Bring Back the Buffalo! by Ernest Callenbach

Author:Ernest Callenbach [Callenbach, Ernest]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781597268837
Publisher: Island Press
Published: 2012-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

Tourists are sheltered from the sun as they observe bison on the Terry Ranch tour.

The “Terry Trading Post” gift shop is impressive, displaying a bison robe on the wall and offering tourists bison coffee mugs, T-shirts and vests, many books about bison (including The Bison Breeder’s Handbook), bison postcards, carvings of bison and other wild species, tic-tac-toe games with bison on the boards, bison bolo ties and belt buckles, and quilts with bison on them—though not the dried-bison-penis canes or putting irons I once saw in Montana. There are also plenty of nonbison offerings such as cowboy paraphernalia, toy tomahawks, film, and maps showing the locations of Indian tribes at the time of white arrival. (The shop also has a “general store” section with camping supplies, RV repair books, etc., for people staying at the ranch.) The gift shop was bustling during my visit, but tourist operations, says Ron Thiel, have too much “leakage” for his taste—they require a large work force with varied skills and meticulous management.

The Terry Ranch has been working with an outfitting company to offer approximately seventy-five trophy hunts each year. However, since bison are not normally afraid of humans, some hunters do not find the prospect of hunting them very appealing. And there have been sharp criticisms of game-hunting operations involving “penned” exotic animals, in which the hunters’ prey cannot escape and may become entangled in fences. Ron Thiel says, “Well, it can be made fun. We’ll haul the buffalo out—we do not let the hunter stumble around, he’s already in place and we bring the buffalo to him. And as soon as the buffalo gets out of the trailer he’s all excited by the new surroundings. He’s been in the feedlot and now suddenly he’s out on the plains and does not know how to act, except to try and get away. He starts tearing around, and the hunter has to go after him and get him. . . . They’re just after the head and hide. Maybe one out of fifty wants the meat, though they all want to buy back a little bit, maybe twenty pounds.” He chuckles happily, and adds, “At retail price!”

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