Oklahoma is selling about 55 buffalo on its state surplus property site.

[TerryMiller]

Back when we lived in the Blanchard area, we drove to work in OKC on Highway 62 up through Newcastle. There was a farm/ranch near the intersection of Hwy 62 and the Norman Spur of the H.E. Bailey turnpike to Chickasha and Lawton. They had a herd of bison. Don't know if they still do, but I'd wonder if they would be interested in this herd?

 

[dennishoddy]

Most outfits that have and work buffalo, usually don't like to hire folks with a lot of cattle experience because they tend to treat them and trust them like cattle, and that gets them trampled, smashed, killed or all of the above lol.

That is the absolute truth. ^^^ We had a bison herd just west of me. One cowboy was killed when a bull charged the horse he was riding.
You learn to respect their power as a wild animal.

 

[dennishoddy]

It will be worth the drive to watch when they try to load them. If you tranquilize one, you better have it singled out from the herd. Otherwise when it goes down, the others are likely to stomp it to death. The portable corrals used to load up cattle off wheat pasture will not be sufficient. How this pans out will be interesting to see!

Guy I worked with went on a bison hunt in NW Kansas. The scenario you described happened to him. He shot a bull with not a good hit, and they followed for miles. The animal fell a couple of times and the rest kept trying to get it up. After it got up a couple of times, it finally died.
Same with turkey hunting. Kill a tom with some others, and they flog the heck out of it. To revive it? Don't know.
I've been on the Wichita Mt wildlife refuge where the corrals are. Looked to be at least 4" pipe for them. The Nature Conservancy area around Pawhuska has some well built pens as ell.
Most of the herding is done by helicopter.

 

[Cowcatcher]

Buffalo don't run out of air as fast as cattle. Lots of cowhorse trainers train on buffalo for that reason. Once upon a time we had 5 buffalo to train colts on. Each buffalo worked a different pattern but kept that pattern each day. It was handy to work a colt on whichever buffalo fit what that colt needed. Cattle will get slow and just stand there eventually.

 

[D. Hargrove]

A friend of mine recently retired from his second career and bought 14 Buffalo at the Wildlife refuge auctions, asked me to bring out a few of my cow horses to wrangle 'em up for the trip to Tennessee..... Nope
I did lend him a few 4 wheelers though and wished him well. The corral was made out of railroad ties and highway railing, looked like hell after the herd got through it. Nope, I Love my horses and well, I like my cattle I reckon, but those shaggy beasts are not for me.

 

[MacFromOK]

The corral was made out of railroad ties and highway railing, looked like hell after the herd got through it. Nope, I Love my horses and well, I like my cattle I reckon, but those shaggy beasts are not for me.

Went to the Ft Worth zoo many years ago, and they had a few. Got to see the chute where they worked 'em, and (IIRC?) it looked like creosoted 4x12s bolted to cross-tie posts. Near as I can tell, buffalo are kinda like cattle on a massive amount of steroids.

My personal experience is limited to consumption of their tiny hot wings...

 

[Fyrtwuck]

Back when we lived in the Blanchard area, we drove to work in OKC on Highway 62 up through Newcastle. There was a farm/ranch near the intersection of Hwy 62 and the Norman Spur of the H.E. Bailey turnpike to Chickasha and Lawton. They had a herd of bison. Don't know if they still do, but I'd wonder if they would be interested in this herd?

It’s still there. The herd gets moved from one field to the other from time to time. People are always stopping by the roadside to take pictures.

 

[Cowcatcher]

Wow! They brought $88k! Seems pretty high compared to what I've seen a few head at a time bring.

 

[dennishoddy]

Wow! They brought $88k! Seems pretty high compared to what I've seen a few head at a time bring.

No wonder ground bison at Costco is $10 a pound.

 

[Okie4570]

Surely only Ted Turner would pay that for a herd of bison.