[Melinator]

Once shot a Bison right thru the neck with a 30 375. Took a front end loader and 5 razor sharp knives to dress him.

[Melinator]

And yes we ate him!

[Vigilanteman]

Wouldn't doubt it. Some of them are heavier than two or even three beef cows. The meat isn't bad either, not so different than grass fed beef.

Pioneer journals (Oregon Trail and Mormon Trail) both mention the Great Plains being black with large bison herds which sounded like distant thunder. The North Platte River was so polluted with buffalo dung that water was boiled and mixed with coffee to make it palatable. One trail (I think the Mormon) was on the south side of the river, the other was on the north side.

All of the great cattle herds from all the ranches in the west don't amount to but a fraction of the bison herds which were here before the white man came.

It isn't just white man's records which tell this story, but Native American records such as winter counts by various tribes including the Sioux, Pawnee, Cheyenne and others collaborate as do archaeological digs.