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  #1  
Old 12-16-2018, 12:48 PM
Toungetech Toungetech is offline
 
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Default Bison skull found in 402

Anyone with an idea how long ago bison roamed that area?

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  #2  
Old 12-16-2018, 01:17 PM
Cowboy coffee Cowboy coffee is offline
 
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Nice find. Maybe the great kill off in the 1800’s. I found one awhile back in a dried out slough in 238. Only a tip of his horn was poking out of dirt. Still a nice piece of ancient Alberta.
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Old 12-16-2018, 01:39 PM
Full Curl Earl Full Curl Earl is offline
 
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Default Huh

A question if you dont mind, did you find it just as in the picture or did you cut it?
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Old 12-16-2018, 02:20 PM
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Nice, good to see Bowtechs were killing stuff 200 years ago.🤣
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Old 12-16-2018, 04:29 PM
Toungetech Toungetech is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cowboy coffee View Post
Nice find. Maybe the great kill off in the 1800’s. I found one awhile back in a dried out slough in 238. Only a tip of his horn was poking out of dirt. Still a nice piece of ancient Alberta.

Yeah such a cool peice of history. Was it preserved well?This one was in a dried up creek bottom wedged between a rock and deadfall. Definetly the coolest price up on my wall.
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Old 12-16-2018, 04:33 PM
Toungetech Toungetech is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Full Curl Earl View Post
A question if you dont mind, did you find it just as in the picture or did you cut it?
Found it as is. The white is teeth marks
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  #7  
Old 12-16-2018, 04:37 PM
59whiskers 59whiskers is offline
 
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Found a few over the years in river valleys. Once they are uncovered and exposed to the sun and weather they break down quickily. Found a old bone dump on with a elk antler too.
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Old 12-16-2018, 05:04 PM
Deer Hunter Deer Hunter is offline
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Near find!
There are a lot of them in eastern Alberta

Found this one near Drumheller

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  #9  
Old 12-16-2018, 05:21 PM
lannie lannie is offline
 
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Friend found one in the South Castle river(400). They were all through the mountain valleys I believe.
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Old 12-16-2018, 05:55 PM
Cowboy coffee Cowboy coffee is offline
 
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I ended up cleaning it up. Glued some eye socket pieces together and put a good coat of varnish on the skull. I talked to a guy at the provincial museum and that’s what he said works best.
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  #11  
Old 12-16-2018, 06:03 PM
raised by wolves raised by wolves is offline
 
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Aside from the old bones that turn up, there are a few bison still roaming around that area. Granted they are few and far between but they do turn up in the area.
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Old 12-16-2018, 07:25 PM
JoshT JoshT is offline
 
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Very cool! I would love to stumble across one some day!
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  #13  
Old 12-16-2018, 07:43 PM
gazin16 gazin16 is offline
 
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Found a few in 500
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Old 12-16-2018, 08:26 PM
NCC NCC is offline
 
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We found several while picking rocks when we were kids. Piles of elk antlers also. 60 km west of Red Deer.
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Old 12-17-2018, 02:14 PM
robson3954 robson3954 is offline
 
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Finding a bison skull has been on my mind for some time, no luck so far.
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Old 12-17-2018, 02:25 PM
Buckwheat Buckwheat is offline
 
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Found this partial sticking out of the bank on the bow last summer while fishing down by carseland


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  #17  
Old 12-17-2018, 05:48 PM
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Ya Ha Tinda has one that was found in a melting glacier near there, still has bit of hide on it.

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Old 12-17-2018, 06:31 PM
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This one was found on the north Saskatchewan river, stuck in the bank.


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Old 12-17-2018, 07:12 PM
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Best place to find em is prairie sloughs that have dried up.
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  #20  
Old 12-19-2018, 10:30 AM
dicknormal dicknormal is offline
 
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Here is mine gifted to me by a guy I deal with..

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  #21  
Old 12-19-2018, 11:29 AM
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walking buffalo walking buffalo is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Toungetech View Post
Anyone with an idea how long ago bison roamed that area?
99% of buffalo were extirpated from southern Alberta by the mid 1800s.


I have found several complete skulls, from the foothills to the far east.

I even found a complete horn sheath on some native prairie near Oyen.


Coolest skull I have seen was found in Bob Creek. Completely petrified into stone. That one was old.


A Giant Bison skull was pulled out of Fish Creek this year during Ring Road construction. 8' span on the horns.... what a beast!
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Old 12-19-2018, 02:03 PM
cacty cacty is offline
 
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We've found a few sheathes on the family's ranch over the years. The settlers in this area documented seeing or hearing of a (very)few stragglers still alive in the 1890's.
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  #23  
Old 12-19-2018, 04:25 PM
happy honker happy honker is offline
 
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I don't have a pic handy, but if you ever get the chance, drop into the Rodeo Hall Of Fame in Ponoka.

They have a display of a massive old bison skull that is entangled in the roots of a tree.

The stump, roots, and skull are on display there, I recall it came from around Mayerthorpe area originally.
It's way cooler than I'm making it sound lol.
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  #24  
Old 12-19-2018, 05:27 PM
MooseRiverTrapper MooseRiverTrapper is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by walking buffalo View Post
99% of buffalo were extirpated from southern Alberta by the mid 1800s.


I have found several complete skulls, from the foothills to the far east.

I even found a complete horn sheath on some native prairie near Oyen.


Coolest skull I have seen was found in Bob Creek. Completely petrified into stone. That one was old.


A Giant Bison skull was pulled out of Fish Creek this year during Ring Road construction. 8' span on the horns.... what a beast!
What kind of bison has 8’ spread?
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  #25  
Old 12-19-2018, 06:46 PM
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3blade 3blade is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MooseRiverTrapper View Post
What kind of bison has 8’ spread?
Bison latifrons

One of the prehistoric ancestors of the modern bison.
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  #26  
Old 12-20-2018, 09:55 AM
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There were a few around at the U of C when I was having fun there in the late 90's. The one was easily that wide and yes, earlier Ancestors to the modern day bison.
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  #27  
Old 12-21-2018, 01:39 PM
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Red Bullets Red Bullets is offline
 
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During the 1860's the Alberta prairie's would have looked like the first pic. The prairies were littered with bones until the settlers gathered all the skulls and bones to ship east on the train in the 1880's. Thought I would post the pics since the thread is about buffalo skulls.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg alberta buffalo bones.jpg (132.8 KB, 375 views)
File Type: jpg buffalo bones.jpg (80.4 KB, 349 views)
File Type: jpg Pile-of-bones-1.jpg (98.1 KB, 352 views)
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  #28  
Old 12-21-2018, 03:21 PM
M.C. Gusto M.C. Gusto is offline
 
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Damn, those pictures are something. Pretty sad stuff.
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  #29  
Old 12-21-2018, 03:26 PM
cacty cacty is offline
 
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The last two pics have been around forever. My great grandfather remembered picking up bison bones when they first settled in EC/SE Alberta, he said the odd one still had some old dried hide still on them.
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  #30  
Old 12-22-2018, 12:56 AM
crazy_davey crazy_davey is offline
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I know of a local friend that found a camel skull not too far from where the OP found his bison skull. It has been confirmed by by many experts.

He can’t sell it but a super cool piece of history!
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