Montana Buffalo hunt

[45-110]

This hunt is being offered by the questionable American Prairie Reserve.org that all the ranchers here are fighting. I read the rules before applying for the draw and was amazed it said no lead bullets. I wrote to them saying I was interested in a traditional Montana hunt using either my Hawken or Sharps. Here is their reply:

"Our Reserve Team has required the use of non-toxic shot for the health of the ecological environment where the harvests are taking place. Lead left on the ground can effect the plants living close by."

So even here in Montana there is a movement to ban lead bullets for our type of firearms. So sad indeed
kw

[Scota4570]

Same kind of far left eco-nazi policy that stole the outdoors from Californians.  There is zero science to back up this nonsense.  On the contrary there is strong evidence of deception and fabricated data.   I know for fact that the scientific evidence proving condors were poisoned with lead from bullets was fabricated by a shill "scientist" at UC Santa Cruz.  If lead bullets were a toxic hazard then civil war battlefields would be devoid of  wildlife.

I urge Montana hunters to mobilize before it is too late. 

[Mauser06]

A very quick search shows Monanta is one of the places LEAD is mined............

[OldMtnMan]

You can always hunt in Colorado.

https://www.himountainbison.com/areas-served/colorado-buffalo-hunts/

[Eric Krewson]

Cast yourself some Bismuth bullets.

[Pukka Bundook]

If they want to play silly people, I wouldn't go at all, KW.

Tell them lead is a Naturally occurring  substance.....  Too much stupid these days.  Stupid with an agenda is worse.

[Scota4570]

Cast yourself some Bismuth bullets.

Wrong hardness, too brittle, won't work.  Suggesting it gives fuel to the wackos to put out out of business.  I am obviously sensitive to this subject but it is justified.

[OldMtnMan]

Not great odds to get a buffalo in Montana.

As far as states go, you can't get more wild than Montana, and for hunting, you can't get more wild than buffalo.

If you're an avid Montana hunter, love the taste of wild game, and you've already cut your teeth on other animals, it might be time to move on to something bigger. So what should you choose as your next kill?

The good news is that you can't get any bigger than a buffalo. The North American Bison is the largest big game animal on the continent and is one of the most exciting animals you can hunt. Unfortunately, up until 2005, hunting bison in Montana was illegal, but thanks to regulatory changes you don't have to worry as long as you have a tag.

And that's the problem.montana-fish-wildlife-and-parks

Since 2004, 92,341 Montana buffalo hunters have applied for a bison tag with Montana Fish, Wildlife, & Parks, and only 508 of them have received a bison tag. That means that if you apply for a tag you have a .55% chance of having your application selected.

To make matters worse, even if you get a tag and pay for the license, you might not harvest a buffalo. From 2005-2015, only 318 buffalo have actually been harvested in Montana, meaning that if you're part of the 508 hunters who got a tag, you have a 62.6% chance of actually killing a bison.

To put it all in perspective, if you're one of the 92 thousand people who applied for a tag during that time, your chance of killing a bison was .34%.

Not great odds.

[Lobo]

That's the most stupid thing I've ever heard of, I'd tell the APR to stick their hunt where the sun don't shine 

[Sharpsman]

Last I heard.....LEAD is PART OF THE ENVIRONMENT!!

I'd shun those folks like the plague!!

[Joe S]

You might want to contact the Flying D, which is one of Ted Turner's ranches, just outside of Bozeman. He used to allow buffalo shooting, and as far as I know, there was never any restrictions on projectile type. Note that I said buffalo shooting, not buffalo hunting. If you draw a state tag, you get an actual hunt. If you're on a private ranch, it's more like shooting cows from what I've seen.

[Eric Kettenburg]

And that's when you carry a bunch of bismuth and (theoretically of course!) load with lead.  Problem solved.

[Natureboy]

   Here is a good alternative to using lead shot for a buffalo hunt: the Lakota way. First, you ride in from all sides, encouraging the buffalo to run in a circle--letting them run straight away means you have to gather the meat from all over the prairie. Once they start this meat vortex, the bulls, somewhat tough chewing, move to the outside to protect the herd. Then you ride in among the animals to get at the cows, and especially the young, the tender. Using a quiver full of arrows, you get in lots of shots, with no fear of lead poisoning of the scavenging ravens and wolves. The hard part is surviving such a risky tactic.

[OldMtnMan]

My best friend is full-blooded Lakota. I'll have to ask him about that method. It seems a bit risky.

[bob in the woods]

I refuse to support these crazy notions, and hopefully, if enough people are like minded, they'll shrivel and die !  [ the crazy notions, that is ! ]   

[Hungry Horse]

To address the carrying one ball, and using another, the CDFW in good old California have a test that tells them if the wound was made by a lead projectile. Also as far as I can tell, casting your own lead free projectile here isn’t an option.

  Hungry Horse

[MuskratMike]

The only option is for all of us to stand up as one strong voice and tell our legislators we won't stand for this and to those who oppose us: VOTE THEIR ASSES OUT OF OFFICE! I know of what I speak as I live in the once great state of Oregon, that unfortunately is slipping into Socialism. Gather the true scientific data and wave it high for all to see or the only lead round ball shooting you are going to do is on private property.

[rich pierce]

Ok this has gone political. Enough. Either offer alternative projectiles or hunting opportunities.

[MuskratMike]

I figured that last post might strike a nerve but it needed to be said.
As far as hunting buffalo in Montana look up Turtle Mound Buffalo Ranch on the Fort Peck Indian reservation. They offer buffalo hunts on cows, young bulls and trophy bulls. Make no mistake about it this is a "pasture hunt". They tell you that they are free to roam on a large piece of ground and that may be so but when it comes time to hunt your buffalo they drive you out near the buffalo, point out the one that is yours and you shoot it. There is a video that actually shows a hunter driving down a gravel road with a pasture on the other side. When they come to the buffalo he rolls down the window and fires his scoped C.F. Rifle at a bull 40 yards away. But if you want a buffalo and they do hunt them late enough in the winter that you will will get a beautiful robe and meat give this site a look. It's not for me but might be for some and they welcome muzzleloaders and patched round balls are fine to use.
The "Muskrat' has spoken.

[axelp]

I am in CA and I mould my own lead-free roundball. Bismuth and tin alloy from rotometals. Another option is to buy ITX roundball and use that.
My advice? If anyone tries to ban lead in your state? Fight it with everything you have. I fought it when it came here--and lost. So now I hunt with lead-free options.

[MuskratMike]

To Ken Prather:
**edited in lieu of deletion-Dennis**

OK, OK, OK, moderator I will get to the point.
The non-lead options are truly horrible to work with, poor performance, and the manufactured products are 10 times the cost of lead. If this was my only choice I would shoot lead at private shooting facilities on private land, hunt the same or hunt in neighboring states that allow lead. As far as this Montana Bison hunting offer goes we need to boycott them and let them know why we as a shooting fraternity are boycotting them. I guess they have a right do what they want on their land but we have a right to choose how we respond to their offer.

[OldMtnMan]

The problem is the traditional muzzleloader community is too small to have any power. We can fight the best we can but in the end we're going to lose.

[MuskratMike]

It's with an attitude like that we have already lost.
 We may be a small number as compared to the shooting community as a whole but if every shooting club and single shooter speaks up our voices will be heard. It's bad enough our numbers are falling as many of us are getting older and some too old to compete but for those of us who love these "long rifles" we must stand up to those who want to do us harm.
 I am not an activist by nature but living in the far "Left Coast" it is hard not to be scared of those who look on all shooters as dangerous and want to control and contain us to what they believe. As a group the "American Longrifles" should have a platform for all of us to speak as a combined "voice".
No more will be posted by "The Muskrat" on this topic.

[axelp]

Never give up, never surrender. I'll keep fighting here in CA. But I will follow the law, and use alternatives if I have to. They do work-- just not ideal.

[Daryl]

The problem is the traditional muzzleloader community is too small to have any power. We can fight the best we can but in the end we're going to lose.

But- FIGHT YOU MUST!  as long as it takes. Your offspring need to carry the fight - as long as it takes.

This is the never-ending push against us, we must endeavour to perverse!  A well loved and indigenous - F- that - he was a INDIAN and proud of it, said those words in a movie just recently - well maybe 20 or is it 30? years ago. He was right- NEVER stop fighting for justice. The Lord is on your side.