“Officials have agreed to allow as many as 900 bison from Yellowstone National Park to be shot by hunters, sent to slaughter or placed in quarantine this winter…”
Anyone who has visited YNP recently can attest that there are too many of two things… people and bison! It is virtually impossible to visit “the Park” without running into droves of each animal. I live along the borders of the nation’s first national park and much of our local economy comes from the millions of annual visitors each year and just like the tourists, bison spread out from the Park as well, finding nooks and crannies to live in, especially during the winter. Like the money made from tourism it would be nice to have a crack at those big shaggies too!
However, before we dust off the Sharps and get our Quigley on I’m betting that any “hunt” won’t be a hunt at all but a cull carried out by government “sharpshooters”. That would be sad indeed! I for one would pay a handsome fee to hunt a wild bison and do my part to thin the over populated YNP herd. I don’t know about you but there’s just something about a big old “buffalo” that’s romantic, the skull, the hide, the meat… every inch of the American bison is pure nostalgia, they are the true symbol of the American West.
Romance aside, we owe these animals a balanced ecosystem and YNP is anything but right now. Too many predators, too many bison, each wreaking havoc on the flora and fauna of one of the most incredible places on the planet. That balance, and a fair bit of monetary profit could assuredly be generated via a limited public hunt on the bison of YNP.
I will keep my ear to the ground on this, looking for opportunities for public comment about an open hunt. Fingers crossed the Park Service will use common sense on this and allow John and Jane Q Public to participate in the balancing of our Nation’s bison herd.
Source:
https://www.gillettenewsrecord.com/news/wyoming/article_4acbdca6-04e1-5cfe-8a27-e3bf790b1056.html
14 comments
Count me in!
Ain’t going to happen. Government will not bear the liability. Also, the Government will not sponsor anything that shows a viable use for guns.
Government has had hunters with guns in Olympic and Yellow stone kill Moutain goats.
I’m ready and willing.
Great idea!
Count me in, but can’t see the libtards allowing it.
Better than having park rangers whack them and send them to a slaughter house.
I would like to have a chance to take one. I am a native. We would enjoy having the meat plus the head and skin.
They allow bison hunts on the Elk Refuge south of the park, so why not the park. I’ve had the privilege of taking a bull about 10 years ago and a cow about 5 years ago. Lots of good eating.
When pigs fly is when Joe Average Hunter will be allowed to shoot bison in the park. More than likely the Indians…..oops….Native Americans will get them.
Didn’t the NPS do this already in the Grand Canyon North Rim? I would be in for sure.
NPS is able to have have hunts by law.
Can set any regulations they want to do so.
Have done this with Moutain goats and bison.
It would be misuse of tax payers dollars to pay anyone to shoot bison went NPS can have hunters do it for free or have them pay all the cost of the cull.
30 day season. 30 hunters a day. 3 day hunt. In 30 days close to 900 could be taken. There would never be more than 90 hunters in the Park in a day.
Here’s an idea, just like the Yellowstone Bison we’re used to establish a huntable herd in the Henry mountains of Utah, I’d love to see states line up interested in establishing a huntable herd and have surplus Bison moved to these areas. That would be a win-win!
Any areas that would be great candidates?