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| Firsthand
Account of Illegal Hunt |
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Written
Tuesday, 1/23/07
There were three buffalo in the State of Montana this morning.
Three. Now there are two. The buffalo crossed over onto private
property after being shot at three times and was then shot illegally
the fourth time, creating a scenario that led to his brutal,
inhumane death. The hunter chose not to take a fifth shot to
finish what he started after realizing his error and turned
around to hike the mile back to his car. It was difficult knowing
that a buffalo had been shot, but even more difficult witnessing
the hunter turning his back on the half-dead buffalo because
the bull jumped the fence onto a "No Hunting" zone.
Death stared at us, brutal, and the hunter gallantly walked
away, seemingly unnerved. Legal or not, a fifth shot would have
been worth it to stop the suffering of our brother.
Again I stared in awe at the hunter, the color of his bright
orange vest vivid against the virgin white snow. Anne Stovall,
a local resident, yelled out loud to him everything that I was
thinking, everything that I couldn't say at the moment. He needed
to hear her words, should have gone back to the site and redeemed
himself. I heard Stuart, my patrol partner, saying out loud
something that I had witnessed in silence, "Look at all
of the blood coming out of his mouth." I averted my eyes.
Every day we write thank-you's to people who support the Buffalo
Field Campaign. Every day we talk to curious folks on the phone
who want to know more about the bison. Every day our volunteers
slip their feet into heavy-duty pack boots with two or more
pairs of wool socks to keep warm in subzero temperatures. Every
day we pray that today will be a quiet day.
Today was not that day. Our patrol, the local game warden, irate
neighbors, the Forest Service, a pick up truck with three additional
bison hunters, and two incredible, still living buffalo on a
beautiful, magnificent peninsula surrounded us. It's an unexplainable
feeling to stare at the picturesque backdrop of the Gallatin
Mountain Range and know that such horrendous actions occur on
this sacred land. It mistakenly portrays itself as quiet and
pristine, yet some of the most horrendous things that I have
ever witnessed have taken place here on the border of Yellowstone
National Park.
We see the ugliness of the buffalo slaughter. We know there
is only a pair of bulls left in the State of Montana, and hope
that the additional hunters weren't lingering about to plot
a plan that would tomorrow leave one solitary bull.
I remember this morning, a blood-red sunrise with a pillar-like
beam of light shooting to the sky and then back down to the
ground. I remember the early morning excitement when Stuart
spotted a fox on top of the hill. I can still too vividly see
the hunter with his two rifles slung over his shoulders, departing
his car and turning around to wave arrogantly at the camera,
as though he knew for sure that today would be successful. We
didn't expect today to be such a mess, didn't expect for the
game warden, the Forest Service or our patrol to be up to our
knees in snow after the shooting measuring distance for legalities,
silly legalities.
It doesn't matter because whether it was legal or not, a hunter
left a buffalo, one of our brothers, half-dead in the field.
The residents of Horse Butte Village, where the bull was shot,
adopted these beautiful bulls that have been with us since Autumn.
Our volunteers have spent time with them every day, searching
hard for them at times, and at other times watching and laughing
as the buffalo played. The hunt that the State of Montana has
issued is unethical, an oxymoron that allows the strongest of
our buffalo be the first to die. Twenty-four out of 25 bison
hunters were unable to use their tags this past hunting season,
skunked in a lottery that does not even have the number of buffalo
tags issued available. Bison still are not permitted habitat
in the state. We have to come together… hunters, activists,
cattlemen, the state, and anyone who cares about the world and
make a change in the daily life of the buffalo, whom have already
been prosecuted for far too long.
With the Buffalo,
Stephanie Munce |
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