Bison Hunting in AB

[JDK71]

elk i land park maybe east of edmonton

[1899b]

Fort Chip Gorilla

[antler1]

I think I heard someone banging on the oat pail just before the old buff wandered up to the "hunters".

[antler1]

At 4:29 the dude is kneeling beside a buff and there sure looks to be a power pole in the distance behind him. Those scrub poplars don't grow that straight or tall......

[KegRiver]

I also have my doubts.

I've been up close to Woodland Bison, North of Fort Providence.

Here is one, laying beside the pavement;


Then just after he got to his feet.


My Brother and my one BIL both raised bison for a few years.

The biggest bulls they had would look like a yearling next the Bulls I saw in the NWT.
If I kneeled beside that bull in my first photo my eyes would be just above the top of his head. But in the video the hunter is behind the Bison, can't tell how far, and the camera angle is low. He should be barely able to see over the head of a Woodland Bison in that shot.


Another thing, I've spent most of my life in the Peace River/High Level area.
I don't know of any place where it's that open among the trees.
Every place up here I have ever been is a jungle of shrubs and saplings under the trees.

I lived in High Level for six summers. Did a lot of trekking through the bush up there. I never heard anyone mention seeing an Elk in that area.
One of my friends from that time still comes down here to hunt Elk every fall.

And last thing that makes me suspect this video, some of those small trees look like Cottonwood. Black poplar don't start to get cracked bark until they are over a foot across at the stump.

But there is just not enough for me to say I think it was shot in the USA, but I sure suspect that's the case.
Being that all three guys are from New York state that would be far more likely then them hunting the High Level area.
And it's the only place I know of in the province where one can hunt wild Bison in the province.

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by Positrac

I met a guy who claimed to have seen a herd of Bison one summer just south of lake Athabasca just off the Fort Chip winter road.

They do leave the park and once out are fair game any time of the year.

They do leave the park, during the summer. After freeze up they move back into the park for the winter.

Friends of mine have hunted them north of Garden River. There is only a couple of weeks at best when you can get to where they hang out.
They hang out in the nastiest swamp country north of Fort Vermilion.

And you are right, outside the park they are fair game east of highway 35.
They are hybrids and as such are not considered a true species.
Thus, no tags, no season, no limits. But getting to them is no easy matter.

I don't know about north of Fort Mac but I expect it would be much the same up there.

I know there is a small herd west of High Level and I hear that a limited number of tags are issued for that herd.
I don't know anyone who has hunted them but I do know they are accessible for most of the year and I know there is no farm land west of High Level.

[urban rednek]

While it could be attributed to creative editing and misdirection, I would hazard a guess that the drone shot labelled "Alberta Day 1" from 1:21 to 1:28 might provide a clue as to the general location of the hunt.

[elkslayer132]

A few years ago i saw a buffalo in 404 west of the Bar U on Hwy 22. It was in the forestry west of Cartwrights and for sure on crown land. Must of been an escapee from a bison farm i would guess. Would it be legal for me to shoot it if i ever came across it or another again.

[Flyingfisher]

Originally Posted by elkslayer132

A few years ago i saw a buffalo in 404 west of the Bar U on Hwy 22. It was in the forestry west of Cartwrights and for sure on crown land. Must of been an escapee from a bison farm i would guess. Would it be legal for me to shoot it if i ever came across it or another again.

I know a person who did just that. He bumped into a bison with an ear tag on crown land, called Fur and Feathers and was given the go ahead to shoot.

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by urban rednek

While it could be attributed to creative editing and misdirection, I would hazard a guess that the drone shot labelled "Alberta Day 1" from 1:21 to 1:28 might provide a clue as to the general location of the hunt.

Call it creative editing or misdirection.
It certainly isn't northern Alberta.

My guess is somewhere in Wyoming.

Here is a photo of a Bison hunt in Wyoming.



Looks a bit familiar doesn't it?

[kilgoretrout]

A friend of mine guided for them for a number of years in NE Alberta.... they would cut track and hunt them on snowshoes..... these were all free range Bison out of the park and it was really only doable in winter.....if I remember right they took 27 Bulls over about 10 years of hunting..... not sure if you can still do this anymore but at the time no license was required.... never got the opportunity to go despite being invited.... work sucks

[marky_mark]

Originally Posted by kilgoretrout

A friend of mine guided for them for a number of years in NE Alberta.... they would cut track and hunt them on snowshoes..... these were all free range Bison out of the park and it was really only doable in winter.....if I remember right they took 27 Bulls over about 10 years of hunting..... not sure if you can still do this anymore but at the time no license was required.... never got the opportunity to go despite being invited.... work sucks

Notley protected those bison
Another opportunity lost

[wwbirds]

An old client of mine used to guide (mostly bears I think) near Rainbow. Client one day from a group saw a bison and Bob said if you want go ahead and shoot it no license is required but we will need help from all your buddies in camp to skin and transport it. Turns out after finding out he had shot a Bison everyone in camp wanted to shoot one the following day. took everyone in camp about 8 hours to move that bull back to camp. Once in camp not a single one of the hunters wanted to shoot another one.

[Springer]

Originally Posted by freeride

100% that's a nanny... skinny horns, nice kink at the top.
They shot the wrong goat. When they walk up they are saying nice billy, at the very end they are just saying it's a nice goat.... guess they checked somewhere in there and realized the mistake.

I saw this one last night. Im WTF thats a Skinny Horned Billy. But ya they just said Goat. tsk tsk on those fellas.