Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game JellyStone Buffalo (er: Bison) hunt ...

Cousin drew a Wyoming Bison Bull-tag (he's in the top 10, so we know he will hunt). His available dates on the Jackson Natl. Elk Refuge are the last of September to October 5th.

Ideally, he would prefer to hunt on the National Forest lands (vs the flat and open refuge experience). While he owns a .50 cal smoke-pole, he plans to use his trusty/rusty .300 Win mag and 180gr Speer Grand Slams.

One of the hunt areas that may be available to him (additional territority that was not available in some previous hunt years) is supposed to be on the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone, outside the East boundaries of the Park.

What we're trying to figure out is: Are the Bison that are likely to be in this area, some of the Lamar Valley herd that "migrate" into the Clarks Fork valley ... or is there a more resident herd there that Wyoming is simply trying to reduce ?

From studying my TOPO CD, if the Bison migrate there, the only logical path seems to be up the Lamar Valley (briefly crossing into Montana) ... over Colter Pass (at 8100 ft), then down the Clarks Fork ? Any other path (East), out of Y-NP would have the Bison going up/over the Continental Divide ... through 9, 10 or 11K ft passes ?

Does anyone who lives nearby or has traveled through there in the Sept/Oct timeframe have any direct knowledge of the Bison population in the Clarks Fork valley or their migration paths to/from it ?

If the Bison regularly migrate through there, is the trigger purely seasonal (calendar) ... or is it snow level (weather) dependent ?

... Silver Bullet

Doing all the pre-hunt preparation, he's getting more excited ...
than Monica Lewinski, on a Cigar-Factory tour !

I was in the Lamar valley inside Yellowstone last week. Looks like there are plenty of bison there. Wish I had more info for you. Good luck!

Been trying for years to get a Bison Tag here, congrats to him on the chance of killing one. From what I have understood is that the biologist have looked into areas that the bison travel outside of the park to the Elk Feedgrounds around Jackson and try to manage the bison through specific hunt areas, he should be able to contact the Game Warden or District office and get more info about his hunt area.

Tell him congrats on the tag.

It's always been the custom that whoever discovers something gets to name it. The French trappers were the 1st whites to see the critters and they called them buffalo (with a French accent). It wasn't until scientists got hold of them that they were called bison, which more accurate taxonomically, but 1st is 1st and custom is custom. To me and everyone I know (except one of my hunting partners), they're buffalo and nothing can change that.

Saw some bulls coming down the Shoshone River, heading towards Cody:





That's National Forest Land - but they obviously don't stray far from the road. That could be good or bad... Lots of meat for sure!

Amen. Bison, cougar, pronghorn, and a Toby Keith style "cowboy" hat bought in Jackson or Cody.

The closer the road the better. Been there, seen that, done that!

Deleted for spam.

Some real good Bison advice there

is that right?????????//

Well that explains it!!!
I think.

As I understand it tryuu, old Silver Bullet wants to shoot a buffalo not screw one to death.

We need pictures of those Asian whores.

We have continued digging deeper into the information tar-pits, on Bison hunting in the Jellystone/Teton area. While the overall annual success rate in these hunts is around 90% ... the majority of the tags are for momma-Ta�Tonkas. Those with bull tags have a slightly lower overall take, but they also spend more time hunting, often hire resident guides and/or make multiple trips to the area.

As for hunting the Bison that migrate up/out of the Lamar Valley ... the word is that the �locals� (Wyo. residents) who hold most of the these tags, keep a sharp eye on the position of the individual animals that leave the park boundaries via this route ... to the point of �nick-naming� each individual bull ... then immediately getting on the horn (er: phone) and letting their Gud-buddies know �Busters� exact GPS coordinates and last direction of travel. So, we have elected to drop that area from consideration.
- - - -
After some phone conversations with the local biologists, we have also learned that in average-weather years, it�s better to go �later� in the season ... rather than earlier, since you are hunting animals that are migrating out of higher country (due to weather/feed). Even though you may have an early assigned date-window to be eligible to hunt the Jackson Elk refuge (as he does), if you choose to hunt later in the season, you may still be able to hunt the refuge, if their daily quota of hunters haven�t shown up for a particular day. My cousin however, is determined to locate (hunt) a bull on the National Forest lands ... somewhere with at least a bush or tree in sight) ... versus a last-resort of shooting one out in the middle of the Elk Refuge, in what is essentially a hay-field ... (with cars whizzing by in the background).
- - -
For those interested in armchair remote-scouting, there is a live web-cam (somewhere) in the hills above the town of Kelly (just a wide-spot in the road), where you can watch both the current weather and spot/judge the herds that have chosen to enter portions of the refuge.
- - -
He still has several members of the Huntin-fool magazine to contact and glean information about their previous hunts/tactics ... meanwhile I�m programing the Garmin 60CSX he will borrow, with Wyoming terrain and park boundary�s. We have a final range trip this weekend, to do some offhand (with quick follow-up) practice shooting with the .300 Win mag and to launch a few round-balls down the smoke-pole pipe, to chase the spideys out ... just in case an opportunity presents itself, to slip into the deer-skins, moccasins and go Native.

That�s my Story ... N� I�m stickin to it !

. . . Silver Bullet

�Racing has been popular ... since they built the second car.� R-Petty

Been following this area myself
Last year only 3 bulls wintered there
and they are not out yet.
It can be a productive area
but you do need "eyes on"
or a heads up from a local

You are making this just a touch difficult. Here is some help.
1. I have never seen anyone turned down to get on the refuge. At anytime. We got on the first day this year with both hunters having October and November refuge times.
2. The refuge can be easy or hard. You won't be shooting bison with cars driving by. You wait too long and you will be up to your azz in snow chasing them on the refuge.
3. If you insist on circus property hunt, spend time on Shadow mountain and Spread Creek.
4. Bulls are actually pretty easy to kill on shadow at anytime. The cows know the park boundaries and spend most of their time in it. Bulls can be found wandering off the park onto circus property.
5. Make sure you have Tag-N-Drags number. It will help.
Have fun.