Bison

rusty6 · Mar 22, 2019

You've heard me refer to one of the farms I work as "the hundred acre woods". Well now there are Bison in the hundred acre woods as of this week. Not sure how many. Guessing around 20. We have rented an 80 acre piece of the wood land to a local guy who raises them and was looking for some more pasture. He did a great job fencing it last fall and hopefully it will be a success. Not a great picture I took as I drove by today but hopefully I'll get some better in the next day or so.

SVcummins · Mar 22, 2019

Thanks for posting rusty . I love the buffalo I wish
one day I could have some but they take a lot of
fence to hold em

fastfarmall · Mar 22, 2019

Yep, some of the best meat you can eat!

onefarmer · Mar 22, 2019

I don't know the guy but there's a guy who raises them NE of St Johns Mi. He has 8' fence around them

Bruce from Can. · Mar 22, 2019

Where did all of your snow go in such a short time ?

4520BW · Mar 22, 2019

My neighbor had a small herd and keep them in with high tensely electric fence. Nothing fancy. Now the sorting/loading pen was c channel and I beams

Deutz Lover · Mar 22, 2019

It was really a dark period in our history that the government wiped out most of their gene pool. The ones in Yellow Stone were just a lucky find.

Bob Harvey · Mar 22, 2019

Agree !

SVcummins · Mar 22, 2019

Fast farmall they are good to eat and neat to look at.

RESLLS · Mar 22, 2019

Watched some 1800's history the other day. Estimated 50 million bison
killed.

Just a few skulls.

sourgum · Mar 22, 2019

Old history books have articles about transcontinental railroad surveyors in the Plains or western states. They reported on some days they had to stop surveying, they could not see long distances in their scopes because massive herds of bison would be migrating to areas of taller grasses crossing in the pathway of the proposed railroad.. This would have been in the 1860's, the railroad was finished 1869.

Traditional Farmer · Mar 22, 2019

Big farm in my area had a pretty good size herd and their own slaughterhouse they used high tensile electric fence and guardrails for building catch and loading pens.Pretty neat to ride
by and see them grazing in the VA countryside.

Bob · Mar 22, 2019

(quoted from post at 20:34:36 03/22/19) It was really a dark period in our history that the government wiped out most of their gene pool. The ones in Yellow Stone were just a lucky find.

"It was really a dark period in our history that the government wiped out most of their gene pool"

I'm gonna have a hard time sleeping tonight now that I know that!

On the other hand, there MAY currently be an issue or two that's potentially even MORE devastating to our country as we know it.

Case Nutty 1660 · Mar 22, 2019

We have had a Buffalo ranch just 30 milers south of me for as long as I can remember, they have Thousands of them and sell meat all over,
Durham Ranch vid link

Eldon (WA) · Mar 22, 2019

(quoted from post at 19:02:31 03/22/19) Watched some 1800's history the other day. Estimated 50 million bison
killed.
<img src="https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto17435.jpg">
Just a few skulls.

AOC should be extremely happy! Just think of the farts killed off...

rusty6 · Mar 22, 2019

(quoted from post at 17:57:43 03/22/19) Where did all of your snow go in such a short time ?

Bruce, a combination of below normal snowfall all winter and a spell of above normal temps for the past week really took the snow.
Yes, this used to be bison country before my grandparents got here. This skull hanging in the barn reminds me. It was one my grandfather must have found when he broke the prairie sod.
Our capital city, Regina, was originally known as "Pile of Bones" because of the huge piles of buffalo bones gathered by the bone hunters.
https://southcarolina1670.wordpress.com/2013/03/27/regina-from-pile-o-bones-to-provincial-capital/

Deutz Lover · Mar 22, 2019

The reason I said that about the gene pool is that genetic diversity is important in helping a species survive. If there are not enough members of a species to out breed then it also becomes like inbreeding which is not good. This is especially important in that immunological factors that identify antigens need a diverse library to identify pathological bacteria and viruses. Without them animals including humans become susceptible to certain cancers, measles, mumps even flu that can kill etc.

Traditional Farmer · Mar 23, 2019

Well I guess it all started with 2 Bison as the gene pool,looks like it worked out OK

72supr · Mar 23, 2019

Fredrick Dupree and Scotty Philip were a couple of ranchers in Dakota that had the foresight to know the buffalo were on the brink of extinction.Dupree caught a few calves before the turn of the century and grew the herd to sixty.When he died in 1898 Philips bought the herd.Both men have towns named after them in South Dakota.When Lewis and Clark came through here in 1804 they said the buffalo herds stretched from horizon to horizon.Steam boat captains coming up the Missouri said they sometimes had to wait a day for a herd to cross the river in front of them.A sight one can only imagine.

flembo · Mar 23, 2019

What ever happened to the YT poster that went by Bison. He gave me some good advice on preparing Bison and when cooked or grilled correctly it is great.

Jegs · Mar 23, 2019

SV I gotta tell you and no offense to others, the area that you live just floors me every time you post pictures, my wife and I, ever since we were young have always wanted to live in a wide open space like that, we love Montana and Idaho. We have a decent place now, and we love it, but the area you're in, that would be it, thanks for posting pics and please keep them coming, brings a smile every time.

Crazy Horse · Mar 23, 2019

One of Canada's national parks is just a 40 minute drive east of me (see link below) ...... Elk Island National Park. For a national park
these days, it is very basic and old time, no commercial stuff on the property at all other than some limited camping spots and trails, etc.
The bison population was started in the early part of the 1900's when they brought up breeding stock from Montana. Since then, the
occasionally cull the population and they also ship bison all over the world to other places. Actually, there are two species here, one of
either side of the main highway and each side is totally fenced. I think they are the Plains Bison and the Woods Bison. They are
physically different in appearance to each other. Most people up here refer to them generically as buffalo.
Untitled URL Link

Deutz Lover · Mar 23, 2019

I think the lowest number of pure plains bison reached was a little less than 600 in the 1880s. Other bison had some contamination with cattle genes due to cross breeding. So the current large plains bison numbers came from the few genetically pure numbers.

The wood bison numbers never reached this low of a number.

Sean Feeney · Mar 23, 2019

i saw that he posted a few weeks ago

4xMF · Mar 23, 2019

A bison farm over here is closing down because our authorities demand he must provide shelter for his 100 bison. Same rules as for any other cattle. This winter we have hardly had any snow and slush and just a few nights below freezing point. He still had to build shelters but decided to give it up in stead and slaughter the herd.

Deutz Lover · Mar 23, 2019

government overreach.

The head and neck muscles evolved for plowing snow.

55 50 Ron · Mar 23, 2019

Where do you live? Do those authorities KNOW where these bison lived before man got involved? Certainly shows a lack of common sense!

rusty6 · Mar 23, 2019

(quoted from post at 16:28:02 03/23/19) A bison farm over here is closing down because our authorities demand he must provide shelter for his 100 bison. Same rules as for any other cattle.

Maybe your winters are harsher than Saskatchewan? Bison evolved to endure our winters and thrived just fine.

4xMF · Mar 24, 2019

(quoted from post at 17:52:38 03/23/19) Where do you live? Do those authorities KNOW where these bison lived before man got involved? Certainly shows a lack of common sense!

I am in Denmark. Our winters seem to be gentle compared to what I am reading in here from most posters in the US and Canada. I think it is called coastal climate. Last time I had to plow my driveway was 9 years ago and strong freezing is rare too.
There used to be an understanding that sheep and cattle breeds like Hereford, Angus, Galloway, and Scottish Highlands could be kept outside in the winter months as long as they are well fed and have a dry place to lie down being it on straw bedding or a layer of pine needles in the woods, but now there has to be a 3 sided shed big enough for the entire herd to lie down at the same time. The problem is that in a lot of areas sheds are not allowed for aesthetic reasons. Everything has to look neat and natural you know.
The bison case made a big fuss. It was on the news and Farmers Union and others protested and it was argued that the animals would never use that shed anyway and if they were forced to they would likely kill each other but those inspectors are in power. A lot of farmers have been fined big time this winter for keeping their cattle outside. Fact is that a lot of this cattle would have been taken home to the barns if there had been bad weather in the forecast but rules are rules you know so the inspectors have been busy with their fines and invoices for follow up visits.

SVcummins · Mar 24, 2019

It?s good when it ain?t prepared correctly

SVcummins · Mar 24, 2019

When the left get done what they want there will be
no cattle raised and then someone will say well
what if plants have feelings ? Then we won?t be able
to eat plants or animals then what ? Milking a cow is
already looked at as worse than anything hilliary did
a farm animal should have more rights and
privileges than a human

Deutz Lover · Mar 24, 2019

Some of these people are meddling trash who do more harm than good. They have to justify their existence. I will bet that their own back yard is just as dirty as everyone elses.

rusty6 · Mar 24, 2019

(quoted from post at 15:22:18 03/24/19)

There used to be an understanding that sheep and cattle breeds like Hereford, Angus, Galloway, and Scottish Highlands could be kept outside in the winter months as long as they are well fed and have a dry place to lie down being it on straw bedding or a layer of pine needles in the woods, but now there has to be a 3 sided shed big enough for the entire herd to lie down at the same time. The problem is that in a lot of areas sheds are not allowed for aesthetic reasons. Everything has to look neat and natural you know.
.

Click to expand...

I wonder if these "experts" realized that bison thrived for centuries before the white man was on the scene to decree how they should be cared for? Cattle do fine outdoors here as long as they can get out of the wind. We have had wind chill factors in the -40s and no problems. The cattle are actually healthier when it is cold and dry. Much better than standing up to their knees in mud and manure in warm weather.

Bison

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