Bison Hunt West Yellowstone MT

[muintirfarms]

Hello,
New to the Forum. I was drawn for the West Yellowstone Bison Hunt this season. Have been doing a ton of research over the last few months. Any feedback from anyone that has been on this hunt is much appreciated.

 

[ewade07]

I know Randy Newberg has a video on Youtube about his Bison hunt. He seems like a totally chill guy. If you could get ahold of him I'm sure he would be more than willing to help you out. Sounds like a sweet tag to have drawn! Congrats!

 

[dtrkyman]

I second Randy, go to his hunt talk forum and reach out.


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[Randy Newberg]

Happy to help. Depends on what you are looking for, both in terms of the hunting experience and the age/sex/class of animal.

The old bulls are the first to come out of the Park on the west side. If I was looking for a big old bull, I would be up here now before snow and cold push the herds out in large numbers. Once the large herds come out, the tribes (who are allocated 90% of the bison hunting opportunity) will be here in big numbers and the old bulls get picked off quite quickly. If you can afford to roll the dice, come earlier in the season. You will see fewer bison, possibly no bison, but if you find one, odds of him being an old bull is much higher.

Or, if you just want any bison, pray for better bison weather than last year when hardly any migrated out of the park. That makes for a tough hunt and when a few do come out, both state hunters and tribal hunters are on them like a "rat on a Cheeto."

Good luck.

 

[muintirfarms]

Happy to help. Depends on what you are looking for, both in terms of the hunting experience and the age/sex/class of animal.

The old bulls are the first to come out of the Park on the west side. If I was looking for a big old bull, I would be up here now before snow and cold push the herds out in large numbers. Once the large herds come out, the tribes (who are allocated 90% of the bison hunting opportunity) will be here in big numbers and the old bulls get picked off quite quickly. If you can afford to roll the dice, come earlier in the season. You will see fewer bison, possibly no bison, but if you find one, odds of him being an old bull is much higher.

Or, if you just want any bison, pray for better bison weather than last year when hardly any migrated out of the park. That makes for a tough hunt and when a few do come out, both state hunters and tribal hunters are on them like a "rat on a Cheeto."

Good luck.

Thanks Randy! I had a friend go last year very last week of the season and saw nothing at all. I have a week off that I can take any time and was planning on the same thing, it’s a 14 hr drive for me. I don’t have any contacts in the area so tuff to know when they are heading out. Was going to plan a week and see if it happens. Would you suggest going before the end of season like mid/late Jan and taking my chances?

 

[Randy Newberg]

Thanks Randy! I had a friend go last year very last week of the season and saw nothing at all. I have a week off that I can take any time and was planning on the same thing, it’s a 14 hr drive for me. I don’t have any contacts in the area so tuff to know when they are heading out. Was going to plan a week and see if it happens. Would you suggest going before the end of season like mid/late Jan and taking my chances?

To lower the risk of no bison being out of the Park, come late. Still no guarantee that bison will be present, but odds increase the later in the season you hunt.

 

[muintirfarms]

Sounds good , thank you.

 

[Dust Rider]

My old hunting buddy drew the West Yellowstone hunt about a decade ago. It was a race between the tribal hunters and the MT tags guys on what Bison were moving. But it also worked for him to see the Tribes trucks giving up the locations. Also the BFC were on the locations filming all of it. When Hymie was getting into position to harvest a bull, a BFC member got between him and the bull and started yelling and jumping up and down, while another dude filmed it. The bull didnt move, but Hymie moved the protester via a few words of wisdom about accidental discharge of firearms. He harvested the bull but it was a weird situation. These protesters hovering around filming it all and getting between the bison and hunters. Just offering more info on things that can happen on this hunt.

 

[muintirfarms]

My old hunting buddy drew the West Yellowstone hunt about a decade ago. It was a race between the tribal hunters and the MT tags guys on what Bison were moving. But it also worked for him to see the Tribes trucks giving up the locations. Also the BFC were on the locations filming all of it. When Hymie was getting into position to harvest a bull, a BFC member got between him and the bull and started yelling and jumping up and down, while another dude filmed it. The bull didnt move, but Hymie moved the protester via a few words of wisdom about accidental discharge of firearms. He harvested the bull but it was a weird situation. These protesters hovering around filming it all and getting between the bison and hunters. Just offering more info on things that can happen on this hunt.

Thank you for the info

 

[2dogs]

Any update??

 

[dk88]

Im reviving and old thread here, I drew this tag this year and the season is only 2 weeks away!!!!

Any other members draw this tag previously or this year? Also to the original poster, how did your hunt turn out?

 

[jmav58]

I drew this year as well. I’ll be out opening day hopefully.


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[PablitoPescador]

I drew it last year and it was by far the most frustrating “hunt” of my life. I saw a few bulls just inside the park but it was a mild winter and nothing migrated out until after the season. I did hear that a tribal hunter or two tagged out on opening day but pushed the bison back into the park. Pray for lots of snow, otherwise your chances are slim to none of tagging out

 

[jmav58]

I drew it last year and it was by far the most frustrating “hunt” of my life. I saw a few bulls just inside the park but it was a mild winter and nothing migrated out until after the season. I did hear that a tribal hunter or two tagged out on opening day but pushed the bison back into the park. Pray for lots of snow, otherwise your chances are slim to none of tagging out

Glass half full kinda guy, I like it. Just joking, really appreciate the info. How many days total did you go out?


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[dk88]

Yeah I have heard that its a really challenging hunt if we do not a hard winter. Last year no state hunters we successful. Im still really looking forward to the opportunity.

 

[rbrent]

It varies a lot from year to year if the bison come out and how the harvest is. I had the tag in 2016 and got a bull. PM me and I'll tell you what I can.

 

[dk88]

PM sent

 

[PablitoPescador]

I probably hunted 12 days at least. I know I’m sounding like a downer but if there’s not enough snow to start the migration it isn’t even a “hunt”

 

[FishTacos]

Im reviving and old thread here, I drew this tag this year and the season is only 2 weeks away!!!!

Any other members draw this tag previously or this year? Also to the original poster, how did your hunt turn out?

My friend drew the Bison Supertag. Fingers crossed these Bulls start moving- no Bison out of the park last week.

 

[dk88]

My friend drew the Bison Supertag. Fingers crossed these Bulls start moving- no Bison out of the park last week.

What side are you planning on hunting? Opening week I did not have much luck. I spotted one not too far off the boundary but with the warm weather he was working farther into the park.