BISON HUNT 101
By Kathleen Stachowski, New West Unfiltered 11-15-05
OK then, let’s get on with it. First, let’s establish some background. Does anyone know how long it’s been since a bison hunt occurred in Montana? Yes, Mike? (Aside: “Mike, quit salivating on the desk, please...�) That’s right, 15 years. It was a debacle -- a massacre -- a public relations nightmare for Montana! Black-Eye City! Whew. Well, if at first you don’t succeed....
Ahem. Who knows why we’re having a hunt now? Tom? Well, no, not because there are too many bison; actually, the concept of “carrying capacity� is problematic: Are we talking the national park – which, by the way, doesn’t provide vital winter-range habitat -- or the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, to which they SHOULD have access? Remember, class, when you see numbers for “carrying capacity� cited in the Bison Management Plan, those numbers apply to the park ONLY and are produced by politics rather than science. Try again, Tom? Well, no, actually, brucellosis is a red herring – no bison has EVER transmitted brucellosis to cattle in the wild, and many other animals – think elk, students -- also carry brucellosis...the list goes on!
Let’s back up. Why do bison leave Yellowstone in the first place? Third time’s a charm, eh Tom? Bingo! They are migratory animals seeking forage on lower elevation lands during the park’s severe winter. Mike, you forgot to raise your hand and no, they are not, as you put it, “barging onto� ranchers’ land; they’re on Forest Service land, which belongs to ALL Americans. You’re understandably confused, Mike, because a small number of ranchers gets huge federal subsidies to graze public lands – costing taxpayers around $200 million a year – more like $500 million if you count both direct and indirect costs. Your tax dollars at work, my friend! So you see, it just seems like it’s their land, and in this case, the Department of Livestock dictates what happens on it. Calls the shots, if you will. Get it? The shots? Heh heh, I slay myself!
But let’s move on. Please take notes. I’m presenting a number of bullet points – ha, pun intended -- on “Bison Hunting DOs & DON’Ts.� Here goes.
DON’T expect a fair chase. In fact, don’t expect ANY chase. These big guys and gals have few natural predators and frequently treat potential threats with indifference, often standing their ground against wolves. Those who’ve had run-ins with DOL agents, well, let’s just say that a good number of them didn’t live to be wary a second time.
DO schlep your trophy home and boast about stalking a practically stationary animal not even considered wildlife in Montana, not allowed to establish a native population under the Big Sky, not even afforded any designated habitat in the state. I mean, what’s “fairness� got to do with it, anyhow?
DO remember that as long as wild bison remain in Yellowstone, they are treasured wildlife who captivate millions of tourists from around the world! As soon as they exit the park into Montana, however, they are a “species requiring disease control.� (AND, according to rancher/developer Rep. Dennis Rehberg, Montana’s lone congressman, a national security threat... code orange! Code red!) But...
DON’T mention THAT in your post-hunt bull sessions – it just doesn’t have that Hemingway mystique, that T.R. cachet…hey, look at it this way, you’re actually performing a public service for the handful of subsidized private cattle ranchers around Yellowstone! You know, removing the “competition,� which is what it’s really all about. Hey, it’s the American way!
DON’T bother wearing your camouflage gear. As I’ve already mentioned, bison are likely to stand there and watch you approach. Or they’ll continue grazing with an eye in your direction.
DO wear something tasteful, maybe trim your beard. Media interest in this “hunt� is high, Montana stands to get her other eye blackened, and you just might be on national TV. Consider it your 15 minutes of infamy! Hee hee!
DON’T worry about wearing yourself out scouring the 460,000 acres of public land that Montana FWP likes to tout as available to bison. Bison might be found on less than nine per cent of that, and if you miss any of the wily critters, Montana DOL agents will pick up where you left off once the “hunt� has ended. So you see, class, long after your coveted tag has expired, your federal tax dollars keep working to haze, capture, and slaughter our nation’s precious native wildlife! Er, I mean, disease-ridden grass-guzzlers!
DO practice shooting at sofas and parked cars – shooting bison has been likened to both of these. (Aside: But Dan, between you and me, make sure it’s a discarded sofa or parked car, OK? One felony conviction is enough, buddy.)
Questions or comments? Mike? Yes, you’re right, these bison are indeed special, and it’s an honor to kill them. They are the last continuously wild, free-roaming herd Americans will ever know, the genetically-pure descendents of the millions who once roamed our country, driven to near extinction in the late 19th century. Pardon me, Dan? Oh, well, they were slaughtered back then – sort of as a public service -- because they were seen as competition...you know, to settlers and their livestock, to the railroads, and as a vital and sacred resource to the Indians, who were also seen as competition – and so they were “removed.� Hey, it’s the American way! Class dismissed! Now get out there and knock ‘em dead! [End of article]
A+
A sad day K., a sad day...
Im still not sure what kind of long term managment plan would be acceptable. Any (reasonable) suggestions. MZ
Comment By Cathie, 11-27-05My quick answer would be that vaccination seems more acceptable than bullets for bison.
Fact is brucellosis is spread by Elk also - just ask Wyoming. Several cases of brucellosis have been documented there - resulting, in once case, in the destruction of the Walton Hereford Herd of Jackson Hole - and in all other cases (3 or 4 maybe) of the destruction of domesticated horses.
I doubt Montana is willing to call for an all-out elimination of elk from outside Yellowstone's borders...in fact, I'm sure that isn't going to happen - and yet it seems OK to shoot bison.
As I understand it, brucellosis is transmitted by the after-birth. Bison birth on the ranges just outside of the park. They do this April through mid-May. Cattlemen don't move their cattle to the range until mid-June. In between that time, the after-birth is eaten by ravens and coyotes and wolves. The likelyhood of transmission is so small, and vaccination seems far more manageable, I simply can not believe that shooting bison (solely bison and not elk as a managment tool) is reasonable.
Thanks for your reasoned response. I'd add two words to your first sentence....vaccination FOR CATTLE is more acceptable than bullets for bison. Check out the link below: "Why Vaccinating Wild Buffalo is Wrong." Ultimately, it's not about brucellosis anyhow -- it's about lack of habitat for our nation's last, free-roaming wild bison.
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/media/press0405/news0405/121304oped.html
While you're visiting the Buffalo Field Campaign website at http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org
check out the most current video of a "hunter" shooting a bull who wasn't even on his feet. He and two of his herd-mates were resting in the grass while a fourth was standing nearby. So much for "fair chase." So much for "hunting ethics."
Here is a sickening link.
http://www.huntbigbulls.com/
I was thinking vaccination of cattle. sorry. I could have been more clear.
I can't watch the video...but I would recommend sending some sort of short information email to NBC News....they had a story on the evening news the other night (one of those 120 second blurbs, but something nonetheless), and I sent off a note, thanking them for covering it, and telling them that the story deserved more coverage - aww, hell, here's the text of what I sent at the end - and I've gotten two auto-responses from them over the last 4 days. I'm thinking that it's actually being read 'up the chain'...so now might be a good time to send something their way. Remember Brokaw owns some property up here, so there are plenty of NBC people that have been up this way, and could be interested.
Here's the text....Thank you for covering the Montana hunt of the Yellowstone Bison. I have seen little in the media of this hunt, while I have been horrified that our Governor allowed it to proceed.
I am a resident of Montana (Missoula), and a former 13 year resident of Wyoming (Jackson). While I am no scientist, I do know a little about brucellosis.
The idea that Bison transmit brucellosis to domesticated cattle is certainly a possibility, it is remote. Chances are far greater that elk will transmit the disease- which has occurred, more than once, in Wyoming. Most recently, the Walton herd (out of Jackson) was destroyed because of this disease. Evidence shows it was elk that transmitted this disease to the Walton herd.
All other incidents of brucellosis transmission have been from elk to domestic horses.
In fact, the biggest threat of brucellosis comes NOT from Bison, but from elk. Wyoming's feed grounds are at the center of this threat - but the state has been unwilling to discontinue feeding, despite sound science which speaks to its unhealty practice.
Please do not overlook, either, the National Elk Refuge, which also feeds elk (located in Jackson, WY.)
I believe they are currently reviewing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on elk feeding.
Tourism dollars drive the decisions to feed wild animals, not sound science.
Unfortunately, the lack of media attention - and the lack of a thorough look at the issues/causes/solutions surrounding brucellosis - have resulted in this year's Bison hunt in Montana. Earlier this year Governor Schweitzer halted the hunt due to media attention and the possibility of loss to the tourism industry.
Montana could more easily mitigate any 'potential' threat to brucellosis by vaccination. I hear it is a 75 cent vaccine.
Plain and simple, as I understand it, Yellowstone Bison will calf outside of the park, on grazing lands, from April to mid-May. It is the placenta (after-birth) that carries the possibility of transmission of brucellosis. Ravens and Coyotes and other wild animals will eat this.
Montana's cattle does not open on this range land until mid-June. It is PRECISELY this time frame that allows me to believe that the likelihood of brucellosis transmission is unlikely.
The Bison is the symbol of our National Parks. Look at the badges on any National Park ranger's uniform. Yellowstone holds the last of the wild herd. Does man have to fence them in - literally?
I hope you take the time to explore this issue further. There is much to be learned - from both science and fact - from both Wyoming and Montana - and from both reality and fear.
Having lived in Jackson, Wyoming for 13 years, and having had elk and coyotes and mountain lions and moose and bear QUITE LITERALLY in my yard (and on my porch and poking their head in my window and trying to open my door) I believe that man should learn to live with wildlife. Much can be done quite simply by respecting the environment in which you live....a bullet, I do not believe, is the immediate and only solution.
For those of you that chose not to hunt, or havent harvested game with a "modern" weapon. I would like to remind you how important it is that the animal you intend to harvest is...
1. Well within a reasonable range of the weapon you are using and well within the range you are effective with that weapon.
2. The game is in a position exposing the vital area you intend to make your target.
3. The animal is still and calm allowing the marksmen to find his target accurately, assuring the projectile meets its target in the most effective "kill area" without fear the animal may suddenly move, causing a miss or a poor shot.
To question the ethics of a sportsman (or woman)who is following these important guidelines is absurd.
The BFC needs to realize that allot of the folks who are harvesting Bison this season are truly passionate about ensuring the Yellowstone herd IS accepted within the state of Mt and should be treating the hunters as allies rather than enemies. Most of them agree with many of the BFCs ideas and would like to see some of the same goals realized in the years to come. By belittling them and attempting to portray them as unethical slobs the BFC is merely "shooting themselves in the foot" Pardon the poor analogy. MZ
Sure seeing a lot of half truths in all this and a lot of romantisicm. Brucecellosis was indicated in a couple cases of Bison to Cattle, in S Dakota I believe. Elk to CAttle is at higher risk due to the elks massive numbers when compared to Bison and therefore are much more likely to do so. Both Elk and Bison are big wild animals who in are farmed or ranched by the thousands today.
The wild herd in Yellowstone has a mixed history and is no more or less wild than the many found in Alaska and Canada., or for that matter quite a few small herds here and there across the west.
About those Montana cattle and not getting to range until June. What's that all about. Here in Wyoming we have many that are here all winter, feeding grazing, calving and so forth. What makes Montana cattle different?
I did like this one: "
Tourism dollars drive the decisions to feed wild animals, not sound science." And tourism is mot likely the greatest threat that Yellowstone has ever known and does more damage in many ways than Bison hunts, Wolf controversy, Griz Bear Controversy and more. Tourists want it served to them on a platter and their numbers and unawareness of the ecosystem and the animals are "the problem." Think twice, if you really care about Yellowstone before you work to attract more tourists.
Manfred has it right with his last post above, know your enemies and hunters do not usually fall ito that category as they most often have the highest vested interest in the outdoors as far as years afield, dollars, conservation and much, much more.
Here's a last parting shot: "Ultimately, it's not about brucellosis anyhow -- it's about lack of habitat for our nation's last, free-roaming wild bison." "Lack of habitat," perhaps. "Nation's last free-roaming Bison," hardly! A small bit of net search will show why that's clouded thinking.