Have you seen the video of the horny bison attacking a guy in Yellowstone? The power of the beast is amazing. I hope somebody doesn't come up with the idea of killing him - the bison were there long before humans were.
Bison attack in Yellowstone
- Thread starter RocketDawg
- Start date
Apparently the guy is gonna be ok, but serious injuries. From what I saw, he didn’t do anything overly stupid. You just gotta be real damn cautious.
Boy does this bring home how huge a mature Bison bull is.
Crazy. That guy lives in my county and is quite active in the community. Mid 60s and thankfully only a couple broken bones.
I read something on bison recently and just went to look it up because it sounds impossible. There were apparently (if the stats are true) up to 30 MILLION bison roaming the US in 1800. Then by 1884 they were down to 325. That's correct, just 325 out of 30 million left.
Now there are something like 20,000 bison around the American west, so I guess we've done a pretty good job leaving them alone since the late 1800's. But damn, first of all - can you imagine 30 million of those beasts running around? We'd have a lot more old timers being thrown 10 feet in the air.
And the whole thing: 30M --> 325 --> 20,000 is an amazing stat. Just crazy all the way around.
When I saw the brief clip of him going airborne, I assumed it was another idiot going somewhere he was advised not to be. That wasn’t the case here at all. The bison was in an area surrounded by picnic tables. I assume tourist are allowed in the area with picnic tables.
Well, I have been to Yellowstone a couple times doing a 3-day guided snowmobile tour, travel around 260 miles. I can tell you, bison and all wild animals in Yellowstone are dangerous. We had a couple scary moments getting past them in the roads with snow everywhere. Good thing about the trip(s) were no vehicles except snowmobiles or track busses.
Yeah, we just about wiped them out. If you ever get a wild hair about all government regulation beng bad, just look at what basically unregulated commercial hunting did to wildlife populations in the 1800’s.
Bison skulls waiting to be fertilizer circa 1870. An example of unsustainable agriculture…
If you’re ever interested in the whole story…
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A hunt for the American buffalo—an adventurous, fascinating examination of an animal that has haunted the American imagination.
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My thougts exactly. He wasn't very close when it started charging. I've been a few times to yellowstone and seen people closer. He was probably closer than I would have been but didn't really classify as a "touron"
I’ve been saying for years that one of those folks who are chasing those bears in Cades Cove are going to get to close. Surprised it hasnt happened.
I had the opportunity to go pronghorn hunting in South Dakota last year. No trees anywhere but I’d walk over a little knoll and there would be one or twenty tatanka 10 yards away. Walked up within spitting distance to several by accident.
Unless you are from Jones County, 'cause you know what you can do.
I'm not saying the bison attack wasn't real but I'm questioning it
Yeah they are all over South Dakota too. Custer State Park they stop traffic while a herd is crossing the road. Surprised they dont act up more often. And Cades Cove. 2 baby bears just off the road. I stopped and me and the kids went super close and I had the wife take a picture. She was b*tching at me the whole time about a mama bear. Kids thought it was cool and we survived. Kinda dumb in reality. She had to be close
In 1982 I had just completed the 8th grade and went to ND to work for a family friend on his ranch. He had around 300 head of cattle and 7 Bison. The bison had a 1/2 section of land with 7' tall fencing, it was impossible to keep them in the pasture. Hank was the bull and he was huge. They had gotten out one night and had gotten many miles from the ranch. The locals, anyone who lived within 3 counties of McIntosh Co in ND, knew the owner and was calling letting him know where the bison were and what direction the were headed. I was told the get the motorcycle and gas it up and follow him to where the last sighting had been. We went for ever and finally found them several hours later and he took the P/U into the pasture and I the motorcycle and we started to "round" them up and get them headed back home. Ol Hank to exception to our plan and rammed the P/U and turned it up on its side. I was trying to get around Hank and try to get him away from the truck when the motorcycle died. 
I ran out of fuel, in open land with an angry huge beast starring at me. There was maybe 75 yards between us. He comes at loping at me and I turn and start running only thing i could find to hide behind was a rock pile that was maybe 6' tall and many many feet wide. I was able to get behind it and just seconds later he comes sailing overhead clearing the rock pile. Thank goodness he kept going or I would have been brutally killed. These are some amazing creatures. A lung capacity that allows them to run at amazing speeds for long periods. Hank was shot and turned into sausage and we were able to get the cows and the couple of calfs back to the pasture but it took several days and help from many people. No way the would have gone if we didn't shoot Hank.
I ran out of fuel, in open land with an angry huge beast starring at me. There was maybe 75 yards between us. He comes at loping at me and I turn and start running only thing i could find to hide behind was a rock pile that was maybe 6' tall and many many feet wide. I was able to get behind it and just seconds later he comes sailing overhead clearing the rock pile. Thank goodness he kept going or I would have been brutally killed. These are some amazing creatures. A lung capacity that allows them to run at amazing speeds for long periods. Hank was shot and turned into sausage and we were able to get the cows and the couple of calfs back to the pasture but it took several days and help from many people. No way the would have gone if we didn't shoot Hank.
My Native American in me appreciates pronouncing buffalo correctly. TATANKA!
Tupelo has a good size herd at their zoo and park. I think it’s a couple hundred or at least it used to be.
Don't forget Tupelo. they even had a white one born that the natives took interest in a few years back.
"That's the wild for you. It's got its dangers -- which is part of the beauty."
Gus McRae
Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry
Gus McRae
Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry
Was there the other day. They just had a few more born a few weeks back.
There is a safari place out in Brandon - I think it's called Cypress Point now but used to be McClain Lodge - that has a few bison you can feed by hand, among other crazy wildlife you don't usually see around here like highland cattle and ostriches and sh*t. I took the kids out there a few times and it's pretty awesome to get up close like that.
I love the scene where he and Pea were discussing chasing the Buffalo (Bison).
Hard to believe bison and elk use to be in modern day Mississippi. I could be hunting the things at home instead of taking a pilgrimage to the Rockies every year if it weren’t for the greediness of the white man. Thanks a lot whites!*
Gramps: Stay down, kid, I'll distraaaaaaaaaaaaaaacthimohshittttt!!!
Dude could have eeeeasily been 6 feet under if that bison wanted him that way. Those dudes are yuge! We got closer than I'd like a couple of times when we were in a bison jam going through Yellowstone a couple years ago. Sitting in traffic with nowhere to go and they just started walking across the road between the cars. Cool and kinda scary. We were staying at the old faithful Inn (a very cool place), and some were always wandering around... some right next to the buildings.
I was not intending to list all the places where there are some Buffalo. But I think they have some in Grants Farm in St Louis too.
Another thing I learned recently is that there are 2 subspecies of Bison (Buffalo) in North America. There is the Plains Bison and the Woods Bison.