7-57a bison draw

[tomigunz]

Well I got skunked this year. But my father was succesful at getting his 7-57A Bison Oct.1-31st. Lucky Bugger!!. Anyways neither of us have ever hunted bison or were lucky enough to get a draw for one. Im in charge of all the planning and have no idea where to start. i have a wall tent, truck , trailer, and Atv. But considering im travelling fron V.I i want to do the best way proper. My Dad's turning 70 and I want him to have a trip of a lifetime. Should i rent a cabin or get some contacts or pack all my own gear and head up. Im not sure about what time is better, cause we would like to hunt moose, elk and deer while up there. I could us lots of advise. Thanks in advance.

[tomahawk]

These are herd animals for the most part, although if your after a big bull they are loaners. So if its good eating meat your lookin for try to get there before all the herds have been shot at and they have scattered and headed for the timber. Although it can also be a gong show if everyone else has the same idea for opening day. That would be likely the best chance IMHO for your dad if he has some physical constraints. I have hunted B on 3 occassions so don't know much about A as far as what challenges you have except I hear that there is some native land that you will need to skirt or pay to go through.

[mooseless]

We hunted A a few years ago. the road we went in on ended at the Blueberry Ranch) I thinkthats what it is called, that cost us $150.00 to camp on the property. Otherwise we could camp on crown land a few Kms before and quad/Sled around the ranch. The ranch did have cabins for rent too. You will get a package in the mail with some contact names. A group of others turned off the highway sooner and went in, then they sledded/quadded down a road/cut line to the river were they crossed.

We basically stayed on the road/trail that followed the river (Halfway River I believe) and saw many from there to persue.

We were ther Dec 1st and had sleds but others had a mix of sled and quad. You are there early so maybe the quads are best.

Have fun and good luck!

[Dad and son]

The gov't will mail you an info package on bison hunting and accomodation contacts. Wait for that to arrive before deciding anything. It will arrive shortly. Bison are not that wary so they are easy to hunt. There are lots of them so do not worry about having to be there on opening day. I would suggest closer to the end of your time, because there will be less hunting pressure then.

[gitnadoix]

I did this last winter Dec 1 - 15, We stayed in the cabins at the Blueberry Reserve, there will be a phone number in your package you will want to talk to Vern when you call it about the cabins at the ranch. From the cabins you can take a quad up the valley to the various side hills and or meadows and open areas where they graze. By Dec they were a bit shot up and fairly spooky, not sure about Oct ??

The cabins are about 65 per night and includes fire wood and dishes. Also there is a trespass fee for each tag in the group. I think it was 175....and all payments are cash.

people talked about quading and sledding around the reserve but one fella that we ran into out there said the bridge over tha Halfway is gone ?????

We found Bison from well basicaly 1 km from the cabin to the spot where quads had to turn around. They are all over the valley...at least in Dec. many who had tried outside of the area behind the reserve eventualy came in and payed the tresspass fee......lots of opinions on that issue but we felt the why dwell on it go and enjoy the event.