Is Dances With Wolves Buffalo hunt the grandest spectacle in a western?

No

I don’t know, but it is pretty awesome.

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not remotely realistic. killing buffalo did not require chasing them.

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a long forgotten TV movie of the 70s had this classic exchange:

WILD BILL: So you're a buffalo butcher?

BUFFALO BILL: Buffalo hunter.

WB: You have to hunt buffalo?

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spectacular but not remotely realistic. killing buffalo did not require chasing them.

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That’s completely untrue, sure there were many methods. Corralling them, sneaking up dressed in animal skins, etc. but Buffalo were hunted for thousands of years by humans. They definitely ran.

They still do. I went on a Buffalo hunt in the Henry Mountains with a buddy of mine. One of the very few free ranging Buffalo hunts in the US. They fricking run when they see you. He shot his cow in a canyon at about 300 yards because he snuck up and used the terrain to advantage, but they spooked many times based on scent and sight before that

you know how they always put that line “no animals were harmed in the making of this motion picture” in the end credits



pretty sure one of the animal extras in this clip would beg to differ

It’s one of my favorite scenes ever!
It’s a practical scene where they really had a herd of 4k bison stampeding.
Go read about filming this scene, it’s incredible.
The only unrealistic part is one arrow taking a bison down. In reality it took many arrows and these hunts went on for miles.
Crazy that scenes like were common place just 150 years ago in America.

yes.

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Someone correct me, but how did the Natives have access to horses and not guns? I thought Europeans introduced both to the continent at the same time.

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Horses came to N. America with the Spanish during the 1500's when they were exploring the world looking for gold. They were introduced to the Americas and got loose, started breeding and expanded the herds everywhere.

Into the 1800's many Native Indian tribes of N. America still relied on the bow and arrow as their main weapons of war and hunting.

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Yes, they hunted them and chased them on horseback to get close enough to kill them.

They sure as hell didn't just stroll up to the herd and take their pick.

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The indians hunted buffalo for thousands of years before Europeans and horses showed up on the scene.

One of the most successful hunting techniques was to track them (on foot) and patiently wait until the herd got near the edge of a cliff or ravine and then launch a coordinated ambush that would panic the herd and send many of them toppling over the ledge to their death like lemmings. No weapon needed and the death pile at the bottom could sustain them for long periods.

Also, the introduction of the horse completely changed the power dynamics of indian civilizations and warped our perceptions about them. For example we think of the Comanche as one of the strongest and most fearsome tribes but they were the wimps on the schoolyard getting beat up and pushed into the worst lands by the other school yard bullies. But for some reason they took to horses like fish to water and suddenly all hell broke lose and they went on a terror campaign of revenge.