30Hart
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LAST EDITED ON Jan-26-16 AT 06:34PM (MST)[p]I thought I'd share a hunting article I wrote about my last September hunt with the Crow Nation...PM me if you want more information in what I feel is the best kept secret for hunting bison bulls in the lower 48. My hunt was a few weeks after Phil Roberts from Duck Dynasty was there.
Hunting Bison with the Crow
by Brad Vargo
This hunt started as most of my hunts have started, by doing a lot of research. I was working on the preliminary information for a ?how to? lower 48 bison hunting article and I expanded my research to the various Indian Reservations that allow non-tribal members to hunt bison. I was really interested in the opportunities on the Ute Reservation, but unfortunately they have been closed to non-tribal hunters for the past several years. There were several other Indian Reservations that allowed hunting, but they were not recognized by Boone and Crockett Club as having free range herds. Though I have nothing personally against hunting non free range bison, I really wanted to hunt a free range herd. Ever since my unsuccessful 2008 Utah bison hunt on the Henry Mountains, I have always hoped of hunting bison again. One of the reservations that had intrigued me was the Crow Indian Reservation located in Montana.
Information about bison hunting on the Crow was extremely hard to find. All the phone numbers I could find were no longer in service as were several of the email addresses. I all but gave up hope of contacting the Crow when I received a phone call out of the blue several weeks later by a young hunting guide named Chaz Bends. He was forwarded my information by the director of Natural Resources, my only email that apparently made it through to someone. Chaz explained the process of hunting bison on the reservation and how they have hunts for cows, meat bulls, mature bulls, and trophy bulls. To my delight two weeks later, he secured permission for me to hunt a mature bull bison. My approval to hunt had to go through the head of Fish and Game and his superior, the director of the Buffalo Range. Chaz and I quickly setup a date a couple of weeks away in September and he provided me plenty of details about the reservation.
The reservation has approximately 2.3 million acres located within the Montana counties of Bighorn Yellowstone, and Treasure and is home to a free range bison herd of approximately 1,400 animals. Originally in the 1930s, bison were brought from Yellowstone National Park and the National Bison Range of Montana. The herd flourished to approximately 1,500 animals, but tested positive for brucellosis and the herd was eliminated between 1962 and 1966. Their second attempt involved reintroducing 400 animals from Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota in 1971. The herd has done well and flourished and has remained a brucellosis free herd. The bison on the Crow Reservation primarily occupy about 70,000 acres and are free to cross over into Wyoming. The winter range of the reservation can support around 900 animals and non-tribal hunting has been used the past couple of years as a means of controlling the population.
On the evening of September 11th after securing my bison tag from Tribal Fish and Game, Chaz and I headed to camp. It was a long 4 ? hour drive to camp and we arrived at the cabin late in the night. The next morning after a good breakfast we headed out at first light to glass for bison as I was extremely excited to start seeing some animals. Around mid-morning we located a large herd of several hundred animals 2 ? miles in the distance. So we would not spook the herd, Chaz and I decided to immediately start the stalk on foot. The herd was just off grazing below a large hill and we decided to drop down in a ravine, circle around them, and come in from behind them crawling up over the top of the hill. The stalk worked perfectly and Chaz quickly sized up the bulls and located a nice mature bull with an excellent mane, chaps, and good horns. I quickly looked through the spotting scope and knew that was the bull I came here to harvest. Chaz ranged the bull at 325 yards as I setup and waited for a clear shot. Eventually, the bull walked out of one of the main parts of the herd and presented a shot. I put the cross hairs low behind the front shoulder and touched off a shot with my custom Remington 7mm SAUM loaded with 175 grain partitions. The bull immediately reared onto his back hind legs, spun around in a complete circle and came down on all fours. I immediately touched off a second shot in the same place and the bull collapsed and never moved. Chaz and I went down to my 6 year old bull and I reflected not only how lucky I was to harvest this great animal, but also how privileged I felt to be able to hunt bison with the Crow.
Hunting Bison with the Crow
by Brad Vargo
This hunt started as most of my hunts have started, by doing a lot of research. I was working on the preliminary information for a ?how to? lower 48 bison hunting article and I expanded my research to the various Indian Reservations that allow non-tribal members to hunt bison. I was really interested in the opportunities on the Ute Reservation, but unfortunately they have been closed to non-tribal hunters for the past several years. There were several other Indian Reservations that allowed hunting, but they were not recognized by Boone and Crockett Club as having free range herds. Though I have nothing personally against hunting non free range bison, I really wanted to hunt a free range herd. Ever since my unsuccessful 2008 Utah bison hunt on the Henry Mountains, I have always hoped of hunting bison again. One of the reservations that had intrigued me was the Crow Indian Reservation located in Montana.
Information about bison hunting on the Crow was extremely hard to find. All the phone numbers I could find were no longer in service as were several of the email addresses. I all but gave up hope of contacting the Crow when I received a phone call out of the blue several weeks later by a young hunting guide named Chaz Bends. He was forwarded my information by the director of Natural Resources, my only email that apparently made it through to someone. Chaz explained the process of hunting bison on the reservation and how they have hunts for cows, meat bulls, mature bulls, and trophy bulls. To my delight two weeks later, he secured permission for me to hunt a mature bull bison. My approval to hunt had to go through the head of Fish and Game and his superior, the director of the Buffalo Range. Chaz and I quickly setup a date a couple of weeks away in September and he provided me plenty of details about the reservation.
The reservation has approximately 2.3 million acres located within the Montana counties of Bighorn Yellowstone, and Treasure and is home to a free range bison herd of approximately 1,400 animals. Originally in the 1930s, bison were brought from Yellowstone National Park and the National Bison Range of Montana. The herd flourished to approximately 1,500 animals, but tested positive for brucellosis and the herd was eliminated between 1962 and 1966. Their second attempt involved reintroducing 400 animals from Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota in 1971. The herd has done well and flourished and has remained a brucellosis free herd. The bison on the Crow Reservation primarily occupy about 70,000 acres and are free to cross over into Wyoming. The winter range of the reservation can support around 900 animals and non-tribal hunting has been used the past couple of years as a means of controlling the population.
On the evening of September 11th after securing my bison tag from Tribal Fish and Game, Chaz and I headed to camp. It was a long 4 ? hour drive to camp and we arrived at the cabin late in the night. The next morning after a good breakfast we headed out at first light to glass for bison as I was extremely excited to start seeing some animals. Around mid-morning we located a large herd of several hundred animals 2 ? miles in the distance. So we would not spook the herd, Chaz and I decided to immediately start the stalk on foot. The herd was just off grazing below a large hill and we decided to drop down in a ravine, circle around them, and come in from behind them crawling up over the top of the hill. The stalk worked perfectly and Chaz quickly sized up the bulls and located a nice mature bull with an excellent mane, chaps, and good horns. I quickly looked through the spotting scope and knew that was the bull I came here to harvest. Chaz ranged the bull at 325 yards as I setup and waited for a clear shot. Eventually, the bull walked out of one of the main parts of the herd and presented a shot. I put the cross hairs low behind the front shoulder and touched off a shot with my custom Remington 7mm SAUM loaded with 175 grain partitions. The bull immediately reared onto his back hind legs, spun around in a complete circle and came down on all fours. I immediately touched off a second shot in the same place and the bull collapsed and never moved. Chaz and I went down to my 6 year old bull and I reflected not only how lucky I was to harvest this great animal, but also how privileged I felt to be able to hunt bison with the Crow.
