Buffalo Hunt

I got lucky in last fall's Arizona permit draw, and drew a Bison permit for the Kaibab National Forest. The north end of the Grand Canyon National Park has a growing herd of Buffalo, which is one of the last few free-roaming herds in the US. Unfortunately they're are off limits for hunting while in the park. But occasionally they range off the park and into the Kaibab, where they can be hunted by permit.

June and July are said to be the best time to hunt them because the rut is starting. My season dates were June 16-29. On the Kaibab plateau the elevation is 8500-9000 feet. Even with the elevation, I was concerned that temps would be hot in late June, and they were, but at least it was a "dry heat". The mornings were cool, with temps rising into the upper 80's by mid-day.

Since I was bow-hunting, my biggest concern was making a poor shot, knowing that bison have the reputation for being very tough to put down (even by rifle). So I wanted to get in close for a chance at perfect shot placement.

I saw no animals on the first 3 days, even though I was hunting from dawn to dusk. I had one close call on the morning of day 4.

On the 5th day, I was able to stalk to within 20 yards of a small herd that was standing about 50 yards away from the park boundary. Had a bull get turned broadside and was able to make a good-looking shot tight to the shoulder. The broad-head passed through the heart and broke the far foreleg, and he only went about 15 yards before tipping over. It was a relief to know I'd made a clean kill.

First impression walking up was that these things are b-i-g!

Nice story and Pic....

How old was the Bison ?

Wow! Great story and a nice pic, too. As Paul Harvey used to say, what's the rest of the story? Like how did you get such a huge beast back to your truck and into a cooler before any spoilage occurred? I think about how the Native Americans used to make kills with their stick bows and arrows with stone points as compared to our modern compound bows and arrows topped with high tech broadheads.

Brew I think he was 3-4 years old. There were bigger, older ones roaming around for sure. Another guy killed a 6-7 year old bull with a rifle.

Thumper luckily he died near a power-line cut. The forest service allows you to drive off-road to retrieve a buffalo. So we took a side-by-side in to retrieve him. We butchered him on the spot and hauled out the quarters and head. The camp where I was staying had a gas generator and freezer. I partially froze the meat overnight, then placed it in three 120-qt coolers for the ride home. Tossed in a few bags of ice when I got to town, and the meat was still ice cold and in good shape when I got back two days later.

By the way the meat is outstanding. We've already had some of the inner loins and they're as tender as any doe whitetail, but taste more like beef

Awesome hunt Stick!

I'll post a few more pictures as I have time. Saw quite a few mule deer during the hunt.

That area, and the famous "Arizona Strip" which is nearby, have some of the best trophy mule deer hunting in the west. This was a couple of younger ones growing in their antlers.

That is nice. Good for you!!

Awesome beast, great pics congrats!

Great post, that meat looks delicious.

Check out this nice Mule buck I saw on the news.

http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news...re-breaks-out-in-california-978535491914

Nice! Congrats Greg!

Awesome stick thanks for sharing congrats

Man that's cool, congrats! Look at that beautiful meat!

Saw this interesting-looking squirrel with a snow-white tail, and thought it was a "piebald". But later found out it's actually the so-called "Kaibab Squirrel" which lives only in that one specific geographic area, of about 20 miles by 40 miles.

Very Cool Congrats!

That's neat looking

Looks like a great hunt stick ! Congrats !

Popped a few of those north of Phoenix Arizona on the Mogollon Rim a good number of years ago while on a weekend pass from the Marine Corps.