405 bison screened at annual roundup
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An old bull bison sat, unable to get up, in the corner of the metal chute where he collapsed. Excited voices of small children and adults reverberated through the crowds as it took a group of people pushing on the bull’s backside to help him up. As he trotted out into a large open pen, dust shook from his massive head and bright red scrapes stood out on his dark tail and back legs.
“Oh, no; he is hurt,” said some of the children as they stood on tiptoes, peering over catwalk railings at the massive beast. The bull appeared fine as he was ushered into another pen and eventually back onto the Range.
“He was having some problems with his back legs; he collapsed and couldn’t get up. He is old,” said Pat Jamieson, outdoor recreation planner at the National Bison Range.
According to Jamieson, bulls tend to live to be 15 years old. This bull was 13 years old. Three other older bulls like the one that collapsed did not make the annual roundup since workers weren’t able to move them off the creek as they hid in bushes.
After the old bull was freed and the squeeze chute, which holds the animals in place as they are screened and checked, was reassembled, younger bison and calves again dashed through the narrow alleyways to awaiting squeeze chutes. Because bison are strong and temperamental it takes specially designed corrals, chutes, pens and gates to direct and hold the animals.
Though the annual Bison Range Roundup is not intended to be a spectator event, visitors are allowed to watch the process of removing surplus bison and monitoring herd genetics and health.
Sherri and Mark Kerns of Boise, Idaho have been visiting the Mission Valley for the past six years looking for property. They fell in love with the landscape and the natural areas such as the Bison Range. Sherri said the Bison Range would be the first place on her list to show visitors when they do eventually relocate to Montana. Though they have visited the Bison Range before, this was the first time the Kerns experienced the roundup.
“It’s so exciting,” Sherri said. “It’s wonderful to see how they manage the bison.”
“They are such beautiful animals,” Mark added.
Karen Hall of Charlo was raised in the area, but like the Kerns, this was also her first time viewing the roundup. Hall stood on the catwalks high above the chutes taking photographs. She came out to help the Charlo PTA make and serve lunch during the roundup as part of a fundraising effort for the school district. Hall took some time from volunteering to catch a glimpse of a yearly event she had only heard about until now.
“This is fascinating and educational, especially for the children,” Hall said, noting the many school groups in the crowds.
Jamieson said this year’s school count was down a bit but credited the low numbers partially to the wet weather.
“It was pretty wet and it may have drove the number of people down or if people came out they left quickly,” Jamieson said. “(But) it seemed like people had a good time.”
She did not have the total number of visitors calculated for this year’s roundup but bison numbers were available.
This year, workers screened and checked 323 adults and 82 calves. Calf numbers seem to be up, according to Jamieson, after a decrease in calves was observed in recent years. In the fall of 2008, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Montana State University started a project to learn more about the decrease in calf production. Statistics of calf production from 1956 to 2010 show that numbers began declining around 1980, but those numbers have recovered somewhat as shown by 2009 and 2010 statistics.
Of the 323 adult bison screened, 60 bison were sold and three were donated to local food banks. None of the older adult bison were sold. Sales of the bison are handled by sealed bid and bid sheets go out to interested people in August. Bids are opened in September and the bison are selected to fill the bids prior to the roundup.
Jamieson said even though the roundup is scheduled for two days, workers are still up at the corral system working with the bison as people come to pick up the bison they bought. Next year the same process of managing the herd will begin as new calves are born and old ones die.
