Bookcliffs Bison Cow Recap

[realunlucky]

As a resident of Utah each year I can choose a single once in lifetime species to apply and build points for. On my first deer hunt at 12 years old, we had a guy in camp that had returned from hunting Buffalo on the Henry mountains. Dang the stories that man told me still burn in my memory, but the thing that stands out was how hard a hunt it was. Right then the fire was lit and I knew someday I'd hunt free ranging Bison.

Fast forward to early 2019 now my heart is set on someday hopefully drawing a mountain goat tag. Since I had been building points for Bison I knew I was at lest 10 years or more away from drawing a bull tag. I checked the odds and saw it was a sure thing for me to draw a cow tag. Both bulls and cow Bison are once in a lifetime here in Utah. It was a tough choice but buffalo are big and I'm not getting any younger I decided to apply for a cow.

I applied to the Henry archery Cow and started doing my research since I was for sure going to get issued a tag. A last minute shake up at work made those season dates in available for vacation. Thankfully it was the last day to make application changes so I made the swap to the Bookcliffs unit.

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[realunlucky]

I had never set foot on the Bookcliffs and had done all my research on the Henry mountains, add the fact I knew very little about the American Bison. Being once in a lifetime no matter if you punch your tag or not kinda started stressing me out.
I reached out to the biologist and he was a super nice guy, reassured me that there were plenty of Bison in the bookcliffs. He lined me out with thier core areas and said to call him back with any other questions. That first scouting trip I saw exactly zero buffalo. I didn't know how to tell buffalo tracks from cattle, what they ate or really any of thier habits. The bookcliffs is big steep and deep country.
This was truly an adventure starting from scratch.

Fun fact - Bison tracks are almost circular.

 

[realunlucky]

Luckily I had started scouting early and had plenty of time to figure out a game plan. Last year's stats for the Bookcliffs Cow hunt had me thinking this would be a slam dunk, but after that first trip down I was discouraged. Another call to the biologist and I learned a bit about Bison.
Fun fact - they only eat 1% of thier body wieght daily. They also don't need to water daily but it's unknown how much water they actually need to substane themselves. No wonder they can disappear in this country.

Second trip down I started to see some buffalo and that lifted my spirits.

 

[realunlucky]

I had to leave for my work hitch right before the first of two any Bison (the bull hunts) opened. I wouldn't be back home until two days before the opener of my hunt and I still needed to pick up a few buddies from the airport that night. We then planned to drive all night for a single day of scouting sun rise to sunset before opening morning.

Here's a few pictures of the Bookcliffs

 

[realunlucky]

We rolled in real late only getting about 3 hours of sleep, getting up just in time to beat the sun to our glassing spot. We could only turn up a single group of Bison that morning and they were being watched by several other guys. I didn't know how the pressure of the two previous hunts had effected where the herds like to hang out, so it was back to racing around checking every single shot I had scouted prior.

The divide road is basically the backbone into the Bisons core area. Roads ( most are pretty rough) run down most ridge tops. The tops are basically flat and covered in thick cedars unless they were chained off and opened up for cattle to graze. It's really hard to glass unless your at the edge, then you can see a lot further then you want to pack a buffalo quarter.

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[realunlucky]

I had managed to fast talk (sucker) a few of my best buddies away from hunting the best part of the elk rut and flying into Utah for the rare opportunity to see a true free ranging American Bison.
From my scouting I figured this hunt would be either over opening weekend or if these buffalo retreated deep into the books it would make for a long grinding season. I took vacation for the whole season but my buddies all had to fly out Friday night. I really, really didn't want to try and close the deal on a buffalo solo so the first good one was taking a bullet.

My goals for this hunt were simple. 1-- enjoy time with the people that had traveled all the way here for this. 2 -- try to find a cow that looked like a 3/4 year old bull.

I think being a cow hunt reduced the stress of drawing a once in a lifetime tag. I wanted a mature cow but didn't need the oldest or the biggest.

First time some of these guys had been in the same camp together, but my confidence was at an all time high because all these guys were/are the best glassers I know.

The books is awesome country. Limited entry deer and elk, bison, and wild horses under every shade tree.

My biggest concern was trying to tell the small bulls from the big cows. There's only one way to be 100% sure and as you can see in the horse picture the brush was way to high for that.

 

[realunlucky]

The evening before the opener we split into two groups to try and find some Bison and nail down a plan for opening morning. I went back to where we had seen the Bison that morning and my buddies headed to look off the point. I found the bunch of Bison alright along with 15/20 other vehicles cruising the area. The Bison were tucked into a area I felt most couldn't see into but it was pretty apparent this was going to be popular in the morning. A typical Utah opening morning shit show without a doubt.

Thankfully my buddies had seen a small bunch on thier way to glass off the point. We decided to try and avoid the shit show and hunt this group in the morning.

 

[realunlucky]

The morning came fast and I like to be super early to "my" spot. Nothing worse than arriving late and seeing someone else where you wanted to be and have to hustle to plan B all because you slept an extra 30 minutes. Sure enough about 15 minutes before it's light enough to see here comes everyone rolling in. Guess we weren't the only ones who spotted these buffalo last night.

In true public land fashion there was no respect for being there first and it got real crowded real quick. We checked the wind and started to make a loop to get some space and keep the wind while we glassed the first minutes of sunrise. All of the sudden we see headlamps rushing straight out to where the Bison were last seen, totally opposite of the wind direction. Guess those guys never noticed the huge nose stuck right on a buffalo's face. Not surprising it was a ghost town when the sun came up.

We knew that the Bison liked to cruise the rim of the cliffs in the thick cedars so they could just drop off the top at a moment's notice. We spread out and started hitting the tiny openings and edges with our glass.

 

[realunlucky]

Some picked up a set of tracks. Fun fact-- Bison don't seem to travel on a trail just kind of spread out gaggle. Following pretty soon we start seeing fresh pee spots littered around so we know they were just here. It's damn hard to see into the cedars up ahead we are often dropped down glassing for legs more than bodies.

There they are!!

 

[realunlucky]

They were quickly moving though the cedars. The last three paused for a split second about a body lenght from being shallowed up in the thick cedars. First one was turned looking directly at us, definitely a cow- narrow long face, pencil horns curving in. PASS don't want to take a frontal shot. Second one was basically the same as the first but perfectly broadside, but it's horns are also thin and pencily. PASS might regret later but it's opening morning and this is once in a lifetime just need a little mass. Last Bison is broadside but in the tall sagebrush. Bigger body size than the other two, beautiful two tone coat (some cows are single color) good horn mass, triangle narrow face but horns don't curve much at all. IF it's a cow I'm taking her. Rifle is up, safety off. I'm pretty sure it's a cow waiting on any sort of confirmation. Whisper to my buddy can you tell? Nope not sure. At the sound of our voices the buffalo break for the trees. BOOM!!

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[realunlucky]

Marvin yells out you missed! What the hell? I can plainly see my shot knocked a buffalo off it's feet. For a fleeting second I think it's a done deal. In a flash it's back up. BOOM!

Now shits breaking branches everywhere as the thicket erupts and Bison scramble for the rim edge.

Damn all kinds of things are racing though my head right now. I have no doubts it's dead but.....I was only 95% sure it was a cow. Idiot never shoot unless 100% sure. Just the slightest bit of doubt there churring in my guts. Let's get everyone gathered up and go find my Bison.

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[realunlucky]

It was easy to follow the heavy tracks but there wasn't a single drop of blood. There partially hidden in the shade of the cedars it had crashed into was a dead buffalo. Doesn't look all that huge at first but with every step it gets a little bigger. Feels so great when a leg is flipped and doubts gone. Smiles all around and my tag is punched.

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[realunlucky]

The realization of what's just happened starts to set in. 16 years of waiting and 10am on opening morning my OIL Bison tag is notched. Seems like it all went way to quickly.

But the work as yet to begin!

 

[realunlucky]

Stripped her all down and bagged everything up and prepared for the trip back up to the Jeep.

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[realunlucky]

Pretty good load test on my Initial Ascent 4K pack. My hunting partner just got the new IA6K in green. Thanks for breaking out the nice stuff for this pack out!

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[realunlucky]

Last load

 

[realunlucky]

We stayed a few more days just to enjoy the Bookcliffs. While we saw plenty of good bucks and a few good bulls and more stupid horses than you can shake a stick at, we never turned another group of Bison up. Did however find a couple of single big bulls off by themselves which was a awesome cap to the whole trip.

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[realunlucky]

After meticulously processing everything at home I'm fairly certain I'm well over 400lbs in the freezer.

I haven't ate a steak yet but the tenders were fabulous and so was a roast. I also smoked the ribs which were very beef like in texture and favor, even the wife can't wait to eat the other side.

 

[realunlucky]

Wall space at my house is pretty limited so I opted to do a euro mount, but kinda regret it now. (Don't make these decisions on the mountain side with a steep climb out ahead of you)

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[WRO]

Very cool

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