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Show ) v is irviv f . ..ktii.X , . ;.- , , . x X IX -, i t ' v ' -' aJ Ekker shown here with his trophy bull buffalo, taken on the Henry Mountains during last ,a's hunt. This year's season is now underway. ( Annua Buffalo Hunt I Opens on Henry ffltns. By Barbara Ekker The Bicentennial buffalo ! Sunt is underway this week in ie Henry Mountains south of Jioksville and prompts a Kview of how this herd, accessor of the wild herds of S n ago, got its start in this in of the state and is now Sring hunted on a limited iisis (luring seasons specified )j the Board of Big Game Control. It is a once-in-all like hunt, a permit holder Awed only one chance to p :it in his life. In April of 1941, the Carbon-Emery Carbon-Emery Fish and Game Protective Protec-tive Association, came up with the idea of attempting to transplant buffalo to the desert area near Robber's Roost in Wayne County. Through cooperation coop-eration of the Grazing Service, the Utah Fish and Game Department and stockmen who ranged their livestock herds in that area, arrangements arrange-ments were made with the National Park Service to obtain 18 two-year old animals from Yellowstone National Park. The first herd consisted of three bulls and 15 heifers which were transported from Yellowstone by members of the local sportsmen's club using trucks and drivers supplied by the Grazing Service. Taking part in the transplant process were George Geor-ge Brivets .(Helper Furniture, Price), Dr. H. B. (Buffalo Bill) Goetzman (actual originator of the idea), Tony Poloni, Fred Flaim, Rye Hyatt, Ray Walters, Walt-ers, Vic Orlandi, Sr., Fred Larsen, Sr., Ervin Wimber, Gene Plaga, and K.en Mower. The animals were corralled and innoculated against brucellosis, bruc-ellosis, a disease that causes cows to abort their calves. They were placed in individual crates built to government specifications. The first herd was released at Jeffery Wells near the Flat Tops, a few miles north of the famed Robbers Roost. During the fall of 1941, the herd remained fairly well together in that area, however in the early winter they began to scatter. Two of the bulls drifted north and were traced and last heard of near the Wyoming-Utah border several hundred miles from where they were released. It seemed their instincts were guiding them back to their old habitat in Yellowstone Park. The other bull along with one heifer traveled southwest and was last heard of in the Fish Lake area. Because the bulls had left, another trip to Yellowstone was a necessity. On April 17, 1942, five more bulls were transplanted in the same area. The first herd was rounded up and corralled at the Roost by Arthur Ekker and many hands, so that the "new kids on the desert" could get acquainted instead of locating them themselves. Subsequent migration mi-gration took the herd south to the Henry Mountain range where it could winter on the Buhr Desert and summer at heights up to 10,000 feet. The first hunt for these magnificent animals, the only public buffalo herd in the State of Utah, was conducted in 1950 when a limited number of special permits were issued. Similar hunts followed through the years. In 1962 during one of the special hunts, blood samples were taken from each animal killed which revealed carriers of the brucellosis organism within the herd. They had been infected after their arrival on the desert. The solution to this problem became the responsibility of the Fish and Game Depart- meint-the spring of 1963 the calves from the previous year were captured and innoculat- ed. But this didn't take care of the adult carriers. Plans were broadened to set up a program that would eradicate this dreadful disease. , First the department had to construct a ' capture corral. A site was chosen at Granite because the wanted animals could be herded in from either end. Fences and winged gates finished the enclosure. On the morning of Nov. 20, 1963, Fish and Game personnel person-nel gathered in Hanksville to put the finishing touches on their plans. Airplane pilots left to haze the herds on the Buhr Desert and push them towards the trap. The men on horseback moved in but the horses labored to keep up with these massive animals. A spotter helicopter hovered and helped move strays into the moving herd. After the gates slammed shut did they realize their capture and three straggling bulls hit the main gate and tried to jump over. The gate crumbled like so many match sticks. They were quickly hazed to the north end of the corral with the rest of the herd until repairs could be made. The chute installed when the corral was constructed proved worthless to hold these animals so a squeeze chute was installed. The calves were cut out, innoculated and? turned loose. Then the remainder remain-der of the animals were run through, tested, marked and released. Out of the 69 animals only 1 1 proved to be carriers, and were marked with bright flourescent streamers and released to be hunted the following January. This January hunt became the "hunt of hunts" because these rare fearless animals now knew man and knew him as an enemy. Instead of standing and grazing when a vehicle came into sight, they now stampeded. Early in August, 1964, the herd began to wander back to its old haunts at Nasty Flat on the north end of the Henry Mountains. Reports indicated that the calf crop was normal. They too had to be captured and innoculated. Each year ten permits have been issued but the number increased to 15 in 1968 and dropped back to 10 each year since, A full grown buffalo bull stands about six feet at the shoulders and is ten to twelve feet in length. Eighteen hundred pounds is average weight although some have been known to go to 2400. Bulls have a heavy neck and a massive, exceedingly broad head which is carried low. Horns curve outward and upward from each side of the forehead. Forequarters stand much higher than the haunches. haunch-es. Spines rise from the vertebrae giving way to a huge muscle which forms the hump. They have 14 ribs, which is one more than found in cattle. Shaggy hair covers forehead and nearly hides his eyes. From chin and throat hangs chin whiskers and beard, especially prominent in bulls. In their nomadic search for food they travel single file. Much of the Union Pacific Railroad beds through the west were laid out on buffalo paths. Despite their apparent clumsiness and weight they can swim with ease and climb in rugged mountains with surity. Their nostrils pick up every scent be it man or beast. Cortez spoke about them in his 1521 diaries. It provided meat for the Indians and the pioneers. Its hide was used for clothing and tepees and its dung used for fuel for fires. Today its only claim to fame is its engraved likeness on a nickel which are almost as rare today as the animal itself. |