Alberta Buffalo Shoot, not a hunt. Filled the freezer with a big bull.

[MLCoug]

Well, we left Moses Lake at 6 am and arrived 13 1/2 later in Whitecourt, AB Canada.  We still had another 1 1/2 hour to drive in the morning to the buffalo ranch where we were going to take three big bulls.  We arrived the next morning and proceeded to take two bulls with the rancher's 30-06 and my other buddy took his bull with his bow.  We took the first bull around 11:00 am and the last one around 2:00.  We had all three skinned and quarted and headed back towards the states by 6:30 pm that same night.  A lot of work in 0-4 degree temperatures but I was surprised with how fun it actually was.  Not very sporting but it was special being able to take a beautiful buffalo.  Something special about it.

We drove back about 4 hours and stopped for the night in Rocky Mountain House AB.  Got up the next morning and headed back to the border.  All was going great until officer Baurer told us we couldn't bring the spinal cords on the 12 quarters of meat we had...which was now frozen together back into the US.  And, he said the skulls had to have the brain and brain stem completely removed and then the skull had to be bleached.  We had no idea we would need to do this as these animals are not wild but rather ranch raised and don't apply to the same rules as wild game.  And, there were 5 other bulls taken by Washingtonians a couple weeks prior to this and they had no problems crossing the border.  But, they didn't go through the same crossing we were going through.  They had went through the peace arch and we were going through the Kingsgate crossing just above Bonners Ferry Idaho.  Officer Bauser said they should not have been allowed to bring the other bulls back either and they just got lucky,

After three attempts at crossing, we ended up leaving the meat in Cranbrook, BC and will drive back up to get it in 3 weeks.  We also had to cape the animals in the middle of the night along side the road at a scale house.  after 18 hours and over 1000 miles in one day, we finally got home to Moses Lake.  But I would do it all again.  We seen several bighorn sheep, elk, deer (both mulies and whites) as well as moose.  The best part was however that the price of these bulls was only $800 each.   I can't wait to get the rug done and the head on the wall. 

[markts]

Nice, that is a pile of meat. Mark

[Huntbear]

Wow, very cool!  Would love a freezer full of buff meat.  Some good eating right there!!!!! 

[bearpaw]

Buffalo hunts are no big sporting event no matter where you go, just the nature of the critter. Nice looking bulls, too bad you had trouble at the border. How much did it cost up there for those bulls.

I have friends in Whitecourt I need to visit someday....

[MLCoug]

$800 each.

Buffalo hunts are no big sporting event no matter where you go, just the nature of the critter. Nice looking bulls, too bad you had trouble at the border. How much did it cost up there for those bulls.

I have friends in Whitecourt I need to visit someday....

[C-Money]

Looks like a great way to fill the freezer! I'd sure like to do that some day! To bad about the mess at the border.

[GUscottie]

awesome! I love seeing and hearing stories like this...sorry to hear about the border crossing

[Austrian Hunter]

Great hunt, sorry for the trouble, do you have any info you can share about the ranch, $800 is sure a good deal. I am interested in doing the same to fill my freezer. 

[NWBREW]

WOW. 800.00 bucks each and you got to keep the meat, hide and head? That's a damn good deal. Congrats

[BLKBEARKLR]

Wow, 800.00, that is a great price, get a heck of a lot of meat, give me a buffalo mount to practice on. I am interested also if you do not mind sharing the info, but I understand if you don't. To many people know about it, it becomes popular there fore raising the price.

Joe

[carpsniperg2]

thats a cool deal buff meat is great, looks like nice healthy bulls as well.

[tmike]

I'm cooking Buffalo steaks and Razor clams right now    That as good a deal or better than we got in Montana.

[Kent Hunter]

Those are nice looking older bulls. I don't know if you realize it or not, but you got a SMOKIN deal for older bulls @ $800 my brother. Way to go!!

[Kuduman]

Great Pics.... PM Sent

[cohoho]

That is awesome....  Nice pictures, those are some good looking bulls, especially for that price for sure.  Way to go...

As for Bearpaw your comment about Bison hunting, you ought to try Wild Bison for a fun hunt, they aren't the same as the ranch one at all, pretty wary about everything...  Ranch Bison is a shoot but wild is totally excited, don't knock it before you tried it...

[bearpaw]

As for Bearpaw your comment about Bison hunting, you ought to try Wild Bison for a fun hunt, they aren't the same as the ranch one at all, pretty wary about everything...  Ranch Bison is a shoot but wild is totally excited, don't knock it before you tried it...

Perhaps I should have worded it better, I wasn't knocking the buffalo, I like to hunt anything, I was just commenting because I didn't think buffalo are as wary as other animals. Perhaps it's because the wild ones I have seen (Utah and Montana) did not have heavy hunting pressure, so they just weren't very wary. I did not think they reacted much differently than the ones I have hunted on private ranches in MT and SD.

I have never been around the wood bison in northern canada, perhaps they are much wilder acting and perhaps I made an improper assumption about them.

[cohoho]

You ought to put in for the draw in AK, a couple of different herds, crappy odds but do able....  Very wary, alot more than Moose where for certain... They'd spot us and be gone, ran like crazy like the movies show.  Super cool when they came thundering by, such power and rumbling when there was 20-30 going by.  On the ranch in Montana yea, I'd agree 100%, they moved only when the truck door came open, other than that they thought it must have been feeding time and stayed near..  Except for the four or so that escape the fence, they never looked back at all...

[robb92]

Looks like you had a good time!!! Would love to fill the freezer with one someday!

[bearpaw]

cohoho, if I hunt alaska it will probably be for brownies, sheep, or caribou. We are satisfied with the buffalo bull my wife has mounted and for meat I'll just go to another ranch or for a wild one I might someday get lucky and draw Utah, but thanks for the advice anyway, I appreciate that and will remember in case my priorities change someday.

This sounds like a really good deal in Canada, I have friends in Whitecourt I have been promising to visit someday anyway, they may even know the guy with the buffalo.

[7mmfan]

I'd love to harvest a buffalo one of these days. A few of us are heading back to Wyoming next year to deer hunt and i've thought about looking into a buffalo along the way somewhere.