My daughter had the Delta Bison tag last season. Took us about the whole season to get her bull. Learned quite a bit and had a lot of help along the way. So, it's time to give back!
First group of hunters should have started on Oct. 1. Hunters are grouped by the order their name is drawn and then about 15 hunters start each Sat. until all are able to hunt. This is completely unconstitutional IMO. One group of hunters, the first, get a full 40 days of hunting that the last group does not get!!
First tip: Make sure you have the green map of farm property boundaries along with the names and ph. numbers of the owners. Get it from Delta F&G. This is the most valuable piece of info you can have. It is not 100% correct on who owns which properties, but it is close. Other owners can help you get the right names and owners and I still have all the info I gathered from last year.
2nd: Make friends with F&G staff and the Wildlife Trooper in Delta. Darin, the bio, was very helpful, and the Trooper was born and raised there. Don't be afraid to call and ask for any tips they are willing to provide. Darin will get calls from landowners sometimes, complaining about Bison on their property. Art Cummings, the Trooper, lives east of Cummings Rd. and drives it regularly to his office, as well as flies the trooper cub off his private strip at his house.
3rd. Last year was a warm fall. The Tanana R. was open in to early Nov. There were several groups of Bison on the river (both myself and friends did flying in the area). Reports this year I have gotten show less Bison there, but I would bet there are some. Not sure about ice in the River yet, but boat based hunts would have been successful last year. If you can't use the river, check with landowners whose property borders the river. Bison will feed on these properties and rest on the river or in the timber between the farms and the river. Properties 7-11 that border the river would be good bets I think.
4th. The Panoramic Field. There are almost always Bison in or around that field. It is a huge area. If your coming from a long ways away and have little info on other hunt area, like the farmlands, I would consider trying to camp (yea I know, it's cold) in or on the edge of that field. Stay quiet and check the various fields regularly. You can 4 wheeler or snogo thru the area, but the animals will get skittish from motorized noise. If you don't want to camp, stay at the Silver Fox Inn. Just east of the Inn is a gray metal building on the S, side of the hiway. That is F&Gs building, I think, and there is a trail from it right in to the middle of the Panoramic.
5th: Silver Fox Inn. Best place to stay and very reasonable. Your right in the middle of the hunt areas.
Lastly, Google Earth is your friend!
This year the permits are either sex, so the opportunity to score is considerably greater than when we hunted.
I'll quit there. I have more, but that should get tag holders that read this site a start.
Good Luck!
First group of hunters should have started on Oct. 1. Hunters are grouped by the order their name is drawn and then about 15 hunters start each Sat. until all are able to hunt. This is completely unconstitutional IMO. One group of hunters, the first, get a full 40 days of hunting that the last group does not get!!
First tip: Make sure you have the green map of farm property boundaries along with the names and ph. numbers of the owners. Get it from Delta F&G. This is the most valuable piece of info you can have. It is not 100% correct on who owns which properties, but it is close. Other owners can help you get the right names and owners and I still have all the info I gathered from last year.
2nd: Make friends with F&G staff and the Wildlife Trooper in Delta. Darin, the bio, was very helpful, and the Trooper was born and raised there. Don't be afraid to call and ask for any tips they are willing to provide. Darin will get calls from landowners sometimes, complaining about Bison on their property. Art Cummings, the Trooper, lives east of Cummings Rd. and drives it regularly to his office, as well as flies the trooper cub off his private strip at his house.
3rd. Last year was a warm fall. The Tanana R. was open in to early Nov. There were several groups of Bison on the river (both myself and friends did flying in the area). Reports this year I have gotten show less Bison there, but I would bet there are some. Not sure about ice in the River yet, but boat based hunts would have been successful last year. If you can't use the river, check with landowners whose property borders the river. Bison will feed on these properties and rest on the river or in the timber between the farms and the river. Properties 7-11 that border the river would be good bets I think.
4th. The Panoramic Field. There are almost always Bison in or around that field. It is a huge area. If your coming from a long ways away and have little info on other hunt area, like the farmlands, I would consider trying to camp (yea I know, it's cold) in or on the edge of that field. Stay quiet and check the various fields regularly. You can 4 wheeler or snogo thru the area, but the animals will get skittish from motorized noise. If you don't want to camp, stay at the Silver Fox Inn. Just east of the Inn is a gray metal building on the S, side of the hiway. That is F&Gs building, I think, and there is a trail from it right in to the middle of the Panoramic.
5th: Silver Fox Inn. Best place to stay and very reasonable. Your right in the middle of the hunt areas.
Lastly, Google Earth is your friend!
This year the permits are either sex, so the opportunity to score is considerably greater than when we hunted.
I'll quit there. I have more, but that should get tag holders that read this site a start.
Good Luck!
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