Briefly stated, the National Bison Range is a refuge that was established in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt for the conservation of the American Bison. It essentially consists of a small mountain that is a spur of the Mission Mountains, 18,800 acres (about 29 square miles) in size and ranges in elevation from 2,585 to 4,885 feet and it’s where a herd of bison (presently about 350) now range freely under reasonably natural conditions. Visitors can drive through it on a loop road about 20 miles long which takes them from the headquarters, up and over the crest of the mountain and back down the other side, returning to the headquarters. (For anyone interested in more information about the Bison Range, here is a link to the National Bison range website.)
Looking west from where the road starts up the mountain
Looking back down the road from about half way to the top
Looking southwest from the top
Looking north from the top at the Mission Mountain Range in the background. Sorry about the picture quality, but we are now receiving smoke from the fires burning in Utah and Colorado and including a little from the northern California fire.
Cow and calf
Bison calf
This is a huge bull grazing right beside the road. Other an elephant, he is the biggest animal I’ve ever seen. It was taken at 70mm with a 70-300mm lens: unfortunately I didn’t have time to change to a wide angle lens for a full body shot.
A bull taking it easy
A calf standing in the road about 3 feet from my front bumper
The huge bull again
The last photos following were taken of a large bull crossing Mission Creek not far from the headquarters. This is a fast moving stream and I have lots of experience wading them (including this one) but where he crossed it would have taken me off my feet. He didn’t seem to notice the current; of course, he weighs about a ton more than I do.
That’s a cloud of dust that he shook off his back as he climbed up the far bank.
Montana Outdoors 