|
 |
|
| Species: |
Wild Wood Bison |
| Location: |
Northern Alberta
(Zama City) |
| Guns taken: |
Rem. 700 classic 30.06,
Rem. BDL. 30.06 |
| Ammo used: |
Fed Vital-Shock 180 Grain, Triple-shock
X-bullet |
It was the first season in countless years that there was a wild buffalo draw open in Northern Alberta. I entered myself and my cousin Clayton in together, of course not expecting to be drawn.
A few months later I was curious for the results and called in. I was ecstatic; we both had buffalo tags to fill. After planning, booking somewhere to stay, researching buffalo anatomy and the adequate ammo to take down an animal of such size, and the 13 hour drive, we were ready for the hunt. The idea was suggested to us to rent a U-Haul to get the huge amount of weight home.
On our long drive we were surprised at the lack of wildlife around. All we spotted was one red fox, that’s it! Clayton and I were fired up and keeping our eyes peeled for any sign of buffalo life. Once we saw a sign saying “Warning buffalo on Road” we were completely stoked. By the time we arrived at Zama that night it was already dusk, we were disappointed that we didn’t get a glimpse of a single buffalo.
Our pre-hunt research paid off; previously I had asked my brother Sean where he had seen buffalo a couple months back. He showed the two of us on a map. The morning before our hunt we asked some of the local fellows as well. When they pointed to the same spot on the map, we knew we were on the right trail. One more left turn and we were on a direct path to where they had been seen last.
 |
| Sheldon with his Hay-Zama herd, wild wood bison. |
We started seeing signs; tracks, dung and where they had been grazing and bedding in the snow. We knew they couldn’t be far. We followed some tracks to a nearby lease. Nothing. We kept driving and then... there they were! A herd of about 15 cows and calves. We stopped to observe them and take some pictures. We decided that is wasn’t a wise choice to take two down in such a large herd. We had been hearing horror stories about protective buffalo and how they get a bit rank when they smell blood and that they won’t leave a dead animal they will just stand and guard it.
Five to ten minutes later we spotted two good bulls feeding beside the road. The bulls didn’t seem to spook. We decided that these were our boys. We hopped out of the truck and geared up. We made a plan to wait for the perfect shot when both of them were in the open. I positioned my truck on the far side of the road away from them. I wanted enough distance between the bulls and my truck so that if they did decide to charge I could take those quick steps to the open door, “pin it” and get the hell out of there!
I got out of my truck and started to take a video of them. One of them wasn’t presenting a shot. We pondered on which of the bulls was bigger but the only way to decide who got to shoot which one was “paper, rock, scissors,” best of one. DAMN! Clayton won! Now that was all figured out after a 40 minute wait Clayton’s started to move. Clayton hopped out of the truck and took position. His bull still wasn’t in reasonable position for a shot. We waited quietly. I was holding directly on my bull’s heart and Clayton followed just the same. Trying to keep our breath even and relaxed. Clayton’s bull was moving alright but not in a good way, he was headed to the bushes! There was no way he was letting him go. Then I heard him say it, “I got a shot! Are you ready?” I checked my safety with my thumb to make sure it was off. “Yup. On three. One, two, three!” BOOM! We shot in unison and both bulls acted the same way, quartering away and moving towards the bushes. Clayton and I both fired off two more solid shots without hesitation. On the third shot Clayton’s bull fell to the ground, I caught it from the corner of my eye. I was still focused on my bull that was still standing after three shots! Finally, he weakened and toppled to the ground. WE GOT EM!
Clayton headed my way and we congratulated each other. We went to check them out. We were shocked at our first step into the snow when we sunk in almost to our hips. The snow wasn’t even touching the buffalo’s belly. Clayton’s bull was still moving so instead of waiting it out he put off another shot. It ended up that mine was the bigger of the two!
I had brought a ten thousand pound, 60-foot tow strap, so instead of fighting with the snow we hooked up to the back legs and brought them out to the road for cleaning. The road was iced up and I knew that I would have to take a run at it. The first attempt failed; he was like a ship’s anchor and my truck didn’t even budge. It swung over and smashed into the bank. I tried again on less of an angle. This time my truck was facing into the trees. If the chain broke my truck was going to be smashed! The second time was a success.
Now to get Clayton’s out. On its way out we ended up dragging it through a small willow bush and breaking the back leg.
 |
| Sheldon and Clayton with their bison in the back of the U-Haul. |
And then the work started. We got the knives out and started carving. I helped Clayton get the guts out of his but on mine we needed a bit more power—we hooked it up to my truck and started to pull. Trying to plan out our time we decided to go into town and pick up the U-haul. When we got back to the bulls there was a man standing by them. We explained to him who we were and what we were doing. He told us that he thought our animals were poached and he had just reported us to the fish cops. We started loading our bulls piece by piece. It took both Clayton and I to load each quarter separately and the hides. They were that big! We had the rib cage and the heads left to load; lucky for us a truck of rig hands wanted pictures so we got them to help us out. It took seven guys to load the rib cages. It took us just over seven and a half hours from the time we shot them to the time we had them loaded in the trailer.
When we got back to High Level we had to get in touch with the fish and wildlife officer who was taking our buffalo samples for testing. We got to talking with this young guy and he said that mine was close to book.
The drive home was quite long with the horrible weather, but it was an experience of a lifetime. ■
For previous Reader Stories click here.
|
|
|
|
