# Bison.....It's What's For Dinner.



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

One of my favorite ground meats...

Regards, Mike

http://www.agweb.com/article/pricey-bison-burgers-get-even-more-expensive-on-supply-curbs-blmg/


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

Yepper It's very delicious if not over cooked. I also like eating Beefalo.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

One of the best pieces of meat I have ate was buffalo(bison) prime rib cooked medium-rare that I had in Wyoming. Also had a really good buffalo burger in eastern Idaho right at the foot of the west side of the Tetons.


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## gosh (Sep 28, 2014)

One of my neighbors used to raise bison. Fences were an issue, as you can probably imagine.


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## gosh (Sep 28, 2014)

FarmerCline said:


> One of the best pieces of meat I have ate was buffalo(bison) prime rib cooked medium-rare that I had in Wyoming. Also had a really good buffalo burger in eastern Idaho right at the foot of the west side of the Tetons.


Gun Barrel in Jackson?


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

gosh said:


> One of my neighbors used to raise bison. Fences were an issue, as you can probably imagine.


One of my neighbors also raised buffalo for a few years. He run them in pastures with 4 wire barb fence that he used when he had beef cattle. Amazingly they left the perimeter fences alone but the cross fences were another story. Anywhere the buffalo wanted to go through they'd make a hole and go through.

Helped round them up a few times. That was fun, just like chasing cows except at 20 to 30 mph. lol

bison meat is good but I'll stick to beef.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

gosh said:


> Gun Barrel in Jackson?


 Yep! How did ya guess?


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## gosh (Sep 28, 2014)

FarmerCline said:


> Yep! How did ya guess?


About an hour from here. When you mentioned eastern Idaho, I felt confident enough to take the guess!


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

"The Winchester" in Buffalo, Wyoming can throw a heck of a piece of Bison meat on the fire.

Regards, Mike


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

The family not far from here raises bison (I did not know there was a difference between American Bison and Buffalo they educated me). The sell strictly to a guy who makes and sells jerky.

I never realized how huge they were until I visited their place. The holding pen is custom made from thick wall square tubing. It has dents and bends. So does the farm truck they take in the pasture.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Neighbor has a buffalo feedlot.Has 200-300 hd on feed.Free choice grass hay and a pellet in self feeders.

His brother manages the buffalo herd in the Black Hills,Custer state park.1300? Hd


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

My brother used to be a big game chef at Schumachers in New Prague MN. He made all sorts of game, Bison, Elk, Antelope, and a bunch of other stuff. Said Bison is a little harder to get done right but it's delicious when done properly.


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

Tim/South said:


> The family not far from here raises bison (I did not know there was a difference between American Bison and Buffalo they educated me). The sell strictly to a guy who makes and sells jerky.
> 
> I never realized how huge they were until I visited their place. The holding pen is custom made from thick wall square tubing. It has dents and bends. So does the farm truck they take in the pasture.


so what is the difference between the two? I think they're all American Bison but we just call them buffalo. Its kind of like what we all call antelope aren't really antelope.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

IHCman said:


> so what is the difference between the two? I think they're all American Bison but we just call them buffalo. Its kind of like what we all call antelope aren't really antelope.


One has a beard, one is larger. I believe American Bison is native only to North America. Buffalo were in South America and other continents. Our American Bison are distinct from the Buffalo from other places.

I do not remember all the criteria, only that there were differences.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Here in North America we have 2 species, but they are almost identical in appearance. They are the Plains Bison, and the Woodland Bison.

Regards, Mike


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

IHCman said:


> so what is the difference between the two? I think they're all American Bison but we just call them buffalo. Its kind of like what we all call antelope aren't really antelope.


That's right.....what we call antelope are "Pronghorn" and not antelope at all. They are their very own unique species.....and the same with the Bison....they are their own unique species and are not "Buffalo" at all....the early settlers just nicknamed them that....really they should have been named Tatonka...after the Native American name for Bison.

Regards, Mike


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## IH 1586 (Oct 16, 2014)

My first customer of mine has bison. I have sold him silage, baled his hay for him for 12 years. Damn where did the time go, anyways they are one tough animal to deal with. Used to help him vaccinate and the calves are a hand full. They may look small but they will run you over. He built a corral with multiple holding areas and there is a small window in the gate. They will try to go through that when cornered. Always had a rifle ready if we had issues with one.

Just changed how we bale his hay 2 years ago. Found out by accident we were feeding them to good. Now we only do one cutting in Aug and a lot of his health issues have disappeared.


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## BisonMan (Apr 27, 2020)

Thought I'd bump this thread.

I'm looking seriously into Bison. I put in 60 acres of pasture this year with Oats as a cover crop. That's how I ended up on haytalk as I worked through the first step of building a pasture and baling it up.

Plan is to fence in 25 acres this fall / next spring and bring some calves in. I've met farmers who go with a basic fence and those who like something designed for bison. I've been to a few bison ranches and talked to lots of farmers , they all love the animal. I've been invited up to a ranch for a week or two this fall to get a feel for the whole thing. I've found the farmers to be super helpful and gung ho about the market in general. We were tobacco farmers but the industry is largely gone these days up this way, so I've been looking at bison as a new beginning.

There is a push to get to 1M bison in North America I think by 2030.


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## Palmettokat (Jul 10, 2017)

Bison Man

Hope the bison work for you. I imagine the acreage needed is rather large. What got my attention to your post was the "tobacco" word. Never knew tobacco was raised that far North. I live in the heart of "flu cured" tobacco country or what was flue cured tobacco country. Was by far the money crop for our farmers for many many years. Today there is no money crop. The loss of the tobacco crop began the end of small farmers here and still seeing less and less farmers in big part in my area due to repeated flooding many due to hurricanes last few years. Set record flood levels in think last 10 years about four times.

You will learn to appreciate those here greatly, I did.


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## Wethay (Jul 17, 2015)

Hay customer/ buddy had a small heard. He vaccinated with a blow gun.


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## BisonMan (Apr 27, 2020)

Palmettokat said:


> Bison Man
> 
> Hope the bison work for you. I imagine the acreage needed is rather large. What got my attention to your post was the "tobacco" word. Never knew tobacco was raised that far North. I live in the heart of "flu cured" tobacco country or what was flue cured tobacco country. Was by far the money crop for our farmers for many many years. Today there is no money crop. The loss of the tobacco crop began the end of small farmers here and still seeing less and less farmers in big part in my area due to repeated flooding many due to hurricanes last few years. Set record flood levels in think last 10 years about four times.
> 
> You will learn to appreciate those here greatly, I did.


We had about 1000 tobacco farmers here in South Western Ontario. On the north shores of lake erie there is alot of Sandy Loam and I grew up in the tobacco belt. There was actually some up in Quebec too. In SW Ontario you had to plant in Mid late may, and have the full crop off by the end of September. A short season, but great tobacco.

It's hard for farmers to transition, some have made the move to vegetables, but most of the farms have gone to cash crop. Since a son can't really make a go of it, the farms are getting gobbled up, mostly when it's time to pass them down to the next generation.


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## Palmettokat (Jul 10, 2017)

BisonMan said:


> We had about 1000 tobacco farmers here in South Western Ontario. On the north shores of lake erie there is alot of Sandy Loam and I grew up in the tobacco belt. There was actually some up in Quebec too. In SW Ontario you had to plant in Mid late may, and have the full crop off by the end of September. A short season, but great tobacco.
> 
> It's hard for farmers to transition, some have made the move to vegetables, but most of the farms have gone to cash crop. Since a son can't really make a go of it, the farms are getting gobbled up, mostly when it's time to pass them down to the next generation.
> 
> Much same happened and is happening here. We have held onto my wife's family small tobacco farm enlarging the crop land by maybe 30 acres which tripled it. The last of the crop land was sprigged last Friday with Bermuda grass. The land that was already sprigged with Bermuda was baled yesterday and today for the second time this year. Seem strange watching and not running a tractor. Some of the reason I retired when I did has not improved, enforcing my decision. Lot of our farms is getting as been said the last crop on them, houses.


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## BisonMan (Apr 27, 2020)

I spoke with a couple guys in the industry here in Canada recently.

Sales off the farm are doing great, this is a really common way of selling for the bison guys in my area (Ontario).

Out west in Alberta, the ranches are larger and they primarily ship and sell to restaurants, as a result they are having a tough time as many meat packers are backed up and it's tough to get a butchering time. These guys are having a tougher time.


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## cjsr8595 (Jul 7, 2014)

We just butchered a Buffalo last week. Its delicious.


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## BisonMan (Apr 27, 2020)

I put a deposit down for 10 bison calves December 1st, 2021. I've got my 6'3 fencing, just need my posts and I'll be off to the races.


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## BisonMan (Apr 27, 2020)

I participated in a Bison roundup today. A small farm, 30 acres, 30 bison. 

It went well, we started with the bison in a pretty large holding pen, and as a group in a line pressured them into the corrall. They went in there all at once. "That's as easy as it gets" was the comment. I definitely felt a little nerves at that point.

We ran them all through and he gave them all dewormer. One animal went onto the trailer, and is off to the butchers tomorrow morning. The whole thing took 2 hours.

Great weather plus some pizza and beer afterwards and it was about the ideal day.


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## Wethay (Jul 17, 2015)

Sounds like a good day.


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