Bison hunting, I can't even imagine how many there once were, but this pic helps

It wasn't hunting, it was extermination, and it was a deliberate, brutally effective military strategy to deprive the Plains Indians of their main food source.

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I don't blame the hunters, but wish the sense of conservation would have been stronger in those days

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They knew what they were doing, and they were doing it on purpose.

I still chuckle when I think how Kevin Costner in 'Dances with Wolves' was dropping bison with one shot from a .44 Henry rimfire.

man, that is a hell of a picture...damn shame, really...

I can't imagine that kind of beast roaming in the wild...

i'm not saying it's 100% true, but i read that the destruction of native americans by european disease caused the bison population to explode in the ensuing decades, and that the herds encountered by early settlers were not a stable population.

that being said, i would love to have that sort of natural wonder still wandering the continent. i'm just not sure that it would have been realistic considering how the country developed. these animals need enormous amounts of free range to live on. with the ongoing rural depopulation of the US it may be possible in the future though.

lot of unexpected tree-hugger sentiment in this thread... a huge part of our history is based on agriculture that depended on livestock and farming, not free ranging buffalo. i don't think the people building this country from the dirt up had the foresight, time or money to think about saving bison herds. it would be nice to have a pristine nature preserve between big cities but let's not forget where we came from. i don't think you're getting anywhere being mad at people who were living 150 yrs ago anyway.

We couldn't handle a population like that now days. People complain about rat snakes and moles in their yard. Imagine a wild herd of buffalo going through a subdivision. The HOA president would have a fit.

Plus like deer you need a 8' fence to keep them in or out. Cattle farmers would catch hell. Or we would all just eat bison or beefalo, which would be fine with me.