YO Ranch

A friend of mine is thinking about hunting Bison at the YO ranch. Anybody hunted there? How was it?

Any place else anyone would recommend for Bison?

Thanks for any thoughts or recommendations!

Chasin dreams outdoors

mtroutfitters.com, 36 1 947 4131

I can do bison meat hunts for 1750 each for a limited time. But you’re helping gut and I load it in your pickup or trailer at that price.

That sounds like a really good deal to me.
I'd assume a cow would yield at least 500 lbs or so of meat??

Nope. They average around 1000 on the hoof and yield around 300-350. Bison aren’t cattle.

Now if you could eat the head and hide you could get over the 500 mark.

You ain’t wrong Don!

So a bison only yields 30%-35%?
Wow

Cattle only yield about 41% pure meat. Hide, guts, bones and whatever else you don't eat make up the other 59%.

Right
I just assumed that a bison would be above that for some reason. But I guess there is a thicker hide on them and maybe even heavier bone.

Bison have substantially less meat yield than cattle. I learned this after shooting several for meat, back when they were more affordable. Their hair is much thicker, and the "hump" on their back is actually mostly hide and bone. If you look at a diagram of their skeletal structure, you will notice the extremely large vertebrae that are present in the hump area (see below). It has always fascinated me that their spines are actually straight, like most game or cattle species. The hump is only a result of the taller vertebrae.

Great info
Thank you sir