Hunting Forum

I am looking to go on a Buffalo hunt next year and was hoping some fellow members could give some advise on where to go. I have looked around and there seems to be many places to hunt Buffalo. Any help would be much appreciated.

Zimbabwe is cheapest but many don't like to go there because of political situation. Zambia is probably next cheapest. Both have good Buffalo. Also good Buffalo available in Tanzania, Botswana and RSA but they are pricey.

Sorry Tom I ment a Bison hunt here in the US. I guess I should have been more clear about that. Thanks for replying though.

No problem! My mind set is Cape Buffalo....love to hunt them!
More of us probaly call the American Bison "buffalo" than don't.......somehow "Bison Bill Cody" just doesn't sound right....

You might take a look at Sandhills Outfitters in Nebraska. Their hunts look good. I have one booked for this September, but am going to have to delay it until 2011. They have a large herd on 10,000 acres. The herd is free ranging on those acres.

Here is a link to their site:
http://www.sandhillsoutfitters.com/

Good hunting.
Eugene Baer

My family does a bison hunt about every 3 years or so. Never gone for a trophy bull, we always opt for a young cow for meat. I've done them in several places, but like the Twin Pines Ranch near Wheatling WY the best. Family that owns it is named Gerk. really good people. Not sure what they're charging for a hunt these days since we are closing in on the 3 year mark, but they used to be really reasonable. They have a website, do a google search and you can find it.

Flags

You definitely want a large ranch with a free ranging herd and you gotta be careful as some are nothing more than the owner pointing out which one to shoot and then you shooting it as they just stand there like domesticated cattle. There was at one time a thread here where we had listed a large number of DIY hunts with reputable owners/outfitters with very large ranches and good herds of Bison. Try using the search box on this site to help in finding it. Or you can send TLC a PM as he had/has the web addy for a really good operation in SD.

If you are looking for a free range wild bison hunt let me know we guide for them in Northern Alberta.
Kevin
Bluesky outfitting

What do you get for a hunt?

GH, if he has a good deal, us ol farts cud use our 45-90's that we opened the American West with....

Tom, their hunts list at 7500 for bison including tags but excluding air transport and gratuities.

Www.blueskyoutifitting.com

They also have moose hunts starting at 5k

Sandhills is out of Nebraska and has 'free rAnge' hunts starting at 1650

Www.Sandhilloutfitters.com

And besides, if we huntied the Sand Hills, we could read that great book again in the evenings!

Hello, can you describe what a free range hunt really is. Also what are your prices, ammenities, best time of year to hunt. What is the average size that would be encountered and shot (hopefully). Will a 308 rifle do it? I am from Ontario so what are the hunting laws, requirements for me to hunt in your Province.
Thanks
Tom Hall
my email is ticket4509@yahoo.ca

Hello Tom thanks for the question about our free range wild bison hunts that we offer at www.blueskyoutfitting.com

This bison hunt "is not behind a fence of any size period" Tom. These are totaly wild bison where predators do what they do naturally, with out man being upset by having thier farmed bison being killed by wolves, here the predator prey relationship in a normal every day occurrence. This is what I call free range Tom.
Tom I sent you an email today that answers all your questions that you have.
Thanks Tom.

Posted By TOM IN TENNESSEE on 06 Aug 2010 12:17 PM
No problem! My mind set is Cape Buffalo....love to hunt them!
More of us probaly call the American Bison "buffalo" than don't.......somehow "Bison Bill Cody" just doesn't sound right....

Neither does "Bison, NY" or "Bison, WY" or the "Bison nickel."  I know that "bison" is the Latin name for our American Buffalo, and that technically they are not of the same genus as the African Cape Buffalo or the Asian Water Buffalo, but who cares???  We in North America have been calling them "Buffalo" for over 200 years.  Now, in this politically correct society that we live in, the snob, nose in the air biologists, have decided that they are not buffalo, they are bison. 

I also know that there are other animals where there common name is the same as their Latin name, like "hippopotemus."   What's next?  Will we have to start calling deer "odocoileus" and elk "cervus"?



As for the original question of where to hunt American Buffalo, I shot mine on Ted Turner's Flying D ranch in SW Montana.  They're not "free range", but they're not behind a high fence either -- only a standard 4 strand barb wire.  I have a picture that my son took years ago of a bull buffalo in mid air jumping over one of the fences on the "D".

Posted By TOM IN TENNESSEE on 04 Aug 2010 08:07 AM
Zimbabwe is cheapest but many don't like to go there because of political situation. Zambia is probably next cheapest. Both have good Buffalo. Also good Buffalo available in Tanzania, Botswana and RSA but they are pricey.

You can hunt the Northwestern Buffalo in Cameroon and Benin for a lot less than you can hunt Cape Buffalo in Zim or any of the other countries to the South. Americans always head to Southern or Eastern Africa for their safaris and forget about Western Africa. That is a big mistake. The French have been hunting Western Africa for a long time and they have a really good thing going on there.

If you click on the link and read that page it states " We are a family owned business that has approximately 2,000 acres available for hunting. " and I found no where it stated that they had 10,000 acres for hunting. It does state a couple of times that the hunting of Bison dates back 10,000 years but no mention of that number being acreage for hunting today. One square mile is 640 square acres so at 2,000 acres it would be a little over 3 square miles on which they have the Bison available for hunting. At one time we had a thread that had many outfitters and DIY sites for hunting but it apparently has gone away. TLC at one time had found and outfitter that had 52,000-56,000 acres on which their Bison herd lived and you had to first find the herd and then stalk to within shooting range. There were no low or hihg fences keeping the Bison on a certain part of the Ranch. If an operation has a high fence and has thousands of acres fenced to hunt I have no problem with that but for me a fenced operation with less than 5,000 acrs is not something I would pay my money to hunt. Please remember this is simply my own personal preference and ipinion and in no way is saying that others should not hunt as they please. But I do really like the 50,000 plus size ranch and the idea of hunting Bison on it which requires a hunter to really have to hunt to find the herd then put n a stalk in order to get a shot at one. I also would prefer a large cow for my purposes which is eating the meat. We have one of Ted Turner's restaurants here and I always order the Bison ribeye and for my taste Bison has the tstae of beef but is a more intense beef flavor.

FLAGS, may want to do a West Africa hunt before I become dust.....Lord Derby, buffalo, piggies, bunch of duikers interest me.....of course Bongo really interest me.....got any recommendations?

Posted By TOM IN TENNESSEE on 25 Feb 2013 03:35 PM
FLAGS, may want to do a West Africa hunt before I become dust.....Lord Derby, buffalo, piggies, bunch of duikers interest me.....of course Bongo really interest me.....got any recommendations?

I hunted with Borge Ladegford. He owns Ngong Safaris and hunts Cameroon. He's been hunting there for over 20 years.

He hunts both savanna and the forest. One of the few safari outfits that can access his hunting areas without an expensive charter. He takes a lot of Bongo and the assorted forest game like duikers and Red River Hogs. He gets a few Giant Forest Hogs and Forest Sitatunga. Those things aren't really common anywhere, but he takes them every season. He also gets some good Forest Elephant, but they are not importable in the USA. He has a very good area for Lord Derby Eland that is also loaded with Western Roan and huge warthogs. There are some Bush Elelphant in his area but the tusks are not known for size and like the Forest Elelphant, they are not importable. When I hunted with him we cut lion tracks daily and he hunts them by tracking. No bait hunting allowed in Cameroon. I haven't hunted the forest with him, just the savanna. But I saw the photo albums of his forest hunts and he gets good game.

I was forced by budget to pass on Lord Derby Eland when I hunted the savanna with him. My primary target was Western Roan. This is the one I got. He was a little over 30 inches on both horns. Borge has some really good Roan.