Big bison hide.

Steve the only holes I noticed were the leg holes which he trimmed near the end there, and he took off the bottom lip and cut the ears out. He didn't make any unauthorized nicks that I saw.

That's just amazing knife work to me.




Update to my earlier update....




Its all fleshed and salted, now just needs some time. I'm counting this as a win for old guys with bad backs everywhere.

When it is dried enough to ship then comes the paperwork of export and import so I can get it to the tanners in MB. There's some guys in Winnipeg who will still do these, one at a time.




Mike
 
gotcha......ignorance playing a huge part here cause I never thought of legs and mouth and other "natural holes"......thanks for the education....


don't worry about the bear skin I asked about earlier...My sister found what looks like a very nice rug........the owner says its an 8'......


Steve
 
Dang! And I thought beaver and coyotes were a pain. You have our work cut out for you. Nice find for sure though.

Steve
 
A couple of young fellas I know tracked this big bull down around Christmas time. Literally, they hit a hot track in the snow on snowmobiles, took off jogging on foot and caught up to him in about 8 km. That's hard core.
Click to expand...

Hey Mike

Read this a few days ago and thought "TOO COOL!" Plains Bison can run up to 40 mph, not sure how fast a Woods Bison is or how long either can maintain top speed. I've been reading some about some anthropologists theorizing that the bi-ped ancestors of ours could run a quadruped to exhaustion over the long haul. I'd think it would be a little further than 8K though. I've gotten into running , and when out running trails through the woods think about how long it would take to do this. Now I'm just getting started on one about our mastery of fire (and therefore cooking of food, particularly high protein meat) lead to our larger brains.

Well I'll go back into hiding for a while, I think I've given out enough fodder to be made fun of for a bit.

How's your winter doing up there? I've started calling this season between "mud with brown" and "Mud with green" not winter but..."Indian Summer." It was 45F here yesterday.

Best
Chuck
 
Stand by Chuck, winter is coming your way. Down close to zero tomorrow night and below later in the week.

I knew an older guy who lived out in Port Angeles, Wa who, for fun in the summer (I assume when he was younger), would grab his recurve and some rubber blunts and run down elk and shoot them. He told me it really wasn't that hard as you can usually catch up to the herd within 3-4 miles. Elk are strong and powerful animals but they don't have much in the way of stamina. His words not mine, I've seen where they go and there is no way in hell I could catch them.
 
I don't think the bison knew he was being tracked in this case, rather just trucking along. If he'd run I don't think a person on foot in winter terrain could catch up. I guess I don't know that though. When nervous they act like wild sheep and gain some high ground then stop to see what's following them. Their other move if they are on flat ground, and I've personally seen this move with the wild horses here, is they run tails up into to the thick black spruce and one will wheel a 180 as soon as they all get to cover, to see, and presumably stomp, the tracker.

Mike
 
Hey Pete,

If the weather-guessers are right about something it's that when it gets cold, it doesn't stay that way for long. It's 37F now. Supposed to see some overnight single digits this weekend. Then next week back above freezing.

Quadrupeds can only take one breath per stride when running. This limits the oxygen uptake and heat exhaustion (since they don't sweat) at high speeds. Most can outrun us humans on a sprint, but over the long haul (theoretically) if you can keep them moving faster than a comfortable trot, they will have to stop and rest. I'm intrigued by your story, however elk are big, powerful animals, shooting at them with rubber tipped arrows is one step short of poking a bear with a stick. The thing that worries me the most is what happens when the animal decides it might be easier to gore and/or trample you rather than continuing to run...at that point one better hope they can outrun the animal!

Chuck
 
they run tails up into to the thick black spruce and one will wheel a 180 as soon as they all get to cover, to see, and presumably stomp, the tracker.

Mike
Click to expand...

Yup, that would suck!

How far away were these guys when they shot?
 
"Quadrupeds can only take one breath per stride when running"

I didn't know that. Learn something new everyday.

Don't know for sure since my friend is long gone now but I suspect that it was one arrow and done and not flinging a dozen arrows down range. When he would do this, summer time, the bulls would still be in velvet and will protect their antlers. That said, I wouldn't put it past a cow that felt threatened to try and stomp a person into the dirt. I've been very near cow elk and not felt at all in danger - moose on the other hand, always keep your eyes open and ready to run - not that it would do you much good as fast as they are.
 
I think the young fella told me 325 or 375 yards. I wonder if it was an "On three... boom x2." kinda thing. I found two entrance holes in the hide, one would have gone into the guts, the other one looked like low lungs or maybe heart. Heart shots on bison are tougher because their front legs come further back than other critters and cover the sweet spot with the meat armor and an elbow. Either way good job to them.

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