DWR captures bison near Lake Powell

Thirty one bison have a new home in Utah's Book Cliffs.

Related story: Dreams come true — bison released in the Book Cliffs!

BULLFROG — The Division of Wildlife Resources captured the bison on Jan. 10 and Jan. 11 in the Henry Mountains in southeastern Utah.

Most Utahns don't realize that a free-ranging herd of bison occupies 240 square miles of open country northwest of Lake Powell.

Bison in the Henry Mountains

The Henry Mountains herd began in 1941, when the Utah Department of Fish and Game trucked three bulls and 15 cows from Yellowstone National Park to the Henry Mountains. That small herd of 18 animals has grown to more than 400 bison today. The herd continues to provide Utah's sportsmen with a unique hunting opportunity.

The bison that were captured in the Henry Mountains on Jan. 10 and 11 will join 14 bison that the DWR released into the Book Cliffs in east-central Utah in August 2008.

The 14 bison released into the Book Cliffs in August, and the 31 bison that will be released there in a few days, will be the start of a new herd in Utah.

An aerial rodeo!

Capturing and moving a buffalo that can weigh as much as a ton is extremely risky. Trying to minimize the danger, the DWR decided to capture only calves, cows and yearling bulls.

A helicopter brings a captured bison to the handling area on the Henry Mountains.

Photo by Ron Stewart

Leading Edge Aviation, a company that specializes in capturing wildlife, was contracted to accomplish the aerial rodeo work!

Capturing the bison

The DWR developed a capture plan that involved the use of two aircraft a fixed-wing aircraft with DWR spotters in it, and a helicopter capture craft operated by Leading Edge Aviation. The spotters kept track of the bison herd from the air, while the capture craft concentrated entirely on the rodeo show.

Once the spotters spotted the bison, they let the capture crew know where the animals were. The helicopter then closed in and singled out one bison. That animal was cut out from the herd, and a net from a specially designed rifle was fired over it.

Once the net landed on the animal, the net entangled the bison and it dropped to the ground. At that point, crewmen jumped from the chopper, and blind-folded and hobbled the immobilized animal.

DWR biologists take blood samples and assess the health of one of the captured bison.

Photo by Bill Bates

Crewmen then rolled the animal into a carry bag. Within seconds of rolling the bison into the bag, the chopper dropped a cable to the crewmen, and they attached the cable to the bag. The helicopter then slung the bison through the air to a crew waiting on the ground.

The ground crew consisted of DWR personnel. The crew was positioned about 10 air miles from the capture location, on one of only a few roads that access the southeast portion of the Henry Mountains. (Known as the Burr Trail, this secondary road connects Bullfrog with Escalante.)

The ground crew's job was to transfer the slung bison into a waiting horse trailer. Before placing the bison in the trailer, the crew performed health checks and drew blood samples for laboratory testing.

After the horse trailer was fully loaded with bison, the captured animals were driven to Antelope Island State Park. They'll stay in quarantine at the park until blood tests certify that they are free of disease.

After an "all clear!" from the state veterinarian, the bison will finish their trip to the Book Cliffs.

The DWR captured 16 bison on Jan. 10 and 15 more on Jan. 11.