Keep us posted, good luck!

 

[dirtclod Az.]

Az.hunt is 1 Bison in a lifetime.Bison herd in Grand Canyon area is growing to the point of degredation hunts.OHV allowed to retrieve animals.It takes a lifetime to get drawn.My Dad was drawn in the late 60's. 4 buffalo placed in a corral and each hunter chose and shot one.Hunting?

 

[Jimbob]

Just finished Rinella's book and man do I have Bison on the brain. this has been my 10 yr old sons dream hunt since we traveled in Yellowstone 2 years ago. He has shot a mountain goat and a black bear this year but he is still enthralled with Bison. He's wearing off on me.

Good luck on your hunt.

 

[DaveC]

We head in the day after tomorrow. Some final details:

We're taking eight game bags I made myself from non-stretch, tight and light polyester from Joanne's. Bringing 300 feet of paracord for hanging stuff up away from the bears. This is surprisingly feasible even at higher altitudes in the Yellowstone area, provided you're near streams or rivers.

Rifle will be the same I've taken on every hunt for the past 4 years, a Kimber Montana in .308. 168 grain TSX factory ammo is the choice. I had intended to bring my grandfathers old Remington 660 in .350 rem mag, but the fact that it only holds 2 rounds in the mag and never fed as well as I would prefer had the tried and true Kimber getting the vote. Leupold 4x scope.

My pack will be a modified Seek Outside Revolution frame with a ~5500 cubic inch bag I made myself. Center zip, lots of compression, X50 fabric. Meat shelfing is the obvious choice when multiple trips and blood/scent control is a priority, and D-P fabrics are the obvious choice for meat shelfing.

Report to follow.

 

[tntrker]

I'm hyped for you! Good luck! I can relate to the leaving the sheep head for the reason you mentioned. Hope it all works out..standing by for details of the haul out..

 

[Gumbo]

Can't wait for a report and pics. I'd love to have this tag, good luck!

 

[Randy Newberg]

Good luck, Dave. You will have a true experience, for sure.

I drew the West Yellowstone tag in 2013 and I echo what Carl said about getting the animal taken care of in the field. It was -30F the morning we headed out and it never got above 0F that day. The meat stayed warm even after we got it to the truck and hauled home. And expect large, nearly unmanageable pieces that can be a challenge to work with by yourself. We have four guys working knives to start with, then it became easier to have two guys on knives and two guys lifting/holding the quarters/bones/hide, while the other two worked their blades.

I am lucky to have the Henry archery tag this year and given the remote areas we may be hunting, I am concerned about meat care and manners to prevent spoilage in October weather. Plus, transporting that much meat home to Montana.

Hope you find a great bull and the experience is all that you were seeking. I'll be following this thread to see how it turns out.

 

[DaveC]

Thanks Randy. Make the day-by-day as long as you like; I'll watch every second.

As for our hunt, it worked out quite well.



6 miles in, 6pm on the first day, we're looking for a spot to camp, cruising along on a pleasant evening, chatting and having slipped mostly into backpacker mode. It doesn't make sense to have the guy with the rifle last in line, but there I was, having stopped to take photos. 100 yards out a flash of a brown line through the brush catches my eye.

"Gentlemen, are you up for a late night?"

I "stalk" to within 60 yards making a token effort to crouch below the willow line. The bison, who looks exactly like the northernmost one I saw back in early July, lurking 20 yards outside the park boundary, does not give any evidence it cares about my presence. Ideal heart/lung zone is right above the grass, and I take a knee and plenty of time to get a good rest on crossed trekking poles before pulling the trigger.

The next few minutes pass quickly. A rodeo buck suggests a good shot, and I put another one into the lungs as the bull lurches 10 yards forward and goes down. 10 seconds later he springs back up, like nothing happened and he's late for a meeting, and stumbles forward ramming a spruce at full tilt. I shoot again, this time in the head, and he goes down again, pops back up, I put another bullet in the head, and down he goes again. Plenty of kicking, flailing, and groaning ensues, which gets me thinking about the 1 round I have left on me, the other bullets 100 yards away in my pack, and the two guys leading stock who happen by on the trail (50 yards distant) and get the hell scared out of them by the emphatic death rattle.

I'm genuinely frightened to go confirm that it's dead, and spend plenty of time waiting, eyes locked, rifle ready, before the crew comes over and I muster the courage to first throw a trekking pole at it, and then poke it in the eye.

Now the work really starts.

The next two days of packing, and that long evening of butchering especially, are noteworthy for their lack of notable events. Our group of five worked well as a team, didn't do anything stupid, and took care of each other and ourselves. We got the ~600+ pounds of meat boned, bagged, and hung in trees 300 yards away, and the hide off, crudely fleshed, and drug (painfully) 50 yards away all in 5.5 hours. Then we went to bed, woke up late, packed half the meat back to the truck, and the other half halfway to the truck, in a long 12 hour day. Morning of day 3 we woke up tired, I went and retrieved the 1/3 of the hide I could carry myself, and caught up to the others by the halfway meat cache. They had decided to add as much meat as possible in addition to camp loads, and right on schedule our sixth rolled down the trail, grabbed the final bags of meat, and we got everything out to the trucks in one last trip.

What worked:

-The plan of going early in the season, and finding a lone old bull on summer range well up the drainage. Right place, right time, helped by right planning.
-A smallish crew of solid folks. Could have used a few more, did fine, would not have wanted any fewer. Everyone had a great time, no drama, no whinging.
-Taking a big job one piece at a time.

Things worth noting:

-12 meat bags was only barely enough to keep loads to a manageable weight. We boned everything, and took all the meat.
-300 feet of cord was not enough. Even when we had limbs that could hold 150+ pounds the soft spruce got grooved to a worrying extent. More hangs would have been better. An electric fence is worth considering, as it would save a lot of time.
-Multiple Havalon-style knives were essential (we used ~16 blades between three knives). The hide is insanely thick and everything is a couple orders of magnitude tougher than an elk. That said, the heel at the bottom of the blades kept catching and we had multiple blades (which were installed correctly) pop off in the meat.
-The hide was beyond heavy. Three of us, all pretty darn fit though not exactly power lifters, could barely drag it over flat grass. I took the section from the neck to behind the shoulder, as well as separating the horns from the skull.

Hard to imagine a better hunting trip.