Late Henry's Cow Bison

[CMF]

Awesome!

 

[Jake538]

After the shot rang out, the whole herd came out of the woodwork. probably close to 50 head ran down the hill towards her to see if she was going to get back up. It was evident to them though that she was indeed very dead. I called my wife on FaceTime and shared the moment with her. The second group of bison ran behind us at Maybe 60-70 yards and I was able to show her them on my phone. The moment began to feel emotional, I felt very blessed to have been able to share this moment with my Dad and my friends. I've spent basically the last 10 years of my life either on a mission, in college, working, or a combination of the 3. I've kept putting hunting on the shelf of things that I will return to when things slow down. But the reality life doesn't slow down.
I grew up in Eastern Washington chasing elk, deer, bears, turkeys, pheasants, grouse, quail. with my dad, it's what made me fall in love with hunting. At some point time, you begin to prioritize what matters most. In my endeavors to secure a career that is stable and can support my family, I've forgotten that time spent doing the things I love most, with the people I love most is not time wasted. I thank God for letting me capitalize on such an opportunity and to do it with my Dad is more than I could have ever asked for. I have a wonderful wife at home who take care of our son while I was out on this hunt, I've thanked her many times over for her sacrifice, whether it was watching our son more while I worked overtime to afford new gear for the hunt, or even just giving me the green light to live this adventure in the first place. She's been supportive of me since the moment I've drawn the tag.

Back to the bison at hand, she was perfect. an old mature cow that Trever and Josh estimated to be at least 14 years old. a perfect animal for a hunt for population mitigation due to drought. Her hide was gorgeous and she really didn't smell. After the photos were done, the tag was notched, the work began. My Dad volunteered to make lunch while we began to skin, and quarter her. The plan was to take out the full hide so I can have it tanned into a rug, Then the head would be taken to a local beetle taxidermist to have a euro mount done. By the time knives came out it was approaching 1pm. We were doing pretty well on time. We had her almost completely quartered out and skinned by about 3:30pm. We decided it was best if myself, my Dad, and one of my friends started to the hike back out before it got dark. Shout out to my friend who packed out a good chunk of a loose meat, and some clothing from the guides. Josh, Trevor, and my other friend packed the shoulder, hams, and the rest of the loose meat. It was decided that we could retrieve the head and hide the following day. Myself and the rest of the group made it back to the quads and UTV by about 5:30. It was dark and the temperature was dropping fast. So we made a fire to welcome in the rest of the crew packing out the quarters. We made it back to the cabins around 7:30ish at night. It was about 235 lbs worth of meat that we pulled off that cow. We had a tenderloin that night and it was delicious, you can tell she was an older animal because even the tenderloin had some chew to it. The flavor was mild and reminded me of a garbanzo bean fed whitetail back home. Truly excellent.

My Final two cents

Let me shout out Trever and Josh with PSC Outdoors. These guys were such down to earth dudes. You could tell that they absolutely love doing what they do. We made connections almost instantly and I feel like I've made friends for life from getting to do this hunt with them. Not only are they knowledgable of the area, they understand bison behavior and what it takes to be successful on such a hunt. If you are ever fortunate to pull any Bison tag on the Henry's, I can't recommend them enough. If you are fortunate enough to pull a Boulder unit tag in Southern Utah for elk, these dudes are your guys. The quality of animals they pull off the mountain each year is truly astounding. Again, it's not even about the destination as it is the journey. I felt involved, heard, and felt like we really did have a great time together. As somebody who really hasn't used an outfitter before, I'll try to find an excuse to hunt with them again in the future.
Another shout out to my buddy who helped packing out the quarters, head, and hide with Josh and Trever. You brought valuable experience to the table that helped us feel confident in going after this cow.
If you have in the mid teens for bison points, I would definitely look into drawing a cow bison tag. This hunt leaves nothing off the table as compared to hunting bulls on the Henrys. With that being said, I think without an outfitter, your work will be cut out for you.
I need to lose weight to keep doing the things I love in the future, this hunt was a real gut check of that. Treat yourselves with respect. Eat properly, drink water, sleep enough, and work out. Your family and yourself deserve the best you.
Now that I have a OIAL animal under my belt, I think my next move will be to try and kill my first elk! Maybe I'll luck out a draw a mountain goat tag here before I get too old. Thanks for tagging along for the read guys. I appreciate it.

 

[Jake538]

More photos

 

[Jake538]

Favorite Picture. Thanks Guys!

 

[Jake538]

Bison are such cool creatures and the Henry mountains are so unique themselves, what an amazing combination for an adventure.

Thanks for sharing the story and looking forward to the pictures myself. This brought back a flood of memories from my own Bison hunt.

Sent from my SM-S926U using Tapatalk

Thank you! I hope I’ll get to chase them one more time with my boy when he’s older.

 

[Jake538]

HECK YA!!!!!!!!

thanks for taking us along. And remembering to come back with the hunt report.

waiting pics!

Thanks Robby! I’ve enjoyed to listening to you on the podcast in the past.

 

[johnnycake]

Such a great report! Thank you so much for sharing, it was a fun read and left me remembering my own Henry's late season cow hunt in 2012. What an incredible opportunity, and a shame that so few hunters will ever get a chance to experience it.

 

[dgfavor]

Outstanding!! Great hunt and write up!! Congrats!!

 

[Steve O]

Way to go young man. That’s an experience you will treasure as long as you live. Get in as many as you can as soon as you can but also remember to keep a balance with your family. Thanks for coming back with the story, so many just take and don’t give back.

 

[johnsd16]

Solid write up and you did a good job with planning and expectations! Very very well done.