Bison hunting anybody interested????

[turbomulcher]

Has anyone been on a free rangeing Bison hunt in northern Alberta? any luck? where did you go? time of year? I've done a bit of research and would like to take on this adventure next Feb-March, Need 3 other guys. anyone got time? need 12 to 14 days.can hunt wolf and ice fish also.

[BL]

Well, I have the time and the desire if things are set up properly. Tell me more, maybe through email. blust@shaw.ca

[turbomulcher]

BL emailed you

[varmitr]

i seen a herd of 200 north of the Peace this fall, i guess its more of a bisontenial:rolleyes
i crack me up!!

[7 REM MAG]

where do you plan on hunting these bisons and what exact dates are you aiming for

[turbomulcher]

Mid Feb to March. east of Fort Vermilion, by Wood Buffalo

[Grizzly Adams]

I'm definitely interested. I have been trying to put together a bison hunt, but it is definitely not a one man thing, given the size of the job, if one gets lucky. I spent a summer on the reserve at Jean D'Or Prairie, years ago and My thinking leans towards that area. I gather, there is even an all weather road now.
Grizz

[turbomulcher]

Grizz John D' or Prairie is just south where I was looking at. I was thinking of Wentzel river.

[boo]

I had hoped to go up there the winter of 05/06. It was the ideal winter-no snow. This last winter had too much snow. I'm hoping next winter will be better. I'd like to take one with my bow.

[cmfic1]

Am interested.....

[turbomulcher]

looks like I'm not the only one, varmitr, 7 rem mag, grizzly adams, boo, cmficl, send me your email and I'll CC some information I sent to BL.

[Okotokian]

Cool. I hadn't even known bison were legal big game in Alberta! I don't see any mention of Bison in the Hunting Draws publication. What's the season and the process of getting a tag? These aren't on some sort of "farm", are they?

[turbomulcher]

no lic required, bison are not under the wildlife act, they covered under livestock. Do a search on bison hunting in alberta. there are places set aside where you can't hunt them eg northwest High level.send your email address I'll cc you a little info

[moosecaller]

I used to live up north and i did one of these bison hunts back in the early 90's. all i can say is u will need at least 4people, 4 good snowmobiles, lots of will power and some real good luck, once you find their tracks they wont be far, but good luck finding the tracks. its not like the bison are every where.Ths is one of the hardest, coldest, wetest, hunts I ever did. I dont mean to sound discouraging, but you had better be up for a challenge.
goodluck

[turbomulcher]

Thanks for the input moosecaller, that what I expect the hunt would be like. I set my sights on a min of 4 guys, I've done a pile of homework on this adventure, but most guys are not set up enough to under take this kind of hunt. Where did your hunt take place? and any luck?

[gunslinger]

this thread come up last year about christmas time and a bunch of us were going to go up north, then i got talking to sheep hunter and a few guys and the danger and cost and the equipmetn and guy woudl need is outrageous to go after one of these guys, so i went to northern bc and bought a hunt for the free ranging buffalo.
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/gunsligner/mybuffalo.jpg

[jrs]

I saw in one of the southern papers you can shoot a bison cow at some farm for $300. Must be trying to get rid of them. Can't remember which paper but it was this weeks.

[bacon grease]

More outrageous - $$ - than a guided hunt?? I really have a hard time beleiving you could do a guided trip in BC cheaper than a selfguided AB hunt. Even If you had to rent sleds!

There are definitly ways to increase your odds rather than just showing up and riding around looking for tracks. And heck I still like the sound of an adventure! I believe that a well thot out plan of attack and the right equipment will do a lot to minimize the danger and other concerns.

NO THANKS jrs. When I shoot a buff it aint gonna be on no farm that's cullin' it's old cows!!

[turbomulcher]

CHEERS to you bacon grease, the adventure is what it's all about.

[Hoopi]

Hey:

My buddy went to northern Alberta on a guided hunt a couple of years ago for bison. He got one. He said it was the hardest most physically challenging hunts he has ever done. He said the endless travel by sled and always trying to unstick the sled becasue of deep snow exhausted him. It wore out his guide as well. He mentioned that he was not up every morning to gas up the sleds, get them running and kick the guides bed... the guide would happily sleep in. The guide was pooped out.

My buddy was an Alberta resident so he didn't need the guide, but he said he would not venture too far from the guide because if one sled went down, you would never walk out of there. He mentioned that they put 100's of kilometers looking for tracks. Once they cut one set of tracks, the hunt was over rather quickly.

Hoopi

[turbomulcher]

Hoopi, where did your friend hunt? I know it could be a tough hunt,dangerous, safety in numbers, thats why I would like 4 to 6 guys. GPS with a fly over is a must, only have so many days.I have SAT phones so the guys could keep in touch, no walking out.

[gunslinger]

bacon grease i for one am the first to ever go on a adventure believe me ive shot animals on all the oceans in the world and have went into the deepest of bushes to jsut fish a backcountry lake, or climbed 4 ranges of mountains jsut to kill a bull moose then back pack it out for 4 days.,they call me crazy but i always come home with a animal ...but this is one of them times when you shoudl take the advice from me, i bring up 60 guys a year for the adventure, guided in the yukon,bc,and alberta, but i am telling you when and if you even get far enough north, and every single thing runs good and your pull sled holds up without you breaking anything, then riding for 100 km to find a herd,hopefully it has a bull in it....then when you do have the bull down and you walk up to it, thats when you will realixe holy crow now what, these arnt animals you jsut cut up and put on the back of your quad or trailer..there is 1000 pounds of meat and and many trips to get it out....the time and effort for you to hunt one of these huge beasts is way to much for one of us to do..now im not saying you cant do it, but you better have a few guys and good equipment and a good tent because when it turns 20 below and machines start not running good becasue of the loads your pulling you better hope you can get back to town...i tuna fish out in pei with the owner of boss outfitting and he strictly hunts buffalo up north and he was the one that finally talked me out of not doing it myself,frost bitten fingers,played out guys till they dont even want to hunt anymore,days on end till someone comes to get them out because of broken welds or skis, there is professionals that can get you a buty bull on a great adventure with a safe way to get home, for alot less money and time with a nice place to stay then what it will be if you try to go norht for one of these buffalos..

[Jamie Hunt]

I am of the same mind set of Gunslinger. I also looked into it. If you must do a Alberta thing try and find a guide with the experiance and knowledge needed. It sounds like THE toughest hunt in Alberta.

Jamie

[Bison]

Just be careful you're not hunting in one of the new wildland parks up there.
Otherwise you could get a pretty hefty ticket.
The AFGA is already in pretty hostile discussions with the parks bureaucrats over the issue.
There's a serious anti element imbeded in that department.

[turbomulcher]

thanks Neil talked to FW where and where not to go.

[bacon grease]

Hey Gunslinger - I know how your earn your keep every fall so I wasn't at all questioning your ability or desire. In fact if I spent my falls guiding I would probably have my fill of adventure and want my own hunt(s) to be more relaxed. I just question the statement that you did it cheaper with a guide. I can invest myself and my time much easier than I can invest the $$. If you don't mind - what did it cost you? All inclusive/ball park?

You are also very right that this isn't something one guy should even concider. Like turbo said 4 to 6 guys and machines.

Its like turbo said you hire someone to do a fly over and locate some buff. You than mark them on the GPS and make a play for them - this will help minimize the aimless wondering looking for them. More importantly it's not illegal because they are not classed as "game animals." And accually when you find them at this time of the year you will ussually find bulls or cows. The bulls will comonly be running together so you should have the opportunity to take more then one at a time. And nothings saying that under the right circumstances I wouldn't shoot a cow - would rather have a bull but..

Ya they are BIG but arrows and bullets still kill them and knives and saws will still reduce them to managable peices. And I know crap happens but that's not ruled out using a guide either. I was on a fly in moose hunt a couple years ago and was able to rent a sat phone inexpensivly so I would probably do that again. $70.00/week +air time was pretty cheap insurance.


And by the way THAT'S AN AWESOME BULL!! CONGRATS!

[gunslinger]

the hunt i bought from sikini river outfitters with mike hemmitt costed me 3500$ for a 5 day hunt..i tipped 500$ to my guide and drove from drayton valley up to fort st john so couple hundred in fuel also.....sounds like turbo is doing all the necessary things it takes to do the hunt boys,,,,by no means boys am i saying anything about the hunt,, was gonna do it last year with a few guys on this board.
and heck i can tell you guys are like me, jsut gonna get at er and get er done,, what you learn from this trip will make the next that much funner also...
i was the only one fortunate enough to shoot a buffalo with mike when i was there out of 5 of us, there wasnt that much snow so the bulls were high up in the mountains and ill tell you what im glad i was able to find one on the 5th day cause that is one hunt im glad i got over with,,,,best of luck fellas on the hunt and get lots of pictures for us.
didnt know you were allowed to shoot cow buffalo in alberta.

[boo]

A flyover is the only way to go and then only go after them if they are reasonably close to access. Some locals appearantly have info on their travel patterns. Also I wouldn't go if the snows too deep.

[Hoopi]

Hi TM:

I will send him an e-mail and ask him if he will share the location of his hunt. Get back to you soon

Hoopi

[boo]

bacon grease I'd be interested to find out where to rent a sat phone. Is that the going rate?

[bacon grease]

Hey Boo. Not sure if that's the going rate or not. Most guys I talked to said it was a great deal. Rented it in Red Deer from a place on the north end but don't remeber the name. Can look it up if you like. This was 2 falls back but I don't really see it getting more expensive - prolly cheaper.

[turbomulcher]

Boo a couple of places rent the SAT phones in Calgary. I went out and bought a couple of them for camp. Last year and this winter Globalstar has been realigning their satelites we were having a lot of lost calls and no signal for 30 mins at a time. Should be fixed by end of March. Did you talk to your bud about where he went for bison?

[Hoopi]

Hey Turbomulcher:

I sent you a private message, let me know if the information was of value to you.

Hoopi

[turbomulcher]

Hoopi thanks for the reply

[boo]

bacon grease could you find the info on the sat phone rental in Red Deer? All I could find in Edtn is $365/mo. All I need it for is 1 week.

[bacon grease]

Hey Boo It was at Communications Group Red Deer. The price I got was in '05.

[turbo mulcher]

Have had quite a bit of interest in the last month, good posibility this hunt might go forward .I will set up some coffee meets for some information exchange for all interested partys

[Silverado]

I'm going to tag this thread... I was thinking of maybe SA next year if the winter is good, but this hunt looks awsome as well!

[gunslinger]

hey fellas well well , we have some boys interested in going up on a buffalo hunt still eh, well its a new year and i happen to have bought a new skandic sled so i as well would deffintly be interestd in going if there is gonna be some guys going,,i have satellite phone and all my own gear and gear for others if needed, would love to tag along and hutn a buffalo if im invited.
i have outfitters tents and stoves and well ready to go in 07 on a adventure like this again, i bought a guided hunt last time but if a few of us go then we can get one for sure.
seeing that picture of me up there with that bull brought back good memoried and lots of sweat. biiiigggg animals.

[mud slug]

theres a herd down around rocky about 10 years ago someone cut there herd lose saw them once or twice and couldn't find out if they were legal to take then saw them again last year

[gunslinger]

so is there a few guys thinking of going on this hunt, i wonder if the winter is gonna be as much snow as last year

[ABDUKNUT]

For what it's worth, (not much) I hunted grouse in the area you guys are talking about going, 2 years ago with very little snow, and I likely drove every road in the area, and hiked in on many many trails- and never saw as much as a track. I spent 3 days or so.
You guys are on the right track though, I can see this being quite the adventure. For those of you who might be tempted to drive up there and 'hunt buffalo' on your own- dont bother.

[turbo mulcher]

TTT pls

[Reeves]

Reply page looks wierd...
Anyway, I'll restrict my Buff hunting to the Drayton auction. Get one for as little as .07 (cents)/lb. :evilgrin:

[gunslinger]

turbo lets get the ball rolling bud, lets set some dates and giver a whirl. im set to go if you are ready to meet for a meeting with some boys about it.

[turbo mulcher]

gunslinger PM you