400 Bison to be thinned from GrandCanyon
Hogs
Just saw this on the news. They say they are looking for physically fit VOLUNTEERS, but it looks like it's going to be a lottery. I'm just wondering are any of you going to put in to help them out.
This isn't a hunt, it is a massacre with a rifle. Some may be interested in gunning down as many critters as they can but it's not for me. I do commend the parks for using this approach though. Saves tax payer money and provides good quality protein to local shelters.
Can't keep the head or hide.....?
wild1, that is a negative. You cannot keep any heads nor hides. You may get some meat.
I am going to try like heck to get picked. Scored last year on a draw hunt and now done that way with 1 bison lifetime bag limit. Don't think this deal counts like that. At least I hope not!
That's right Jeff. Those are the citizens buffalo, not the governments. I still call the Buffalo. I don't care if they are actually Bison. I don't hear anyone ever saying Bison nickels or Bison Bill Cody. Never heard of any Indigenous people called wounded bison. Indians aren't really Indians either.
They could make serious bank on doing it through hunters...oh well the fed govt doesn't have to pay attention to stuff like money...
I almost couldn't believe I was lucky enough to be selected one of the hunters!!! Had to pass a physical and shooting test, but so worth it!
I participated in a mule deer depredation hunt in Wyoming near Hyattville about 40 years ago. No bucks, just antlerless deer on specific hay meadows along the Bighorn River with a rifle. I was 26 years old and pumped up for it. Then we began and it didn't take me long to realize that it wasn't a hunt at all, but a slaughter. I know it had to be done and I said I'd do it so I did. But it wasn't fun in anyway. The only good thing about it shy of the conservation aspect was the meat I got.
Apauls, to clarify, you have already been selected for the North Rim Grand Canyon Bison cull hunt?
This is what they did a few years back in Theodore Roosevelt Park here in ND with Elk. It was all cows that were shot and you did get the meat. I'd rather it done this way than with sharpshooters....
There will always be more. Bison are being loaded into Montana as we speak to begin the new park infrastructure.
Ah sorry Heat - I thought I'd pull everyone's legs and this thread would blow up with people asking me how I got selected. Unfortunately no, I have not been :( and probably never will.
+1 Woods Walker. I have also done a depredation/herd reduction hunt. If you are a guy that just likes to kill stuff then it will be right up your alley. I like to hunt, so this wasn't particularly enjoyable for me. It is a necessary aspect of game management and needs to be done. Kudos to you guys that enjoy stuff like this, I personally did not have a taste for it.
I love to hunt but I can be hired as an exterminator for 600#s of buffalo meat. I'm a meat eater first, hunter second. I would also love to have a buff skull mount on my wall. It sounds like that's not an option.
This is a way for the dept to raise some money. Otherwise, since it is going to help feed the hungry, they could just go and shoot them themselves.
The State does not have the authority to allow a hunt on a National Park. They needed a special process to do that. This is the result of that process. No clue why they are calling for volunteers instead of just allowing the state to organize the hunt. I suppose it was to appease the environmental wackos or the native Tribes in the area. At least they are not hiring the government sharpshooters and at least someone will benefit from the meat.
Ecological disaster on the Kaibab is not news. Modern population dynamics now widely known and understood was demonstrated on the Kaibab plateau during the Aldo Leopold days of the early part of the last century. They killed all the predators to grow the deer herd and the population crashed after they ate literally everything. Took decades to bring it back. That was mule deer. Imagine what the bison will do unchecked.
That yearling cow was the result of twelve, 14 hour days in the blind. If people think this is going to be a slaughter, think again. Especially if the hunt will take place during the winter when most of the area is buried in 5-10 feet of snow. This is 9000 feet elevation with thick conifer forests, not the prairie.
Heat, if this is conducted like the past herd reductions in the National Parks for elk, then you will ride out on a snowmobile with a park staff member. That staffer will have a GPS tracker that will take you right to the herd based upon the collared animals within that herd and their transponder location. You move into position and open fire killing as many animals as you can. You don't have to hunt for the herd, you just drive as close to them as possible because you have an exact GPS fix. Then you spend the rest of the day butchering and getting them back to camp to be distributed. If the herd is in that deep of snow it should be a turkey shoot.
A ride in on a snowmobile? Yes please.
U.S. Rep. Gosar leads U.S. House Committee passage of bi-partisan Grand Canyon Bison Management Act
PHOENIX — The Arizona Game and Fish Department applauds the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee for approving a bi-partisan bill that will allow the Department to better manage and conserve the bison population within Grand Canyon National Park.
Today the Committee passed the Grand Canyon Bison Management Act, attaching it as an amendment to the larger Sportsman’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) Act. The Bison Management Act, introduced in June by U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, requires the U.S. Department of Interior and the Arizona Game and Fish Commission to coordinate on a plan that would allow sportsmen holding a valid state-issued hunting license to assist in management of the bison population within the park.
The amendment follows the release of a National Park Service plan that allows public volunteers to assist in culling an overpopulation of bison on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. Wildlife surveys estimate that about 600 bison have migrated into the park, where hunting is prohibited and bison are impacting both natural and cultural resources.
Left unclear with the current National Park Service plan is whether a licensed, skilled volunteer would be allowed to harvest and keep the entire animal. The Service stated previously that it was legally prohibited from conveying the harvested animal to a private hunter. Approval of the Bison Management Act will provide clear legal direction that allows skilled volunteers to keep the entire animal when leaving the park.
“While the National Park Service plan has some components that move in the right direction, it will surely face endless litigation while a bison herd continues growing unabated on the Grand Canyon National Park,” Arizona Game and Fish Commission Chairman Jim Ammons said. “This federal legislation will allow Arizona Game and Fish Department and Park Service to apply the best wildlife management practices to manage the bison herd effectively and immediately. Right now, Grand Canyon National Park simply cannot properly manage the unhealthy growth of the herd without this legislative fix.”
Rep. Gosar stated that the Bison Management Act provides a direct, cost-effective solution that strives to protect Grand Canyon resources.
“This is another important step in the legislative process to provide local wildlife managers the authority to utilize state licensed skilled volunteers to provide a timely solution, with no cost to taxpayers, to address the exploding bison population problem in Grand Canyon National Park,” Rep. Gosar said.
Biologists predict that the herd could grow to nearly 800 in the next three years and be as large as 1,200 to 1,500 animals within 10 years without further management actions to control the size of the herd. AZGFD continues to collaborate with the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and the InterTribal Buffalo Council on bison management guidelines for herd reduction.
“The Arizona Game and Fish Commission and Department thank Dr. Gosar for continuing to pursue this issue for the conservationists who appreciate the Park’s historic landmarks and want to protect them and prevent undue degradation to habitat and native species by managing the bison herd at sustainable levels,” Ammons said.
The bipartisan House bill is co-sponsored by U.S. Reps. Tom O’Halleran, David Schweikert and Trent Franks.
Operational details of herd reduction under the National Park Service plan are still being worked out and more information, including potential volunteer opportunities, will be announced at a later date by the National Park Service.
Here is another. The previous link was dated may 10th. This one sept 6th.
They do the same thing in Estes Park (Colorado)when the elk population gets to big.
