Utah has two herds. The herd on Antelope Island is kinda of a wild herd. Antelope Island is a large island in the Great Salt Lake. About 21-25 miles in length and several miles across. The buffalo have free access to the entire island.

There are many mountain bikers, horse riders, hikers using the trails, that the buffalo don't worry much about humans. So even though they are free roaming, I would not consider them much of challenge to hunt. As they do not run away and hide from humans. In fact once a year they are herded into a large pen, vacinations are given and the animals are sorted. Usually 300 animals are sorted out and sold at an auction. Lots of bison ranchers like to buy animals from the island to broaden their gene pool in the ranch herds.

The other herd is the Henry Mountain herd. These are truely wild buffalo. They are very hard to hunt and will challenge an experienced hunter. They will disappear if they wind you, let alone see you. It is very rough and remote country.


It's common when I ride horses on antelope Island to ride close to the herd. The cows will circle up and march toward the horses. The big bulls usually just ignor you unless you get to close in which case they often charge.
[Linked Image]