its looking like I failed on elk this year... i have one more day i can hunt and its not looking good, so i am considering a buffalo to fill the freezer. i live in eastern washington and would travel to montana or so to grab one. i dont need a hunt as much as a pile of meat....and i want to kill it myself. hide is of little value to me as is the head. looking for meat is the goal.

any advice?

Good question, interested in the answer as well.

look for a hunt for a yearling or 2 year old then if your not really out for hide or head....meat will be alot better though you get less than a trophy bull.....the tribes here have a "buffalo ranch" here and though im a white boy have enough connections that a some usually winds up in my freezer over the course of a year im sure the tribes here would sell yah a meat buff to shoot but im pretty sure you can find one closer to home than me even though you included Montana in your post....

high country;
I hope this finds you acceptably well and that you had a good Christmas.

The only thought I'll offer on your query is that everyone I've talked to that went on a buffalo hunt that did not keep the hide and get it tanned has said afterward that they wished they had done so.

I'm cognizant that adds cost to the process, but that's what I've been told a few times now.

All the best to you and yours in 2014 sir.

Dwayne

Buy a side of beef.

+1

Yep.
Buffalo Pasture hunts 'round here are fairly spendy.
I'd find a local rancher and buy his home grown beef also.

The rancher might even let you shoot it!

beef aint exactly cheap either right now....paid $900 for half a 4-H steer cut and wrapped a month ago cause my wife struck out on elk this year....

if you can find a ranch that grass-feeds rather than grain feeds it may be worthwhile, otherwise just buy beef.

having said that, IME,you're generally looking at the following on a shoot-and-keep-all ranch:

cow: $800-$1000

meat bull (2-3YO, 1100#) $2000-$3000

mature bull (4-7YO, 1200# plus) $5000-$6000

$900 is way cheaper than the buff hunts round here.





PG, CB or LR preferred?

LR for me. I like to overpenetrate.

That's what she said.

that was a half....be $1900 for a whole one.....least the whole one i bought and split with my inlaws.....when the girls were still home on top of the game meat we would buy 3 beef halves through out the year.....keeping two young athletes fed was an expensive proposition, Jess would come home from practice, thaw out a 2 pound package of burger, make it into three patties, fry them up and eat them and a couple hours later have supper course i also really like our local range raised beef aswell.....

$2500 for a meat bull here....
then you gotta get it cut and wrapped.....
I'll take the $900, have a third the bill and be able to eat all the meat before it's freezer burnt.
Maybe someone will sell already wrapped buffalo....I do not know.

Get on the internet and just google up something like, "buff hunts".

I'm sure you'll find something to your liking.

Seriously, the best option for cheap meat is horse. There are a bunch of old canners out there a guy could pick up for nothing. As in the cost of hauling it off. Cut it up yourself, and you're into a lot of meat for almost nothing.

No one, if it's just for meat, i don't think there is any way you can economically justify a buff over going with a side of cow.
But Buff to me does taste better than cow, the one i shot was grass fed, not kept in a feed lot. He is looking at me now, hanging on the wall.
Don't discount those hides if you do shoot one. It is not cheap to get one done, but i have two rugs or whatever made out of them, and they are quite beautiful, heavy, and you could sleep through a blizzard under them. Don't forget dustin hoffman in "little big man" under them blankets with the sisters.
About five years ago, i paid about 2k for a mature bull, another 1200 or so for the head/hide to be done, probably another 300 for processing and so on.
Since we have run out of mr buff meat was thinking of getting another one. Think i would have to kill through about 5k to do it today.

There is a Bison Farm about five miles from my Virginia Home and they have a store that sells nothing but Bison Meat and i buy from them , but never liked it as well as Beef or Elk .

i have been doing so well on deer and elk over the years that i have maintained a motto of "beef free since 93".....i am not buying a beef.

I harvested a monster (1,700 pound) bull in Chadron, Nebraska, 5 or six years ago. At the time, I paid either $3,500 or $3,900 (can't remember) and kept it all: hide, head, meat. The place I went has a website: elkplanet.com Yes, I know it says "elk" planet, but he also periodically has bison available. Not sure what his current prices are, but the owner of the place is a nice guy and you might wanna check him out.

Dunno anything about this place other that it's close enough that when I go to Albuquerque to see my daughter, it would be a nice side trip. http://www.lamontbuffalo.com/index.html Looks like you can go shoot one or buy already processed meat. Which ever way you want to go. I'll be passing through the area in a couple of weeks but am on my way to an cow elk hunt in Raton.
Paul B.

HC- I'm on the other side of the state, but could use a freezer filler as well.

If there is a good deal east of ya, I might be in to split gas and costs from your place.

High Country/Mad Mooner:

Might give this guy a try. It's been a couple years since I was on the place, but he might still be in the business. Located in Halfway, Oregon, which would not be too heavy of a run. There's a good motel available there too for an overnighter.

Buffalo in Halfway

I'd join you, but both freezers are full at the moment.

Edited: When I was last there, he had just completed preg checking, and any that were barren were marked and available. It was about this time of year too. Two year olds and up and a few bulls too. He had a couple skinners on site, and would break them down to quarters. There was a cutter in Halfway assoicated with a grocery store and they would pack them there for processing if that is what one wanted. Personally though, I'd be inclined to work up my own and not have to return for another meat haul. With present temps here in the northwest, hauling and hanging should not be much of an issue.
Good luck,

You coudn't GIVE me beef if I could get grass fed buffler. Short grass country bison is the best chow I've ever put a bullet in. Sent you a PM.

I shot one here about 10 years ago. http://www.swrbiggamehunts.com/hunting.html ,as a partial trade for some wages. Great people. Although there was no golf cart like they hunt from in Texas, the heated cab of the john Deere was nice, and the hay bale in the grapple made a good rifle rest.

actually if yah can get beef raised on the same sorta prairie it gets pretty close....bison has an edge but not as big as you would think over good prairie raised beef....

I'd rather go to Texas and hunt a few Axis.

We have shot two in the last 4 years but unfortunately the ranch sold to an out of state interest and no longer offers the product.
Price was per pound or about $750 for yearlings. They would cull a dozen each year.
Lots of weight in hide and bone but good lean meat.
K

I killed a 2 year old bull in April 2009 in SE South Dakota. Animal cost $700, processing/packaging was about $300 and it was about $200 in extra travel to pick up the final product - total of about $1200. Now, I will qualify my numbers and say the buff was bought from my BIL and his partner and killed in their pasture (about 90+/- acres) . . . NOT in a pen, but definitely not a physically demanding stalk/hunt either. If you can find a hunt/processing package for $2000 to $2500 it would be a good deal. I do know that since I took mine, the cost of already processed buffalo meat has risen fairly substantially, so even my guess might be low. Good luck in your quest.

http://bearpawoutfitters.com/montana_buffalo_hunting.html

http://www.fortpecktribes.org/fgd/buffalo.htm

Couldn't agree more. So much so, that my wife has "ordered" another one. Took just over 2 years to finish the first one. Going back to Wyoming next Thanksgiving to re-supply.

Axis deer, on the other hand, is some of the finest venison I've had. The whole animal tastes like tenderloin to me

Homestead Ranch Buffalo Hunting
Price List
2013-2014



Indians Choice (young female) - 1 � yrs. Old - 750-850lbs. - live
The Indians always killed the fat heifers (young females) when they had the choice. Why? The meat was the best and the hides were unbelievable!
$2650 hunt
Yields approx. 350 lbs. of boneless packaged meat.

1/8 Buffalo
$497.15 $419.00
FAMILY VALUE PACK

10 lbs. boneless Bison Roasts
20 lbs. Ground Bison
2 Bison Filet Mignon Steaks
4 Bison Ribeye Steaks
4 Bison New York Strips
4 Bison Top Sirloin Steaks

Shipping Included

http://www.buffalogal.com/Meat-Gift-Packs-FREE-SHIPPING-C4.aspx

http://www.fortpecktribes.org/fgd/contact.htm

anyone done this? the numbers work good for me and i can visit family too.

lol thats the guys i was talking about in my post.....

High_country_: I have given a hand on several Buffalo "harvests" - I love Buffalo meat!
I have never killt one of these ranch raised Buffalo myself but I sure like to eat them - so I go along with my friends when they want to harvest one for their families fare.
The word is Buffalo meat is much better for the human that consumes it than Beef!
In addition to often getting a small batch of Buffalo meat to eat, one year I earned a nifty Buffalo skull that I had "Demastid Beetle" treated.
It hangs on my fireplace and is very attractive there.
Not far from you is one of the ranches I went along to.
Its west of Ronan, Montana (which is 46 miles north of I-90 near Missoula) and the owners name is Bernard Hakes and his phone number was 406-676-3068.
He really helps out with retrieving and then gutting and skinning your Buffalo.
Once you see him you might recognize him - he is the subject of the "Duck Boy" postcard which is titled "Montana Designated Driver" and that is his dog on his horse. The dog is "driving" the horse home and has the reins of the horse in its mouth, Bernard is slumped over asleep in the saddle.
It is really a funny postcard.
That postcard is by far the best all time seller for the Duck Boy Company.
If you get to Hunt on Bernards ranch be sure and ask him about the picture and the financial "wrangling" leading up to it.
Buying a side of Beef may be easier - I don't know about cheaper?
But the buffalo meat will taste good and may just add some days to your life as well as lots of conversations?
Buffal hides are beautiful things once tanned with the hair on - those hides would have value should you wish to trade it off to diminish your "overall costs".
I had a mature Bull Elk hide tanned with the hide on some years ago - my plan was to use it as a comforter or bed warmer on the master bed.
Well that hair on Elk blanket was so warm and so heavy it was uncomfortable to sleep under (for my wife and I anyway!).
Instead my Bull Elk hide is now displayed on a stairwell protecting bannister - it is very attractive there.
I suggest you not forget about the Buffalo "robe" - it has value and would look nice once tanned with the hair on.
Best of luck should you decide to go for a Buff!
Hold inot the wind
VarmintGuy

Many years ago I hunted the 7W Ranch in SD for a bison bull. I used a black powder buffalo replica rifle & wore a traditional period outfit. I also visited the old fort where they filmed Dancing With Wolves. A lot of fun & plenty of meat. Got a shoulder mount, skull w/replica horns, tanned the back pelt, & had a rifle rack made with the hoofs.

My big MT bull from 2007.
Shot with a Sharps with blackpowder cartridges and hand cast bullets.

Not a hard hunt but fun and lots of meat!

I hunted my buffalo at the Triple U Ranch in South Dakota just north of Pierre. You might try looking them up. I'm on my iPhone and have problems with internet searches at the moment or I'd provide you the link. Good luck.

that may be the sign I was thinking about on i 90 aroung the missoula area. I spent a good summer up at flathead rebuliding the bridge a few years back......i know the drive well.

I was in on a hunt here: Clovercreek

Their prices have gone WAY up since I was there. They are located in west/central Oregon. They told me they had people coming from Portland that were shooting bison and then donating the meat declaring $10/pound. The shooters were coming out ahead in the deal. Our bison was tougher than either of us and we had to grind the entire animal to make it eatable.

You'd have to butcher it yourself. USDA specifies that cattle must be brought in live for processing or else they can't be processed in one of their inspected plants.

There are a couple people that come to mind. One in Ronan and there is an outfit just south of Missoula that both raise buffalo. Last year I got one from (Burney)? out of Ronan for $2100. Dont know numbers for either but will get them by tomorrow.

www.bitterootbison.com

+2.

EvilTwin and I (along with jorge1 and eh76) did our first buffalo hunt together 2 years ago in WY, harvesting three 2-1/2 y.o. heifers. I am down to my last few pounds of ground meat from that animal, and it has been delicious and nutritious all the way along.

One caution I would put in: if you can, and have the space/facilities/time, butcher the meat yourself. My son and I processed the front quarters, backstraps and tenderloins ourselves, so every cut was identified. I took the hindquarters to a game processing shop and while they wrapped the meat well, everything was labelled, "Buffalo Roast" or "Buffalo Steak", regardless of cut. Personally, I want to know if I'm thawing an eye of round versus a sirloin roast. You only get that if you wrap it yourself.

As for axis... yes, they are fine eating!! I have a neighbor who has a ranch about an hour south who keeps complaining that there are too many axis deer on his property and wants me to come down to kill a couple-three does in February... I might could do that!!

FWIW... it's been a while, but some years ago I did some research into the dietary value of different meat sources... as in, which meats were better suited to human consumption in terms of the actual biochemical components of the meat... basically, the proportion of amino acids in each type of meat compared to the amino acids our bodies require from the protein we eat.

There is a lot of good evidence that cervids (deer family) come closest to meeting our protein nutritional needs exactly. Bison (and other wild oxen such as cape buffalo!) is almost as good. Domestic beef, pork, mutton, etc, are much less well-suited to our nutritional needs.

Some have suggested that this means our species evolved over many, many years, eating cervids as our primary meat supply. I dunno about that, but I like the idea of it... that whether a person is a deer hunter today, he came from men who hunted deer. Hunting deer is in our goldang DNA!!!

I suspect that it would be cheaper if you talked to a local farmer/rancher to see what it would cost for you to march out in his pasture and shoot an angus or hereford steer.
You could have the local butcher there ready to drag the critter off to the same place that cuts up your elk.

Jim

Doc, yer preachin to da choir Hint to prospective buffler hunter(s). SAVE the buff tallow!!! Olden times guys wrote that it was superb eating and useful for dang near everything that needed some sort of fat/oil.

I have my own processing facility. I have cut and wrapped 30 elk and at least as many deer. I will be my own butcher.....and as I said, I won't be buying a beef.

Now that is the way I've always wanted to kill a buffalo!

Bob

Me too, and I will one day.

Gunner

I did a hunt last January for a spike (1 yr 7mth old bull) ran me $1800 for the hunt on a Ne Sandhills ranch. the pasture was 2200+ acres they had to be HUNTED as they have been shot at since labor day and they know 2 leggeds are bad news. the price include 3 days lodging and homecooked meals. The bull was hauled to a custom butcher shop and skinned ,cooled and processed for $230. I was able to pick him up on the way home. The shop did a great job of skinning with little add'n fleshing needed, after salting and drying the hide I put it in a box and sent it via Fed EX to Moyle Mink AND Tannery at Heyburn ,Idaho. $450 including shipping both ways and I have a beautiful buffalo robe that covers my tired looking leather 7' couch (6 mths). Had a local taxidermist do a euro style skull mount $200. A tip and gas for the trip out and back, I had a great time and great eats this year. 910 lb spike yielded 188 lbs of processed meat. The outfitter is backed up 2 yrs and pretty much just does that with repeat customers. You can find a hunt closer to home. I used my Shiloh 45-110 with 540 gr paper patched lead bullets over 110 gr of blackpowder. Your hunt is what you make it. Magnum Man

NIICCCCEEEEEEE!!!!!

Gunner

This. You can get a nice side of beef cut and wrapped for less than it will cost you to go shoot a buffler. If all you want is meat, this is the way to go.

Hey ET you post a photo for me? Magnum Man

Mag Man, for anyone who likes that sort of thing. That is an original Sharps 45/110 and it WAS used in that very region 1878-1882 as a buffler rifle. And I stand by my statement that if I could have a shortgrass buffler like her everytime, you couldn't GIVE me beef!!

I've shot 2 pasture type bison, one in Waterville WA, just west of you and one in Montana. Both were great eating. The one in Waterville cost $1.50 # on the hoof. The farmer has a large barn to hoist the bison up to help with field butchering.
It was a lot of fun on both, and I will do it again.
I didn't keep the hides or heads, and no regrets.
The one in Wateville gave me a lot of latitude on how I wanted to do the 'hunt'.

Lots of butcher shops will process an already killed beef,it just can not go out their door as inspected beef.

Grass fed beef isn't worth the cost of a bullet as far as I am concerned. The taste lacks the richness that fat marbling from grain gives the meat.

Guys, to keep a perspective, in the 1870's, you would ride out of camp hunt the herd. Find the herd, hide the horse and stalk for a stand. Get a stand and shoot as many buffler as you could before they spooked. Nowadays, ya take a pick-up or horse out, hunt the herd, hide the truck or horse, stalk them and get a stand and kill one buffler. It sounds odd, but 50 head of buffler can actually disappear in the high plains. DocRocket,Jorge, eh76 and I learned that pretty quickly. Jim, the robe is well worth keeping at this time of year. LUXURIOUS!! Soft as cashmere. Worth every penny. If the OP is adept at and equipped to butcher his own he is way ahead of the game.

This might be a bit closer to home for you than Montana. The owners are good folk.

Do you remember the family in Waterville? I know a few families.

im the opposite, i cant stand feedlot beef, even a good steak tastes greasy to me.....ill take prairie raised beef or order pork or chicken instead of feedlot beef.....i usually quit ordering steaks bout half way across North Dakota.....dont think ive had a steak east of Minot that i cared for....

course i was raised on our leaner local beef which is prolly why its what my taste buds are tuned to....

I'm with you Rattler. Good pasture will provide all the fat that is wanted on a good angus or hereford steak.

A good cook doesn't need fat to make it taste great.

You will probably buy a half a beef a hell of a lot cheaper.

Doc, I will be at Stan's place on the Monday before Thanksgiving. I know you're itching for a road trip, ain't ya?


Oh, and BTW, I'm bringing boerewors for Keith too

Just thought I'd mention that.

I think around $1.20-1.30 on the hoof for an eating size beef.

1200 pounder about $1500.

650lb steer calf should be around $1100-1200.

Dale Dahlke 509-745-8992