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tomharveyb

2 week cow hunt end of july

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Hey everybody- I finally got a bison tag after many years of trying. :D End of July - Aug 11. Adult cow. Kaibab. Anybody out there have any advice? Obviously never done it and G and F discourages scouting. Appreciate any help or contact with guys who have the tag or have in the past. Thanks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hello,

 

I have the tag for the season before you. Did you attend the clinic? If so you should have received an email from the Department with the list of other hunters who will also have the hunt you do. If you don't have this information or the handout from the clinic, send me a PM with your email address and I will send you some info.

 

Good Luck,

 

Nick

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Hello,

I drew a supplemental tag for this hunt in 2009. Game and Fish is under tremendous pressure to reduce the herd at House Rock. They always held these hunts late in the year when the herd was on the plateau or even worse, in the park, where they couldn't be hunted. The success rate was really low because the buffalo just were not available. However bison do spend the summers on the ranch.

 

After I arrived at the ranch at the clinic the night before the hunt, they told us that G&F officers were going to accompany us into the field as guides. I took my buffalo, a yearling for my tag, before 8am the next morning at 112 yards. There were about 8 animals, including the herd bull, that we were on to and were apart from the main herd of about 75 animals.

 

Here's what we did. One of the other hunters had positioned scouts about a mile away on the foothills of the Kaibab overlooking House Rock a little south and west of the ranch house. They had great glass and immediately were spotting bison for us. We drove to a ravine about a half mile from the herd then walked/crawled to position. We couldn't see any animals until we were within pretty close range because of the terrain but the spotters kept us posted. Two of us took bison then. Never heard how the other two did as we were pretty busy. I had a 150 gallon rubbermaid tub, a generator, power saw and 130 lbs of ice. My buddy (You HAVE to have help on this hunt) backed the truck up to where I was with the buffalo and as I skinned the carcass, I used the saws all to cut quarters off and iced them. Took about two hours for that process. I was really concerned about the heat and losing the meat but it never got above about 90 that morning and we were quick to care for the meat. I'm happy to share any other info you'd like either by phone or through the forum here. You have a great chance. Go with the expectation of bagging one. This is the time to call in favors from all those you've ever helped or expect to help in the future. I'd love to see a picture when you get it.

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I forgot to mention that my hunt was in July as yours is. I still need a sheep (sigh) and a bear to complete my Big 10.

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FYI according to Game and Fish and the guides, that was the last year any cow bison came off the Park to the Ranch. They have remained on top of the Plateau each and every year since then. The herd winters to the SW on Powell Point well inside the Park. As a matter of fact the House Rock Wildlife Area is off limits for our hunts. Things have changed an aweful lot on this deal.

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Wow, that is a huge change. Why are they discouraging pre-hunt scouting if the hunt is not held on the ranch? They had discouraged scouting with us as well but the hunt was to be held on House Rock. The herd has been wintering in the park for years accounting for the extraordinary low success of hunters drawn for them. It's one of those hunts where so few get to go that it's difficult to keep up with the herds activities.

 

My buddy was hiking in the Grand Canyon about 3-4 years ago and saw bison off State Rt 67 jus a few miles North of the park. He actually had to stop the car so they could get off the highway. I was hunting turkey in the same area in October 2013 and the store owner in that open valley told me that the herd is seen there at times.

 

The G & F officer I hunted with then was Tom McCall out of Flagstaff. He was a great guy and seemed to know the herd well. In my experience, most of the department officers are very helpful.

 

I was hoping I could be of help and sorry I could not be. I do wish both of you the best on the hunt. I'd probably cover every stock tank and game water on the plateau East of StRt 67 from the park North at least 15-20 miles. It's huge but they have to drink and they leave lots of sign.

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AZowl thanks for the info. It is all good. The animals are using the West side of the Highway more than the East side according to the "experts". I have never laid eyes on one myself, but know a number of guys who have gotten them since you have and they were all on the West side. They discourage scouting because any amount of vehicle traffic along the roads along the Park Boundary will cause them to go back to the Park. There is only a two week window between the long spring hunt and my hunt in July when there is no hunting, so going up there and poking around could possibly negatively affect someone's hunt.

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Thanks for the info guys. As my hunt draws closer , I keep hearing from guys that have been hunting the spring hunt (e-mails...we all have a list of those drawn). It seems to me that the only way to consistently be successfully is for all hunters to cooperate w. each other and get together each morning so everybody knows what each is doing, then sit on salt/water. All it takes is one maverick driving roads to ruin it for everybody for the 2 weeks we have.. Different from any hunting I have ever done for sure, and not what I pictured when I put in for the draw. One thing for sure, a good number of those 600 or so bison have to be taken out.

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Sounds like a real challenging hunt good luck to you

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I forgot to mention that my hunt was in July as yours is. I still need a sheep (sigh) and a bear to complete my Big 10.

Unfortunately, after this, you may still need a buffalo... It can be a very long hunt.

 

I have no regrets but I was not successful and I spent 19 days up there last year in September. My buddy has been up there for about 2.5 weeks so far and he has only seen night time trail camera photos..

 

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Make the best of it and try to enjoy every second of it. GOOD LUCK TO ALL THAT HAVE TAGS!!

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Would bison respond to calling? I've called a great variety of animals. Beef cows respond on the run to a calf in distress call, they are related. Deer and elk also respond well if you're looking for females and often the females drag males along with them when they come in. Just a thought. It's pretty thick on the plateau and it'd be easy to miss them even when they're close by. Haven't found anyone who's tried it anywhere else but the conditions for this hunt are fairly unique.

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It's easy enough to google buffalo rutting/ mating calls / sounds

 

Since these are probably the only sounds a mature bull usually makes - why not give it a try

 

easy to make a bellow tube - like for moose and practice their - roar/grunt type sound - it's fairly easy to imitate

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