The airborne bison probably weighs 1500pounds or more.

Please post the stupid tourists who try to get right up next to one and take a pic, and get MMA slammed to the ground.

Don't pet the fluffy cows.

I've never understood the attraction of getting close to them. They are massive hulks of slobbering assholery that look pissed at all times.

The one airborne was already in full retreat. He kinda made it easier for the charging bull to launched him.

And tough. The 1500lber after getting tossed by another 1500lber just walked away.

That's some in yer face 'Buffalo Trace' right there!

Before paleohumans arrived and became the continent’s top predator, these things used to have to deal with huge Dire wolves, sabertooth cats, short faced bears and the like, which they did while keeping numbers in the millions.

We used to have a herd of them at a local orchard. As adults, they were BIG and we got to see similar behavior. I saw a full grown adult slam a smaller bull into a fence for trying to move in to eat early with a butt that would probably kill you. The younger bull just trotted off like it didn’t even feel it. They orchard eventually had to get rid of them for liability purposes because “stupid people”. They are no smarter in WV than out west with the wild buffs.

The origin of FAFO!

quote:

They are massive hulks...that look pissed at all time.

I would, too, if a bunch of two-legged things with guns almost wiped out all of my kind.

I saw a Johnny Carson show clip that had a real cowboy on. He said the foreman instructed to worm a bison and put him a squeeze chute. They pondered if it was really necessary. When the bison got to the squeeze part they pulled the levers, the bison didn't slow down and lever pullers got launched. They watched him go over the horizon and decided he didn't really need worming.

Wife and I went to the "island" in Salt Lake where bison roam. (looks similar to the landscape in the video.

DAUUUMN!! Those things are HUGE!! Previously I had only seen a head-mount at the taxidermy shop who did one of my deer. Had no clue how massive they are until seeing them up close.

Oh and o the OP's video - that is a "get off my lawn" moment.

I had a full grown male walk through my campsite one snowy morning when I was camping in Yellowstone.

Easily 6 foot at the hump, it was nearly silent as it moved past me, about five feet away.

A friend of mine got a tag in a draw hunt up here in Alaska.....last winter I believe, may have been 2 winters ago now (ugh). Anyway!!!! He shot one using a 375 h&h with a clean shot (quartering away) from about 150 yards. That it was not DRT was damned impressive to me. And yeah, they are enormous beasts. I want to say AFTER boning it out we ended up with close to 700 pounds of meat. Over 600 for sure. And tasty. A single ribeye "steak" was about 5 pounds. Too much work though. A good reminder why I dislike most big game hunting. It's all fun and games until something goes down and has to be processed.

In the 1970"s while stationed US Army at FT. Greely / Delta Junction , Alaska our area had at the time one of the 4 free roaming buffalo herds in the world .. Known as the "Delta Herd" ... They went where they wanted any time they wanted.... Even barb wire fences did not slow them down... During one winter season Witnessed a 1970"s full size Chevy Blazer at highway speed hit a buffalo cow... Totaled the Blazer engine compartment but did not kill the buffalo but suffered compound fractures of 3 legs.. Dispatched the animal with my Ruger Blackhawk 357 mag... Hwy traffic continued to flow as the roadway was not blocked.... Contacted Alaska State Police and the Military Police (state hwy actually went thru part of the Army boundries) and Alaska State Game Warden who made me stay and help field dress the animal on roadside shoulder... In such events the animal meat is donated to needy families / food banks / senior citizens / and other charities..... drill sgt.

I got a call from a friend who was asked what rifle to use to dispatch a bison for butchering. They didn't need my help but for a moment I thought I was going to get to use my 458 Win Mag in anger. This was likely going to be a shot from the other side of a fence, not a close up between the eyes.

quote:

Originally posted by pbslinger:
I got a call from a friend who was asked what rifle to use to dispatch a bison for butchering. They didn't need my help but for a moment I thought I was going to get to use my 458 Win Mag in anger. This was likely going to be a shot from the other side of a fence, not a close up between the eyes.

I’d use a 16-inch, 45-caliber naval gun.

I remember Bill Neff's Buffalo Ranch south of Harrisonburg, VA and on the east side of I81.
.................................

Alumni look back on memories of local buffalo ranch

Maeve Summers, contributing writer Dec. 10, 2020



A once-sprawling buffalo farm in Harrisonburg is unknown to current Dukes.

During their time as Dukes, many JMU students become familiar with the locations Harrisonburg has to offer. However, there’s one place in particular that many students may be completely unaware of.

A mere 10-minute drive from campus will lead students to what looks like an ordinary stretch of farmland along Interstate 81. Fifty years ago, that same piece of land was an expansive farm that was home to the largest herd of buffalo east of the Mississippi River.

The owner of this herd was Bill Neff, an area local who often traveled west for hunting and fishing trips. On one such trip in the early 1970s, Neff was introduced to buffalo.

“I was at a turkey shoot out West and I won my first buffalo, and I decided to keep it,” Neff said. “A couple months later, I saw an ad in the newspaper that had buffalo for sale in Rapid City, South Dakota, so I went up there, and I just started collecting more and more, usually from Custer State Park.”

Neff brought the buffalo back to Harrisonburg, where they lived on his existing property. He said passersby would often stop their vehicles on the interstate just to see the ranch, causing state troopers to patrol the interstate multiple times a week.

“The police would have to put up ‘No Parking’ signs because people would just stop on the shoulder,” Neff said. “At one point, I probably had close to 200 buffalo.”

The ranch also attracted attention from local residents, as well as highway passersby.

“[The ranch] was just one of those familiar but unique places you drive by on the highway back to JMU and think, ‘OK, we’re almost home,’” Mary Jones, a JMU alumna (’91) said.

In October, Jones posted in a Facebook group a link to an interview with Neff from the 1980s. The comments on Jones’ post quickly became filled with fellow alumni sharing their recollections of the attraction.

Michelle Mason-Smith (’91), who grew up in Harrisonburg and attended JMU said the novelty of the animals was what attracted attention.

“I grew up in a neighborhood where we had cows behind us, but that land was normal sized,” Mason-Smith said. “Then, you see this field with these huge buffalo, and that was so unusual for anything back in that area, because you’ve got tons of cattle, poultry and even horses, but nothing to that scale.”

Mason-Smith, who now lives in Arizona, said that the phenomenon is much more common out West.

“I feel like out in Arizona and Colorado where there are bigger ranches and more land, buffalo ranches and even ranches of that size are more common, but it was so unusual seeing something like that on the East Coast,” Mason-Smith said.

In 1979, Neff said he sold most of the land on his ranch, but he still owns part of it today.

“I remembered the ranch when I was little, and I remember the herd dwindled out after a while,” Mason-Smith said.

Since leaving the ranch behind, Neff has worked in real estate. He’s the founder of Neff Enterprises, a commercial real estate company that specializes in rural land in Harrisonburg and the surrounding areas.

“I certainly love the positive reaction,” Neff said. “My favorite part was just seeing that people enjoyed it.”

Although memories of the farm may be fading, many alumni agreed that Neff’s ranch was a Harrisonburg landmark.

“You saw the ranch and you realized you were home,” Mason-Smith said. “I used to travel up north to see my family in Pennsylvania, and we’d always know we were almost done with the drive when we saw the ranch come into view.”


https://www.breezejmu.org/cult...61-43ebc77bdc64.html

quote:

Originally posted by pbslinger:
He said the foreman instructed to worm a bison and put him a squeeze chute. They pondered if it was really necessary. When the bison got to the squeeze part they pulled the levers, the bison didn't slow down

Back in the 80's I'd help my neighbor work their herd. The squeeze chutes were specialized for bison with a crash bar in the front. They'd come through at a run, hit the barrier and bounce back. That's when we pulled the lever.